ICON CHAT

[timetobegin]

I thought i'd see what people think about the icon community in general, and what inspires you and what you'd like to see!! Feel free to answer any or all of the questions! Or make up your own :)

What inspires you to make icons?
What do you struggle with when it comes to icons?
What techniques are you favourite/least favourite?
Any particular subjects that are your go-to?
What are your favourite comms?
What comms did you wish there were more of?

<B>What inspires you to make icons?</B> <B>What do you struggle with when it comes to icons?</B> <B>What techniques are you favourite/least favourite?</B> <B>Any particular subjects that are your go-to?</B> <B>What are your favourite comms?</B> <B>What comms did you wish there were more of?</B>

Comments

[timetobegin]

What inspires you to make icons? GOOD CAPS LOL. or at the very least, a great scene or a good face. It's so much easier when the caps are great, although some of the recent shows do have a lot of lights which can make it harder than the older caps.
What do you struggle with when it comes to icons? having enough time! finding caps - finding caps is like 80% of the struggle, i do like finding them and looking through caps but it is harder to find them in general. Even some of my older shows the galleries are gone :(
What techniques are you favourite/least favourite? NEGATIVE SPACE FOR LIFE. i do find text hard, but i'm trying more often these days.
Any particular subjects that are your go-to? I do return to Buffy a lot
What are your favourite comms? basically every comm here is amazing!! I love the recent energy at nexticon & i love seeing all the entries at iconthat
What comms did you wish there were more of? I would mind a comics/comic based media icon test comm, there is one on LJ but it's doing it's last challenge. I wouldn't mind a stargate icon test either, but mostly just any more comms would be great, CRIME BASED SHOWS or something

[seraphina_snape]

Good caps are so important. Sometimes I watch a show and think "oh no, that's going to be awful for icon making" if everything is too dark or oddly tinted.

I 100% agree with not having enough time. I can spend hours selecting caps, but I rarely have hours to spare to find THE cap, you know. And like you said, a lot of the old archives are gone.

Negative space rules! :p

[goodbyebird]

Aww so sad to see comics_ic close down :(

Ditto on wanting to see some more specialized communities crop up. I'd love one for comics, one for video games, several for sci-fi, some show specific ones where the popularity is great enough to support it, etc etc. having specialized communities was such fun back in the day *sighs wistfully*

[aeris]

What inspires you to make icons? When I see the work that others do. When I see their creativity come through in an icon. Also when I see people making icons out of fandoms that I love.
What do you struggle with when it comes to icons? Finding decent iconworthy caps of tv shows. It's one of the reasons why I don't icon them very often.
What techniques are you favourite/least favourite? I love using soft textures and colors. I also feel like cropping can make or break an icon, so I pay a lot of attention to that. I love love LOVE close up icons, and making them. My least favorite is text. I'm just not good at it.
Any particular subjects that are your go-to? I do have a bias for video games(Final Fantasy) and certain animes.
What are your favourite comms? iconprompts. It is a community that takes the thinking out of "What should I icon next?" It's something that has kind of taken me out of my comfort zone and use techniques I wouldn't normally use.
What comms did you wish there were more of? idk, probably more icon challenges and prompts, maybe of the anime/video game genre only.

[seraphina_snape]

Text is my least favourite, too. I never feel like it looks good.

[timetobegin]

some icons just looks soooo good and i'm like...one day LOL. I do love seeing the icon making community get bigger here at DW! Seems to have gotten a little more popular recently.

[goodbyebird]

What inspires you to make icons? Fannish feels. Art.
What do you struggle with when it comes to icons? TEXT. Anything complicated and not doing close-crops lol. Longer faces, for some weird reason.
What techniques are you favourite/least favourite? CLOSE-CROPPP
Any particular subjects that are your go-to? Boss ladies. Pretty hair. HANDS.
What are your favourite comms? iconthat, iconpraise, comicbook_icons.
What comms did you wish there were more of? I wish more people were doing wallpapers again, so communities for that I guess? I made treatyodeskop a long while back but then... failed to do anything with it.

[seraphina_snape]

Now that you mention it, I kind of miss making wallpapers.

[timetobegin]

ahaha yeah text can just..not!!

[all_choseny]

What inspires you to make icons? Making icons relaxes me. I usually feel inspired by television shows, movies, and entertainers I like.
What do you struggle with when it comes to icons? Blending with textures kill me lol
What techniques are you favourite/least favourite? I love coloring. My least favorite is working with textures.
Any particular subjects that are your go-to? Television shows that I like
What are your favourite comms? iconthat, nexticon, icons10in20 and iconprompts
What comms did you wish there were more of?I think maybe communities for specific fandoms.

[seraphina_snape]

Making icons relaxes me.

So true! I sometimes forget everything around me when I'm making icons.

[timetobegin]

I agree with the relaxing me sentiment!! It's very calming actually

[breyzyyin]

What inspires you to make icons? Emotional ties to fandoms. Music. I like making icons because I find it soothing, so it sort of acts as a creative stress relief for me.
What do you struggle with when it comes to icons? I'm not the best at making icons of images from live-action series, so I often struggle with those. I'm not particularly great with cropping out backgrounds and things like that, so I often practice it a lot.
What techniques are you favourite/least favourite? I've been told I have a very distinct coloring style, so I guess that would be my favorite. O_O; My least favorite is text! I keep trying to use it more, but I never feel like I get it to look great.
Any particular subjects that are your go-to? Pretty much any fandom I'm in gets icons from me at some point, lol! You can usually tell who my favorite characters are by looking at the icons I make since they crop up a lot in them. XD
What are your favourite comms? iconprompts, icontalking, ic_animated, animated20n20, hiraethe
What comms did you wish there were more of? IDK. I guess I'd like to see more focused on specifically non-live-action fandoms (animated, video games, comics), but that aren't challenges.

[timetobegin]

Yeah, i agree about the creative stress relief thing - it's nice!!

[goodbyebird]

You've definitely got some lovely coloring going!

As for comms, comicbook_icons is a thing. Ditto on wanting one for games.

[thisbluespirit]

What inspires you to make icons? Challenges, watching TV or film and wanting to icon a specific moment or person, & screencapping. I mostly just do it as a way of relaxing, though - something productive and fun that doesn't involve writing, unlike nearly everything else I do.

What do you struggle with when it comes to icons? My ancient free software, heh. Also because I will keep doing old TV which makes it harder. Also I'm very bad at making myself actually screencap things.

What techniques are you favourite/least favourite? Cropping. I don't actually like negative space & said software and old TV screencaps aren't a good combination for trying to make tiny figures clear!

Any particular subjects that are your go-to? I always come back to Doctor Who. But also just people with expressive faces!

What are your favourite comms? Icon-wise, I assume? This one and iconthat are pretty great, and obviously I appreciate the central sharing ones, like fandom_icons.


What comms did you wish there were more of? I find it hard to keep up anyway! But I do enjoy all the challenge comms, and I am intrigued by the idea of the songset comm that people were talking about in the previous post.

[seraphina_snape]

Old shows certainly don't make it easy to get decent icons out of them! For some shows, even DVD-quality isn't exactly a good enough quality for good screencaps/icons.

[magicrubbish]

What inspires you to make icons? Fanarts , icon challenges and inspiration posts. Also, good looking caps really makes my hand itch to make icons on them.
What do you struggle with when it comes to icons? Composition . Right use of textures. SHARPENING. I have a long way to go.
What techniques are you favourite ? Text , definitely . Texts are my strong points and I believe in playing to my strengths ! Also, negative space and close crop.
Any particular subjects that are your go-to? Not exactly. But I do love making icons of horror genre and Kylo Ren.
What are your favourite comms? Iconprompts , Iconthat and Nexticon . But I love and appreciate all the still running icon communities.
What comms did you wish there were more of? One that is specifically for Stock icons .

[timetobegin]

I think there is always something to strive towards.

i'd probably be interested in a stock comm, it's not something i push myself to do

[fueschgast]

What inspires you to make icons?
Interesting textures, pretty caps, great TV-show moments.

What do you struggle with when it comes to icons?
Creative, complex icons. Making longer text look good.

What techniques are you favourite/least favourite?
I don't know if I have any favorites, but a least favorite of mine is close cropping.

Any particular subjects that are your go-to?
Doctor Who.

What are your favourite comms?
dwstills and iconthat.

What comms did you wish there were more of?
Ones for specific fandoms.

[timetobegin]

I'd love some more specific fandom comms, not sure how many people are into my fandoms though!

[ella_rose88]

What inspires you to make icons? Anything really. Usually it’s a screencap, colours or textures I find that inspire me.
What do you struggle with when it comes to icons? Text is definitely something I struggle with. Knowing what font and size to use and where to place it/manipulate it is so hard. I’m envious of icon makers who can do it and do it well.
What techniques are you favourite/least favourite? I love close cropping, textures and vibrant colouring. I’m not overly confident with negative space.
Any particular subjects that are your go-to? I’ve noticed I tend to icon period TV shows/movies.
What are your favourite comms? Perioddrama Ic (which I co-mod), but honestly though I follow so many icon communities that are great but I tend to be so busy to participate.
What comms did you wish there were more of? Well the reason I started perioddrama ic was because I felt there was a lack of icon communities dedicated to period dramas, but I suppose I wish there were more of them. Also, I wish 20in20 communities were more active.

[timetobegin]

i don't watch ANY period dramas lol, i guess it's just not my thing :(

[abyss_valkyrie]

What inspires you to make icons?Other users mainly but sometimes when I see a cap in which I can enter speech bubbles with dialogue!
What do you struggle with when it comes to icons?Placing text until I get the right position, it's a lot of editing, way more than the icon itself! Deciding on the final colour combo I want to keep.
What techniques are you favourite/least favourite?Favourite:Center crop/negative space and using textures, soft lighting, levels. Least Fvaourite-So far I can't think of any,I'm always up for trying out new stuff. :D
Any particular subjects that are your go-to?Females, screencaps with focus on hair or soft lighting, photoshoots.
What are your favourite comms?Iconthat & icontalking here. Monthlyinspo & itsabattlefield on LJ.
What comms did you wish there were more of?Fandom specific but those tend to die down fast. :( Landcomms or just SID guardian type focusing on Anime/cartoon/games.

[timetobegin]

LOL i like the idea of being able to add speech - means lots of emotion!

:( the fandom specific ones don't always last. maybe someone should create a fandom of the week kinda challenge LOL

[seraphina_snape]

What inspires you to make icons?
Anything, really. I do like having prompts, but sometimes it's enough to find a lovely cap or to watch a show and think "I should have an icon of this".

What do you struggle with when it comes to icons?
Text, usually, sometimes cropping or colouring (depends on the cap, really). In a more abstract sense: having time and opportunity to make icons.

What techniques are you favourite/least favourite?
I love negative space and natural colouring, so if I don't know what to do, that's what I'll do. Least favourite... hmm. I dislike full body icons. And as I mentioned, I struggle with text.

Any particular subjects that are your go-to?
Leverage, obviously. But I really like Person of Interest. I usually focus on female characters of whatever show I'm watching/making icons of.

What are your favourite comms?
I like nexticon and of course icontalking, but I don't always have enough time for them. :/

What comms did you wish there were more of?
Just random prompt comms. I usually do better when I have a deadline, so if I sign up for a challenge or something like that, I'm much more likely to actually make the icons (as opposed to thinking about making them...and then not doing it).

[timetobegin]

I usually focus on the female characters too, and yes i also am not fond of full body icons, although some are lovely!

[aeriiths]

What inspires you to make icons? pretty caps, seeing other people's really good icons, well-crafted challenge posts with inspo.
What do you struggle with when it comes to icons? uhhhhh creative composition tbh - my go to is definitely a) cut out subject; b) put em on a nicely coloured background and chuck a bunch of textures on top/behind; c)????; d) profit
What techniques are you favourite/least favourite? I love text, bright colouring, negative space and blending. I'm not so fond of simple, original background icons (every time I try they look so bland and flat ;A;)
Any particular subjects that are your go-to? ANIME. and video games, but mainly anime. I've iconned a LOT of Revolutionary Girl Utena and Fate/Zero.
What are your favourite comms? monthlyinspo, 20muses and color-inspired on LJ. Not sure about dreamwidth comms, I've been out of the loop for a long time :(
What comms did you wish there were more of? challenge comms centred around making animanga icons - I know there's none on LJ any more because pretty much everyone has gone. :(

[abyss_valkyrie]

Have you been iconing fate/zero? <3 I just started watching it!
DW comms aren't so many in number like on LJ so you'll be seeing familiar faces everywhere. XD. iconthat,fandom10in30,iconprompts,they're all free to icon whatever you like so I do enter with animanga icons there. I've been running icons10in20 which is free to icon anything and ic_animated if you ever get the time to check them out. :)

[tinny]

lol i keep missing the discussion posts in "my own" comm. /o\ (I am SO HAPPY I am no longer the only one posting here!)

What inspires you to make icons?

Good shows. Actors I love.

What do you struggle with when it comes to icons?

Text, always. And crop. I often throw away attempts if I don't manage to crop them the way I intended.

What techniques are you favourite/least favourite?

Favorite: painted look and text. (lol, that was last week's theme at your_favourites. :D

Here are some painted examples I made this month:



Least favorite: blank, single-colored, untextured background.

Any particular subjects that are your go-to?

Always my current obsessions, so at the moment that's Bai Yu and Zhu Yilong and anything they've starred in. I am pretty monofannish when it comes to obsessing over icon-worthy subjects.

What are your favourite comms?

All of them? Honestly, I could list every single icon comm on DW. And some on LJ.

What comms did you wish there were more of?

Currently I am happy with what there is.

BUT: if you're offering to mod a songset comm with me, I'd be all ears! Because I *want* to create one, but have no time to make regular challenges.

[timetobegin]

I try to think of things to post!

I do like the painted look! You do it better than i do though :)

ahaha i don't think i should sign up for more modding, but i'm tempted regardless, i thought about a revolving "Fandom of the week" comm but we'll see

[all_choseny]

I want to add that I wish there were more tutorial communities. One thing that I struggle with is textures and blending. Do you think we can add some tutorials to the community or can someone create one? lol

[timetobegin]

I've done some tutorials, over at my comm oh_crime but they aren't very advanced yet, but i'll try to do something else if i can, although i'm no expert lol