Activity #39 - Ask The Maker

[tinny]

this banner features an icon by wunderkind_lucy

We're a month later this year than usual, but it's still June, so let's get started with this year's Ask The Maker!

Ask The Maker is where you can ask your favorite makers about how they do that thing. You can ask for tutorials, guides/"How to", or ask any other questions related to their work. Check out the Maker thread (below) for makers who have signed up and are ready to answer your questions.

You can also ask questions to the community at large, and hope that someone is able to answer them. Do this in the Questions thread (below).

I am looking forward to interesting questions and discussions!

Please promote this activity!

You can use this code here:
<center><img src='https://tinny.dreamwidth.org/file/339028.png' title='Activity #39 - Ask The Maker 2020' alt='Activity #39 - Ask The Maker 2020' /> <user name="icontalking"> <a href="https://icontalking.dreamwidth.org/46972.html">Activity Post</a> </center>

The more participants the merrier! I will promote it at an official promo comm.

Here are the rules:

1) Maker-Driven


Rules for makers who want to sign up

Sign up by commenting to the Maker thread.

Please don't sign up if you know that you can't or do not plan to fulfill the requests you get within a month (until the end of July).

If you are an icon maker and you're willing to write tutorials, guides or answer questions (Q&A's), please sign up here with your name and where you post your work. Please state what you're willing to do/answer and if people can hotlink your work or not. Use this posting template:

<b>Username + where you post your work:</b> <b>What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc.)</b> --->(If you know of anything that you're not able to answer/do, please mention it)<--- <b>Can we hotlink your icons?:</b>

There is no fixed time limit in which the signed up makers have to write these tutorials or answer questions, but it would be nice if everyone managed to post their answers within the next month. I will make the master list post mid-August. Even if you take longer than that, please try and answer your questions. Please let people know if you find out you cannot fulfill the requests. Try not to leave people hanging.

All tutorials/Q&A etc. need to be posted in your community/journal and be posted publicly. In-depth explanations on tutorials is not a must, but highly encouraged.

When you finish your requests, post a link to them as a reply to the original request comment here. That way, I and the person requesting will be able to see them and I can add them to the master list.



2) Question-Driven - I have a question and anyone can answer



If you have a question about techniques, a specific look, etc, but you can't ask any maker directly (e.g. because they didn't sign up or are not on DW or because your question is more of the general kind), you may ask your question in the Questions thread.

Be aware that there is no guarantee that you'll get your question answered. You will increase your chances by asking specific questions about specific techniques and by giving icon examples, from different makers if possible. Please don't ask about single specific icons, nobody should feel pressured into participating.

Please don't hotlink icons from other makers without asking them. Reupload the icons (e.g. to imgur.com or postimages.com) instead.



What's What


Question categories and examples

Guides - a guide is a general explanation post. The maker will make a post explaining how to achieve a particular effect, use a technique, use a tool, etc.

#1 - Text and typography in gimp by cool_spectrum
#2 - A guide to picking textures from last year by seraphina_snape

Tutorial - a tutorial is a step-by-step description of how to make a particular icon. Only the maker of an icon can make a tutorial of how they made that icon. If you ask for a tutorial, you must provide said icon with your question. This kind of question only makes sense in the Maker thread.

Tutorial by fueschgast
Example tutorial #2 by word_never_said
Tutorial by tinyumbrella

Q&A - everything that doesn't quite fit the first two categories. Ask away, hope for the best. :)


Maker thread

Questions thread

Comments

Maker Thread

[tinny]

Makers, please sign up here

Re: Maker Thread

[geckoholic]

Username + where you post your work: geckoholic, posting @ bl00dredskies
What can we request from you? Q&As and guides. Full tutorials for specific icons may be both difficult and not all that helpful, since I'm playing around a lot and usually have a myriad layers. But feel free to ask, like, "how did you do x on icon y", that's fine.
Can we hotlink your icons?: I host via DW, so... I think so, yeah? XD

Re: Maker Thread

[goodbyebird]

Username + where you post your work: spankulert
What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc.) Q&A, guides. I don't save a lot of PSDs, so mostly useless for tutorials. I might remember how I did the thing on a specific icon, feel free to ask, but no answer guaranteed. My previous tuts/guides are here, and might already answer your question 😉
Don't ask me about anything related to text lols
Can we hotlink your icons?: Yup!

Re: Maker Thread

[tinny]

Username + where you post your work: my personal dw journal: tinny (the art-icons tag)
What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc.) anything you like. Tutorials for any of my (more recent) icons, guides, questions. I'll do my best.
Can we hotlink your icons?: yes.

Re: Maker Thread

[aurora_amethyst]

Username + where you post your work: wunderkind_lucy, posting @wunderkind_lucy (icons) and @1wonderment (tutorials)
What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc.)? Anything really. I saved almost all of my PSDs (except for when Photoshop gets glitchy). I've never really done guides, but I am willing to try if anyone wants to know.
Can we hotlink your icons?: I guess? I use imgur.

Btw, thanks for using one of my icons, tinny! And also thank you for doing this activity! I've always wanted to participate, but I didn't really know about them until after I came back to LJ.

Re: Maker Thread

[abyss_valkyrie]

This style of icon is something I really like but honestly can't do unless it's accidental,lmao!Would love to know how you do it. :)

Re: Maker Thread

[aurora_amethyst]

I'll post the tutorial on DW tomorrow, but in the mean time, you can go here at my LJ. ^^

I hope you find it helpful! ^^

Re: Maker Thread

[abyss_valkyrie]

Username + where you post your work:abyss_valkyrie, posting in my journal.
What can we request from you (tutorials, Q&A, guides etc.) Tutorials and guides. It's easier if you show me a particular icon of mine so I can retrace the steps to how I made it or at least as closely as I can. :)
I make icons of shows/movies/animations/games. Stock is not my strong point.
I also make animated icons in photoshop.
Can we hotlink your icons?:Yes.

Re: Maker Thread

[tinny]

Uuuuh, you signed up! \o/

I keep meaning to ask you how you do your flat pastel coloring. It's one of the things I love doing, myself, and I wonder how your technique differs from mine.

Examples:


If these all have different techniques, feel free to explain the most interesting one/the one you like best. :D

Re: Maker Thread

[abyss_valkyrie]

UWU!! The 2nd icon is the only one that is slightly different!!
I did a red layer on 'multiply',reduced the opacity and then did some more 'screen', 'soft light' until I got the effect.
For the others I actually use the 'saturation' mode on the image and reduce the opacity,then some more things.I should get around to making a tutorial for these!
Sorry for the edits,lol!

Re: Maker Thread

[aurora_amethyst]

Would you be able to explain how you changed her hair color in the 3rd icon? I really like that technique.

Re: Maker Thread

[abyss_valkyrie]

Tutorials over here:
https://abyss-valkyrie.dreamwidth.org/56036.html
https://abyss-valkyrie.dreamwidth.org/55658.html

Questions Thread

[tinny]

Ask questions for the community here

Re: Questions Thread

[aurora_amethyst]

This is rather a vague question, but I'm curious to know how to prevent Disney/anime icons from losing details. I've noticed that as soon as I start resizing a Disney cap or an anime cap, I start to lose the character's facial features.

Re: Questions Thread

[abyss_valkyrie]

That happens.Lately I've realised that 'multiplying' the original layer then changing the opacity helps to keep some of the details,but then I have to adjust the brightness around the face so that the icon itself isn't dark.
Another way is enlarging the icon and adding some details manually(like the mouth usually disappears in anime lol). So I draw a brown/black line where the mouth, nose or even the eyes are.

Re: Questions Thread

[aurora_amethyst]

Thanks! ^^ I'll definitely have to try the multiply layer! ^^

I have tried darkening the eyes, nose, and mouth in the original screencap before resizing, and sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't, lol -_-'

Re: Questions Thread

[tinny]

Phewww.... this is a difficult one that I can't answer, myself, since I rarely icon anime/animated sources. I searched through a lot of tutorials/guides, and this one is closest to a helpful process:

https://enochians.livejournal.com/16826.html

It's about making the black lines thicker before you resize, so you don't lose them. The tinypic images they used for the photoshop tool windows are gone, but the results images are still visible.

Does that help in any way?

Re: Questions Thread

[aurora_amethyst]

I will definitely give it a try! It looks like it might be helpful.

Re: Questions Thread

[shiruji]

I also sharpen the icon, that way the little details like the eyes and mouth are more visible ^^.