196 replies to this topic

[elixirs*]

_{laura; haha, if only! thanks so much :3}

[souffle girl.]

A little bit late, but congrats on your promo!! <3
you have such a beautiful gallery

[elixirs*]

_{bden; thank youu xD And I have to say, I love the sig- Felicity Jones is Annie Cresta}

[AranzA]

Hello Tasha < love your name

You're so cool! I love your style. Please make more stuff <3

[elixirs*]

hii :3 gah, flailing over you liking my things because I've always loved your style so much!

thank youu <3 and really, my name is nothing special! I hate it, really

[abyss]

HI TASHA!
so i see you around a lot and decided to drop by for a random comment because random comments are the bestest 5eva. buts srsly your work is so amazing and you're amazing and i was about to say how abslutely scandalous (this is my word of the day, you see) it was that i haven't commented here before but then i realized i had (small world ) and so the whole point of this backstory other than getting the disney song stuck in your head as it is now stuck in mine is that I'M BACK!
And ohmygoodness your work is so amaaazing. i love they way you pull of the softness and the grunge! & your textures and coloring and text (oh my!) and your banners are still so awesome it's absolutely scandalous that you don't put anymore. >D KEEP ON MAKING MORE PRETTIES!
and a belated thank you to your previous comment back in october~~ your name is really pretty too!

[elixirs*]

heyy khanh c:

aww, thank you! my gallery, I'm afraid to say, I find a little ugly atm but I have no inspiration so it might just stay this way for a little while. but really, you're too kind so thank you very much :33

[kaliedescopes.]

This new stuff just completely floors me!
Gah, the simplicity and the colours... My eyes are burning from all this amazingness
And dear Tom just to finish it all off perfectly
Forgive me for just sitting and staring at your gallery a little longer

Make more pretties!
-Fellow McMorrower (?)

[elixirs*]

hattie love :3
yes, simplicity is the overriding aspect, I fear... see that thing in the distance that's most definitely not getting any closer?

that would be my muse.

TOM TOM TOM TOM TOM TOM TOM &etc. how do I love thee? let me count the ways

mcmorrowerss 4eva

[Cosmic Muffin]

<sub>TASHA OMG YOUR GALLERY. WHAT EVEN. -DIES-

I am completely in love with each and every single one of your graphics. I'm all for minimalistic composition, and you do it SO FREAKING WELL. GUH. And the colors! Soft yet with undertones of grit that just make me swoon like a crazed silly fangirl. Please, please make more graphics, yes? And with Tom Hiddleston in them? :'D Cannot wait to see more of your amazing work!

♥ Gill</sub>

[elixirs*]

aww gill, thanks so much! c:

hiddles hiddles hiddles- he needs to feature more prominently in here... I'm looking up at your sig and burning with envy so I don't know why you're saying my work is amazing! :333

[AranzA]

I'm back to tell you that I want to eat this <3
so cute and pretty and yummy like the rest of your graphics <3

[elixirs*]

aranza srsly what are you doing saying you like my stuff?
compared to your graphics, that header is nursery level and you're all the way at the top getting your double first from uni c:

but thank you lovely :333

[Broomsticks]

So, brownie points were mentioned in the post you left me and I just wanted to drop by and let you know that anything other than genuine brownies won't suffice. BUT then on my brownie quest here that I became blinded by the gloriousness of your graphics and decided actually maybe you can keep the brownies to yourself which if you think about it is probably the highest of praise.
Wowza. First of all, just the general gallery layout is a beaut. That header is all soft and delicate and promises that THIS IS A PLACE WHERE PRETTY THINGS MUST RESIDE. And the promise was fufilled.

You have many a pretty colouring, particularly like +this icon. Also +this is happens to be what it says: perfect. The colouring, the compositon, the negative space, the creativity, the texture- ahh it's beauuutiful. I really really like it. Did I mention the composition? And the colouring?!
Then this is so soft and I love the colouring, but I also love a bit of black & white. Especially the coloured version though, it's just so simple but dramatic and effective.

Plus I rather like your love of Fitzgerald, art galleries and sarcasm, a bit worried cups of tea didn't make it on to the list but as long as you like biscuits the universe is safe and sound.
Thank you once more for leaving me such a wonderful comment in my gallery with the added bonus that it led me here and I shall be stalking back regularly to find new shinies to drool over x

(edit: so, this morning I had to edit this because I wrote it very late and night and it was really a bit confusing and so please excuse the rambling and any other spelling mistakes)

Edited by Broomsticks, 21 June 2012 - 04:06 AM.

[elixirs*]

helena I love you for this message c: plus you're super amazing and talented and lovely and all that but your message just floored me (:

I'm more than willing to provide pictures of brownies seeing as getting genuine ones to you could prove tricky but the sentiment is still there :33 dude brownies are the best- hummingbird bakery raspberry cheesecake brownies oh my sweet lord

you are far far far too lovely; really, my header is nothing special but YOU MADE IT FEEL SNAZZY so it thanks you for that. tbh that's not actually a banner I'm overly fond of, purely because I messed up the text big time but I love that you love it c: my love for hiddles doesn't seem to be dissipating any time soon so that icon might well be around for a while

fitzgerald and art galleries and abusive use of sarcasm and tea- how did I leave that off? earl grey, two sugars and definitely no milk. eugh. then biscuits... only if they're custard creams, cadbury's (milk) chocolate fingers or iced vanilla biscuits. it's also important that I tell you that biscuits are pronounced, in honor of the fox's panda bear, bis-quits. by royal proclamation... almost.

thank you so much <333

[snicket!]

Hi Tasha! Jade, here for your britique! -serves tea and scones- You said your weak spots were variety, overuse of textures, and sharpening, so I'mma start there. :3 You also asked for what you were doing 'wrong' and how to fix, so I'll try to slide that into each section.

Variety.
Variety is always difficult because you don't want to be so crazy that you literally have no style but you don't want to have something be cookie-cutter either, so I'll try my best and give you some tips on injecting variety into your gallery, we hope. D: Mostly, though, my issue is not with variety, but you're not exactly giving me much to work with- I don't think it's very fun when it doesn't take me very long to get to the end of the gallery. ): I mean, you don't want to overload this place, no doubt, but just when I'm getting into the groove of the place, you're like, yep, finished. Honestly, if you want to add some more variety to your gallery, I also think you need more in here, full stop. I'm kind though, so as regards to variety in your banner work, I'm sure you can see that you have a small person as a focal point and your text is very same-y, it's all small in a serif/sans-serif font. You could always try going in the opposite direction- you could have a person as a larger focal point and even some scripty texts (which is funny because generally people are told to stop using script texts XD). I think the issue is the same with your sigs and CIs - a focal point in the center and text surrounding it. I think you need to start thinking a little more outside your comfort zone. :3
Overuse of textures.
A little confused because everything in your gallery is textures-based and honestly, if that's your style, then go for it. I mean, it's not like your textures are obliterating faces in your graphics, so that's always a plus!
Your backgrounds that you make with textures aren't busy and that's lovely. I can only suggest that you consider doing something based on stock, but then that might not be so fun for you. I would also consider doing something, you know, brighter- something with rainbows or those snazzy teen-fic banners that are going around which is sure to stretch you a little. XD I don't think you're particularly doing anything so it's not so much a case of fixing as changing it up every now and then a la Variety section.
Over-sharpening.
Sharpening a really subjective thing, honestly, because everyone's screens are different, so I'm going to do this based on what I see. I think over-sharpening is present +here - he has white lines around his face and the line of his collar is a little too crisp, you know? The over-sharpening can be easily fixed there by just putting a layer mask over the layer you do the sharpening on and then erasing some of the sharp lines with a grey (not black xD) brush; that tends to dim it down without getting rid of it completely. I think the background may have had something to do it with because Tom Hiddlesexy looks perfectly lovely on +this; he's not over-sharp, but he's not a blurry mess either. Use that as a base for your newer graphics- the line between too sharp and not sharp enough. XD But seriously, layer masks help.
Overall.
Overall, your issues lie in variety, I think. Your graphics are lovely, no issue, but they start to become a little same-y and I think you need to change things up and redesign and take a look at what you're making- pretty sure I shoved some ideas into the top two sections just in case. You could consider taking a look at past challenges to get some ideas of what to do as well. Thinking outside the box might help you more at this stage than you probably think. :3
Et voila! I hope this is somewhat helpful to you. If you've any issues or questions, don't be scared to shoot me a PM!

Edited by clarity., 21 July 2012 - 07:38 AM.

[Mr. Wind-Up Bird]

here with the requested crit. i haven't done this in a while so attack me via PM if something doesn't make sense

first up, a quick note about gallery presentation; spaces are a good thing and help break up your display of graphics into individual pieces and allows them to be appreciated individually vs everything assaulting the eyes at once (i think this needs mentioning especially because a lot of your graphics are quite bright). that being said, HOMG! your header is ASDFGHJK utter brilliance

your icons are quite good overall, as you have a good variety of cuts and the colouring is to die for. (i actually think the rest of your gallery might be improved with new graphics utilizing the colouring style present in your icons and header - just a suggestion )

sigs; step one - make MOAR pretties! why are there only two?! people won't know how awesome you are if you don't flaunt it! (yes, i've been secretly stalking you for a while now ). that aside, the rebels sig absolutely blows my mind - the composition of it fits the theme/idea perfectly and i like how the text is just constraining against the borders of the darker pic. The only thing that i can think of to improve it is if the background was just a tinge darker/more contrasted to define the text a little better, as at first glance it appears as though the text abruptly ends after the frame.

both your sigs are incredibly simple, but while your rebels sig had gorgeous colouring ontop of some kick-ass composition/idea, the first sig is much duller (especially surrounded by your super bright and saturated icons). i think it could really benefit from more colour to make it stand out more - or instead of using white blocks behind your text, go for a more outrageous colour? the composition of it is brilliant though; is that sherlock holmes jumping off a building in there? (off-topic )

CIs; again, i think you should try experimenting with other colour schemes (without derailing your beautiful style of course! i'd just be wary that too many similar colours in close quarters has the potential to make your graphics feel slightly repetitive).

composition-wise, there seems to be something about it on both your CIs that makes the space appear deceptively elongated, which is odd since your width is greater than your height (alternatively i could be going slowly insane, so i'm not going to try and elaborate further on this point XD).

Tom Hiddleston on the island CI is a little too over-sharpened around the edges, especially the left side of his head and the bottom half of his blazer. My other critique is that the difference in contrast between the person and the background is too great, whereas they are much closer (and more appealing) on your other CI. The text on that first one is sheer genius though

banners; not much of an issue in your first banner, but over-sharpening is again an issue in the latter two banners - i think it may be because you use such a strong, contrasted black on your people that makes this especially obvious (black can be a pretty unforgiving colour when hard cutting unfortunately ) the base and text on the bottom two are quite unique and awesome-looking, but i'm not sure the greyscale on the people are helping them compliment/blend into the background (maybe try using a two-colour monochrome scheme for them? experimentation is the keyyy <3)

just remembered how hopeless i am at giving critique nevertheless, i hope i helped (even at a tiny, tiny level) and i can't wait to see more updates in your gallery!

Edited by Mr. Wind-Up Bird, 23 July 2012 - 06:18 AM.

[elixirs*]

thanks for the crit, jade and manda :3

I know it's a little empty at the moment- I went through and deleted a whole load of things I didn't like so I'm building it back up again, slowly. I'll definitely try playing around with different focal points but it'll take a lot of persuading to get me to use script fonts c:

sharpening really seems to be an issue with me- I'm not sure why, I just like clearly defined images and my hard cutting probably isn't great. I'll fiddle around with layer masks and try some different b/w colouring- and as for the first CI with Tom in it, it was a wierd background anyway, which probably accounts for some of the wierdness... that's not a word but pretend it is c:

oh, and as for the proportions- the CIs are resized so they fit with the 700px width of my top banner. if you click on them, you'll see them full-sized.

thanks so much and I'll play around with various things and see what comes as a result <3

Edited by elixirs*, 30 July 2012 - 02:39 AM.