Yay! You've posted a gallery! I keep seeing your work on HPFF and was hoping you'd post (again) here. The two you've done for Shelby's story are fantastic, very complex and amazingly blended, especially the new one. They're really striking graphics, and suit her story perfectly. The Luna/Cho also stands out with a lot of depth and a great composition.

I know you're not a graphic artist, but you do make graphics very well.

< for Susan.

Ilia! You know I really admire your graphics and I have to agree with Susan, the first Armageddon banner is really amazing. As is your Luna/Cho! Mainly everything. I'm so happy you have zero willpower I love your gallery, and having it here will make it so much easier to keep up

Keep it up!

-Sarah

Susan: Wow, really? Thanks! It means a lot, especially coming from you, to hear that you have been watching my work on HPFF Thank you so much

Sarah: XD Thank you! I'm so happy that you like my stuff. Don't stalk me, though. XD

Krys!: Sorry! It was a spur-of-the-moment deal. I didn't tell anyone XD Whoo G-Dragon! Now you won't be the only one sporting heavy Asian stuff in your gallery XD I have a style? Thanks! I think I will stay. Well, as long as I can, anyway. =P

Thank you all!

<sub>omg, ilia's back!
squeeee!
hai! :3

so umm, i've missed your graphics. alot. because their awesome. its great to see you've returned. your banners are absolutely lovely, i really, really do like them. really, your whole gallery is pretty win XD

i can't wait to see more from you hon!
x</sub>

Liam!

Thank you! I didn't know I had fans... I hope you check out what I come up with next! =P

<3

Lovely gallery! ^___^ Of all your graphics, this is my favorite from you! Love the stock use and composition! And well, Luna and Cho are in the banner! ^__^ I also like this banner from you, as well as this signature! The colorization that you have posted is great, too, by the way- it's realistic and well done! I also like this collage blend that you've done, too! My critique for you is to watch out for image quality- some of your graphics are too blurry and sharp in some places. Anyway, keep up the great work! :]

*pops in*

I really like your blends!

yellowlicous: Thank you! That Cho/Luna banner turned out a lot better than I'd expected, actually XD I'm glad you like it! Thank you so much! Blends are my favorite (can you tell?) I'll definitely work in image quality. Thanks so much for the critique

northerlywind: Thank you!

Pimp!

Wow, you have such a pretty gallery!

I especially like your icons, though they are rather simple looking(not in a bad way) they still have a nice depth to them, which I adore.
- wow, that last banner is gorgeous!
On that sixth banner, I find the text 'welcome to hell' a bit hard to read, but other than that, it's pretty

I absolutely love the colouring on the third sig! the second sig confused me a bit, and it took me a while to see what it actually was, maybe my brain is just being stupid this early, haha (: but I liked it, nonetheless.

The only thing I can say about your blends is: wow they're awesome! I fell in love with them. It was love at first sight, I'm telling you. You're great with blends.

Uh huh, I love your gallery!

hugs!

I adore you banners. especially the luna/cho and the seconf one. I think the coloring is just smooth...!
the look at me blend is pretty thoughtful.

I'm here to pimp!

Your coloring is the first thing I noticed. You really have a handle on it. I also think your banners and your blends are your strengths. Which is I why I think you should make your colorizations thumbnails, and highlight your best banners. When it comes to promotion time, colorizations don't really get you anywhere, so you want to show of your good stuff!

Your avatars are an area you could improve in, and have a lot of fun with. Try using your coloring skills on some great, HQ pictures. I think you could make some really great stuff.

I think you're off to a great start, and I can't wait to see more!

cathyyy: Thank you! Icons are my least-favorite XD Those were all made for the negative space challenge, so simple was kind of a must. I'll definitely work on some more icons in the future. I know that signature is confusing, but I like it that way =P I kind of wanted people to have to look at it a while to see what's there. Thank you! Blends are my favorite Thank you so much for the awesome pimp!

hpfan45: Thank you! I think I have to work more on my banners, but it means so much to hear that you like them. Thanks!

Lady of Tears: Thanks! Coloring took me SO long to understand, but it's great to hear that I'm doing well in it. That's an interesting point. I've taken your advice and I've rearranged my gallery. Thank you so much!

Yeah, I don't care much for icons =P I'll have to work more on them. Thank you so much!

i must sayyyyy; you have quite a fabo gallery i lurve your use of asian actors. haha. (:

your blends are mucho amazing. .3. keep it uuuuup

Cherished: Thank you! My gallery just wouldn't be me without Asians =P Thanks! Blends are my favorite

Wow, Ilia, great gallery you've got here!
<3 The Asiannnn stuff
I seriously do love everythinggg.
My favs are: the large icons, Africa, the
colouring on 'Utopia', the text of Armageddon,
the colouring of murder, and basically everything else
with a bit of fix ups here and there.

For your banners, you may want to sharpen up the images -
specifically, the second banner and the murder banner, the other
banners are all really great. For the first, you should brighten it up a
little, so that it has some contrast as well as darkness. XD
The second banner is really interesting, and with a tab of sharpening and
some contrast, it'll be great. I love the third banner, Luna looks great,
maybe you should take out the lightening between them and just clean
up the blending on the left of Cho and create a clear focal point.
Love the Murder banner. Seriously. Just sharpen Harry & Draco and add
some contrast.
The Armageddon one is great, just a little sharp in terms of colours, but it
probably fits altogether with the idea, so it's just me. XD
I adore the colouring of your 'Utopia' banner. Just fix up the blending of her
hair a little bit, and try to make the focal point/point of interest more clear.


I LOVE the use of negative space and the text in the Africa blend. Your
blends are all really great, just make sure you work on the focal point thing, and
it's great that you actually use images that relate to your graphics - some
artists (evenme*hides*) tend to just blend a whole lot of stuff together, even if
it has no point at all. XD

Your signatures seem a little bit loaded, maybe you could try and simplify them a little
bit, or make a clear focal point - just so it doesn't look too busy.

Overall, greatttttt gallery. I love it. Just work on focal points, contrast, and sharpening
images and you'll be fine. I'm checking back for updates soon!!
-rae

Hello Ilia!!!

I'm here for your requested critique, sorry for the delay! Oh school, such the pain the in the rear end Anyhow, because you specified what it is that you'd like me to look at and give you critique on I'll focus on that for you!

To-Do List: So you asked initially what it is that you can do to your gallery for the best chance at promotions, and more or less overall display of your best work! I'll just go ahead and list off the things I think that you can remove from your gallery and why.

Banners: To be honest I love your banners you have a real knack for them and the composition is to die for! Honestly, your banners are better than mine at points of them, so kuddos there. However, I think the ones that could be all right to take out are (although it's part of the series challenge) the 'Streak of Madness' banner. Because with this banner, the coloring seems too contrasted and sort of clashes a little with the image of the woman. The colors could be toned down a little bit (never thought I'd hear myself say that!). It's the saturation that's too high. As well, the blending that you've done around her hair, although very nice, sort of sticks out in comparison to the rest of your banners where the blending is perfect. So, in this regard you would want to take this banner out because it doesn't display your banner skills the way they deserve to be.

Also in the series challenge, I would take out that last banner as well. Only because the same things are happening, where the blending on the smaller girl's hair to the left is a little more sloppy than your other banners and it sticks out more. As well, the blood isn't integrated into the banner very well (sorry!). It's just that it's very bright and looks like it was added to the banner instead of blended into it. So, just work on the blending the colors of a mostly black and white banner so that they fit both the mood and tone of the banner.

The final banner that I think you can remove is the banner beneath the powers that be banner. Honestly, with this one it's the saturation and grainy feel and bluriness of the banner that really takes away from it's appeal.

Other than that your banners are PERFECT and BEAUTIFUL!

Blends: Well the only one that I think can be removed is the 'Take Me As I Am' blend. Although it is very bright, it doesn't really seem to fit with the style you've created for yourself. Your work is very creative and done very well with good cuts and blending techniques and this just doesn't seem to come to par with the rest of your blends.

Sigs: Again, I love your creativity and yet simplicity, but honestly, I believe the signature that needs to be removed would be the last one. As awesome of a concept as that sig is, the fact that it has no focal point takes away from it. I like the smoke and all, but there is so much there that it took me a while to find the face and to really know that there was another one there. And just if there was more of a center point to look at (focal) then the sig would work better. However, I very much admire your creativity and your experimentation (as you said before) So that DEFINITELY is a great quality to have in an artist

Strengths: Your strengths are a tie between your banners and your blends. Honestly, I adore both of them sooooo much and am very jealous of both sections, so I'm a little torn between them. But if I had to choose one over the other I would choose banners because the composition and blending and coloring (for the most part) is just spot on each time. You use that small space so well and pack a lot in it without over crowding. SO JEALOUS

Weakness: I agree, your signatures seem to be your weak spots. I would just do some more experimentation with them to really get you used to them!

Advice: Well I sorta gave a lot of it above, but my final words on your gallery would be that I very much LOVE that you're experimenting and trying new things and really attempting to expand your horizons. That's something that all TDA artists struggle with some times, and it's nice that you're doing it However, now that you've done experiments, I think you need to them find what is most comfortable with you that you like to do and do fairly well and try sharpening those skills bit by bit. Until you define your style completely (which won't happen over night so don't worry ). But you're well on your way! Hope this helped and that it wasn't harsh! Sorry if it was

GOOD LUCK

jenn

!revolt: Thank you! I'll work more on image quality. That seems to be a recurring problem with me =P Thanks for pointing that out. =) Banners are the easiest medium to experiment in for me, so I'll work more with fine-tuning. That's an interesting point you make about focal points. I never put much thought into that before, but I definitely will now. Thanks so much for your awesome pimp! You've really helped me =)

Jane: Wower. Thank you so much.This is the best.

I've taken all your advice and removed all the pieces you pointed out, and I really think my gallery looks a whole lot better. Thank you so much <3 It was difficult to remove the 'take me as i am' blend because it took me FOREVER to get it somewhere I wanted it, but you're right. I added it in my gallery because I wanted to show that I could do a softer style, and not just this collage, hard-cut type of thing. But even so, that blend wasn't the greatest so I'll work more on that.

Thank you so much for all your help. I definitely needed that direction. You weren't harsh at all and you helped me SO much.

Thanks, both of you! <3

Had to come back in just to check on ya and you're right your gallery looks a lot better dearest And hooray for not being harsh! Glad the critique helped, and again sorry for the lateness... oh college!

Good luck with promotions!!!

Thank you! Your critique helped me a lot, so I can't thank you enough for that.

Thanks so much!

Hi Ilia, I'm here for your critique! We're focusing on icons, image quality, and text I believe

Okay image quality, that was one thing i noticed actually on your icons. The '5 super junior' icons don't seem to be HQ images. The one I think that is the best, is the bottom right (white t shirt and sunglasses). I think the the idea is nice, and the coloring but the quality is a bit low Maybe try the same thing with a set of HQ images? Your big icons I think work well. The quality is much better and the cuts are nice

As for your text, I think your doing well but this text I think would look better if the title was on the ;eft, and the penname on the right. Since the background is darker on the left, and the text is white, it would contrast nicely I think the biggest thing to work on is using the right font. Like this font, it doesn't really do much for me. The second word is a little hard to read, I think it says 'gravel?' And there's a wide space between. Maybe try a different font, and bringing the words closer?

As for the text on this blend, I find the white really hard to read. I think it would look better maybe in a gray and without the shadowing thingy (I don't know the correct term here haha).


Now as to what I think you should remove..here are the ones I think you should remove or edit:

This banner I would remove. I don't really think it's as good as your other banners, which really are . The girl's face on the left is reallly white and the blending on the girl on the right isn't as clear as your others.

I would edit this blend. The composition is lovely but his hand is a little blurry compared to his face. Maybe give it a good sharpen I would say to make sure you do that on some of the banners too. Like your Harry/Draco banner, Harry needs a bit sharpening.

And I'd remove the '5 super junior' icons until your sharpen them. The guy in the blue is very blurry and the skin tones don't seem to match . But the placement is good you just need to work on using more HQ images and the coloring of them

As I said earlier, I would move the font on the Harry/Draco banner to the left side of the banner, while moving the penname on the right.

Everything else I think is good to go! I love this banner and all your blends are just . Keep up the good work Ilia, you have an awesome gallery! I hope I helped, if you are confused on something or ever want advice on a graphic feel free to PM me!!

xo
Ashley

Hey llia,

Critique and sorry if I ramble a bit.

Blends:
Here I Come: Okay this one is simple but is one of my favourite of your blends as I like the composition of it and the idea. The cuts and the blending you have are good, they fit well and the actual overall presentation is very coherent and well put together. I'd watch the slight bit of image quality, he's a touch blurry when I pull it up to full screen. Colouring wise, I think you could experiment a bit more with this one, it suits well but it's also not popping a lot with me, now unfortunately I don't know your program as much as I would like, but try and play arond with it a bit more, increase the colours highlighted. In the bottom left of the boy, his wist and that is actually a bit blurry as it's cut into the paper. As the rest of the image is hard cutted, I would go back and hardcut that edge so it sits in well as it does on the other side of him. Another small thing and this may just be me, the writing on the actual paper is a bit distracting to me. If ther was anyway to remove it I would so it just blends into the background. The text itself, I like what you have done with the black box, but turn the text so it aligns with the black box and centres on it. Other then that, I really like this blend so fantastic work.

Care Package: Composition wise, this text rocks the socks off of things. You have done simple really well but it's full enough that it's okay. There isn't that much critique to have on this one, your text is good there isn't anything i'd change on it, it suits the image well and stands out fine. The only issue I actually have with this one is the boy that you've bot in there. Just watch your blending a bit, you've done really well in areas to make it sharp against the background, but in others, such as the bent knee, around the shoes it's a bit fuzzy. Also, i'm not sure whether this is the texture or a halo, but the cut on the face where he is looking is a little off for me. It's just not sitting well and doesn't look quite natural enough. Colouring wise, i'd just brighten up the guy so he stands out a bit more, his skintone is blending into the background a bit, and he's a bit purple. Play around with that colouring and see if you can get him to stand out against the white and stark of the frame he's sitting on. But this blend is fantastic for idea.

So Kiss Me: Okay this one stands out really well as a fantastic blend, there are just a few things that i'd change. Watch textures over the man's face, he has a few dots on his left hand side of his face that aren't as natural looking. The line from the image behind them is cutting through the people I think it's a world or something? See if you can get rid of that a bit or reduce the opacity, it fits well for everything BUT going through the skirt and then it stands out a bit too much and cuts her off. Along the top of the blend you will see a sort of line beneath the purple a couple of pixels down from the top of the blend, this does depend on your taste but to me, it detracts from the blend, and it runs along under the purple or on top of the purple i'm not quite sure which layer is on each. Text wise, it's really hard to read. Try and use a font colour that is taken from the blend itself but will stand out against the white, one of the darker grey/purples along the side might work, or the blue from the skirt. See how it looks and then experiment with fonts and see if there is another one that is a bit clearer. Other then that, this is a really pretty blend and one that you should be proud of as it stands out.

Intellectual: Okay this is one of my favourite of your blends. Just a few things that you need to watch and this one is simple. Your image quality on the two guys aren't the best, you could attempt to sharpen but don't go overboard or find larger images. In particular it's the coloured model that isn't standing out as much. Blending wise, just a slight fuzzy line that stands out alon the back of the black and white boy's head and a slight halo on the back of the coloured one. Text is fantastic, composition is great, and the only thing I think you should do is experiment a bit more with colouring to see if you can enchance a few of those colours to make it go 'pow'.

Banners:
Lost: Good use of black and white, your composition and use of shadows and play of light is also really good and something that a lot of artists I've seen can't really pull off. With this one, my major issue is the text and the quality of image on the right hand model. It's blended perfectly, there isn't anythin i'd change, but it detracts a little bit from the banner. The text, I think you could play around with fonts, for some reason and once again this could just be me and my randomness, the text that you want us to read, is being read secondly to the 'vistors must' because that one stands out more. Now your positioning of both are fantastic, but I would play around with colours, and with fonts, try a lighter colour, a light grey that stands out but makes the 'lost' stand out more. In the darkness, i'd do the same thing, and also play with spacing of letters. But this is a really good banner.

Powers: This is my favourite banner of yours, and one that I think is your best work and therefore there isn't much that I can critique. Your composition is great, your blending is fantastic, and it's got fantastic depth and amazing use of shadows. Text is good and readable but the only thing I would critique is to play with the spacing of the letters and increase it a smidge to see if that looks better in your eyes. But other then that, it's a fantastic banner, really something else.

Loose Gravel Great colouring. Great stock use. Great composition. I'd reduce the opacity of the lightening strike so it doesn't cut the girls in half too much and I'd actually shift the girls a part a little bit so that they fill up a bit more of the banner. The only major thing with this one I can see is the text. It's got good position and can be read, but I think this banner has fantsatic potential and one of the things that is pulling it back is text. Try and make the text one word, or using capital letters and colour pick from something in the background that is light enough to go over the top of the stock. Text is the only thing that I can see that needs to be improved on this banner. Colouring wise, you do monotone very well. It's not too overpowering, but it's sitting really well.

Murder: This one has good stock usage, there are a few things that i'd change, the people's heads are bordering on too far down, i'd shift them up a little so that they sit a bit better and the chins aren't close to getting cut off. Id also shift them apart a little mre, not too much, just a litle. Text wise you're doing well with this one, i'd shift murder in the bathroom to the other side and twilight princess to the right it will make the text stand out more that you want and twilight princess will be able to be read on the right hand side. My main critique I guess with this one is the colouring. I'm still torn between it, it's really eye catching and somethin that I appreciate but at the same time, Draco doesn't look that natural in skin tone. Very blue, but the consistency of the colouring throughout the entire banner is amazing and really something to see so giant kudos.

Signatures:

Sympathy: Love every bit of this, drop the text a little, don't change anything else. It's my favourite thing in your gallery and the blending is amazing.

New Life: Okay, this is a neat concept and you pull it off reasonably well, there are a few things though that I'd change. The bars in the front, one of them is covering her eye and it's rather distracting, try and shift them across or change their positioning a touch so that way her major features aren't covered. Colouring wise it's consistent and really good actually, the colouring is eye catching and definitely suits the type of sig you're going after. Text is the main drawback on this one. And believe me, we all hate text, drop the text down, and i'd choose a different colour and a different font. Experiment a bit. Cud eo the starkness of the image and the mood you are creating, try just a simple font and play with the spacing for it. But once again this comes down to your own taste and what you like.

Icons:
You only have one, I like the composition and the use of light and shadows, I wouldn't actually change anything in the icon .

Overall:
Removing things, I'd remove the 'lost' banner, it doesn't have the same sort of pizzazz as your others do, i'd change the text on the murder and the loose gravel ones and keep those in. By far my favourites is your power one. With blends, there are none that I remove, but I think you're top two are the top two. Simpler seems to work better with you. Signatures, I would make something to replace the new life one, and then remove it from your gallery, it's not up to the same standard as your top one. Colourisations are fantastic, and your icons make more but you are getting good at them.

Try and play more with colour, and experiment with using colours in your sigs and the like instead of monotone, banners you're fantastic at working with stock but text is the thing major thing that I can see in your gallery. If worse comes to worse, keep it simple, keep it clear but I think you have amazing potential and you are so close. If there is anything i've said that you want clarified or you think i'm dead wrong, please feel free to PM me and i'll go into more depth with you.

Hope any of this helped.

Beth

Best day ever.

Ashley: Thank you so much for your in-depth critique. I really needed it and it's helped me a lot

I HATE icons. I just can't do them. They're too small XD I'll see what I can do, but I've been trying icons for about a year and I haven't made any decent ones.

I've gotten rid of some of those older banners because I've made some better ones (I think they're better? XD) Thanks for the text advice. Text is my enemy =(

I see what you mean about that blend. That was weird because I'd gone with this grungey style on lots of my banners and I kind of wanted to show that I could do something different, you know? I'll work more on that style.

On the 'Here I Come' blend, I don't know if I can do anything about his hand being blurry because that's the way the photo was taken. The photographer purposely focused on his face and not his hand. I suppose that's not the right image for the concept of my blend, but it was in my brain and I had to do it at the time XD I might redo it at some point.

Thank you SO much. This has helped me a TON! <3

Beth: Thank you much. =)

Here I Come: I understand what you mean about the coloring, but with this idea, I kind of wanted to keep it simple and literal - I wanted it to actually look like he was reaching out of the piece of paper, y'know? I didn't feel like there was a lot of room to experiment with coloring with this idea. Also, I had the black box and the text tilted on purpose. I didn't want the text centered in the box. It was just my vision XD Thank you! I'm glad you like it. =)

Care Package: Thank you! Text has always been my enemy so it's good to know I did well on this one. Coloring is proving to be a problem more recently. I'll pay more attention next time. And the blending... I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses, but you should see the dinosaur-computer I'm working on. The monitor is grainy and I can barely see what I'm doing XD I'll work more on it, though.

So Kiss Me: I'm glad it stands out! I was kind of trying out a different style. Before this blend, I'd been going with that grungey style on blends and stuff, so I wanted to show that I could do 'pretty' blends too. I understand what you mean about everything. I'll fix it up or make a different 'pretty-style' blend. Thanks for your advice =)

Intellectual: Yay! This is the only blend that came out EXACTLY as I'd envisioned. I was quite proud. XD Image quality, again, proves to be my problem. I think I've grown a lot as a graphics artist since I made this blend, though. I've learned some new tricks so I'll see what I can do about the quality of the two models. Thanks for pointing out the flaws. =)

Lost: The 'visitors must' is actually part of the stock, but I now see what you mean about it standing out... That's a good point. I'll play around with that. Focal point is also my problem. My creative eye is all over the place! XD Thanks

Powers: Yay! Thank you! I'm glad you like it. I quite like it too, if I may XD That's also a good point about tracking. I'll fix it up.

I've deleted Loose Gravel and Murder because I think they have become obsolete by the two newest banners. Thank you so much for your awesome advice <3

Sympathy: Thank you! I actually wanted to add the word 'tenderness' to it, but it didn't work well so I quit. XD

New Life: Concept, I think, I'm good at. It's the execution that always falls short with me XD The bars are actually not a separate image. It's all one image - all I did was the coloring and the text. I will definitely take your advice and come up with a better signature to replace this one, because I totally see where you're coming from. You make very valid points - I certainly can't argue with you =P

Thank you SO so much. This is very helpful. It's encouraging to hear that I am 'close'. I appreciate every bit of advice I've gotten from both of you. =)

Love everything so much!
I'm so impressed because everything is just so pretty
I can't wait to see MORE MORE MORE.

I especially love ++this one!

<3 Emma

*apparates in*

O hai.

Still, your blends are a thing of beauty. I especially adore the first one. Very dark, tense emotion(oh god, now that sounds awkward), but not plain nor boring. Good stuff. The second blend I ... like, but only the left half of it. I'm not really fond of the outside font and the lips, but I like the stamp frame idea.

Your banners are nice but some of them are overly bright/contrasted/etc. The sensibility one, though my favorite, is quite eye-searing. *shields eyes* OH GOD THEY BURN.

Your first signature, same bright problem(that sounds like it would be a pun. hmm.), and the second, the placement is a little odd for the bottom person, whose chin/mouth is cut off. Also, I think the textures are rather unnecessary, personally, I would still enjoy it, or enjoy it more, without that cloth thing/water ripples? Negative space is Good. XD Ironic-sounding, isn't it.

Your colorizations, I don't have much to comment about, so I'm not going to blab some random stuff about them. That's all! See you around!

hey, hun here with you requested critique!

your blends are your strongest pieces. The composition is very well done and i love their concepts but the image quality is holding them back. I think the best way to remedy the problem with image quality is to find HQ quality pictures from places like weheartit and sweet and talented and also to take your time with image prep. (sharpening, blur, etc.).

+this is your strongest blend

+this IMO your weakest since it's been here for a while and it really doesn't come up to par with your newest graphics.

for your banners the composition is faboulous and you've gotten blending down but something i've noticed is that your banners looks overcontrasted so watch out for that and the image isn't quite a major issue here. i think blurring and fade out would fix it up quite a bit. and in your newest banner, the picture is a bit oversharpened so watch out for that but i really like it.

the blending on your first sig is a bit iffy i can see through the skull and on the far right i can see through her arm so watch out for that and the graphic seems a bit overcontrasted so watch out for that. I really like your second one.

your icons are wonderful the cuts and creativity of them are amazing

overall; i think if you would remove some graphics i would remove the older ones since they are not up to par to your newest ones. watch out for blending sometimes as there are some see throughs and such and the only thing to fix image quality is to find better quality pictures and take your time with image preparations until you're happy with it. but you're doing great hun so keep it up!

any questions feel free to PM me and i hope i wasn't mean!


-ashley <3

Emma: Thank you! I'm so glad you like my gallery! If only my muse would keep up with me, I'd have more to show you! XD Thanks so much.

northerlywind: Thanks for coming by! Blends are still my favorite =P I don't know if I agree with you or not on the over-contrasted idea. I think the contrast, though intense, adds depth. I rather like the effect. It makes the graphic look strong, don't you think? Thank you for your input =) I see what you mean about that BW signature, but it just looked awfully empty without any of the textures =/ And that image is one; if I resized it so that his chin was NOT cut off, it would be far too small. Thank you so much for your pimp! You shouldn't have even done me XD Thanks!

Ashley: Thank you! I have always loved blends because there is so much space =D I love that Intellectual blend because it's the only one that came out EXACTLY as I'd envisioned, so it's difficult for me to part with it. XD But I see what you mean about it not being up to par.

I appreciate your critique, but I don't think I agree with you about some of my graphics being over-contrasted. As I said before, I think it adds a nice effect to the image, and it makes the image pop. I'll see if I can tone it down a little, but I don't want my images to look flat, as they did before I started using this technique.

I'll work on getting better images to work with, and I'll try to fix my quality. Thanks so much for this awesome critique! I really appreciate your help!

Here to pimp!

Blends: I love your top blend, it's absolutely beautiful. The composition is just stunning. I really like your 'intellectual' blend, it's very... thingy. Dynamic and stuff. I think the blending on the people maybe needs a little bit of work, particuarly the black and white guy.

Banners: Your banners are so lovely! I love the 'sorry your not' banner, the colouring is lovely. I think the fourth and fifth banners have a bit too much going on, maybe just take out one or two images, or lower the saturation of the background a bit? On the fifth one, the background is very vibrant and is sort of overpowering the girl and the text. I love the last one, it feels very focused, both simple and interesting.

Sigs: Love the sigs! The text on the second one is a bit lost, but I completely adore the blending and composition... the skull looks AMAZING. *worships* The last one is a bit simple, maybe another image, or play with the text some more?

Colourisations: Awesome. I can't do these at all, so I bow down in awe.

Big Icons: Adore the cuts on these, they work really well.

Overall, I love your gallery!

Hey, psi! (Sorry it took me so long to get to this.)

Thanks for the awesome pimp! Your advice for my banners is really helpful. I'm going to experiment with new techniques on my banners to see if I can get them right =P

Thanks! I don't think I'm very good at signatures, so it was really nice to see that you like them Again, I'll practice more. =)

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like my stuff

<sub>hallo(: here with your requested critique.

blends --

[this] is creative and cool, but i'd probably remove this one. it's not up to par with the other two - the soft blending doesn't work here, text is a bit out of place, a bit busy. it's a good blend, but i feel your other two are stronger.
[this] is just...wow. the coloring is absolutely amazing and it's good great depth to it. the blending is perfect and the composition is stunning. the only piece of critique i have for you would be text - it's a bit thick-ish. perhaps just try perpetua, size 12-ish, with 200 tracking, lower case, and no drop shadow?
[this] i have no critique for. it's so simple and striking and amazing. seriously. wow. <333

banners --

[this] is very well-done. the coloring is nice, but perhaps up the contrast a tiny bit to bring out those nice colors. it's a bit different from your others banners, which is good =D for the text, i feel it looks a bit slapped on. i know this isn't very helpful, but i'm not quite sure what to do with it. when making a base, try and add places for it. like on a ledge from a stock, or something. [this] banner by alora is a good example. so just be careful with that(:
[this] is gorgeous-full(: i love the coloring, though the girl is a bit more yellow than james. also, it's a bit over-sharpened. so fix that up and it's a perfect banner. you blend stock images together really well! perhaps, add some text? right next to the girl? not sure how that would look but you could try it ♥
[this] is perfection. how can you possibly fit all those characters on one canvas? i know this isn't very helpful, but seriously, this is gorgeous.
i'd remove [this] and [this] as they're a bit too busy and lacking focal points. the second is too red and over-contrasted /: doesn't showcase how much talent you seriously have. <3
[this] would be absolute perfection if you brightened it up a tad (though that could be my monitor, not sure) as the stock/face is hard to make out. it's well blended and the simple text really fits. nice job(:♥

signatures --

[this] i might remove, once you make a few more. the coloring is a bit off and the image quality isn't the best. the text is really creative though!(:
[this] i love. so so much. your monochrome work has such great depth to it, which is amazing to see. the text is well done, as well. i really don't have critique for this one. but definitely do make more sigs, okay? ♥

icons --

lovely cuts & black and white(: i'd definitely like to see you make more of these, though. (:

overall --

first off, i love your colorizations. i can't critique colorizations as i don't do them myself. & i notice you don't use text a lot, which seems to fit your style. when doing text, it's honestly all experimentation. you just have to spend time on it, trying out different fonts and such. seeing where it fits. looking at other artists' work and tutorials is really helpful. some of your work, like i said, doesn't even need it, imo. as for image quality, which you listed as a weakness, i only noticed really in the first blend and first sig. i'd just pick higher quality images, as it's really a pain. but if you have to use those pictures, blur/sharpen slightly and check out the image quality . otherwise, keep doing what you're doing. everything in here is lovely. it's obvious that you've got one of those creative-funky-amazing styles and i'd love to see you continue with it. just watch out for things like over-sharpening a bit and over-contrasting and whatnot. hopefully this critique is a bit helpful and what you were looking for(: feel free to PM me with any questions on this or anything else.

<3kara</sub>

Yay, Kara! Thank you so much

I have taken your advice about which graphics to remove. All of your critical points about them were accurate and made sense. I think my gallery looks a lot better now because of it =P

I'm still having a touch of trouble with signatures, though I've made a new one. Is it any better? =/

Eek! I'm glad you like the Edmund banner! That's actually the start of a new stage in my graphic-making life. I discovered how to properly use gradients and that was the first graphic that came after =P

I just finished my entry for the seven deadly sins ultimate challenge, and I used all high-quality images for those, and I must say, they look pretty awesome. XD Thanks for your advice. I'll just have to get used to better taste. =P

Wow. A "creative-funky-amazing style"? That's so encouraging! Thank you so much. Your critique has been loooads helpful. <3

<sub>hey ilia! i'm here with your critique [:
hm. i'll just go in sections, cause you didn't say anything about going
through each piece [;

okay.:

blends: okay, you are really, really good at these. i'm not, so i'll try to offer as much help as i can. hmm. okay. i really love the composistion of your caspian one with the whole idea of the story coming to life out of the book. the only thing i can say to work on is the blending of the people in there. it's really amazing and stuff and i can tell it took a long time to get all those images together, but you can see faded off pieces (lucy's head, susan's head/back, peter's left side and edwin's right arm.) however, i like the text and the coloring. it's really, really pretty. your second blend is awesome too, really. just the blending of the girl into everything isn't exactly completely perfect. okay. pleasee make more of these, though, because srsly, you're amazing at them. and you said something about soft coloring. these are monochrome soft coloring. i love them.

banners: i'm seriously no expert, just a junior artist, but you are totally awesome at these things. the only thing that i can pick on it your coloring. in the first two banners have some coloring issues. they need to be matched up, the people, that is. in the caspain one, susdan is less orange/red than caspian. so just work on that [: and in the second one, the girl is much too over exposed compared to the guy. the only advice i can offer is to use the 'match color' setting on photoshop. i think you have photoshop, right? and then add your coloring layers. it'll make everything match, like it was one image to begin with [: your last two banners are amazing. i'm going to eat them [:

signatures: i seriously have no crit. please make more.

overall: i love your work. really, i do. if you just work on a few things like harcutting and coloring, you'll have a promotion, i promise. you can tell susan loves your work [; and so do many many people including myself. so just keep trucking along and make more stuff! hope i wasn't too harsh and i helped a little [:


pfft. that was alotalotalot of words.</sub>

Hi, Jordan! Thanks for helping out!

Blends:
Thanks! Blends are definitely my favorite - I feel like there's so much room to experiment and try new styles! I appreciate your critique on the two that I had. I'll try to clean up my cutting. I'll admit that I didn't think anyone would notice my messy cutting job since the characters would be all up in the clouds. >_< I'll work more on being precise. =)

Banners:
Thank you! It actually took me a long time to get used to working with banners. I didn't like them because of how skinny they were. But now I like them. =) For the second one, my intention was that the girl was to be part of the background, but I guess that didn't go over too well XD I'll work on the people's faces, for sure. I don't have photoshop, so I guess I'll have to match their colors manually. Ahh! Don't eat my art! XD

Signatures:
Oh, gawd. Thanks! I've had a really hard time with signatures, which doesn't really make sense because I love blends, and signatures are just mini-blends. XD Thank you, in any case.

Overall:
Thank you so much! I'll definitely work on the points you mentioned. It will be worth it, for sure. And guess what! Susan has placed me on the highest-ranking MA list! So thank you for all your help. I wouldn't be doing this well without the help from my superiors, like you.

Hello Ilia! I'm here for your requested critique
I'll critique each section of your gallery, and then say overall what I think you should work on. First, though, let me say that I love your gallery, you're well on your way to getting promoted!

ICONS
Hmm well, I think you should make some more. The large ones you have are amazing - keep it up.

COLORIZATIONS
These are lovely! I've never made one before so I don't know how exactly to critique one XD

SIGNATURES
These are good - the compostions are spot on. For the first one, the hard cut is a bit blurry, especially around the edges of his head. Try using a smaller eraser size, as the large sizes often make the edges blurred. For banners it's probably okay, but here it looks a bit out of place with the other hard edges of the money and cards. The ... chain? behind him has this minor problem as well. It's an easy fix though and isn't totally major, so it's okay. The second one's image quality, especially on the smaller person, is a bit rough. Using the retouch tool and blurring the parts that are somewhat pixelly usually helps. Or, a gaussian blur works well too. The text is pretty sharp as well. What I do (because my text functions completely suck ) is make a new image that's literally 3000x500 pixels, transparent and make the text on that, then resize it to usually 100 pixels wide or smaller because the sharp edges disappear. Idk how that works, but it does. XD Make more of these, they're good.

BANNERS
Again, for the hard cut, it's rather blurry around the edges. The coloring and blending are excellent, though! I love the second one No critique on that one. The third one almost has too much contrast. It seems as though you don't really like text, as you haven't put it on a couple of your banners. I think everyone hates text except me XD But really, though, no matter how much you dislike using it, it's better to experiment with it and just try to make it work. Don't be afraid to abuse the critique corner about text, people give amazing tips. The fourth one is awesome as well, though the picture of Edmund that's in the foreground doesn't quite match the rest of the background. And the fifth one is amazing, no critique on that one either! Probably the main thing you'll need to work on for these is text.

BLENDS
The idea of the first one is awesome! The crown that you have above Emma's head seems rather out of place, compared to the train and the paper background though. The text on the lightbulb could have been in a different font as well, the one now doesn't really stand out too much. The second one is lovely, though the green monochrome doesn't really do anything for me. I love the second one! By Ben's head though, the blending's a bit sloppy up at the top. A hard cut around his head would probably have been better. The curtain by the girl's head on the fourth one seems a bit out of place, as does the rain? that's next to it. The thing that you'll ned to work on for these is blending and composition.

OVERALL
Overall, you've got an awesome gallery - just make more! XD
text - sharpness and putting it in your graphics
compostion - a couple of blend's images seem out of place
blending - a couple of the blend's blending is sloppy in places
hard cuts - blurry around edges, use a smaller size eraser
As for graphics to delete from your gallery ... I'm not meaning to sound mean and horrible and evil by saying this, just so you know. I always feel awful telling people this D: But probably the book cover, as it's not as good as your other blends. Also, probably the second signature, as the text is really sharp and pixelly.

And there you go. I'm sorry if I was too harsh
You're doing amazing, Ilia! Keep up the awesome work!!!
Hmm and I just realized that I worked backwards in your gallery, sorry about that!

Thank you, Dani!

I actually am in the process of making some anime icons right now so I hope to get those up soon

Colorizations are my absolute favorite, but they don't count for much of anything around here. Go figure. =P

Signatures... they will never like me. XD Thanks, though. At least the composition is okay. I see what you mean about the edges. That's just me being lazy, to be honest =P And for the second one... do I have a retouch tool? If I do, I've never used it or seen it XD For text, I've figured out my own trick to make it better, like you. Thanks for pointing out those tips!

Banners: You're definitely not the first person to comment on my 'too much contrast' issue, and I really don't know what to do about it. I love when my graphics have tons of contrast, but it seems like it's a problem here. I think lots of contrast adds depth and interest to my graphics, but that's not the consensus on this site... Should I appease the people here to get promoted or should I do what I like? (Philosophical, I know.) I'm not afraid of text, though I know it may look like it. It's just that sometimes when I make graphics, I don't think they need text. I'll experiment more with text, though. The Edmund banner - the one in the foreground isn't supposed to 'match' so to speak. =)

Blends: I <3 blends I have the crown on the first one to keep with the 'queen' theme and sort of poke fun at it. The text that's on the lightbulb is supposed to be part of the background. I hadn't intended for that text to be legible. On the Caspian blend, There's a bit of the smoke texture poking out from behind his head - is that what you're seeing? I remember doing a tedious hardcut around the top of his head. >_<

Don't feel awful! I'll take your suggestions. The more I look at those images, the more I don't like them either. =P

Thank you so much for the in-depth critique! All of your points have been extremely helpful. <3

Okay, so I dropped in after seeing your top blend in a challenge and it drove me crazy with beauty...
I probably wouldn't have done that if I'd known everything else in here would leave me completely insane with love and jealousy
Can't comprehend your Caspian blend, so I won't try but it is definitely excruciatingly awesome. That is a fact.
Lulu x

paper_flowers: Wow, thank you! This is the best surprise ever I'm glad you like my stuff! Thanks for stopping by - this comment made my day! <3

hi hun!
im sam and im here with your requested critique.
(on a side note, im not as serious as i sound really, the seriousness just seems to come out when i crit xD)
you have some really strong pieces in your gallery, like your first blend, that show off your graphic making abilities really well.
however, some graphics in here are holding you back either with messy blending or bad image quality.
I like to critique each graphic so that you can see over all trends.
what your doing right, and what you need to work on.

blends:
the first blend is one of my favorite pieces in here.
it uses negative space really well, and the simple text suits the blend.
there is also a clear focus point for the graphic, its lovely.

while i think the second blend has a lot of potential, it just doesnt work for me.
the hard cut on emma, is slightly fuzzy around the edges, which doesnt go with the rest of the hard cuts on the banner.
i also feel that the text behind emma could be removed as well,
its kind of distracting and the font choice could have been better.
i really do like the idea, and composition of this blend though,
it fits together nicely.
however, i would also maybe tweak the colouring a bit. give it something to make it pop.

the third blend is stunning.
really, the colouring is amazing, the blending flawless, the composition beautiful.
im seriously blown away. its gorgeous hun! fantastic job.

the fourth blend is good.
i like the composition of it, and the B&W colouring is done well.
the only thing i cant make up my mind on with this blend is the stock use.
i think i like it xD
the thing i think could make it better is instead of using that other flower stock,
the one below and kinda across from the rose, would be to just use the rose again.

banners:
the first banner is honestly a bit cluttered.
its hard to see what the background images are and the fading of edwards shoulder doesnt really work.
however, i think the colouring on this is really nice.

i like the second banner.
the blending and the composition are both well done.
the only think i would say is the banner seems a tad washed out, but other than that great job.

the third banner has amazing colouring!
its gorgeous, the only thing letting it down is the blending on the girl.
when i looked at the full set though, i saw the lust banner.
the lust banner is perfect! i really think it is, the blending is great, the stock is well used and not too cluttered.
also the colouring is quite an achievement, you managed green colouring with out making the people look sea sick!
so yeah, i would probably show the lust banner from that set instead as i think its a better banner.

the fourth banner is gorgeous!
the colouring, the blending, the composition are all fab.
so great job on that one.

the fifth banner is my favorite
it uses negative space really well, the text is amazing, and the composition is epic.
i really do love this banner

signatures:
with the first signature, i really like the idea of it,
but the kind of over sharpening effect thing on it? doent really work i think.
however, the colouring is really nice, its just yeah, it looks a bit funny with the effect on it.

the second signature could use some more colouring to bring out the better parts of it.
the hard cut on the guy is really good, except for around the hair where its kind of fuzzy.
all together, im not sure that this is the best you can do, especially judging by your banners.

(im going to skip the colourisations because they dont count towards promos so yeah)

icons:
that first big set of icons are really good
the cuts on them are interesting and i love the colouring.
the only one i dont like is the first from the right on the second row, but thats just because of the red blurry thing >.<
however, over all these are really well done.

i LOVE the four big icons.
the cut on the one on the right on the second row is amazing.
these icons are beautiful, great cuts and blending and the b&w works really well.
stunning!

overall, there are some really strong and some weaker pieces in your gallery. however, the stronger pieces do show what your capable of and are a good indication of you top skill level. i think a gallery clean out, removing the weaker pieces would be really good for your gallery. the things to focus on would be your blending, which i know can be better than some of you graphics show. also try experimenting some with your colouring and composition, because experimenting is always good xD. you show tones of potential and i cant wait to see you in junior blue!
anyway, feel free to pm me with any questsions about anything i said, or leave me a comment or yeah. i love to talk to people and i promise i dont bite >.<
<3 sam

Sam: Thank you for the awesome critique!

I'm glad you like my first blend. I'm rather fond of it myself. =)

I took your advice and removed the Emma blend, though I would like to replace it with another one of that style. Thanks for your input on my blends.

My banners I think are the pieces that have grown the most since my time here on TDA. At first I HATED banners, but now I've been experimenting different styles on banners and I think I'm getting the hang of them. I removed the Edward banner, and since you said that you think the Lust banner is the best of the bunch, I'm going to make that the display banner. Thanks so much.

Signatures hate me. >_< I understand that something looks funny on that signature, but would you be able to explain a little more why the effect doesn't work? I don't mean to be a jerk - I just want to learn to have the eye to see these things before they happen.

I got rid of the other signature and replaced it with a new one. Is it better than the old one?

Icons are something new for me. I usually shy away from them because... I hate them XD But I had to make these Code Geass ones for my brother. The one icon you don't like - the red blurry thing is part of the original image. I can't get rid of it. Thanks!

Thank you so much! I'm definitely going to take your advice about which pieces to remove. Your critique has really helped me a lot. Thanks again! <3

hi! here to pimp! first i have to say that you have a wonderful gallery...it is amazing and you deserve a promotion.
your blends are speechless...perfect...i love the first one and the last
you are geat at banners too...i have nothing to say ...
at signatures...maybe here you should work harder but the they are fine.
the icons are ok but i think that you should work more at the cuts.

i wish you a Merry Chrismas and a Happy New Year!
claudia.

Hey Ilia, I'm here with your request critique
I'll go through this section by section paying closer attention to your banners and signatures which you have mentioned as a weak point. If I see anything that should be taken out or put up for YBW I'll make sure to mention those as well. And here we go

blends
Wow Okay, so it seems as if you've definitely got the basics of blends down and then some. These are really nice Much better than I can ever seem to manage
So I'll just sort of say what could be done to improve on these graphics or just what to keep in mind for the future
With the first blend, Nicole is looking a little sweaty it seems so making her forehead seem as perfect as the rest of her skin would be a good place to start. Also, make sure that if you have more than one character on any graphic that the skin tones alway match. Here, large Nicole is much too warm-toned and appears out of place with the rest of the piece. Try to always create balance with colouring
Second blend has one very minor issue. Text is a little hard to read. Switch fonts, and BAM, done
Last blend is gorgeous! I love it SO much! The smoke goes over the faces a little though which looks a bit wonky and distorted.. fix that up a little and it'll be completely stunning. Once again, text is a bit of an issue.. first of all, its too white as well as the 'x' seeing as you have no white in the graphic.. just choose a light shade of grey from the piece, I think And the font is bugging me a little but I don't know what to recommend in lieu so if you see a better choice, go with it, if not, leave it as it is, its still AWESOMESAUCE!!

banners
Okay, banners.. Lots of these. I agree that these are a bit weaker. I'll try and point out what to do to fix them up a bit and hopefully that helps
1. Move the text off of his face, so just down a bit to the right. As well, make the centre James stand out more.. its too blended into the background as it is. Help draw the eye in. other than that, super gorgeous Great work. Simple with nice colouring.
2. I'd say that this banner should go. Colouring is patchy, blending needs work as well as text.. not much of a focal point and the centre characters are too blurry and overcontrasted.
3. This one could also possibly go since you have so many banners. The skin tones need some touching up to make sure that they match a little better and the text isn't working. The quote is really long and squarish and then the main text isn't as eye catching as the quote.. font choices need some work.. try getting rid of the quote and playing around with placement. Perhaps move the main text to where the quote was and play around with your fonts and stacking Otherwise, this is also a fairly nice banner
4. Really pretty Few minor touchups, however. There's a blue halo on the girls left arm.. as well try making her pop out from the background a little more other than that, very nice.
5. Ah, a large set Okay.. well, first things first, although its a set, the colouring of the banners doesn't really match one another, making it not seem very uniform. I would pick the best and then put them in your gallery as individual pieces instead. My favourites are personally Greed, Envy and Sloth. However, greed needs a simple fix on text.. the white blends into the background too much - i think that a gradient overlay would look quite nice Envy needs the skin tones a smidge closer and Sloth needs new font and make the girl stand out a little more. Great job, other than those minor adjustments though
6. Nice job on the blending but the colouring of the boy and the rest of the banner don't match.. fix that up and make sure he still stands out and you'll be good to go. Try adding some text as well Nice job.
7. I like this one Watch out for the image quality of the girl, she looks quite grainy to me. Also, try making her stand out more against the background. Other than that, nice job!

signatures
Signatures are also a weaker spot, as you acknowledged. There aren't many so I'll try and go through them with you a bit better than the banners.
So, the first signature is much too blurred. The skin doesn't appear real anymore. If you're going for the paint effect, make sure you don't do it halfway or else it doesn't translate. If you're trying to fix low image quality, move on to another image. Also, the couple aren't blended in quite well enough.. there's a lot of black around them.. And lastly, the skin tone of the large Adrien Brody doesn't match the smaller image. I would also recommend perhaps adding some smoke stock or textures to the piece.. this could help with the blending issue and add a lot of drama to the piece I like the concept, so just try adding in a few things and adjusting your effects and such
Second signature is a litlte confusing. Its all very out of focus and the pink is a bit distracting. Its a cool concept but I'm not quite sure what could be done to fix it. The text is also hard to read.. I might take this out of your gallery.. its not quite showing off your talents to the best of their abilities.

colourizations
Both are quite pink and image quality is quite low. Try comparing a normal coloured picture to what you're doing to make sure that things look natural as you do them. It's always good to have a reference point, I find They show some potential though and they aren't considered in promos so don't worry about that. Keep experimenting and have fun with them They're definitely not bad by any means.. quite good for just starting out, they're quite tricky So yeah, just try and be as natural as possible and don't use mostly one colour because it can become a bit overwhelming.

icons
I love these, nothing to really comment on.

overall
So, you've got quite a nice gallery here and you show loads of potential A lot of your pieces are really nice. I would say watch out for your colouring and make sure skin tones are balanced and your focal point stands out amongst the background in your graphics. Also, keep experimenting with your text.. try adding gradients and drop shadows and try some different placements. If you're not quite happy with something, keep at it no matter how frustrating it is. It'll help you learn new things for next time I would recommend the Caspian blend for YBW Its amazing. I love your gallery.. might end up stalking it Sorry if you found this harsh at all and PM me anytime if you want help with anything ever. If you have any questions or comments about the crit feel free to send me a message, I'd love to hear back and see how you're progressing! Best of luck

FedoraDuo: Thank you! <3 I really appreciate your in-depth critique.

Blends are my favorite things to make, so I'm glad I'm actually getting something about them right XD With the first blend, her forehead was sweaty in the original image. I tried to get rid of it as best I could, but in the end she still looked a little shiny. I understand where matching skint ones could be important, but with this graphic, my intention was to separate the large image of Nicole with the image of the couple. I tried to do that by changing the coloring on them. But I can see where that could look like a mistake. Thanks =)

Thank you so much =)

I took your advice about moving the text on that banner. Thanks for that.
I got rid of that banner. Thanks again =P
I'm going to keep this banner just because I'm very proud of it. I understand that the quote is kind of long and distracting, but I made it for a friend and it's close to my heart, so to speak. But thank you for pointing out its mistakes.
I'm thinking of getting rid of that set altogether. They're starting to get old =P
On that one, the coloring of the boy isn't supposed to match the rest of the banner. I had intended for him to be foreground and the rest to be background.
That one's getting old, too. I might get rid of that one soon =P

Thank you so much <3

Ugh. Signatures hate me so much >_<

I see what you mean. I didn't want to use a different image because that was the one that fit my vision perfectly. Also, I wasn't trying to go for the 'paint effect'. I'm not sure I agree with you in that it doesn't even resemble skin anymore, but I'll keep in mind not to go too overboard in the future. Again, I was trying to differentiate between the foreground and background images with the coloring.
I took out the other signature and added a new one =)

Colorizations are really fun to me. It's a shame they're not considered for promotions =P I have been doing them for a while, but I must admit that my computer situation has been changing constantly for the past few months. I've had about four different monitors. So a skin tone on one monitor looks perfectly fine, but on another it looks insanely pink. I'll try to find a good balance.

Thank you so much! You pointed out a lot of very useful points for me to improve on. I'll keep experimenting to see what I can do. You weren't harsh at all! Thanks again

Um...WOW! Have you applied for promotions yet? Because you really badly need to. Just look at this blend! I've never seen such amazing blending on a blend before that also comes with composition, text, and coloring that suit it. Geesh, where did you learn this stuff? And this banner? :o I'm very impressed, amazing.

You should work on coloring a bit more, though. Your monochrome and black and white are amazing, but regular coloring for you isn't up to the same par as the rest of your stuff. This banner seems dull and in the Edmund banner, he's too red. Really, that's probably the only thing you need to work on.

Good luck with promotions!

I'M STILL SO EXCITED FOR YOU!! It's made me hyper. I'm so freaking proud of you and I hope you enjoy your light blue as much as I enjoy seeing you in it! It's so lovely Almost as lovely as your graphics

CONGRATS ON THE PROMO!!!!!! <333

wow, your stuff is really awesome! congrats on the well deserved promotion.

congrats on your promo!!
your blends are breath-taking

HA I told you!! Well I didn't really but I so stalked your gallery for ages in the midst of going to tell you.. but anyway enough of my ramblings.. CONGRATULATIONS!!!