RKOwnage's Graphics Thread

[RKOwnage]

I know I'm not even close to one of the best here, and I probably never will be, but here's my work so far. Instead of making a new topic every time I post a graphic, I'll just bump this one with the new image. Please rate them and tell me what I can do to improve them if they aren't finalized.

Finalized:

Unfinished:

Edited July 20, 2006 by RKOwnage

[Guest [ Tyler ]]

None of them are overly impressive, all are very basic with bad backgrounds. Here's what i think...it's harsh but fair:

The first Shannon graphic has one of the ugliest backgrounds I've ever saw. It looks very poor quality and it's ugly. It appears to tried to pull off a grungy image but you failed miserably. Why does the background fade from dark to light? I would work on starting with a stock, blending some not a lot of brush strokes on the stock and then blend some more brushes/stocks until it looks best. You achieve the best backgrounds that way. You're blending is horrible aswell. I mean kudos for trying but you didn't do so hot on it. Dont just change the blending light/colors and then use the eraser, I'm not sure how to tell you on how to improve blending...my best advice is to play around with effects, filters, and whatever else you think of to achieve the best look. Text is very choppy and grunge fonts suck, they're overrated. You also need some effects on the cut.

This needs a border, a better background, better cut with effects, better text, and better blending. What the hell did you do to the background? Brush and blur it? Good backgrounds require more then that, refer to the Shannon Moore image for more help on how to improve backgrounds. When blending NEVER blur it that much, REGARDLESS on how blurry/ugly the background is. Once again, play around with effects when trying to acheive a nice blending effect. As for the text, it's boring and bevelled. Bevel rarely ever looks good on signatures or splashes. I'm not a text genius but my advice is to play around with the fonts. The cut needs some kind of effect, maybe duplicate the layer, soft light and give it a blur. Adjust the colors as needed?

This RVD signature is your best but still poor. Everything looks wrong, and you need a border. The cut is boring and you need to work on the background along with blending. Rather then typing all that up again, just re-read the other critiques for help on how to improve those. When using text and you intend to make it two lines like that, do it in seperate layers. It looks best because it gives you more control over the text.

Keep trying and don't be discouraged from my critique. If you follow the things suggested your images will improve.

[RKOwnage]

Ugh, I can't believe I forgot borders lol...

But yeah, I'm good at taking criticism, I'll just try and improve the graphics.

[The Mask of Norro]

Don't say you won't be one of the best either-- if you were there when I posted my first graphic on EWB, you'd probably think the same thing AJ probably did: "Wow, this guy sucks. I doubt he'll be going very far"

Now I'm considered one of the best and I'm taking graphics as my profession. I came a long way, you could too, you just have to keep up the effort

[RKOwnage]

New graphics posted. Rate please.

[Ignition]

Yeah you're still very new to graphics dude. Good to see you trying to get some feedback over here as well, tyler gave you some good advice so i don't need to repeat anything.

Just keep it up, don't rush things and if you think somethings not good enough delete it and start again...thats me personally though, because sometimes you can spend a couple of hours trying to make something crappy look ok when you could make something fresh in less than that.

[RKOwnage]

A couple of new graphics are posted. At least tell me if I'm improving or not. Thanks.

[RKOwnage]

Another graphic added. Feedback still encouraged.

[Lord Nibbler]

One thing that stands out as weak in most of the graphics is the font.

Don't alway try and find a weird looking font. Sometimes it's best to keep it simple. Also, it's rarely a good idea to have a coloured (i.e. non-black) stroke on text.

[Socky]

Spend more time on a single GFX rather then making 100 in an hour

[RKOwnage]

I don't get enough feedback to work on one at a time. How about some constructive criticism and not just something stupid like that.