RE: Project Custom-The Elite Fan Creations Tournament BY INVITATION ONLY!
Resources:
- Original images found here:
http://emoru.deviantart.com/art/Flareon-64593233,
http://mimigoupix.deviantart.com/art/Dynamic-Phylali-leafia-leafeon-60573064,
http://infaru.deviantart.com/art/Sad-jolteon-66332854, and
http://kureculari.deviantart.com/art/Eevee-PokefanPikachu-sRequest-66026281
- Background done with a middle gradient, then Neon Glow and one other filter I can't recall. lol
- Text font is Neuropol. 1 px border to text was applied. Then, the inner parts of the letters were filled with a Blue/transparent standard gradient from top-to-bottom.
- 36% Opacity layer with copper gradient affecting the whole banner except for the 1 px border.
- Eyes were recolored by Replace Color and Brightness/Contrast functions, then blurred to minimize pixelation.
- Pure black layer set to 40% Opacity just above Leafeon to give a "shadowy" look.
----Edits done after feedback----
- 4-color gradient (each color is from one of the characters in the banner) and Stroke effect applied to the border.
- MAJOR edit work applied to Jolteon to create a younger, cleaner look. Not perfect, but this is as close as it can get to perfect. Clone Stamp and Regular Paint brush were used. Blur effect applied to affected areas to minimize roughness from Clone Stamp job. (This cleaning process took 3 hours alone.)
Piece/Relation-to-Challange Details:
Yet another piece where I did random things for a random result, but with one idea I wanted tyo stay away from; Smeargle. Smeargle is ALWAYS seen in banners that advertise pokemon art, so I decided to incorperate my favorite pokemon family into this challange: Eeveelutions. xDD The sad Jolteon and Eevee resemble the dissappointment of competitors that have fallen in this competition. The grumpy Flareon resembles what some competitors may think of their scores. lol It also resembles a weird combination of jealousy (jealous of the top artists) and determination (a motive to catch up with those top artists). Leafeon resembles the very small handful of artists in the competition that not only rose above everyone else and has the potential to win, but it also resembles that the top artists will likely want to brag... maybe a little too much (I'll admit, I'm somewhat guilty of that lol), but hey, if you're EXTREMELY proud of your masterpieces, you'd brag, too. xD The picture overall basically shows the overall atmoshpere of the competition (perhaps maybe exaggerated (sp?) a bit lol) and the small handful of competitors that will be looked at by others as the people-to-beat throughout the competition. The somewhat evil look that Leafeon gives off is suppose to resemble how some competitiors may look at tough, top artists. (It's kinda hard to explain in actual words, but I think you kinda get what I mean. Kinda like a rivalry situation.)
Time Required:
4 hours (origional) + 4 hours (edits done after feedback) = 8 hours (total)
Personal Thoughts:
Just like before, I tried something new I've never tried before. In this case, I tried using dark colors for much of the banner, but not too dark. The background somehow just managed to magically give the effect that I loved so much with Leafeon. There's randomness for ya. lol Overall, I love it. But there's just something bugging me about it, too.... But I can't quite pinpoint it....
----Update after edits----
I found what was bugging me after BR mentioned it. In the origional, Jolteon looked either old or it looked injured (or both). After doing a major overhaul to clean up Jolteon, I am MUCH more satisfied with this banner than ever before. As for the border, I tried sticking with the dark colored "rainbow," using colors from the pokemon in the banner. I don't think it stands out near enough to distract the viewer. I personally like it. Yet another banner going down in my personal Banner Hall of Fame. I'm REALLY proud of this one!
BTW, I probably don't need to say this, but this is my final version.
Different topic, now. I have a suggestion for when judging comes around. This "idea" came to me after the judging of the first-round entries.
When all the final entries are clumped together in one post, could our descriptions be posted with them? I noticed last round that there were a couple judges that I don't believe really understood how my banner related to the challange, something that I thought I cleared up in my description for it (I won't mention any names). It's not biggie and I'm not griping or anything, but I think it would help the judges better if our descriptions of our respective entries (where we describe our design ideas and thought process) were posted. That way, the judges can get a better idea of how it relates to the challange. This round may be too self-explainitory for it, but I think it may be more handy in rounds where a challange's "requirement" isn't so easy to see in others' work.
Just thought I'd bring that up before I forget.... again. lol
. Smeargle of course, not only represents artisans cave, but is the artiste pokemon. The text of course "More then a competion, its a life stye" I find quite true, Art comes from the heart, enough said!