Xaphania's Artwork

Status
Not open for further replies.
Willow-Tree said:
I honestly think you're one of the best Buffyverse graphic artists out there! Great stuff!
Click to expand...

Aww, thank you so much! There are better people out there than me, but your compliment means a lot!

Sweetescape said:
Awesome stuff! yet again! 😀
Click to expand...

Thanks!

TheChosenTwo said:
Wow, these are really amazing! I'm sure you'll win (sw)
Click to expand...

Thanks! Although it's not so much a winning kind of challenge - the idea is artists make banners and post them, and then authors come along and pick a banner to base a fic on. I just hope one of mine gets chosen!

Tasha said:
OMg that Fangel one is seexy!
Love it all!
Click to expand...

Hee, thanks!

New banner. Yet again for the spuffy_wonder art-to-fic community. Something a little darker this time.

spuffywonderarttofic7.png

Credits
Buffy - SMG France
Spike - Civilized James
Wounds (on Spike) - trisste-brushes@DA
Cloud Texture - wroth@DA
Room Stock - Saved on my harddrive for ages, no idea where I got it from
Handwriting Texture - by joyfulsong
Various other textures saved to harddrive, creators unkown.

Comments?
 
U
ubi4soft
vamp!Spike gorgeous (in a creepy way)
Awesome 😀,took me a min or so to spot Sarah!. I'd love it if you made tutorials I'm hoping to learn some new tricks 😉
 
MinwaraYana said:
Love it. Spike looks 3D. And because I'm sleepy, I somehow see the shadow moving. 😵
Click to expand...

Thanks! I wish I could do more than simple animation, because that would be a really cool addition to the banner, if the shadow did move!

Sweetescape said:
Awesome 😀, I'd love it if you made tutorials I'm hoping to learn some new tricks 😉
Click to expand...

Thanks! I actually quite like writing tutorials, lol. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see a tutorial of?
 
xaphania said:
Thanks! I actually quite like writing tutorials, lol. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see a tutorial of?
Click to expand...

I'm always looking for different colouring techniques, I like how you can bring out colours but it doesn't over power the whole piece. Also how to you get the images so sharp?.
I'm using photoshop CS3, do you use it?.
 
Sweetescape said:
I'm always looking for different colouring techniques, I like how you can bring out colours but it doesn't over power the whole piece. Also how to you get the images so sharp?.
I'm using photoshop CS3, do you use it?.
Click to expand...

I use Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2.

For the sharpness - I always try to pick high-quality images to begin with (I don't work well with screencaps) - my program has a tool "One step photo fix" which I generally use on all of my base pics, which helps brighten and sharpen a little. Then, throughout the banner-making process I'll copy merge, sharpen, reduce opacity several times, sometimes erasing parts that look too sharp. If I think it's looking over-sharpened, I'll copy merge and do a "One step noise removal" which smooths everything out, followed by another copy merge+sharpen+reduce opacity. Basically, experiment til I think it looks good, lol.

My colouring is mostly experimentation too, depending on my base pics and the overall feel I want to go for in the banner. I use colour fill layers and adjustment layers (Curves, colour balance, channel mixer etc.) mostly - with some of my program's ready-made tools (eg. sepia toning, film filters, time machine) occasionally. Sometimes textures add colour, too.

Were there any particular banners that I've posted that you want to see how I did the colouring? I save all my .pspimage's so it wouldn't be difficult to write up some colouring 'recipes'.

HisMrs said:
Oh, that latest one is AWESOME.... WOW!!! That rocks
Click to expand...

Thanks so much! 🙂
 
xaphania said:
I use Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2.

For the sharpness - I always try to pick high-quality images to begin with (I don't work well with screencaps) - my program has a tool "One step photo fix" which I generally use on all of my base pics, which helps brighten and sharpen a little. Then, throughout the banner-making process I'll copy merge, sharpen, reduce opacity several times, sometimes erasing parts that look too sharp. If I think it's looking over-sharpened, I'll copy merge and do a "One step noise removal" which smooths everything out, followed by another copy merge+sharpen+reduce opacity. Basically, experiment til I think it looks good, lol.

My colouring is mostly experimentation too, depending on my base pics and the overall feel I want to go for in the banner. I use colour fill layers and adjustment layers (Curves, colour balance, channel mixer etc.) mostly - with some of my program's ready-made tools (eg. sepia toning, film filters, time machine) occasionally. Sometimes textures add colour, too.

Were there any particular banners that I've posted that you want to see how I did the colouring? I save all my .pspimage's so it wouldn't be difficult to write up some colouring 'recipes'.
Click to expand...

I see, hmm I see what I can find on my photoshop. I know their is a sharpen tool I'll have a play around with it 🙂.

For Colouring I picked out the piece's that I love below 😀. The Journal header is so pretty and perfect for that moment 🙂.


xaphania said:
New one made for the spuffy_wonder art to fic challenge. Nothing overly complex here, just a nice simple banner.

spuffywonderarttofic4.png

]
Click to expand...

xaphania said:
I made this the other day, when I felt that a revamp of my LiveJournal was in order.

header1.png
Click to expand...
 
X
xaphania
I'll see what I can do about writing up some colouring recipe's for both of those. :)
Love your newest one. 🙂
I love the sepia look in the background. Nice textures.
You should make tutorials! You're so good.
 
X
xaphania
Thanks! :)
TheChosenTwo said:
Okay, I could never do that, but thanks anyway 😛
Using one of your banners atm. Hope that's okay 🙂
Click to expand...

I do tend to do a lot of tweaking to all the layers of my artwork, so there are always a lot of steps in my tutorials 😀 I sent you a PM about the banner. 🙂

I haven't had a chance to write up the colouring for the other banner, but I'll do it when I can.

No new art for now, but this is a wallpaper I made a few months ago. Pretty much my second or third time at trying a manip, but I think it turned out okay.


Click for fullsize - 1280x800

Credits
Morgana & Arthur Bases - BBC Merlin Site
Spike - Civilized James
Buffy - Slayerverse Gallery
Some textures I know are from one of the sites in my resource list, but I can't remember which one exactly. Other textures saved to my harddrive, creators unknown.
 
T
TheChosenTwo
Very cool!
K
Kelsey
Very cool! Makes me think of how Spike's love for Buffy is said to be "Courtly Love."
Wow, very cool! Manips are something I don't do too many of, and it's usually only to "vampify" a character, such as with my Vampire Anya pieces I've done. 🙂 I love the idea of putting a character's head on someone else's body to make a really cool manip though!
 
Damn that is too cool! Why you have to be so awesome? 🙂
Brilliant, i love the manips!
 
Thank you! Here's another manip/wallpaper.

I've been wanting to make something with a piratey theme for the past couple of days, so I gave it a go today. Here's Dru as a pirate in a crystal ball. Bit of an odd combo, lol. Also a lot brighter than I'd have thought I'd do a Dru blend. Let me know if it works. 🙂


Click for fullsize - 1280x800

Credits
Pirate Base - mizzd-stock@DA
Snowglobe Base - mmp-stock@DA
Drusilla - Slayerverse Gallery
Orange Texture - Shattered
Sunset/Trees - Casperium@DA
Tree/Birds - Flore@DA
Glass Globe - Creator Unknown
 
T
TheChosenTwo
Oh, I love that :D
ItMustBeBunnies
ItMustBeBunnies
That's so cool! Well done:)
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom