Sakura Wars Heavenly Sakura

My computer has been fixed (fixed as much as it can be), and so I was able to finish this wallpaper. :D It's my entry for the Say it With Flowers contest at the Script Refinery. I've never entered a contest here on AP so I'm not sure how to really go about that, but I'll find out! I'm sure I won't win either [does this count for the requirements?], but it's worth a try. It was so nice being back on Photoshop! It was only for 4 or 5 days, but it felt like forever, especially when I have nothing better to do. XD From now on, I'm going to try and be more relaxed with walling! I used to just wall obsessively out of obligation almost (made a new one everyday), but now I'm going to try to wall more when I'm calm and just feel like it. I need to learn how to make wallpapers out of self-enjoyment again.

So about this wallpaper...I wanted something bright and light and sparkly! I think I accomplished that. Whether it looks good is up to you. ^^; I found the scan here at AP, and then I extracted it. Like most of my walls (sorry if you don't like that), I focused in on the character's (Sakura) face. The extraction was pretty annoying simply because I caused some rough edges, and the curves of her hair and sakura blossoms were tricky. :/ So then I looked on DeviantArt for some nice textures to use. I fell in love with these pink and bright ones, and I loved how they looked on "lighten." So yeah, I changed the blending effects, and I used the clone stamp to copy the texture in certain places. I got inspiration from Gankutsuou's art style, and I wanted to have just a certain texture/color overlayed in her hair...but that didn't happen exactly as I wanted. ^^;

For the background, I found this photo on DA of the sky, and so I duplicated it and added the textures to that, too. I also changed the color from blue to pinkish-yellow-orange. I added more cherry blossoms (clone stamp) in places, too...I also changed Sakura's contrast and brightness to make her lighter/brighter. I used the burn tool in some areas to make them darker though. I just wanted to make a Heavenly scene, even though it's not like she's dead or anything. XD I'm afraid it kind of makes it seem that way, but no, she's not! Um, then I did the text, which was hard for me to come up with and position. I wanted to put the one part inside of a sakura flower, which I did, and the title ended up being very light in the sky, by one of the petals.

This took 5-6 hours or so. I stared at it for a really long time...and I just kept changing things! So now I hope it looks ok. Enjoy!

Scan:http://www.animepaper.net/gallery/scans/LordSatorious/item10521/Texture 1:http://keymoon.deviantart.com/art/Texture-16-53120806Texture 2:http://veredgf.deviantart.com/art/original-texture-by-Vered-3-38038842Sky:http://yuripanda.deviantart.com/art/Texture-Sky-79886225