Well, after practicing with photoshop for awhile on things like sigs for friends and avatars and such I figured i'd try my hand at a wallpaper. I went into making this wallpaper with just the BG and theme in mind... ocean at night. The rest is still a partial work in progress and parts just fell into place.

I'm wanting to make like a small mountain range in the bg at the "edge" of the ocean, but I can't figure out a way to make the mountains and look semi-decent.

So, any suggestions on how to make it better? Maybe someplace with an easy to follow mountain range tutorial? Or some way to "finish" it without the mountains? I just figured the mountains would be a decent "horizon" item to round out the wall, i'm not "overly attached" to it, so an suggestions would be welcome. I'm not going to actually submit the wall until I can get that horizon "finished" in some way. I'd also like to get some opinions and possible improvements before I do also.

Edit: Version 2

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/4033/harukaatthebeachmb9.jpg

See below for changes and details

Edit: Version 2.5

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/181/beach2kv3.jpg

see below for changes and details

Edit: after a bit of a break...

http://img83.imageshack.us/my.php?image=beachstars2xf4.jpg

see page 2 for details on everything including the break

Hhhmmm...your background is qiute blurry as well as your scan so work on that now...good luck!

Everything is a little blurry...
extracting and cleaning is a very basic thing...
vectoring it's a more advanced thing...
vectoring using shape layers for instance is even harder....
but drawing your own beach....dude, i've working on photoshop for over a year and i'm pretty far away from that...
so i would recomend you to:
a.- use a stock photo and try to make it look like painted using filters or something like that...
or
b.- using brushes...wave brushes, splash brushes...brushes for the sky and maybe even the moon....

good luck !!

Here's a link to some moon brushes

http://search.deviantart.com/?browseq=in%3Aresources%2Fapplications%2Fpsbrushes+boost%3Apopular+max_age%3A86400h&search=moon+brushes

Rukawa11, I immagine that is the VERY light layer of clouds that is making it blurry, maybe even so on the moon (which a couple people were also saying it wasn't the best). I'll try deleting that (I think it is its own layer, if not i'll just re-do the stars)

EdiBomb, like I said above the cloud layer probably doesn't help the blurryness. Also, 2 things... 1. Edit: Found some wave brushes, didn't really like them for this wall. I'll just have to mess around with the water in other ways using my stuff. I think i've got it good right now, but we'll see when I finish all the changes.

2. I'm confused about the beach comment... was that saying I should try to just get rid of that or was that a compliment?

sharpshot, thank you for the link to the moon brushes. That is one of the things I didn't really like about it and many people were saying that is wasn't good and seemed to be "copy/paste" in style, so those will really help.

I'll get started on some changes here a little later, I got some stuff to do before I do and, maybe in that time there will be some more replies with other things I can maybe do to improve.

Thank you all for your replies so far, hopefully soon it'll be worthy to submit to the site and share in it's finished form.

Edited because I totally mis-understood EdiBomb lol

You should look into improving your compositon using the rule of thirds; move Haruka in toward the center some and move the horizon up.

Your background generally looks too surreal; you should try browsing around the gallery and looking at how others have tackled making a sea at night - it doesn't have that strange cyan-green illumination.

I won't comment on the stars and moon for now, will see how it is after you've worked some more to fix it. Note that you'll have to mind the incorrect reflection of the moon in the water and fix that too, though.

Don't worry about the mountains in the distance idea for now - focus on fixing what you already have first.

Cheers!

So, here it is, version 2. I basically over-hauled the entire BG in terms of how things were done. New water, new moon, new stars... about the the only things that are the same from the first (besides Haruka) is the little edge on the water and a part of the moon (its 2 layers now since I didn't like how dim the brushes were). I changed up the clouds so everything should be a lot more clear now too.

Unfortunately, i've lost the raw I had of Haruka on this PC (it is probably on a back-up disc) so, at least for now, she is pretty much exactly the same, only moved over some as suggested by hamstersanonymous, along with the horizon also. I also "corrected" the reflection on the moon, well I hope. I only flipped it vertically in v1 and totally forgot about the horizontal flip too.

I actually found what was causing that "illumination" and was able to fix it, though it actually gave me an idea for a new wall when I found some brushes. So once I finish this wall I've already got a rough image for the next in my mind. Still gotta pick some character though lol.

I'm still using the rendered water effect, but I tried to take the whole "rendered" look off it with the inclusion of a slight fade off into the horizon, which does still keep that "illumination" near the front, however it is a much more "real"ish then the cyan green. Well, imo. After I found out what caused that, I realized (for this wall) that it should be a nice touch right at the edge of water, along with a little "dampness" as if the wave was retreating and had a small white-cap type thing on it.

I tried out various water and moon brushes, but didn't really like any... they all looked too, well, real. I don't know about you, but I don't want to make super-realistic backgrounds (which is what those were giving me..) and pop an anime char into it. If wanted to make a super-realistic wall i'd find a real person and put them in.

A mix of real and created elements (like the moon) is more how MY tastes are. All I really did with that moon was take my old, and "stamp" a new one over it. I'll have to experiment more with the water to see if I can do something like that for future (and maybe this) wall. Because the way I took the "rendering" off (though it is still obviously rendered and I need to try out some filters for that... if anyone has some suggestions...) that water was a royal pain.

So, this still isn't the "final" version... there are a couple of things I want to ask about improving some specific parts, along with any general improvements people may still have for a suggestions/critique.

One of the things i'm STILL not too happy about is the stars and reflections in the water (moon included to an extent) ESPECIALLY the stars. I just don't like the fact it looks like the star field is still just an overlay onto the water and just seems to "continue down" even though it's been flipped, angled (with new filler stars where it went blank) and under the top layer of the water to give it that "shimmer" effect like you see on the moon, but not color it. So if anyone has some suggestions for creating reflection of the stars i'd gladly welcome them. I'm thinking that maybe just deleting some would help out a ton though, to make it so there aren't as many. Maybe that would reduce that "continuing down" thing.

The moon in the reflections i'm mainly not too happy with because it is still perfectly round, and the moon reflected in water (especially something like the sea) really is more oblong then round most times. But, unlike the last one, I couldn't really find a combo of distortion/perspective tweaking that really made it seem "right" so I left it alone. If anyone has any suggestions on this too that would be great, but compared to the stars it is more of a minor thing, since in still water the moon is more roundish/oblong. Of course the ocean isn't still, and even if that was a lake setting, she is being blown by the wind (as seen by the dress and hair) and that would create some ripples too. The water itself not being "flat" also lends itself to the distortion... so I could really use some help on that, or maybe making the water "flatter" in a sense. Though fully taking off that "rendered" look may work for that, rather then reducing it like (I hope) I have. But that still leaves the reflection.

Thank you for all the help you've given me so far and for that i'm sure to receive in the future.

I don't really know about the whole light source thing so I can't help you with that but the reflection in the water looks like it shouldn't be there. I have never seen the moon make a reflection on anything, maybe it does on the ocean, but then again I have never went to the beach.If the moon does do this ( I will feel dumb ^_^) I think that the moon should have the same effects you gave that water because if you look at your reflection in the water it looks all weird, meaning it should fade in a little more and not be so crisp and clear.

I have some tutorials for you that are really good:

Stars- http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com/tuts_arts/making_a_star_field.html
Planet- http://gallery.artofgregmartin.com/tuts_arts/making_a_planet.html

Your worry about the planet being to realistic from the brushes is most likely correct but if you look at an anime that takes place in space alot your going to find they draw the planets as realistic as they can, but those brushes are probably to realistic. GOOD LUCK!

A quick edit: I good ocean beach tutorial http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorial/Ocean-Beach-Scene/4379

Tikalhammy, the moon does reflect in water (just like any light source) but it all depends on angles and such. I used to have a pool in my backyard and on a full moon i'd swim sometimes and see the moon reflected in the water, quite a site... unless it was my immagination >_>

That aside though, that is one of the things I was saying, is that moon just seems too out of place with that. I did give it a LIGHT effect of the water (the very top layer) but i'll try moving it down one into the "middle" which still shouldn't have the color. I'll try that, fading, maybe blurrying it a little also and see if that helps.

The starfield thing is actually basically how I made my stars in the first version, though I skipped a couple steps and randomized/enlarged a few things. Now that the blurryness is gone, maybe i'll try it again and see if it looks better. It still doesn't help with my reflection problem though... but maybe with something like the reflection will look better.

The planet thingy, i'm pretty happy with my moon, and that is basically how I made the first version of it, though not as detailed. Even though i'm happy, I think i'll go back and try that out too and see how that looks (i'll include a couple variations on effect in my next upload I guess for comparison).

Also, while it is true that most animes taking place in space (Stratos 4 jumps to mind right off the bat) have pretty realistic looking things, I think a SLIGHT un-realistic still looks better, especially since they aren't normally like carbon copies and made to look like they are 100% real.

Finally, I found that beach tutorial awhile back... I REALLLLLY want to use it, it looks (from the preview image thingy) absolutely PERFECT for this, not too real but VERY nice (and I can always muck it up some like with the water I did to make it look less real/rendered lol). The only problem is it is for CS2, and i'm stuck with PS7 (which both doesn't have the fiber filter thingy nor the chrome gradiant, well that I could find) right now... since I can't afford to go out and upgrade, and i'd rather not pirate things no matter how expensive they are. Not even a "Student Discount" version is one I can afford right now. While i've tried CS2, the differences just don't warrant the price unless I get REALLY into editing and such. If you know some way to like import gradiants or filters from CS2 into 7, please let me know... I know I did a full install of 7 with all the filters because I was missing some (a lot actually) at first and thought I may have changed something in the install so went back and installed again making sure to select EVERYTHING. I will admit I may have missed something though, but I doubt it lol.

Akariira

Tikalhammy, the moon does reflect in water (just like any light source) but it all depends on angles and such. I used to have a pool in my backyard and on a full moon i'd swim sometimes and see the moon reflected in the water, quite a site... unless it was my immagination >_>

That aside though, that is one of the things I was saying, is that moon just seems too out of place with that. I did give it a LIGHT effect of the water (the very top layer) but i'll try moving it down one into the "middle" which still shouldn't have the color. I'll try that, fading, maybe blurrying it a little also and see if that helps.

The starfield thing is actually basically how I made my stars in the first version, though I skipped a couple steps and randomized/enlarged a few things. Now that the blurryness is gone, maybe i'll try it again and see if it looks better. It still doesn't help with my reflection problem though... but maybe with something like the reflection will look better.

The planet thingy, i'm pretty happy with my moon, and that is basically how I made the first version of it, though not as detailed. Even though i'm happy, I think i'll go back and try that out too and see how that looks (i'll include a couple variations on effect in my next upload I guess for comparison).

Also, while it is true that most animes taking place in space (Stratos 4 jumps to mind right off the bat) have pretty realistic looking things, I think a SLIGHT un-realistic still looks better, especially since they aren't normally like carbon copies and made to look like they are 100% real.

Finally, I found that beach tutorial awhile back... I REALLLLLY want to use it, it looks (from the preview image thingy) absolutely PERFECT for this, not too real but VERY nice (and I can always muck it up some like with the water I did to make it look less real/rendered lol). The only problem is it is for CS2, and i'm stuck with PS7 (which both doesn't have the fiber filter thingy nor the chrome gradiant, well that I could find) right now... since I can't afford to go out and upgrade, and i'd rather not pirate things no matter how expensive they are. Not even a "Student Discount" version is one I can afford right now. While i've tried CS2, the differences just don't warrant the price unless I get REALLY into editing and such. If you know some way to like import gradiants or filters from CS2 into 7, please let me know... I know I did a full install of 7 with all the filters because I was missing some (a lot actually) at first and thought I may have changed something in the install so went back and installed again making sure to select EVERYTHING. I will admit I may have missed something though, but I doubt it lol.

Yeah I'm sorry about that. Now that I rember when going night swiming I do remember the moon having a reflection. Yours just looks unnatural though maybe because the one in the water dosen't have that outer glow like the one in the sky?

About the stars I see what you mean about a basic star feild. It just seems weird to me living in Arizona I have never seen much sky before by looking in a straight forward direction ( Also I never went to the beach so it looks abnormal to me) I usually see moutains that would cut the amount of sky you have in half because there are mountains there. Thats what our stars look like but when we have a moon you can see visible clouds there too they kind of look like fog. Thats only what I think but its fine the way you have it.

Sorry about the beach thing. I have only Paint shop pro 7 to do my wallpapers with and all the good tutorials are out for photoshop. So I always have to find a way to make it work in paintshop pro. I made that beach tutorial work for me in Paint shop pro 7 so you should be able to find a way to make it work for you in Photoshop 7. The beach you have here is good anyways so you don't have to change anything I was just suggesting.

There are some problems with the new version:
a-her arm is blurry I think you did it while was doing smudge over the image
b-the moon at the water is strange you should put the reflection layer under the water layer
c-the ocean has no line...it looks like a fog not water
d-the sand from the beach is strange try to work more at the division between water and sand

GL

Tikalhammy, i've been the beach several times, and let me tell you there are a LOT of stars. Maybe not that many, but much more then the city/mountain areas because there is basically no other lights (depending on where you go of course) and a really flat horizon. Although, i'll admit its been awhile so i'm mainly going from memory/other walls i've seen set on a beach at night. As for the beach tutorial thing, i've been thinking about it, and that fiber filter looks almost like a wind filter, that has been toned down a lot so it isn't as "pointy" in a sense, so I can probably find a way to make it work for me. No worries about the reflection thing, I can see how with living in the mountains/desert you wouldn't see that that often lol.

Sephironoth, in order of what you said

A) That is probably what I did, i'm pretty sure that is what I did when I was extracting her because I hadn't found any extraction tutorials... sadly, like I said, i've lost my source image of her, so i'm going to have to find it again. Hopefully it is on one of my back-up discs or find it online somewhere. Or maybe go with another char, I never was really sure of what char I wanted to put in it, but that was the only one I had at the time that fit the theme. I think I may have another one now lol. So, if I can't find it...

B) I've said a couple times already in the thread that I didn't like the moon's reflection in this version... I do have it under one of the two layers that make up the water, but i'll try it under the bottom layer and see if that helps.

C) I think that is probably mainly due to the fact that the star reflection seems to just continue through, so it seems more like that. I'm going to try greatly reducing the reflection of stars in the water, and maybe brighten it up some more so there hopefully wont be as much black, so it should contrast a bit more with the background. Although I don't really understand what you mean about the not having a line... unless you just mean it doesn't contrast enough (hence the thing about the fog)

D) I could make it a really hard line difference, where the water just ends and sand begins, and I may do that... but i'm also thinking about just getting rid of the sand completely and just focusing on the water... that sand is just proving a bit more trouble then it is worth. Maybe if I can get that beach tutorial to work...

Right now though, I haven't had the time to work on this, and may not for a couple days. Even if it is just trying to make a new star field and do a quick re-layering on moon's reflection i'm hoping to do a little work on it later. So maybe later i'll up a "v 2.5" since I don't have much time to work on it atm.

Ok, so I just did some quick work when I found a bit of free time. Unfortunately the water still could use some work really, I think it still looks a little overlayish and may fade out a little much at the far end. I moved the moon to just above the coloring layer, so it is as "wavey" as it will get unless I run some filters on it also (or move it around, but I kind of like the position of it). I also removed the reflection of the stars (and just quickly removed some stars), since it just heightens the "overlayish" effect thingy. I think i'll want to brighten the moon some to help with over-all lighting, and dim haruka some, since she is overly bright and the moon a little dim imo. I've not messed any with her on purpose so far though, since i'm still searching back-up discs for the base image I used to re-extract.

So, keeping in mind i'm still going to be messing with her some and trying to re-do the water (probably) again when I have more time... suggestions/comments?

Well, you already mentioned the main problems. The moon needs some light glow/brightnes or dim and the char is too bright, seems like she is in a summer day, kinda pops out of the pic. I realy like the water now cuz it looks like a lagoon on midnight. I don't know what all these black thing are over the water. when it supposed to be rain then the water should be disturbed and you should add some clouds where it comes from ^^ anyway i don't like this "rain" or whatever, the water would probably look better without...but just my personly taste ;)

Yes I like the water in your latest version the best but like Saitho said those black lines just don't look right, did you use a wind type filter or something? I think you should take it out. Oh and I loved the reflection of the stars on the water it made it look very pretty, you should put them back in ^_^.

Like you said I think you could brighten up the moon, I also think the moon fits very well now in water, I like it! It looks like a good reflection now.

I do think it would be nice if you tried adding the beach in there again. Other than that I think the thing now is that the part with the stars seems so boring, like you need some thing there. The only thing I can suggest is putting some text there will cover some of it but you need to make the sky more exciting.