Here is the link to the wallpaper:
http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/5792/vampirehunterdwallpaper3bk.png

This is my first wallpaper and to be honest I have been using Photoshop for 6 months, no classes, tutorials or real help so my knowledge has come from playing around in it. I say this so you know that my knowledge of Photoshop Jargon and overall skills are limited. I use PS CS and normally make sig images or logos (around 50 now under my belt).

Now what I wanted to do!

I loved the scan `Serika uploaded about a week ago:
http://www.animepaper.net/gallery/scans/Vampire-Hunter-D/item71505/

So I extracted the image to the best of my ability and resized to fit the 1024x768 wallpaper size (It is the resolution I use so that is what I wanted to make, I understand that may not be most preferred size for most of you, sorry). I liked the moon aspect of the scan but wanted to modify that theme to something of my own. So I used a partially lighted moon and went with a "bloodish color" which a red moon is actually more pink in real life instead of actual blood red...well to me at least.

I wanted to have a full sword for "D" and wanted to add a aurora affect. So I used the clone stamp and extended the blade and found a nice brush to make the aurora with. I used the same color for the aurora as the moon.

The moon is typically shown at night so I added stars to make the background nicer and more realistic. I didn't really want there to be a ground so I didn't make anything for the bg below the stars and moon. I just used the series as the text for the wall and tried to give it a similar affect as the aurora but seem faded into the wall. A friend told me it was too hard to read so I scratched the faded look for a brighter version.

Anyway this is everything I did and would like your suggestions and opinion on how to make it better, most people I have shown (on 2 different sites) either love it or hate it...and I want people to love it more than hate it :).

On a side note, I messed my username up on this site... I am known as Chiefblackhammer everywhere else (my profile here says a.k.a Chiefblackhammer), which is why the sig doesn't necessarily match my username here.

Please help me and thanks in advance!!!

The extraction is good but the overall composition is lacking in detail, like the starry sky, there should be color in it like some shades of dark blues if you want to use just one color. The Moon should have more detail like craters and stuff coz it's pretty big, also, the actual sword is much longer than what you have used, cool effect on the sword though. Hope this helps. :)

There's still some grey outlines...whenever you see those. i suggest selecting them, and then lower their opacity.
but overall pretty nice job.
the font really doesn't fit this wall because i don't see curly when i see this wall.
the planet is a bit weird because the change in color is sooo sudden
it's also a bit too blurry.
needs to blend in to the sharp bg better.
i suggest putting some clouds in front of it.

Second. does the big planet have something to do with the series? because if it doesn't then it needs to be...smaller, because there's no way a " pink moon " can be that big while he's on earth

you don't have to change the size if you really don't want to, but you have to get it to be clean and blended
good luck!

Thank you both for the suggestions and I want to talk through them a bit.

I can make the sword longer with no problems but if I do the tip of the sword will not be visable or will be hid under the taskbar so is that still a good idea?

The stars to me should be white since that is what stars look like from earth to me... but if they need color I can add that through a gradient overlay easily...other then a dark blue color should I try to use different shades, like yellow, orange, etc...?

The moon is a brush that is based off our own actual moon so I don't understand/know how to get more detail out of it. I want a partial moon cause a full one with the size it is and no real background below it would look really off. I want to use a brush because I can control the color better then if I used a stock photo of it. Can some one tell me how to get more detail/sharpen it? (The sharpen filter doesn't work on it also if I duplicate the layer as an overlay = bad bad bad). Also about the size of the moon, most images I have seen from the series and the scan (which I provided a link to) I used has a much larger moon then what I am using so I don't think the size of it is an issue...?

Font...hmmm...ok I can use a more gothic type font no problem...is coloring/visibility still an issue?

Is there anything else I need to work on!?

You can put some kind of rock texture on the moon and then use the spherize filter.
I don't really think there's anything to work on but yeah, the text is too blurry so fix that.

Thank you for responding *riza, I will try to use the technique you mentioned and see if I can achieve desirable results with it but I am unsure what you meant by "I don't really think there's anything to work on" do you mean I don't need to change anything other then making the text clearer? I have a pink outer glow on the text I will reduce/remove it so the text is clearer!

I will post a modified version of the wall sometime in the next couple of days to get more feedback on the changes. Again thanks to all that have responded, your thoughts are much appreciated!

bcmcgee

Thank you both for the suggestions and I want to talk through them a bit.

I can make the sword longer with no problems but if I do the tip of the sword will not be visable or will be hid under the taskbar so is that still a good idea?

The stars to me should be white since that is what stars look like from earth to me... but if they need color I can add that through a gradient overlay easily...other then a dark blue color should I try to use different shades, like yellow, orange, etc...?

The moon is a brush that is based off our own actual moon so I don't understand/know how to get more detail out of it. I want a partial moon cause a full one with the size it is and no real background below it would look really off. I want to use a brush because I can control the color better then if I used a stock photo of it. Can some one tell me how to get more detail/sharpen it? (The sharpen filter doesn't work on it also if I duplicate the layer as an overlay = bad bad bad). Also about the size of the moon, most images I have seen from the series and the scan (which I provided a link to) I used has a much larger moon then what I am using so I don't think the size of it is an issue...?

Font...hmmm...ok I can use a more gothic type font no problem...is coloring/visibility still an issue?

1. it's ok for the sword to extend.
2. the stars are ok. the sky...is...ok...
3. yeah, it's ok if you really want a big moon, just make sure the quality is there. I was wondering if it's relevant to the series. and if it is, then of course you should have a big moon.
4. i think you should just choose a normal font. serif.

good luck!

I like the concept of the wallpaper...but I agree with the others that a little tweaking must be done. I know that you are only a beginner but a great tutorial on making planets (the moon in this case) is here. I also have one for making the starry background too, here. Both tutorials are done by the same artist but on different sites...that's all. Making your own background would make it muck easier to control the color, detail and such. If you can follow them, the results should come out really great. If you any help...just ask! ^_^

Just a few small details...the top of D's hat seems really...I don't know...sharp (can't find a better word...sorry) the outline of the hat doesn't blend into the background that well. An easy way to fix that would to take the eraser tool and with a fuzzy brush (maybe 9 or a bit bigger) and just carefully go around the edge. (I'm sure that there are many other less tidious ways of doing this but this one is probably the easiest for you) Also under the title...there seems to be weird lines that look like the edges of some copy and pasteing. I don't know if it is only my computer or not so...I just thought that I should mention it just in case. I would try to get rid of them (I would normally use the same eraser method but with a big brush like 100 to 300 depending on the size of the wallpaper). Just try to make them blend together...that's all.

And about your sig...just make sure to tell the mods about how you use that name for other things. Honestly, I find it a lot easier to just change it.

But the wallpaper is really looking great...I can't wait to see the final result! I just love Vampire Hunter D! ^_^

Thank you so much ~baka-neko64! I will play with those and see how it works for me. I don't see the lines under the title...I didn't copy and paste anything but the render so I am hoping they aren't there :(

I think I understand what you mean with the eraser but I will have to play with it to see how it works for me. Overall great advise from everyone and the tutorials are a big +++ ~baka-neko64!

I'm glad that I could help! ^_^ But as for the lines...here is a screenshot of them. ( here) I attempted to show them the best I could without writing all over your wallpaper. Can you see them? It really might just be my computer...

I should really be getting to sleep now...I'll continue helping later. Good luck! ^_^

First thing I noticed when I saw this: It's really really dull and boring. The colors need to be livelier and brighter.

Second, the stock of D looks like it was hand drawn and painted. The background and the effects on the other hand do not, which makes the stock look out of place.

The effects need to be cleaned up. I know exactly the way you're making those wavy-light things on the sword, but you just basically made a single one and duplicated it over and over. I can see the parts where the wave met the end of the image and it left a giant cutoff line on many of the duplicates, that will need cleaning up. They also don't blend well with the sword as they are really dull looking. The moon or planet or whatever doesn't really look right either, I can't really put my finger on it but it just seems blurry and too apparent.

The text placement is nice, maybe move it a bit to the left, closer to D. Otherwise, try to do something more with it because at the moment it seems too simple.

I hope these comments helped you out and good luck on your next wallpaper. =)

syzygy

First thing I noticed when I saw this: It's really really dull and boring. The colors need to be livelier and brighter.

Second, the stock of D looks like it was hand drawn and painted. The background and the effects on the other hand do not, which makes the stock look out of place.

The effects need to be cleaned up. I know exactly the way you're making those wavy-light things on the sword, but you just basically made a single one and duplicated it over and over. I can see the parts where the wave met the end of the image and it left a giant cutoff line on many of the duplicates, that will need cleaning up. They also don't blend well with the sword as they are really dull looking. The moon or planet or whatever doesn't really look right either, I can't really put my finger on it but it just seems blurry and too apparent.

The text placement is nice, maybe move it a bit to the left, closer to D. Otherwise, try to do something more with it because at the moment it seems too simple.

I hope these comments helped you out and good luck on your next wallpaper. =)

Thank you for the comments...I used a brush for the aurora...no copying and pasting...I can only assume the outer edge of the brush had a slight color to it which made the line...I hope they are gone now. As for the blending I am not sure what to do, I have a layer on top of the render and one below it in and effort to make it seem like it wraps around the blade...not sure what else to do.

Thanks again to ~baka-neko64 for the screen shot of the lines, really helped alot! Also the tutorials were awsome!

I have extended the blade, removed the lines (hopefully), changed the moon, changed the font and added color to the star field. Please check out the round 2 version and let me know what more I need to do to it.

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7358/vampirehunterdmodified3ja.png

Better :D
i think that the shadow side of the moon should be turned to the right so like the light part is facing him.
lower the rock effect alittle bit.
lower the horizon?/mountain? line on the left a little, so we can see a bitmore of the sky.
also, i suggest making the moon..either more purple..or crazy red.
cause pink is..well :3

Nice results! ^_^ But I see that you didn't use the sky tut...oh well...the one you have now is fine. I still see a fews lines still! I'm sorry for the detail picking but...yeah...I'm just like that... here's the screenshot again ( here)

You can see them if you look carefully...it's probably easier on a bigger shot.

Another thing though...I don't really like the color of the sky...purple just...I don't know...it just doesn't fit for me. I think you should play the sky off of the jewel thing on D's neck...the lighter blue set at Color I think would look nice...your choice though. And I agree with the moon comment that blu3angl gave...but the moon does look a lot nicer though. Good job with that! ^_^

And the hat looks better too! ^_~

You are doing a great job so far! Keep up the good work!

baka-neko64

Nice results! ^_^ But I see that you didn't use the sky tut...oh well...the one you have now is fine. I still see a fews lines still! I'm sorry for the detail picking but...yeah...I'm just like that... here's the screenshot again ( here)

You can see them if you look carefully...it's probably easier on a bigger shot.

Another thing though...I don't really like the color of the sky...purple just...I don't know...it just doesn't fit for me. I think you should play the sky off of the jewel thing on D's neck...the lighter blue set at Color I think would look nice...your choice though. And I agree with the moon comment that blu3angl gave...but the moon does look a lot nicer though. Good job with that! ^_^

And the hat looks better too! ^_~

You are doing a great job so far! Keep up the good work!

Actually I am working on that star tutorial you posted but it is much harder then the other one so I am not done yet. Meanwhile I just applied a color balance to the current one so I could get feedback on the color, I will work for a more blueish color like you said. As far as the lines go I couldn't see them even when I blew up to 600x but I took my smudge brush to the general area you posted anyway so they should be gone. I am glad the moon is better but I am not sure what you are asking me to do...do I need to lower the moon in terms of position from the top of the wall?

Thanks for the continued support, it is much appreciated!