Upadtes:
v.01

v.02a/b

v.03 0:

Ryujii&Taiga Vectorized, also new concept? o.o but still not finished, mmmm im working on it... mmm
don't be gentle! be mad criticizing >=3

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well Hello Everyone, im a newbie here and i come to learn something about making wallpapers, [o_o;]
i made some wallpapers before and i'm on the graphic deign business 0: i wanna improve my skills, so i hope the community can help me :D
if im lucky enough maybe i can help some people too.
so heres my first work on AP, it's about Toradora but not really haha.

i tried to make an wallpaper that give some... mmm peace?...

also if you put taskbar transparent enough [on windows 7] you can get a cute tri-colored taskbar haha.

[i hope you can understand what im saying becuase im kinda noobie on english too, hehe. (natural language: spanish)]

ah, i hope my signature is enough for the AP rules requirements, i like it pretty small and i put it there because the taskbar may hide it.

Heya :)
It's pretty strict here when it comes to getting your wallpaper in the gallery, but you should improve a lot if you take everyone's comments in stride and keep at it, so good luck :)

Your signature is fine, its only there for the admins to see that its your work, having it small and hidden under the taskbar is exactly what we want.

Your extraction/masking could use a bit of work, you can see some of the edges are a bit uneven like Ryuji's left arm and parts of his legs.

The biggest issue is the background, combining a photograph (3D) with anime (2D) just rarely ever works. Other than that it seems a little random, with puzzle pieces floating about, and the wavy color overlays.

You might have better results if before you start, really plan out your background try and come up with a solid idea or theme you want to achieve. From there you can look up tutorials and effects that will help you get the results you want.

Good Luck :)

Welcome to AP, BlazeRanm.

I think that Ayje has critiqued your work nicely. It is very difficult to combine 2D anime artwork and photography. I would like to suggest that you also give additional consideration to the transition of the photograph. The change from color to sepia appears clumsy. A more gradual transition would be better.

The wall is pretty flat in my perspective.

Well duh! It's 2D~! Anyway, you don't really become immersed in the wallpaper. The 3D photo background without anything done to it is what kills it the most. The re-color makes it totally flat. I don't recommend using 3D photos unless you really touch them up to help them become more 2D which is a pretty advance skill.

I can tell you that getting a photo and slapping anime characters is poor practice. If you're getting into the graphics industry you're going to need to learn how to make your own backgrounds. Whether it is by vectoring or brushing. The characters are floating which is usually bad but not always. You need something to ground them since there's a straight edge.

The characters still have white edges and need to be re-extracted as mentioned. I recommend that you extract using the pen tool and masking out the unnecessary parts for a clean extraction. Then have a color as your default background behind the scan. This will help you find the white parts. After you find the extra white spots, you can move the pen path to hide it.

Is the scan used someone's fan art? I am having trouble identifying it. Fan art is a touchy issue which isn't black and white. If it is by a well-known artist then it is allowed to be uploaded under their name. Usually you can see their name under a category or if you request the category and it is approved.

To help you even further. I just sketched out real quick the process of making your own background. Whether you draw or extend, it's a good idea to layout out what you're going to do. Do it while considering composition to have a nice flow. I am going to tell you that it will be far more rewarding than taking short cuts. You wouldn't draw all these arrows but it is something you slap inside your head to consider.

http://i35.tinypic.com/2z8p6wg.jpg

You don't need to do something big for your first wall since it will be too much. Just start out with simple vectors and brushing. This is just something to think about. Slowly work towards a goal and you will improve a lot without knowing it.

Wow they coments are long, and good. Hard to add anything else from my side. Maybe just that as starter prefer abstract before scenic, and forget about stock photos. Blend a stock with a anime wallpaper so that would look good, is really hard, and currently out of your level.
For the extraction - and remaing white part I know a faster solution - simply apply Inner Shadow with 0 distance, 50 choke, and 1 (or 2) pixels.

Omg o-o yay! haha. Thats what i like, i expected like 1-2 comments but this is just nice :D!

yep, i didn't really worked based on a message or concept, but mmm i'll work on that, i still wanna combine 2d with 3d, some new ideas came to my head this morning o.o ya, i was thinking about this wall. I think i have to find a good way to connect 3d with 2d, thats may significate something inlcuded on the concept that i'll add to the work. Thank you very much guys for the comments!
i hope i can get at least 5/10 on next try o.o haha, see ya!

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im back



today i ended up like with that, and yep, i will redraw Ryujii and Taiga later o.o

The concept is better but I still think 2D-3D doesn't work so well... :-s

Or maybe you can add the puzzle piece's lines on the entire picture so we can tell it's a puzzle... Just like in real...
I prefer the second version for the style of the pieces and the colors.

Little tip : I would manage to place to two characters with the feet touching the bottom of the wall... And make them a little more saturation.

And make sure the pieces of puzzle go ON the characters and not behind or it won't be really "logic" in the way they are placed...

Good luck.

Como ya dijeron, no te recomiendo combinar fotos/stocks/whathever con renders animoo. En 2 años de forear, sólo vi esa combinación funcionar UNA sola vez, y fue por alguien experimentado.

Yea, i think i dont wanna combine it for now [2d-3d], i found a "concept" that dont inlcude 3d, thanks guys, gonna work on it tonight 0:


y no soy tan malo ¬¬* haha... eso creo. Debo acostumbrarme a que mi trabajo gire en torno un tema, concepto sólido, armonia fondo-frente y fondo consigo mismo o.o
pero siguiendo el concepto que quiero desarrollar, creo que no necesito la imagen 3d.

I'll be waiting to see your update! :)

Updated! on 1st post. Thanks again for your comments 0: really helped me a lot x3

Well again you're mixing 3D and manga... For me the lighting of the foreground and the background doesn't match.

Can't you find some more manga looking background?

Ow... keep failing o.o

i'm looking for that, 3_3 hard to find, it will look better with a manga style background, thats true, i think i have to draw the background from 0
but at least i got a "concept" or i think so o.o haha.
Thanks :D

About the last version :

The mix of 3D-2D works better here but you still have problems with the light source of your picture. Indeed the character are sitting in the dark. So you need to add some dark on them or add a street light near them so we can understand why they are so bright...

You need to darken some parts of the background cause they look too white and shiny.