Metroid Samus

1 year 8 months ago

"I don't think that the colors go that well together: the grey and green of the scan, the other shade of gray in the background, and the red of the stripe and the text. I would recommend making the background a bit darker, maybe adding some light effects [like highlighting one part of the background while keeping the others darker - you can do that with a black gradient layer]. Or, you could use the red stripe as a lighting source.

As for the 'Metro...' text [I can't read all of it, sorry ^_^'], you should try removing the white points around it, there's plenty of those and they look disturbing to the eye.

Good luck!"
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moshi moshi

1 year 8 months ago

"Hey Dennis! Welcome to AP!

I see that you have some... quite interesting hobbies. Are you into extreme sports? I definitely recommend you to try bungee jumping - that's sure to pump up your adrenaline for hours and even days on end! [A friend of mine did that and was frantic about it for a month afterwards].

Anyway, have fun around and good luck with your anime [and non-anime] works!"
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Hello~! *-*

1 year 8 months ago

"Konnichiwa Hazuki-chan, yoroshiku onegai shimasu! :)

Have fun posting!

[By the way, do you speak Japanese? Just curious :)]"
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Frigolit's wallpapers

1 year 8 months ago

"Nice, but most of them are still pretty simple. I like the first two best, especially the 'Blue Glass' one. I also like 'Light Gaming' and 'Nuclear Waste'. The others, however, could use a little bit more complexity, a little bit more depth... like a more elaborate background, or some effects, or maybe some blending / lightning effects. Good luck for the future! ;)"
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check my wallie out!

1 year 8 months ago

"Nice... only nitpick I have is that you could take out the emboss effect on the text in the version with words. You could also try using plain ol' Times New Roman, with a drop cap effect [write the whole sentence in caps, then increase the size of the first letter of each word, that looks pretty neat]. Also, try moving the text in the bottom-right corner, it looks out of place there, and maybe give it a lil' glow effect, too [duplicate the text layer and then use a soft blur effect on the bottom layer (the original one)]... hope this helps ;)"
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GunSlinger Girl

1 year 8 months ago

"The only nitpick I have is that the text looks a bit weird up there. You can at least to move it a bit farther apart from the scan. Other than that, you could add a bit more brushing in the background - nothing too obvious, just something to make the background a bit more complex. Then, I think you can submit it to the gallery. Good luck! ;)"
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Megatokyo Walls

1 year 8 months ago

"Love the style, but you sohuld change the text... it's too square and pixelated the way it is now [is the 'Antialiasing' option for text turned on in the graphics program you use?]. Try using a different font, too, maybe something tech-like... whichever you like.

Other than that, I think your background is a bit too simple... You could add a fading grid effect on the left side and make the black strips smaller, and also add some brushing in the green area.

All in all, your wallpapers aren't too bad, but they need some more work before they'll look their best. Good luck! ;)"
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my new wall

1 year 8 months ago

"I think your background needs a little bit more work, because right now it's too plain and simple to be accepted in the gallery. Try adding some more brushes, and use some darker shades of color to give it more depth. You don't have to crowd the background, just add some more stuff there.

Also, you could try improving the blending using a simple trick:
- Duplicate the stock layer [the one with Naruto and Sasuke fighting - if it's them, I don't really know much about Naruto]
- On the bottom layer [the original one], use a Blur effect of a strength between 2 and 4, depending which looks best, then set the blending to this layer to either Multiply or Screen, depending if you want it to look lighter or darker.

Hope this helps and excuse my English... I'm dead tired, it's the middle of the night here ^_^'"
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Ehh.....new here ><

1 year 9 months ago

"For the first wallpaper, I think you should pay more attention to the extraction, because you can still see some white pixels around the scan... and also use a technique to make the colors brighter (you can find it on imanimetions.com, along with some other great tutorials). You shuold also make the background a little more ellaborate. It would be good to find some other brushes to use, because the leaf brushes you used are pretty common.

For the second wallpaper, I think it's too crowded, plus some of the images you used are of low quality. You should rather focusing on using one, maximum two high quality images. And I find no use for the colored triangles, either...

I hope this helps. Keep practicing and you'll be sure to improve. Good luck! ;)"
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Best Shinigami On Bleach

1 year 10 months ago

"My vote goes to Byakuya [wow, big surprise there ^_^']. Same reasons as most people... he's calm, collected, handsome [*insert random fangirl moment here*], and besides that, his bankai pwnz. Also, I love the way he can keep his feelings in check even though he's burning on the inside --

SPOILER (click to view)

-- like when he was so cold to Rukia in the SS arc, when he let her know she was going to be executed and everything, even though he was still pondering whether to keep his promise to Hisana that he would protect her sister [and therefore go against the other shinigami], or his inner promise that he would never again break the rules.

"
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Games from your childhood

1 year 10 months ago

"Ah, the games of my childhood... I was lucky enough to have really neat parents, who let me play anything I wanted -- hence, I tried everything, from Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny and Doom 1 and 2, to Super Mario and Mortal Kombat [PC version], to Caesar II and i... *sigh* all right, I'm starting to get nostalgic. "
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Don't you feel like anime series are not that good anymore?

1 year 10 months ago

"The number one thing that bothers me about more recent anime serioes is the acute lack of originality... Basically, it takes to watch at least 10 series to be able to say "Hey look, here's something I've never seen before!" Instead, more and more series resort to the same old cliche stories, characters and plot twists that have been done a bajillion times before. Of course, that doesn't apply to ALL the new series [I'd have to mention Samurai Champloo here, it's one of the most original relatively recent series I've seen in a while], but most of them are just like that [remember Gundam SEED or Gundam SEED Destiny? *shakes head*].

Most of the producers focus more on the stuff that 'sells' rather than paying attention to the stuff that really counts for hard-core fans. They think that if they've got violence, boobs and insane humour, their series are going to be successful no matter what, and so they don't really care about the storyline or character development any more [again, remember Gundam SEED Destiny, which is 90% a major Gundam SEED ripoff].

I don't think that this trend is likely to change soon... Until then, I'll just keep digging for good series amidst all the other lame ones."
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What's with Bleach?

1 year 10 months ago

"The fillers are definitely going to end soon, and then they'll continue with the storyline in the manga. We've gotten plenty of hints on that -- like Grimmjow and Ulquiorra [characters from the manga, for those of you who are unfamilliar with the names] showing up in the intro. I can't wait.

I think they could've made the fillers a tad more interesting if only they had paid more attention to the new characters. In my opinion, all the bount-o [except maybe for Khariya and Yoshino] plain bite, starting with the character and weapon design and ending with their personalities. [I do like Ichinose though :)]. Also, there are way too many plot holes and conveniences that I simply can't cope with, but if I were to get into that, I'd probably have to type a few pages at least.

All in all, the fillers are a tad above horrible, so I can't wait until they get on with the manga storyline. Until then, I'll just bring myself to watch every new episode [because hey, at least there's some cool shinigami showing every now and then -- I really wanted to see Byakuya in casual clothing though :(], and hope it will be over soon..."
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Trigun wallpaper

1 year 10 months ago

"

The image was vectored entirely by me from a screenshot. I tried submitting this to the gallery, but for some reason it was rejected. I think it was because of the background, so could you please give me some advice on how to improve it? Thanks in advance!"
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Take this quiz and be mad! (comments needed)

1 year 10 months ago

"Kawaii~! Did you vector everything? In case you didn't, I suggest you do so... because I can still see some text in the lower-left corner [underneath your own signature], which leads me to believe that this picture isn't entirely redone... You should really look into that. Oh, and I think that the pink text doesn't really work for a signature. You should try something that better matches the color scheme you used, like white or light green. "
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please give me advice on my first wall!

1 year 10 months ago

"I'll be a little bit more radical ^_^' So, first things first, take out the blood and the sketch on the right, because they really break the unity of the entire wallpaper, and also, with the blood being so realistic, it clearly doesn't fit in at all.

Now, I think you should use a different font for the prayer text, and place it in one of the corners on the rights [bottom would look best, in my opinion]. You should make a more elaborate background, using brushes, gradients, vectors or whatnot, becaue white looks good, but it's way too plain. After you make the background, find a way to adjust the brightness and hue of your sketch, then change the blending mode of the layer with the sketch to get a fancy effect [usually Screen, Overlay, Multiply or Vivid Light do the trick ;)]. Good luck!"
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Guilty Gear

1 year 10 months ago

"I Guilty Gear! A friend of mine had been pestering me for a while before I finally bought the PC version, but then I got instantly hooked. I think it's one of the best fighting games I've played since Mortal Kombat 4 [and boy, was that a long time ago O.o]. I usually kick @$$ with Testament and Axl Low, but I also like Bridget [the yo-yo of d00m! *laughs*] and Zato-1. "
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anime heroe

1 year 10 months ago

"Well, that's a difficult question for me, because I have a slightly different deffinition for 'hero'. If you mean 'hero' as in, the American comic-book style hero, then it'll have to be Serena / Tsukino Usagi from Sailor Moon, because she's ready to sacrifice herself for her friends and for the world, she's strong and she's brave [...eventually, anyway].

But my personal anime hero is Kanbei from Samurai 7, because he's insanely strong [don't think there's anything that could bring him down unless he wants to], and he's got a good heart, no matter how much he'd like to seem aloof. "
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war of genesis, take a look ;)

1 year 10 months ago

"I don't know if anyone pointed this out before, but the blue background and the gray-ish image don't really go that well together. You should try to either decrease the saturation of the background or overlay a blue gradient over the whole wallpaper [new layer > fill it with the gradient > set blending mode to 'color'] to make it look a littl bit more compact. Also, you could try maknig the text a bit smaller and placing it in one of the corners. That looks a lot neater.

Oh, and I don't think that the background is too busy. On the contrary, I like it! :)"
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Alright, what do ya think?

1 year 10 months ago

"I like it a lot... except for the 'BERSERK' text. I say that because the text doesn't work well with the rest of the wallpaper -- it's a bit too big, and I think the font doesn't fit, either. You could try using a comic book style font instead, that would fit beeter. Also, it would be great if you could find a way to get rid of the text in the bubble [the 'I won't leave her' text], because it's sort of distracting... That's all I have to say :)"
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BLEACH wall

1 year 10 months ago

"I don't mean to discourage your or anything, but... I don't think that a wallpaper in this style will ever be accepted. You see, the general way that people who submit artwork here make their wallpapers is that they extract just the character from the scan (in your case, you would have to erase the white backgrounds in your two images), and then create their own background for them. Simply pasting two scans together and doodling some stuff to fill up the empty space won't do it. You can check out the tutorials and resources thread, you can find a lot of sites that can help you improve. Good luck! "
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rikku wallpaper......attempt #2

1 year 10 months ago

"Your wallpaper is really beautiful. However, I have two suggestions that could help you improve it {at least, in my opinion :)}. Here they are:

1. Try to write your AnimePaper username and member URL with a smaller font, and perhaps a more artistic one. The one you used now is a bit disturbing to the eye, especially since the rest of the wallpaper is so soft. So a handwriting font, for instance, would look a lot better. You can find a lot of free fonts at http://dafont.com ;)

2. The flower pattern in the lower-right corner of the wallpaper is a bit too rough when compared to the others. Try to soften it a bit [maybe decrease the opacity of that respective layer?].

Good luck!"
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free and legal to use (permissions)

1 year 11 months ago

"I suppose it's OK to use them like this... I have a friend who's working at a games magazine, and they use tons of screenshots, scans and other copyrighted material with no problems. So long as you use them to illustrate your reviews, there shouldn't be anything wrong with it.

So you can use any sort of scan you find freely, unless the author of the scan or the policy of the website specifically says that it should not be used for this kind of purpose. And it's definitely not against the copyright of the original author, or else every magazine would have to pay for nearly every illustration it shows :P"
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How do you find inspiration for your wallpapers ?

1 year 11 months ago

"Usually, when I see a scan that I like, I want to turn it into a wallpaper for my desktop. And since there are tons of pictures around, it's always easy to find good stock images. The backgrounds, on the other hand, are always hard to do, since I haven't really gotten the hang on this stuff. So most of the time I just stick with basic / abstract shapes, vectored doodles, brushes and filters. I've been experimenting with scenic backgrounds for a while now, but so far I'm hardly pleased with the outcomes... I guess I'll just have to try harder. After all, practice makes perfect, right? :)"
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First wallpaper (Bleach)

1 year 11 months ago

"Well, first of all, if you want to make a wallpaper, you should make sure that you use one of the standard sizes (like 1024 x 768 or 1280 x 1024). Then, the scan needs a little bit of cleaning, especially for the face and hair. I suggest you use the "Clone Stamp" tool, with a diameter of around 4 or 5 pixels. It's really easy to use, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it quickly.

Now, for the building... AnimePaper doesn't allow you to use filtered photos to make your backgrounds. So instead, you could vector the thing, or you could try the tutorial for buildings at imanimetions.

Finally, I suggest using a different style for the background behind the building and the scan (like a more sophisticated texture), and you could give up on the circles and the word 'BLEACH', because they don't really fit in.

Well, good luck!"
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