In June of the human realm, all fragrant and beautiful flowers have disappeared. - Personal Entry No. 8

You're viewing

outou's journal
Create a Dreamwidth Account Learn More

Reload page in style: site light

Outou

Blurb

"The road now divides in two, and I turn left, with the white-walled house off to one side. I glance back and discover a girl in a red skirt climbing the hill behind me. The skirt gives way to a pair of brown shins, below which is a pair of straw sandals, advancing steadily toward me. Petals from the mountain cherries tumble about her head. At her back she bears the shining sea."

-- Natsume Sōseki, Kusamakura

Links

April 2024

Previous | Memories | Tell Someone | Next

Outou

11 July 2009 @ 01:35 pm

Personal Entry No. 8

It's done! Which one do you like the most, and what changes do you think I should make?

Here are the results for the original four:

No. 1: xxxxxxxx
No. 2: xxxxx
No. 3: xx
No. 4: xxxxx

jlarinda and

mairenn_k suggested that the stars blend in with the background more in the first two images:

herinia suggested that the lineart of no. 4 be sharpened:

chibidl suggested that the foreground of no. 3 be used with the background of no. 2:

Thank you all so much for your feedback! I hope to send it in by tomorrow night, so please tell me what you all think about the three new ones.

EDIT: As of tonight, the first one received the most votes! However, I'll make sure to ask one of the editors what their recommendation would be, given that they know better than anyone how the images will look when printed out. The one I send in will likely incorporate elements of all four versions, but the final image will resemble the first version the most. (As a side note, my mother really liked the version

jlarinda and

mairenn_k suggested--though she didn't have the time to look over all of them. Her opinion means a lot to me, since she was so dedicated to the arts during her years in college.)

Again, thank you all! I appreciate your taking the time to help me with this.

Tags: artwork, clamp fanbook, personal, stuck between a rock and a hard place, vote!, yuuko

48 | +

( Post a new comment )

radiantdove.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 05:48 pm (UTC)

I like the last one,because the colors seem to be more bright and colorful to me :)

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:44 pm (UTC)

Noted! Thank you.

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

jlarinda.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 05:53 pm (UTC)

First or second one, definitely! The other two kind of wash out the lineart too much, imho.

And about changes... Well, I can't see any actual mistakes o/ It's a gorgeous pic. If anything, I think she looks kind of young? But idk if that's on purpose or not.

And hmmm now that I look at it more closely, if you DO pick the first ones, maybe edit the stars a bit? No idea exactly WHAT you could do to them, but they blend with the pic more nicely in the last one, I think. :xa

Edited 2009-07-11 06:00 pm (UTC)

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:49 pm (UTC)

Thank you very much! Her face is pretty round, so that's likely the cause of her looking so young. I tried narrowing it, but I think it looks better this way. :D

Yeah, the stars really do stick out too much in the first two pictures. I'll definitely try to make them blend in with the background more.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread) (Link)

jlarinda.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 09:11 am (UTC)

Okay, the (new) first one? Looks awesome now.

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

nr-icons.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 05:54 pm (UTC)

I like the second one the most. ^^ You are sooo good! :D Keep up the good work! :)

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

nr-icons.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 05:59 pm (UTC)

I just noticed that I used "good" twice. And it sounds very funny. XD Anyway... AWESOME work. :>

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:51 pm (UTC)

~~Instead of "very funny," you should have said "very good." XD~~

Thank you! It seems that the second one is the most popular.

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

ju-jei.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 05:55 pm (UTC)

I like the first one! And the picture is really gorgeous, you`re very talented :33

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:52 pm (UTC)

Thank you. :') It means a lot to me.

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

vegetas.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:12 pm (UTC)

They're all gorgeous. *o* But I'd have to say that the second one is by far my favorite.

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:55 pm (UTC)

You know that I'm addicted to Exclusion layers. >:D

Setting that aside, thank you!

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

yamisakura38.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:23 pm (UTC)

*this is the 1st time I commented and just secretly add you into my f-list... all of your coloring/iconing are absolutely gorgeous and AMAZING. I love your "water-coloring" style!!!*

Anyway, back to this entry... All 4 of them have their uniqueness. For the one I would choose: it is the 2nd one ^__^ in which the background is not too overshadowing the main character -- Yuuko in the picture. And that the coloring are adequately beautiful. The last 2 I found them to be a bit too bright. That's my little humble opinion for it. Overall, all four are nevertheless GORGEOUS!!! Your art skill is amazing *__*

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:58 pm (UTC)

Thank you both the compliment and for adding me! I hope you don't mind these personal entries showing up on your f-list.

The last two are somewhat too bright, especially since she's sitting in the night sky. I'm glad that you liked all four of them, though.

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

rhap-chan.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:34 pm (UTC)

I think I like the colors in the first one the best.

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:59 pm (UTC)

All right, noted. :)

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

part-b.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:47 pm (UTC)

I like the last one, but I'm a crazy over-photoshopper, so take my vote with a grain of salt, haha.

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 07:02 pm (UTC)

~~Do you think I should add some lens flares~~ So that's two for the last one! Thank you.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread) (Link)

part-b.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 07:04 pm (UTC)

~~Can never have enough lens flare. 8|~~ Pfft. You're welcome~

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

kencana-kencana.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 06:47 pm (UTC)

I like the third.

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 07:02 pm (UTC)

I'll take note of that. :D

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

pink-for-flower.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 07:10 pm (UTC)

I-I like the last one best; I think the colours turned out really warm and lively there ♥

This project is such a great idea :3

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 07:22 pm (UTC)

Okay, thank you. :)

I hope CLAMP likes it! I've seen fanbooks by Japanese fans before, but this is the first time I've seen such a large, international effort.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread) (Link)

pink-for-flower.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 09:15 pm (UTC)

You're welcome ^^

I hope so, too, though I don't see why they shouldn't ;) And same here. It's really nice that we fans from all over the world found a way to show CLAMP our appreciation.

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

mairenn-k.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 07:36 pm (UTC)

First, they all look really, really good!

For some reason I can't view the large version of the second one, so I say the first one. It's the one where the colors mix together best, I think (though you could make the lines of the stars a little less sharp, like someone said above). The third one is pretty, but the lineart looks a bit faded, and the last one is slightly too bright for my taste.

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 01:06 am (UTC)

Thank you very much! I put up a version of the second one with better-blended stars.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread) (Link)

mairenn-k.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 09:22 pm (UTC)

I like the new version even more. The background looks much more natural now, and blends in better with the lines in the foreground. So yeah, my vote is definitely on that one. :)

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

herinia.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 10:51 pm (UTC)

I prefer the last one myself, but maybe it will be great if you can make the line art less washed out so it's crisper like the first one. I think it will print the best with a crisp line art and sharp colours :)
But nonetheless, very amazing!

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 01:08 am (UTC)

I never did think about how it would look like printed--thank you for bringing that up! I dragged the lineart layer on top of the "Hard Light" layer to make it stand out more.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread) (Link)

herinia.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 05:24 am (UTC)

I like the version you just added! I find that crisp images print better than blurry ones; blur effects are usually more useful in the internet rather than in real prints.
If you absolutely can't decide, try pasting one on top of the other and lower the opacity to 50% so it will have a bit of both ;)

And out of random curiosity, what dpi did you do this in? I did mine in 300 and it's...huge. Maybe I should shrink it down to save me some time.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 14th, 2009 01:00 am (UTC)

I'm going to be talking to an editor about how colors and sharpness will be affected by the type of paper and ink, just to make sure.

I actually took a photograph of it, since my scanner hasn't been operating at all. (It's part of a printer/copier/scanner machine, and it has given my family and me nothing but grief ever since we bought it.) The original photo was 1600x1200 pixels, and the resolution was 180 pixels/inch. I just resized the image in inches, taking into account the size of the Fanbook's pages.

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

laury-kos.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 11:01 pm (UTC)

they are al gorgeous!!, you are brilliant! *o*
but if i have to choose~
I like the first one best ^_^

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 01:09 am (UTC)

I'm not that great. :'D But, thank you! I noted your response in the tally above.

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

chibidl.livejournal.com on July 11th, 2009 11:46 pm (UTC)

I like the background in the second one from the left because it seems a bit lighter/faded, which gives it... more cloud-osity in my opinion. However, I like the contrast/brightness in colors of her clothes in the third one. So, basically, I thin what would look best is the foreground of the third one combined with the background of the second one. |D

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 01:10 am (UTC)

Done and done! Thank you for the suggestion.

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

moon-hime.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 12:43 am (UTC)

I liked the last one, but I prefer the first. (:

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 01:11 am (UTC)

All right, thank you. :)

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

lavender88.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 03:44 am (UTC)

Go with the first one. It is absoulutely gorgeous, and the overall effect is stunning. I love the chiaroscuro-styled painting vibe that I get from it, but that is just my humble opinion.

The third and fourth ones are gorgeous in their own ways, but I prefer muted colors to brighter ones, and Yuuko's face in those versions are a littletoo pale for my liking. Just asking, but maybe if you remove the exclusion layer ( if there is one) or lower the opacity of it, maybe it'll look better xD

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 13th, 2009 02:35 am (UTC)

Thank you so much! I think I'll be going with the edited version of the first one, after all. (As a note, only no. 2 and 3 have exclusion layers; 3 and 4 both have duplicates of all of the layers set to "Hard Light" on top. ;) )

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread) (Link)

lavender88.livejournal.com on July 13th, 2009 12:43 pm (UTC)

Rofl, I'm no good at recognizing colour layers at all. Anyway, you might want to ask the editors what kind of paper are they printing the fanbook on, because I doubt that the first image will look too good on glossy magazine paper - and I'm glad you decided to go with the revised version of the first - but it takes a lot
to ruin such a gorgeous picture :D

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 14th, 2009 01:01 am (UTC)

Thank you again. :) I'll definitely be asking an editor about that.

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

http://users.livejournal.com/_honey_milk/ on July 12th, 2009 04:11 am (UTC)

I-I don't know how I stumbled upon your LJ (I think I was trying to find the origin of this one very pretty icon), but I'd like to put in a vote for the original #1. I think the background is very beautiful the way it is, but I feel the shadows on Yuuko's robes were a little too light--it seems to fade into the background for me.

Would you mind very much if I add you to my f-list? You don't have to add me back; I just would like to be able to keep updated on your great works :D

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 13th, 2009 02:42 am (UTC)

herinia is amazing. :D

The shadows are very close in color to the sky, come to think of it. I'm worried about darkening them, as I'm afraid that would make them seem unrealistic.

And I don't mind at all! I'm glad that you don't seem to be bothered by the non-icon posts.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread) (Link)

http://users.livejournal.com/_honey_milk/ on July 14th, 2009 08:54 pm (UTC)

Hmm what if you just darken it a little bit? Or maybe a different color?

Thank you for letting me add you! I like the non-icon posts, especially if they are pretty art like this one here :D

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

grass-angel.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 05:01 am (UTC)

I like two and three the best, mostly because I like the saturation of three (though I don't like the loss of detail) and the blue-misty quality of 2.

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 13th, 2009 02:43 am (UTC)

I think that I'll submit the revised version of the first, which uses an exclusion layer like the second. Thank you for the input!

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)

kuraudonine.livejournal.com on July 12th, 2009 03:57 pm (UTC)

I prefer the last one. The colors are so gorgeous <3

(Reply) (Thread) (Link)

outou.livejournal.com on July 13th, 2009 02:45 am (UTC)

The colors of the robes from the Heian period really were remarkably vibrant. Thank you!

(Reply) (Parent) (Link)