SKETCHY PERSPECTIVE: JOSEPHINE12CUTE'S ARTISTIC (?) INSIGHTS
excuse me for posting this "Man Man Ha Ni" by U-KISS again... the previous page is too sentimental and I want everyone to be enjoying this anniversary of mine... so let's be happy and dance to the beat! :D
[BEFORE]
Think Things Over
Ask yourself should I really take walling seriously?, what can I benefit if I do this?, why am I even making a wallpaper!??. I can say that walling is a form of art. You are a waller if you think wallpapers are art and not just some desktop backgrounds. If you like random stuffs and hate people messing up with how you want it to look like, then don't read this! A real waller accepts opinions from other people and is ready to face all the things that critics may pont out.
Know Your Tools Well
You don't need to have the latest versions of softwares to make epic wallpapers. In this wallpaper, I just used MS PAINT and MS WORD 2007. And for now, I use Photoshop 7.0.1 which is an old version of PS. What I'm saying is... It's not on the software. A person from AnimePaper told me that its how you use the tools. So, just know your program and do your best to tweak each things (along with the menus, trust me!) and see how they function. You have to least know what their basic functions are so you have an idea. If possible, try to feel which tools you might be using very often. And for your workspace, remove the unnecessary windows showing through and place everything in position where you find it comfortable. Know your tools well so you know how to fix even your workspace alone. Here's what I mean.
Trial-and-Error
This is the part where you start to fully recognize the full potential of a tool. Its either you experiment yourself or try out some tutorials online. Its up to you on what way you want to learn the tools. I suggest you try tutorials. Ones from deviantART and YouTube are best sources. They have tutorials of many programs no matter what version! Do your best to understand the tutorials very well. Just be patient! ;)
Go On Your Own
I myself did this. Try to make a something that is the "product" of what you've learned. This is where you experiment and see how you improved. I suggest you make many "products" so you can use various techniques and discover new ones as well.
Learn How To Extract
I'm serious about this. I know you're gonna say that you can find ones online. Yes, you can find ones online. BUT extraction is not just used on the main image of your wallpaper. Besides, what if you found a scan but you can't find a rendered one? Of course, you have no choice but to extract it yourself. Also with extraction, you can learn to how make "collage" in a wallpaper (having many image pasted into one). Let's say you're looking for a cake image. And you saw an image that has the cake design that you want. If you can extract very well, you can have a nice looking cake in your wallpaper without having jagged sides that is very disturbing to look at. Its much better when your work is clean and smooth especially for the images you used.
[DURING]
Have Your Image
Now that you're ready. I'll be teaching you on the walling part. Of course, you're gonna make a wallpaper since you got an image that attracted you. But if you don't have a preferred image as of the moment, go look for one! My tip is that you should fine an image that is VERY appealing to your eyes. When you're making a wallpaper, you're definitely going to stare at it for a long time. So find yourself an image you're going to be comfortable with.
Conceptualize
Now that you have your image, ask yourself what design or what way would you like your wall to look like. Are you going for a simple one? Or maybe you want it to be bursting out with colors? Think very well of it. Sketch it out so its easy for you to visualize. You don't have to be good in sketching. You can just draw circles/squares and put labels on them so you know what they represent. My your doll wallpaper was a planned one. I can't find my notebook where I sketched it. But here's how it looks like. Make sure your design concept isn't too plain.
Have GOOD Sources
Now that you have the concept for your wall, you now have to find your sources like textures, brushes, fonts, etc. that you'll be needing for the wall. For the textures and brushes, always search for high resolution (Hi Res.) ones. Hi Res. textures and brushes are easy to scale down and don't lose their quality. Using a small texture/brush and resizing the to bigger one can destroy your beautiful wallpaper because they will show the unwanted pixels. You can find textures/brushes in deviantART and fonts in dafont.
Be Inspired
You'll be working for a long time so you need to have something that will boost out your inner feelings. For me, I always listen to songs. I have a weird sense for songs so sometimes my wallpapers are inspired from songs that aren't really related with it.
Work & Take Your Time
Work with your wallpaper! And if you get an effect that is not according to your liking, take your time to find ways to fix it or to think an alternative design. Great wallpapers take hours, days, weeks and even months to make. Just make experiments until you get what you really want.
Make Revisions & Finalize
Sometimes, editing is so fun that you haven't noticed that you're already having a new design on your work that is not on the plan but you got attracted to it. Some people may like it while some may not. And sometimes, when you're experimenting with a design, you would want to compare it with the others to see which is better. So, I suggest you make revisions for you to compare things much easier. Make sure you take important notes for each revision you make. Example, Revision 1 has this X texture in normal blending & 50% opacity while Revision 2 has X texture in color dodge & 10% opacity. Take note so its easy for you to adjust your wallpaper once you made your choice. You can make revisions so your wallpaper is available for people with different preferences. My shades of purple has originally 5 versions.
Put Your Signature
This is very important! You have to put signature on your wallpaper. There are lots of thieves our there. And they even steal ones with signature! That's one thing we can't control. But still, you have to put your signature so that at least you have the proof that it is yours. Placing and designing your signature is given consideration too. Its usually placed at the bottom of the wallpaper having a small size and a simple font. You can use your username and you can add your sites too. Just always remember to put signature. For me, I always make sure that my signature is hard to erase. I make my signature overlap the main image and sometimes I put it in a part with a few details. That's why I mentioned "Make sure your design concept isn't too plain." If your background is a solid color, its easy for the thieves to erase your signature then steal and claim your work.
[AFTER]
Double Check
Double check your work. Are there any wrong spellings? Is there something missing? Would you like to add/remove something?
Seek For Opinions
If you're still a little anxious about your work, try to seek opinions from others. There is The Sandbox in Minitokyo and Session Zero in AnimePaper. But if don't feel like posting, you can PM people in private and ask for their honest opinions. Its up to you if you will take consideration or not. They are just giving out their opinions.
Construct Your Description & Double Check Again
In AnimePaper, these are tips on how to write a good description:
- What was your aim when making the wall?
- Was it difficult to achieve this aim?
- Did the wall go through any revisions?
- How long did it take you to make?
- Are there any bits you really like? And any bits you don't like?
- Is there any aspect you would like people to pay special attention to when commenting?
You don't have to write a novel-like description, but its important to write one since it is one proof that the wallpaper is yours. What I always write is what "forced" me to make a wall, add a few tidbits on how I made it, give credits, share the inspirational song.
[GO ADVANCED (OPTIONAL)]
Share the Love
Help out your fellow wallers! You can do a lot of things. You can present yourself by giving out advice on other wallers' works, create your own textures and brushes that you think will be a big help to other wallers or you can make simple tutorials/walkthroughs of some things you have learned in time. I have made a scan cleaning tutorial and walkthroughs for my cards just missing you & |:|:k-i-s-s:|:|.
Focus and Be a Pro!
When you've been walling for quite some time; you might be hearing some terms like "fixing", "vectoring", "re-CG", "typography" and some more... Also you might be feeling unsatisfied with your walls no matter how nice they look. When you're feeling like this, it's about time for you to learn those terms. I'm already learning how to vector...
Know Your Style
In this part that you should be knowing what walling style you would totally excel. Do you like abstract? Bursting with colors? Fully vectored? Typography? Grungy? Simple? For me, I don't have a preferred style as of the moment, I'm still in "anything goes". You don't really have to have a style, but you have to know what you are comfortable with. You have two choices then: either make walls with what you're comfortable with and experiment with designs; or challenge yourself in making walls with styles you are not used with.
[ME, MYSELF & I]
Be Observant
Many people have already told me about this. That I observe things well and I have good eyes (I wear glasses) when I criticize a wall. But being observant isn't just something I use when I'm ranting over a wall. I really have the habit of observing things a lot. I would rather look at the river filled with garbage rather than the face of my Math teacher (I swear!).
Because of my habit, I tend to learn and remember things visually. And being observant, I unintentionally use it to think of designs and details. So that's why sometimes, I put a few details on my wallpapers based on what I see. Even in drawing.
Don't ask me on how to be observant. I'm just a weird person. If I'm not in the mood to talk, I'm suddenly looking around and noticing many things: like the moon and stars design on the zipper of my classmate's bag, the pattern on the curtain inside our room, the pointed ears of the rabbit printed on my teacher's shirt, the three big pimples on our principal's nose that looks like they're about to explode, the swirly floral border on our blackboard, and many more...
Why am I recommending this? Nothing, I just thought that being observant might help you come up with a design when you're having a mental block! :P
GET EVERYONE TO READ THE TIPS I POSTED!!! ;)
---------------------------------------------
Woohoo! Finally finished all my anniversary posts! Once again, thank you so much for everything. My one year here in theOtaku is not a regret. I have learned a lot of things and met amazing people. theOtaku has made me a better person.
If I didn't take walling seriously, I'm probably an online game addict who prefers playing with my friends rather than going to school (I'm serious about that!). I used to do that last year, I was hanging out with my "friends" and we would go straight to an internet cafe. Good thing I was easily bored when I get back at home so I tried out playing with Photoshop. Seeing many beautiful walls and kisskiss-bangbang saying I had potential, I managed to spend my vacation usefully.
Taking walling seriously helped me find out what course really fits me. I'm proud to say that I PASSED THE EXAMINATIONS ON ONE OF THE BEST SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES: The University of Santo Tomas!
Right now, I'm currently focusing on my studies. I'll be graduating in High School this March/April and I will be entering the crazy world of College. Wish me luck guys!
THANKS FOR THE GREAT ONE YEAR HERE IN THEOTAKU! I LOVE YOU GUYS A LOT!
