i've got no reasons; i've got no rhyme

NEWS: well, it's been real.

2007-05-01T20:23:39Z

And so we've come to the end of the road...

I'm not going to be posting my icons here at randomfangirl anymore. Which doesn't mean that I'm not going to be making/posting icons for your use at all anymore; I'm just going to do it at a different place. Every icon post I make after this will be under my regular LJ name, supersyncspaz7, and at itsapolarbear from now on. It's a cool place, with two other awesomely talented makers, and you should totally friend it, okay?

With that said, as a last hurrah for this place: my thread at the "The LOVE-MY-ICONS-PLZTHX" Meme.

See you on the flip side!

ICON POST #69: insert something innuendo-laced here!

2007-03-29T00:06:13Z

9 Michael Phelps icons. Oh, don't look at me like that. Next year's the summer Olympics, let me start the fangirling early, okay?

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4	5	6

7	8	9

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

ICON POST #68: G-Spot rocks the G-Spot!

2007-02-09T21:11:12Z

18 Clone High icons. Truly one of the best prematurely cancelled shows of our times (and I mean this seriously. DUDE, this show? Hilarious!).

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4	5	6

7	8	9

10	11	12

13	14	15

16	17	18

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

TUTORIAL: still prettier than you.

2007-02-06T20:24:35Z

A semi-quick tutorial. I work with Photoshop, and the skill level should be intermediate (you have to know how to work with adjustment layers and gradient layers). The icon comes from this set

1. Get image, crop it, and do all of the fixing-type things you usually do to it (for me, it's auto contrast, a brightness/saturation adjustment layer, and sharpening). So then I had this base, and it wasn't exactly bright enough for me yet, so I used a curves adjustment layer to fix that. NOTE: I just used the default black and white one, to up the brightness and contrast just a hair, and then I set that layer to soft light.

The original base is on the left, and the one with the soft light curves layer is on the right. See the difference? You don't have to if you've got your base bright enough for your own tastes, but for me, it made the color more vibrant and richer--exactly what I was going for.

2. Duplicate the base layer, set on top of the curves layer, and set to multiply. Adjust the opacity and fill to fit your needs.

3. Duplicate the base layer again, set on top of the multiply layer, and set to screen. Adjust the opacity and fill to fit your needs.

4. Now begins the fun part. Get a light texture, preferably with white lights on a black background. When I did this icon, I used a texture from awmpdotnet (here, to be exact), resized and rotated it, and made it black and white, then put it all over the previous layers. I set it to screen, and erased all the bits that covered Satine.

5. Place a texture on top of all previous layers, set on overlay. Adjust the contrast and fill to fit your needs. I used one of my own textures and lowered the fill a little bit.

6. Place another texture (or, in my case, a different part of the same one) on top of all the previous layers and set to screen. Adjust opacity and fill.

7. Go back and duplicate the base layer and set on top of the previous layers. Set to soft light.

8. Use a light colored gradient (or a light color, preferably blue or gray) on a blank layer, and set to color burn. Lower the opacity, because color burn at a high opacity tends to make your graphics look grainy and weird.

9. Look at your layers palatte. Near the bottom of it, there should be a circle that is half black and half white. Click on this, and go down to gradient map. Select a gradient that has black and a brighter color, so you can get a nice, glowy look to everything. I used a gradient with black and red. Now set that layer to soft light, and adjust the fill and opacity if you need to.

10. Add anything else to your icon--brushes, text, whatever makes you happy. I just typed some stuff using the font Texas Hero and I set the font size to 6 pixels, line spacing to 2 pixels, and the letter spacing to 50.

And that's it! I used a somewhat simular style with another icon from that set, give or take a few steps:

ICON POST #67: bohemian like you.

2007-01-17T05:32:27Z

This is the longest time I've gone without posting icons practically since I started this journal. Eh. Anyway: 18 Moulin Rouge icons, all for grrliz_icons' Road To The Oscars Icon Festival.

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4	5	6

7	8	9

10	11	12

13	14	15

16	17	18

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

ICON POST #66: [glee]!

2006-10-27T00:53:55Z

Because my taste in pretty varies: 12 each of Jason Schwartzman (Louis XVI in Marie Antoinette if you don't already know) and Jensen Ackles (and a wallpaper I made of him a while ago). I kind of love the half-tone in this set.

1	2	3	4

5	6	7	8

9	10	11	12

13	14	15	16

17	18	19	20

21	22	23	24

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

The winner of the tutorial poll? Sam Winchester! To be posted at a later date.

ICON POST #65: retiring! just kidding!

2006-09-16T04:06:14Z

15 Supernatural icons, because it's not like I don't need another fandom, and another fictional heartbreaker to crush on (I, and everyone else, want Dean Winchester).

1	2	3	4	5

6	7	8	9	10

11	12	13	14	15

5. NaNoWriMo--there was a 'fic with Dean writing romance novels by apocalypsos, by the way. Sam doing NaNo would be hilarious. 7. Dean so dreams of the Metallicar.

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

Oh! And since I got the +Plus account (or whatever its called)

View Poll: icon tutorials!

ICON POST #64: will you still need me, will you still feed me?

2006-08-16T17:18:17Z

I tend to not do mixed/multisubject icon posts very much (usually when I do, it's two max), but I'd had some of these on my USB drive for a while and figured that they needed to see the light of day. So: eleven from The Breakfast Club, eight from Lost (mostly of the finale, mostly of Desmond), three from Runaways issue 18 (a comic that EVERYONE SHOULD READ, OMG)--with slight spoilers, and two of Rachel Bilson.

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5	6	7	8

9	10	11	12

13	14	15	16

17	18	19	20

21	22	23	24

1-11: wow, I... seemed to have totally forgotten that Emilio Estevez was in the movie. Uh. 13/14: Desmond = Norrington a few centuries later, dammit. 16: I tried and tried to get rid of that yellowy glow, but everything in all the hatch scenes in the finale was super-yellow. Graagh.

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

ICON POST #63: I've fallen and I can't get up! Well, bitch, try!

2006-08-07T21:27:42Z

12 icons with quotes from VH1's I Love the 90s. When it originally aired, I took notes and wrote down some of my favorite funny quotes from it--but for some reason, I can't find the notebook that I wrote everything in, so yeah. I got all of these from Quote That!.

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5	6	7	8

9	10	11	12

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

ICON POST #62: oh wait, that's The Lion King.

2006-08-02T00:03:06Z

OMG I want to see Idlewild SO BAD.

Anyway. 12 Doctor Who icons, 3 from "The Empty Child", 3 from "The Doctor Dances", and the rest from "The Christmas Invasion". I have kind of a thing for dancing. [shrug] And I totally want the Sci-Fi Channel to pick up series two and Torchwood. Oh, Captain Jack!

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5	6	7	8

9	10	11	12

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

ICON POST #61: mmm, tasty.

2006-06-28T15:52:58Z

18 icons of random hot guys. Well, it's not eighteen individual hot guys, more like thirteen as six of these are of Jake Gyllenhaal, and I'd made them some time ago, and figured now was as good a time to share them as any. [shrug]

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7	8	9	10	11	12

13	14	15	16	17	18

The guys, starting from #1: Adam Brody, Jensen Ackles, David Tennant, Ewan McGregor, Johnny Depp, Jake Gyllenhaal, Adrien Brody, Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Wentworth Miller, Benjamin McKensie, John Mayer, and Boyd Holbrook.

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

ICON POST #60: you got soul, you got class.

2006-06-23T06:52:12Z

16 of Christina Aguilera. Because A.) I kind of love her and B.) I am definately loving "Ain't No Other Man" and want the new album now. August seems SO FAR AWAY, OMG.

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5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

RESOURCE POST #2: words without a sound falling from your eyes.

2006-06-19T19:25:46Z

A guide to all the fonts I've used quite a bit on icons, both now and in previous times.

A.C.M.E. Secret Agent

Alpha Mack AOE

Arial Black (comes with most operating systems)

Arial Narrow (comes with most operating systems)

Bastardus Sans

BSC Mallory

Butterbrot Papier

CAC Pinafore

Canadian

Cataclysmic

Century Gothic (scroll down)

CK Bella

Cooper-Heavy (scroll down)

Dateline

Feltpen

Georgia (comes with most operating systems)

Journal

Kristin

Linda

Mom's Typewriter

Multikultur

Pea Girly Girls Script (page 5)

Porcelain

Problem Secretary

Script MT Bold (Marcelle is a deconstructed version of it)

Splendid 66

TrashHand

Turbo Ripped

Valerie

Wuestling

ICON POST #59: after the night and the music die, will I have you?

2006-06-19T19:22:46Z

12 Degrassi icons, 7 of which are from S5 (the others are from S4 and S3).

1	2	3	4

5	6	7	8

9	10	11	12

6: because I still believe in the Crash. Shut. 7. lyrics from "Nature Boy"--which fits Craig quite well, if you ask me. Overall: there's a lot of Paige in this batch, for some reason.

And since this is a Very Degrassi Post: three wallpapers. Two multicharacter ones (well, the same one, really; only one in color and the other variation in B&W) and an oldish one.

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

And finally: an updated and edited version of my previous font guide.

ICON POST #58: it's a marvelous night for a moondance.

2006-06-06T22:17:25Z

15 "summer" stocks. Because sometimes, you need a break.


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6	7	8	9	10

11	12	13	14	15

And also, the first five icons I did for onepicwonders (join!)--they're of Rachel Bilson.

1	2	3	4	5

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

Coming soon: Pirates of the Carribean, and plenty from the Lost finale.

ICON POST #57: yo ho ho ho, a pirate's life for me.

2006-05-24T04:48:29Z

12 Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest (plus 10 interest icons for those who asked). I know, I know... everyone else has done Pirates icons so I'm being a huge lemming, but dammit, I can't wait for the movie! [squees]

1. 8hrs: Clemence Posey
2. onlyagirl86: iPod
3. howmuchforhappy: Chicago
4. stampinground: Starbucks
5. takemychance: Audrey Hepburn
6. eleva: Monty Python
7. ash_of_evenstar: sushi
8. estellegetty: Zac Hanson
9. hourlily: Gilmore Girls
10. vibrantharmony: Alias/Jennifer Garner

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

Coming soon: Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Whoohoo!

MISCELLANEOUS POST #1: pretensious art school kids

2006-05-04T04:15:39Z

So, inxsomniax had a fanart contest, and I decided to take a chance and enter it.

It took me awhile to think of what exactly I wanted to make, or who to make it of, and the inspiration for this kind of hit me like a stack of bricks. I downloaded a song that I'd heard a lot about, and then thought, "Hey, this kind of reminds me of one of my OTPs" and BOOM, a few hours later this was the result. [g]

Lyrics are from "Bohemian Like You" by The Dandy Warhols. Most of the textures are from inxsomniax's site Hybrid-Genesis; most of the brushes are from random sources that can be found in my resource post, but one or two happen to be of my creation.

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

INTEREST ICONS TO BE POSTED TOMORROW!

ICON POST #56: excuse me while I kiss this guy.

2006-04-21T06:14:09Z

In quite possibly the biggest icon post ever in this journal... 40 (yes, FORTY!) Degrassi icons. Only about seven of these are from this season's episodes, and they're (mostly) of promo photos; therefore, not that spoilery. Everything else spans from season two through season four. Enjoy.

NOTES: 6. cutest. scene. ever. Someone described Sean in that scene as looking like a "John Hughes movie reject" and it's so apt. Heh. 15. I couldn't think of a funnier caption (I almost put "Not my fault", but the context was wonky). 19. semi-ganked from a 10 Things I Hate About You quote. 20-22. I loved the original icon, but I also liked the snarky quotes, for purposes of who you like (or dislike) more... 23. before Peter, Craig was so the Cute Boy With Camera. 40. NOT A TYPO, seriously--it's a line from Alexz Johnson's "Time to Be Your 21".

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

Interest icons: coming soon. Other icons: on hiatus (can't get inspired to finish them).

ICON POST #55: I forgot about living alone as I learn, learn how to die.

2006-04-18T03:55:42Z

I actually did all of this Lost stuff weeks ago, and was actually apprehensive about posting it because it's so different than my usual style. [shrug] 12 Kate/Sawyer icons, plus the desktop background in three sizes.

And because I'm secretly convinced that this movie is going to be five kinds of awesome (and Missy Peregrym is in it!), 9 Stick It icons.

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

Still making interest icons!
Coming soon: Jake Gyllenhaal, Moulin Rouge (yeah, I know...), and some surprises. Whoohoo!

RESOURCE POST #1: I shall pout emoly now.

2006-04-13T21:00:16Z

This is actually one of the first times I've done a post like this. But y'know, first time for everything, insert cliche here.

So I've made 10 textures (all originally starting with stock photos of the sky, which I later altered), most of which are 1024x768--most of them are 768 height-wise and a little longer length-wise, and there are two that are 1200x900. They're all zipped, but here's a preview:

To download: right click, save as.

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

PS: still taking requests for interest icons. (go to the end of the entry)

ICON POST #54: yay, new fandom!

2006-04-07T22:43:27Z

So last summer, I heard quite some buzz about Doctor Who via my friends' list, and I was like, "Dude, what's Doctor Who?" And lo, now Sci-Fi Channel is airing episodes. And I'm hooked. Therefore: thirteen Who icons from "Rose" and "The End of the World".

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

ATTENTION! You know that whole "leave a comment and I'll check your userinfo for an interest and make an icon of it for you" meme? I'm doing it. So: comment if you want me to make an interest icon for you. Okay? Cool.

in the works: (or: icons coming soon, possibly) Moulin Rouge, Jake Gyllenhaal.

ICON POST #53: damn right, it's better than yours.

2006-03-26T18:36:23Z

For the uninitated: OTP = The belief that a given fandom only contains one "real" couple, and that any other 'shipping is preposterous. Usually abbreviated to OTP and nowadays often used humorously.

And because sometimes we enjoy being a little ridiculous: six icons telling the other suckers in your fandom that yes, your OTP is better than theirs. These are kind of simple and girlie, but well... it gets the point across, and that's all that matters (right? Right).

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

ICON POST #52: trying something new.

2006-03-15T23:31:55Z

15 word icons with random expressions from t-shirts (some of which I own--hee).

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

ICON POST #51: satisfied? I haven't been for years.

2006-03-05T01:33:26Z

24 Mr. and Mrs. Smith icons.

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.

ICON POST #50: fifty! Yay!

2006-02-26T05:23:23Z

14 Maroon 5, plus a wallpaper (in 1024x768 and 800x600). Plus, a tutorial for how I got the kind of washed-out, speckly, old photograph look on everything here.

So, the last time I did a tutorial was, oh, a year ago when I was a semi-crappy beginner. I like to think I've improved then, and that maybe someone else wants to get this effect.

I do all my work in Photoshop 7--don't know if it's translable into PSP, but it might be. [shrugs] Level of expertise? Intermediate, I guess. If you like this, I'd love to see an example of what you'd do with it. Whee.

1. Get your picture, and select the part you want, and crop it down to size. (me, I usually cut down images to 150x150 when I start off. Do whatever makes you happy.) Auto contrast your picture.

2. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast. When the New Layer window pops up, click "okay". For this picture, I made the brightness -20, contrast at +12 (I like starting the base image off dark; I think it allows better blending later on). Play around with your image and see whatever looks best to you--or just say "to hell with your instructions!" and brighten your image up instead of darkening it. [g] Flatten the image.

3. Sharpen your picture by going to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask. For this image, I used an amount of 55%.

4. Duplicate the background, and set the blend mode to mulitply. Change the opacity as needed. I set mine to about 50%.

5. Duplicate the background layer again, and drag it on top of the multiply layer. Change the blend mode on this one to screen. Desaturate the layer (on windows, press ctrl+shift+U), and change the opacity and fill as needed. I set my opacity at 69% and fill at 53%.

6. Go to the gradients, and select a gradient with some pink in it. When I did this one, I used the Photoshop default gradient with the background and foreground colors, which contained a brown and pink shade. Create a new blank layer, and fill it with your gradient. I set mine on radial, but do whatever makes you happy. After this, set your layer to soft light, and, as always, adjust the fill and opacity to your pleasure (60% opacity for me).

7. Go back up to your gradients, and select a gradient with purple and white in it. (I'll have to reccomend the gradients made by 77words here, especially considering that I used hers while doing this!). Create a new blank layer again and fill it with your gradient, using the radial setting. Change the blend mode to screen, and set the opacity and fill to whatever looks best (73% opacity and 66% fill).

8. Create a new blank layer. Select your paintbucket tool, and change your color to a dark blue (I liked 0F0C41). Fill the layer with this color, and under your blend mode to exclusion. Adjust your fill and opacity (65% opacity, 100% fill).

9. Go back to your background layer, duplicate it, and drag it on top of everything else. Desaturate it, and then change the blend mode to soft light. Adjust the fill and opacity (72% opacity, 100% fill).

10. Select your paintbucket tool again. Below the navigation bar, you will see the actions for the paintbucket. Under fill, select pattern. Select a pattern that looks kind of rough or bumpy. The one I used I found at 44suburbia.org. Create a new blank layer, and fill it with this pattern. Change the blend mode to soft light, and adjust the fill and opacity so that the pattern blends better with the image (for this one, I used 55% opacity and 38% fill).

11. Flatten your image, and if it was bigger than icon size (like mine was), resize it. And there you go--you're done! (and, if you want, you can totally nab this icon.)

Comments? Appreciated. Credit? Please (but not necessary). Hotlinking? A no-no.