Icons aren't real. They just aren't!

twenty-seven

emiels — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 20:17:36 GMT

hello watchers, I have moved to dw I guess.

twenty-six

emiels — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 17:08:39 GMT

22 x Arcane
4 x Sk8
3 x Hades
2 x FMA:B
2 x Promare
1 x Jujutsu Kaisen, Haikyuu!!, Dishonored, Mass Effect, Nier: Automata

I dedicate this post to Lost Ark login queues in Central EU region :U

for somein30
01-05
06-10
11-15
16-20

So I did the extra hard mode, meaning every icon is inspired by a musical genre (hover for it) as well as the icons/resources provided in the post. On top of that, I decided to approach this scientifically and icon my top music genres (based on my last.fm account that I've had since 2007), and also get inspired by one favorite band from each genre (kinda hit a hurdle when I realized I listen to like... 90% rock and that's NOT EVEN AN OPION FROM THE POST lol, so I used punk cause it had the vibe I thought of when I imagined rock icons?), with each icon being vaguely inspired by a different song. Though I didn't think too deeply about it, just had the song on repeat while iconing and let that guide me I guess. If anyone cares to check out the songs, every icon is a link to the song on youtube :D
I especially recommend checking out the 1st row of links because Gang of Youths is my favorite band ever, and they are FAR less known than they deserve to be. Do yourself a favor and make sure you have this band in your life u__u

21-25
26-30
31-35
36-37

twenty-five

emiels — Fri, 31 Dec 2021 13:06:34 GMT

01-05
06-10
11-15
16-20

this theme @ somein30 was too good to pass up, even when I'm feeling super uninspired.
therefore, an uninspired post. but I had fun making it :v
extra hard mode looked interesting, but hunting down original caps would have been a major pain - for some of those icons I had to take caps myself (and I don't have them anymore), and I don't like mixing fandoms anyway so.... hard mode it is.

ICON 1		ICON 2		NEW ICON

twenty-four

emiels — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 16:10:50 GMT

16 x Sk8 the Infinity
5 x Promare
5 x Cyberpunk 2077
4 x Life is Strange
20 x other fandoms that I am too lazy to list

01-04
05-08
09-12
13-16

Ok, so for somein30, I wanted to icon at least a few of the rounds I missed. But then I got busy, you see.... so I figured, why not combine the rounds. IT'S EFFICIENT. Sooo this post was born.

What is included:
Round 3 - Vibrant vs muted (top vs bottom of the set), hard mode
Round 6 - Minimalism vs complexity (right vs left of the post), normal mode
Round 7 - Relationships - mix of hard and extra hard? It's 4 mini-progressions of 4 relationships. So idk. (I feel I should explain that row 3 is a relationship from a first-person POV game where one half of the couple - the player character - is never seen, so I used her quotes on images of the love interest to show the relationship... I guess. Does that work? Idk. But it gave me an excuse to force myself to use text lol)
Round 9 - Coordinates of style - because the vibrant vs muted and minimal vs complex are more of a gradient than half one way half another.

EFFICIENCY.
mods pls don't hate.

And a bunch of other stuff I haven't posted yet, from animanga battle @ icontalking and from icons10in20 @ dreamwidth.

17-21
22-26
27-31

32-36
37-41
42-46
47-50

twenty-three

emiels — Sat, 29 May 2021 19:18:21 GMT

24 x Demon Slayer/Demon Slayer: Infinity Train film

01-04
05-08
09-12
13-16

for somein30
... well, I made another one. This challenge is just too fun, fight me mods. I watched this film and it had so many iconable scenes, so I thought... why not.

And I figured I could squeeze more axes into a 4x4 square, so I gave it a go and an extra... extra hard set was born I guess?
Here is the chart:

The little inner axes go from the middle, so each of them affects 2 columns/rows and therefore it doesn't really show in the full square but ah well.
The main axes are:
Y - number of textures; from the bottom: 0-2, 3-4, 5-7, 8+ (I know some of them...don't look it, but I like my light textures at 10% opacity lol)
X - mood; from angry battle scenes on the left to happy/content on the right
Z - hue gradient; I know the arrow is in the wrong direction on the chart, but I saved it as png and not psd, and I don't... feel like remaking it...
There was supposed to be another diagonal axis but I just couldn't add it in a way that would make sense and not create ugly icons :U

Inner axes are pretty simple so no explanation needed.. I think ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Alts/others:
17-20
21-24

twenty-two

emiels — Fri, 07 May 2021 16:50:31 GMT

4 x my hero academia
4 x demon slayer
4 x jujutsu kaisen
4 x haikyuu!!

01-04
05-08
09-12
13-16

For somein30 round 9: Coordinates of Style
I went for the extra hard mode because a) if there's anything I like more than making icons, it's elaborately planning my posts via unnecessary color coded excel sheets, and this time it was even warranted and b) it had galaxy brain in the description and I wanted to be galaxy brain dammit

Can't show all the axes of this table next to the icons, so here is a chart instead:

And explanation because the axis labels are super vague lol
I decided to focus on 2 types of effort I generally put into my animanga icon: base image effort and icon effort (which I consider different from complexity).

Base image effort is how much preparation goes into it: top row is full proper manga coloring - images colored from b&w manga panels in a detailed/painty style; 2nd row is simplified manga coloring - images colored from b&w manga panels but without removing things like speechbubbles or sound effects, and with a simplified flat style; 3rd row is enhanced anime screencaps - so screencaps I scribbled on, added shadows/highlights, changed lighting etc, and last row is just plain ol' anime caps, nothing added (this was hard, I had to stop myself from adding stuff lol). I uploaded all used images into a folder in case someone wants to take a look, idk. (there is no porn in it, idk why imgur tagged it as 18+ lmao)
Icon effort is basically how much stuff I add to it after finishing my work on the base image. So textures, light, adjustment layers, etc.. The icons on the left have barely any adjustments and 0-1 textures added, the one of the right have... many. I was going to label this as complexity, but tbh the top rows aren't really complex? I'm always hesitant to add a lot of compositional elements when I've spent a good chunk of time on the image, so as you can see, it's more like... amount of textures on the icon. But also of adjustment layers and the like, so I'm keeping my effort label ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
...the diagonal axis is just a rainbow. 4x4 grid was perfect for this since it has 7 diagonal lines.

Anyway, this was a 10/10 fun challenge, would speedrun again.

twenty-one

emiels — Sun, 27 Dec 2020 21:18:55 GMT

21 Animanga multifandom

01-07
08-14
15-21

Ahhh I couldn't resist the nostalgia theme at somein30. I've had too many fandoms over the years to mix TV shows, films, anime, animated shows and games all in one post, so I settled on anime/manga only, since I've been on a major anime binge since September and there's no sign of stopping yet. I'd say this is semi-extra hard mode, since I included both fandoms and styles, but the styles are not in order ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I wrote down a list of styles I remember doing, but I honestly couldn't tell you WHEN I did them since I only have my icons from 2014 onwards, and I started around... 2003. So I iconned fandoms chronologically, but styles are more mix-and-match for whenever they suited the image I chose to icon.

The rainbow effect over the entire post was something I felt I had to do, since I've been doing rainbow posts for a long long time and NOT having it in this nostalgia theme would be just... wrong. Also, I love doing rainbow posts.
Textlessness was not deliberate, but I think it does fit the style journey theme, since text is my nemesis. I even went back to check and apparently the last time I added text to an icon out of my own free will (meaning, not because it was a theme) was mid-2018, which sounds about right lol

Some ramblings about fandoms/icons under the spoiler tag!

1.
Fandom: Sailor Moon (1994-1995?) - my first one! If you count a bunch of 7-8 year old girls obsessing over a show airing on TV lol. But I do think it set me up for a life of fandomness.
Style: One of the first styles I remember using - cut out with a 2-3px white stroke, on a solid background. Usually there would also be a thicker white border and a 1px darker border around it, but since its 2020 not 2005 now, let's not do that anymore.

2.
Fandom: Slayers (2003-2004) - my first Actual Fandom. This was pre-LJ and I barely spoke English back then, so I mostly operated on message boards and tiny fandom websites... thankfully none of my icons from back then survive to this day, because they were Really Really Bad, Even For 2003. But that aside, Slayers fandom was one of my favorites to be in.
Style: A basic cutout + solid background + shadow is something I always default to when I have no special idea for a full-body image and this is what happened here too ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

3.
Fandom: Fullmetal Achemist (2004) - ahh, FMA. It's one of my favorite stories to this day, and I'm honestly a bit sad that I discovered it so early because it gave me unreasonable expectations for other animanga. I iconned the hellll out of it back in the day, but I think it was still before I joined LJ?
Style: Red-yellow-blue, my one true love when it comes to color schemes for single icons. When in doubt, go red-yellow-blue. I've used it a loooot over the years.

4.
Fandom: Bleach (2005) - I was totally in love with this manga up until it got really bad after the Aizen arc. But the early years were great, and I remember having a lot of fun in this fandom.
Style: This icon is an attempt at recreating something I used to do in late 00s that included contrasting light textures both in the background and on top... it used to look different, it embodies the spirit of that style I guess?

5.
Fandom: xxxHolic (2006) - discovering xxxHolic and TRC sent me on a massssssive Clamp bender, I think I read everything they ever released.... their mangas are kinda cliche and have way too many plot twists, but their storytelling is top notch. And the visual style of xxxHolic is just amazing.
Style: Ahhh manga coloring, my greatest iconmaking love. There is just something about taking a b&w manga page and turning it into a colorful icon exactly the way you want it to look... I wish I had more time for it, and my old tablet, which was way better than the cheapo one I picked recently. I remember making many, many icons that were just basic manga coloring with no textures/brushes/text etc, and that's what I did here.

6.
Fandom: TRC (2006) - same as above, since those two mangas are interconnected and I read them at the same time.
Style: Who else remembers the radioactive cyan/red colorings that were super popular around maybe 2007-2008? People shared .psds of the coloring so there were tons of icons that had the same exact values applied to them and they allllll looked nasty. I tried to recreate that but less... eyeburning. Also, textures with unreadable handwritten text and some random dots/lines were my jam back then and honestly I want to bring them back, I like this look still.

7.
Fandom: Tanemura Arina's mangas (2006) - the guilty pleasure fandom. Her mangas are so cheesy but at the same time, totally fun? I'm not super into the romance bits, but the plots and fantasy elements won me over. Doesn't hurt that the art is totally gorgeous and a huge pleasure to icon.
Style: I think this style was popular among animanga makers around 2010-2012 or so... very vibrant, few light textures, but overall simple and focused on highlighting the beauty of the screencap/artwork.

8.
Fandom: Gunnm (2007) - the fandom that was not a fandom, because this manga is criminally underrated. Idk if it had any significant popularity when it was published in English, but when I read it as it was published in my country, literally no one was talking about it here... which is a shame because it's GREAT. It started my love for cyberpunk.
Style: Around 2015-2016 I started using difference layers a lot... I discovered what happens when you set a layer with a white element to difference and it blew my miiiind. And then my mind was blown again when I checked what happens if you experiment with channels on the difference layer. So many colors! Still one of my favorite techniques to use when I feel like making something more complex.

9.
Fandom: Hikaru no Go (2007) - this was a time when I got into 2 sports mangas - HnG and Prince of Tennis. Chose to icon only one of them here, and I picked HnG because years later, I have a lot more sentiment for it than for PoT.... for a manga about tennis, PoT just got super weird in the end.
Style: Manga coloring + negative space. I don't really go for extreme negative space since it's tricky to use well, but then theiconquest started I REALLY wanted to get on those rogue points, so around that time I remember using this technique a lot. (TIQ, I miss u ;_;)

10.
Fandom: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (2007) - ahh TTGL. The one anime I would recommend to anyone anytime, the visual style, craziness of the plot, and amazing characters just stole my heart. This wasn't really a fandom I got involved in (if there even was one, idk), but to this day I'm happy to see it mentioned somewhere so I think it deserved a spot.
Style: RAINBOW. Where a rainbow does not technically belong. I started doing this in tumblr posts around 2013 and then it migrated to icons, just making weird happy edits and adding rainbows to things.

11.
Fandom: Gundam 00 (2008) - this fandom was wiiild. I love all things sci-fi so I was into it from the start, but the memes that developed, theories, shipping drama.... I'm glad I was there for it. I don't remember iconing it much for some reason, but I was definitely invested in other parts of it.
Style: It happens a few times in this post, but in this icon it was deliberate - blending the subject with the background, both through coloring and lighting and just plain blurring/masking the edges of the cutout. I remember doing this a bunch around 2010/2011 maybe...?

12.
Fandom: Natsume Yuujinchou (2009) - I miss this fandom, it was as peaceful as this anime. I recall discussing episodes in a LJ comm as they aired, and there was never any drama or arguments, which was honestly refreshing, since the 00s were when the craziest fandom/ship wars happened.
Style: This was an attempt at recreating one of my earliest iconing techniques from around 2005/2006, in which every screencap/image got the same treatment: beige soft light layer, pastel blue soft light layer, merge all visible layers, blur, set as soft light. The result was a brownish blurry mess but I kept with that style for a solid year or two lmao. Obviously it's toned down here, and I picked a dark image so that it wouldn't get super washed out, but that is the style.

13.
Fandom: Kuragehime (2010) - I honestly have no idea how I got into this fandom, because I have zero interest in fashion or romance manga. And yet? The characters are so relatable and charming that I felt I had no choice but to fall into it.
Style: Another very early style, from maybe 2006-2007? A rough outline around the character made with polygonal lass tool, and a patterned background that matches the colors of the image. I used to always add the ubiquitous 3px-white, 1px-dark border but I don't think there is any way to make that look attractive so let's not bring that back lol

14.
Fandom: Pandora Hearts (2010ish...?) - I... don't remember what this was about. Whatsoever. I remember being obsessed with this manga, making tons of icons, generally participating in the fandom, but.... the plot actually eludes me. I think it got super weird in the end and I erased it from my memory somehow. But the art was super pretty and what I do remember that the character I iconned here was secretly a deceitful manipulator, which is my favorite character type, so I have vague fond memories of him lol
Style: The white decorative element over a colorful icon! I think there were posts where 50% of my icons had that in some way, I loooved this style. I feel it kinda fell out of use recently, but wasn't it really popular a few years ago?

15.
Fandom: Durarara!! (2010) - I got super involved in this fandom, particularly in Izaya/Shizuo ship, to the point of starting a doujin translation group with a friend and having a feud with another group who accused us of stealing their projects haha. I think I iconned it a lot too, the art is pretty and I honestly liked almost every character. Celty won for the icon appearance since shipping aside, she was my fave.
Style: Another icon with difference layer, plus the yellow-cyan-magenta color scheme, which is also something I use a lot.

16.
Fandom: Free! (2016) - Free! was like a fandom one night stand for me hah. I watched both seasons in some ridiculously short amount of time, read some fanfics, made some icons, and then mostly forgot it existed but looked back on it with fond memories whenever I saw a mention. It was fun! And iirc I can blame jsfunction for it entirely lol
Style: My other great iconing love, painting over anime screencaps to give them different lighting. This was originally a night scene! But I wanted an orange icon for the rainbow, so I turned it into a sunset with sunset illumination over the characters. Another thing I wish I had more time for, but it does get a bit time consuming to do...

17.
Fandom: Haikyuu!! (2016) - sports anime were always my weakness (all those shippable characters man), and Haikyuu!! is another one in a long line... it doesn't help that it's just SO GOOD. Do I care about volleyball? Not at all. But even when the episodes are entirely filled with volleyball scenes, this anime manages to keep me interested, proabably because every single character is lovable and all ships are great. (fun fact: I have a tattoo inspired by it)
Style: the Generic Anime Icon, behold. I think I made literally hundreds of these, just super basic coloring, character either cut out or left in the original background, a single light texture or no textures at all. Most often I'd make these for ongoing anime series, as episodes were airing, when fandoms would want current icons to use in discussions or whatnot.... Not really a ~flashy~ challenge icon style but I used it A LOT so I wanted to include it. And the screencap is so adorable that it works without much decoration anyway :v

18.
Fandom: Yuuri!! on ice (2017) - this was the first time I watched a LGBT-themed anime and genuinely enjoyed it, I think. When I started watching, I actually had no idea it would be an actual gay love story - I thought it would be just another baity anime aimed at attracting female fans, but then... they actually got together? That was such a great moment in the fandom, I remember staying up realllllly late on a workday to read the discussions and reactions. Definitely one of my favorite fandoms to date, hope season 2 will come out eventually :D
Style: Another-screencap-as-background was my go-to technique for when I had no idea what to do to make a full-body cut out icon more interesting.

19.
Fandom: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019) - This hit just when I was craving a fantasy-action story after rewatching FMA and it filled that void sooo well. An emotional journey with a pair of siblings and their companions, in a finished, coherent story that has no filler, no bs 'arcs' and wraps up well without tacking on unnecessary new villains? SIGN ME UP. Can't wait till the rest of it is adapted into anime!
Style: More manga coloring! I was making the icons chronologically and tbh at this point I ran out of past styles to include, so. It was one of my main styles over the years so I feel it should be represented in this post!

20.
Fandom: Promare (2019) - I did not expect a random anime action film to drag me into a fandom, but Promare was just WILD. I went in ready to watch an action bromance flick, but instead got an actual action romance wrapped in amazing visual style and great soundtrack. And it actually has a decently sized fandom so it was an unexpected treat, and I had to icon it here. Love those dumb gays ♥
Style: Honestlllly, this is just an icon in my current style. But since it's the end of a timeline, I guess that fits? This is why I said it's semi-extra hard mode, I did not do the style part that well at all lol

21.
Fandom: My Hero Academia (2020) - so I avoided this for the longest time, since the idea of a hero school seemed kind of dumb and immature to me. But I was unemployed for a while in this trash fire of a year, and I needed something to do, so I cracked and it was an unexpectedly pleasant experience... I'm still not 100% sold on the general idea, but the plot is fun and the characters are interesting, so I might end up getting more into in the future.
Style: Just more pure manga coloring, decided to use it for the last icon since that's something I want to do more of in the future. Hopefully :v

I don't actually expect anyone to read all of this, but if you did, congrats! I honestly just wanted to ramble about fandoms for a bit.

twenty

emiels — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 17:16:21 GMT

19 x Haikyuu!!
1 x Good Omens
1 x The Good Place
1 x Hades

for somein30
01-07
08-14

ssssoooo this set is totally not what I was planning to make. I had this grand plan of making a set of 'hero' characters in their villain moments, like The Doctor in The Waters of Mars or Steve Rogers in the entire CA:CW film. I had notes! And ideas!
however.
then the new season of Haikyuu!! started aaand I just had to icon the volleyball idiots ssso. This set is a huge stretch because lbr, there are no villains in this show?? They are all lovely and wonderful. But the first 7 is the main team and the second 7 are the rivals so hopefully that counts... somewhat. I did try to make the icons more dramatic by adding random intense backlighting that makes zero sense, considering those scenes are taking place in the middle of the day in well-lit gyms, but. artistic licence!
anyway mods feel free to disqualify me if this is too irrelevant to the theme idk. but if you don't, then it would be super lovely if in the voting the icons could be displayed in rows of 7 instead of the standard 5, because you know. rainbows.

15-19

20-22

nineteen

emiels — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 19:00:09 GMT

24 x Detroit: Become Human

01-05
06-10
11-15
16-20

for somein30 round 1.... again. Idk dudes, this quarantine year is just really boring, what can I say. Might as well make some icons ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This time it's super hard mode! Which was frustrating but fun.

1. MAIN - Coloring #10: Unnatural
HARD - Cropping #3: Close crop
EXTRA HARD - Composition #10: Silhouette

2. MAIN - Contrast/lighting #5: Matte
HARD - Composition #10: Silhouette
EXTRA HARD - Textures #10: Text, tiny text or numbers

3. MAIN - Coloring #6: Fully black and white
HARD - Composition #8: Blending (**)
EXTRA HARD - Textures #5: Decorative accent

4. MAIN - Contrast/lighting #2: Bright
HARD - Textures #2: Geometric
EXTRA HARD - Coloring #9: Complementary colors

5. MAIN - Composition #2: Fake background
HARD - Contrast/lighting #10: Ray(s) of light
EXTRA HARD - Cropping #1: No eyes

6. MAIN - Textures #6: Borders
HARD - Composition #6: Minimalism
EXTRA HARD - Coloring #6: Fully black and white

7. MAIN - Textures #5: Decorative accent
HARD - Coloring #5: Color explosion (*)
EXTRA HARD - Cropping #3: Close crop

8. MAIN - Cropping #6: Center crop
HARD - Textures #8: Grunge
EXTRA HARD - Contrast/lighting #1: Dark

9. MAIN - Contrast/lighting #8: Soft, dreamy lighting
HARD - Textures #7: Frame
EXTRA HARD - Cropping #5: Subjects from varying distances

10. MAIN - Composition #6: Minimalism
HARD - Contrast/lighting #4: High contrast
EXTRA HARD - Textures #4: Stock

11. MAIN - Composition #1: Negative space
HARD - Cropping #1: No eyes
EXTRA HARD - Coloring #6: Fully black and white

12. MAIN - Composition #7: Text
HARD - Textures #8: Grunge
EXTRA HARD - Cropping #7: Side crop

13. MAIN - Composition #9: Collage (***)
HARD - Coloring #10: Unnatural
EXTRA HARD - Textures #5: Decorative accent

14. MAIN - Coloring #4: Duochrome
HARD - Composition #5: Blocking
EXTRA HARD - Cropping #8: Both sides

15. MAIN - Textures #4: Stock
HARD - Cropping #10: Focus on top
EXTRA HARD - Contrast/lighting #9: Blob(s) of light

16. MAIN - Contrast/lighting #9: Blob(s) of light
HARD - Coloring #1: Muted
EXTRA HARD - Textures #5: Decorative accent

17. MAIN - Composition #9: Collage (***)
HARD - Cropping #9: Low/bottom crop
EXTRA HARD - Contrast/lighting #5: Matte

18. AC

19. AC

20. AC

eighteen

emiels — Sun, 13 Sep 2020 10:55:58 GMT

26 x The Lord of the Rings

for somein30 round 1
01-05
06-10
11-15
16-20

alts/rejects
21-27

Some of these look like I went back to 2012 to make them but idk, I like them, so.

1. MAIN - Textures #6: Borders
HARD - Coloring #5: Color explosion (*)
EXTRA HARD - Contrast/lighting #7: Dramatic

2. MAIN - Contrast/lighting #4: High contrast
HARD - Composition #10: Silhouette
EXTRA HARD - Textures #6: Borders

3. MAIN - Contrast/lighting #10: Ray(s) of light
HARD - Textures #6: Borders
EXTRA HARD - Coloring #9: Complementary colors

4. MAIN - Coloring #7: Black and white + color
HARD - Textures #1: Painty
EXTRA HARD - Contrast/lighting #9: Blob(s) of light

5. MAIN - Coloring #7: Black and white + color
HARD - Contrast/lighting #5: Matte
EXTRA HARD - Composition #1: Negative space

6. MAIN - Coloring #10: Unnatural
HARD - Cropping #2: Full body
EXTRA HARD - Textures #5: Decorative accent

7. MAIN - Textures #3: Light
HARD - Contrast/lighting #9: Blob(s) of light
EXTRA HARD - Composition #6: Minimalism

8. MAIN - Contrast/lighting #7: Dramatic
HARD - Textures #10: Text, tiny text or numbers
EXTRA HARD - Cropping #2: Full body

9. MAIN - Cropping #2: Full body
HARD - Contrast/lighting #1: Dark
EXTRA HARD - Textures #10: Text, tiny text or numbers

10. MAIN - Composition #7: Text
HARD - Cropping #10: Focus on top
EXTRA HARD - Coloring #3: Monochrome

11. MAIN - Cropping #7: Side crop
HARD - Composition #4: Levels
EXTRA HARD - Contrast/lighting #6: Shiny

12. MAIN - Textures #8: Grunge
HARD - Coloring #1: Muted
EXTRA HARD - Composition #5: Blocking

13. MAIN - Composition #6: Minimalism
HARD - Coloring #2: Vibrant
EXTRA HARD - Textures #5: Decorative accent

14. MAIN - Cropping #7: Side crop
HARD - Coloring #1: Muted
EXTRA HARD - Textures #4: Stock

15. MAIN - Textures #10: Text, tiny text or numbers
HARD - Cropping #4: Far away
EXTRA HARD - Contrast/lighting #1: Dark

16. MAIN - Contrast/lighting #4: High contrast
HARD - Coloring #10: Unnatural
EXTRA HARD - Textures #6: Borders

17. MAIN - Textures #5: Decorative accent
HARD - Composition #10: Silhouette
EXTRA HARD - Cropping #10: Focus on top

18. AC

19. AC

20. AC

I went for the normal difficulty since some of the hard/extra hard combos were... unappealing. But that's RNG for you I guess. Very fun challenge overall, I hated some of the themes I got so it was doubly hard to work with them - which is exactly how I like it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

seventeen

emiels — Fri, 27 Dec 2019 23:59:33 GMT

10 x The Adventure Zone

For monthlyinspo's mystery bag challenge, my inspirations are under the spoiler cut. I wanted to icon TAZ but it's really not suited for holiday icons, so some of those are kind of a stretch, but what can you do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

1. texture
2. palette - the colors of the icon don't... quite... fit, but the downloaded palette image worked well as a background :D
3. sweet potato pie - used a sweet potato color scheme
4. sweater weather
5. fir
6. palette
7. texture
8. font - Christmas Wish Monoline
9. texture - so this one turned kind of subtle, but I used a still frame from this texture to add the lens flare-ish effect here
10. texture

sixteen

emiels — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 13:21:54 GMT

10 x Good Omens

for monthlyinspo

Ahhhh I am so happy that after around 20 years of loving Good Omens, I am finally able to icon it... without having to come up with fancasts and doing manips. Finally a TV show, and an amazing one too ♥♥♥♥

Are these complex enough for the theme? idk. Did I have fun making them? definitely. So that's enough for me ¯\_(ヅ)_/¯

fifteen

emiels — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 19:57:46 GMT

for monthlyinspo
01-05
06-10

(open posters in a new tab for full size)

Ahhh, this challenge was so cool. Looking for posters to use was almost as fun as making the icons!
I'm a BIG Marvel mood lately, so I picked the posters for my top 5 MCU films to use, and I'm also in a HUGE Spider-Verse mood so I iconned Spider-Man: into the Spider-Verse, which conveniently leaked a few days ago so I was able to get decent caps! I tried to get inspired less by colors and more by composition/elements/general mood, but hopefully the inspiration is visible there.

As far as I was able to confirm, these are all official posters, just not all American/main ones. Hope it's ok!

Also, some randoms from movielims and sets that didn't work out:

11-15
16-20

21-24

fourteen

emiels — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 22:00:37 GMT

1-7
8-14
15-21

All the cool kids seem to be doing it, so here it is, last post of 2018, sadly not a triple rainbow :c

thirteen

emiels — Sat, 22 Sep 2018 23:36:10 GMT

5 x MCU
5 x World of Warcraft
5 x The Good Place
5 x Voltron: Legendary Defender

01-05
06-10
11-15
16-20

for monthlyinspo

For about 10s after seeing the theme I considered making the set all artsy, inspired by actual paintings or w/e, but then I realized I just really want to do the painty hair thing on really simple icons, so here it is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And mannnnn, did I miss adding shading to caps of animated shows.
...these are all rather uninspired, but I had fun so w/e.

btw, manga coloring requests are open, in case animanga fandom is not 100% dead of LJ yet :U

twelve

emiels — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 15:31:03 GMT

15 x MCU
8 x The Good Place
5 x Overwatch
5 x Life Is Strange: Before the Storm

for 10in30
01-05
06-10

The theme is 'extremes', and rather than picking just one set of contrasting themes to do a 5v5 of, I went with 5 sets of 1v1s because just one would be boring and predictable. So from left to right it is: first vs last (Tony's first scene in the franchise vs last so far), violent vs gentle, vibrant vs muted, far vs close, unnatural vs natural(ish) coloring. And a vague 5v5 of simple vs complex for a maker who doesn't really enjoy making complex icons that much, but idk if that even counts so. Also I know none of these are particularly... extreme.... but........ let's ignore that shall we ¯\_(ヅ)_/¯

for monthlyinspo
11-15
16-20
21-25
26-30

So I wasn't really planning to enter this theme, but this weekend I had nothing particular planned and my internet connection was kinda spotty so I couldn't play WoW, and this happened somehow :U Mouseover for classes!
.........I hope it's ok not to write out the explanations for inspirations, even tho some of them are huge stretches?

31-33

btw, what icontests are active these days? Of the weekly kind I mean? Other than elitesimplicity.

eleven

emiels — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 17:18:32 GMT

16 x Overwatch

For 10in30's mystery box challenge:


	theme: give

font: Miss Amber	theme: charm	font: Alcubierre	theme: color

So I was pretty conflicted about the contents of my box, because none of the things inside really made me go 'I want to use this'.... but on the other hand, that would have been too easy? Having to work with resources that are outside my comfort zone was definitely fun!

icons for iconsomething's mystery box:

I kinda wanted to icon something other than Overwatch, but there's really no other (iconable) fandom I particularly care about rn... ~~where have all the good anime gone, and where are all the shows~~
Also, I have a vague feeling I submitted icons to some icontest but I can't recall where and I can't find anything on my computer, so... maybe not? Idk.

ten

emiels — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 19:10:20 GMT

21 x Yuri!!! on Ice for theseasonwheel
9 x Overwatch
2 x Lost
2 x Persona 4
1 x xxxHolic, Fullmetal Alchemist, Gurren Lagann, Prince of Tennis, Slayers, Hikaru no Go, Full Moon wo Sagashite

Ok so I'm not sure this even counts cause it's not very... summery... but I had the brilliant idea of using a series that focuses on a winter sport and takes place almost entirely in cold weather cause it would be challenging and fun? And it was, even though the subject didn't really lend itself to summery colors and compositions. Also this was an attempt at hard mode but again. idk. I couldn't even use my usual tactic of painting over stuff to trick people into believing I know what I'm doing because I no longer have a graphics tablet.
I'm pretty happy with the icons but I'm not sure how I feel about them in relation to the theme? So mods pls tell me if I need to fix something k.

...also old crap from 2016! The first one is not an alt for the set above, it's something I made last year when I first claimed this series for Winter challenge that I never finished because Overwatch.

Look at those manga colorings. I probably never get to do that again. Sadness :c

Fall 2016 Anime Battle: Reveal!

emiels — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 19:44:13 GMT

Fall 2016 anime battle: chat post

emiels — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 10:18:03 GMT

SO THIS IS A THING. Talk about the battle or things that are not the battle or w/e. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Fall 2016 anime battle: screencap / submission post

emiels — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 17:37:21 GMT

There haven't been any sign ups in a week, and no one said they're still planning to sign up, so... let's get this show on the roadddd \o/

If anyone wants to sign up, you can do it here. The screencap pool is closed though, so you can't submit your own.

Below you will find all the screencaps submitted to this battle, sorted by show. This post would be too big if I posted every cap here, so I decided to link imgur albums instead. I checked every link so everything should work, but if you have trouble accessing anything, let me know!

Aijin

all caps (5)

Bungou Stray Dogs s2

all caps (5)

Flip Flappers

all caps (7)

Girlish Number

all caps (5)

Izetta the Last Witch / Shuumatsu no Izetta

all caps (11)

March comes in like a lion / 3-gatsu no Lion

all caps (14)

Shelter

all caps (5)

Sound! Euphonium / Hibike! Euphonium s2

all caps (11)

Www.Working

all caps (13)

Yuri!!! on Ice

all caps (17)

Rules

there's no min or max number of icons for this battle, make as many as you want!
feel free to add other caps or stock images, as long as at least one cap from this post is visibly used in the icon
it would be cool if everyone could keep their icons secret till the reveal, but if you don't, that's ok too ¯\_(ツ)_/¯'
please submit your icons to this (screened) post
deadline for submissions is December 16th. I'm totally open to extensions if anyone needs more time

Submission textbox thingy!

Participants
aeriiths
alisea_dream
cool_spectrum
emiels
laxirya
sietepecados
vai_rin

ALSO. Chat post, y/n?

nine

emiels — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 20:54:45 GMT

11 x Sherlock
8 x Shadowhunters
5 x Star Wars
4 x Sense8
3 x Orphan Black
3 x Lost
2 x Doctor Who
1 x The Good Place, Game of Thrones, Community, Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad, Preacher, Once Upon a Time, Stranger Things, Steven Universe, Legend of Korra, Shokugeki no Soma, Kamisama Kiss, Diamond No Ace, Fullmetal Alchemist, Kuragehime, Persona 4, Life Is Strange, The Witcher

This is a dump of everything I've made since March, so some of these a pretty old :U An attempt has been made to arrange them in some way that makes sense, but I seem to have lost motivation halfway, so.

Sherlock
01-05
Sherlock
06-10
Sherlock, Shadowhunters
11-15
Shadowhunters, Star Wars
16-20
Star Wars, Sense8
21-25
Sense8, Orphan Black
26-30
Orphan Black, Lost, Doctor Who
31-35
Doctor Who, The Good Place, Game of Thrones, Community, Battlestar Galactica
36-40
Breaking Bad, Preacher, Once Upon a Time, Stranger Things, Steven Universe
41-45
Legend of Korra, Shokugeki no Soma, Kamisama Kiss, Diamond No Ace, Fullmetal Alchemist
46-50
Kuragehime, Persona 4, Life Is Strange, The Witcher
51-54

Reminder that this is a thing!

Sign ups are open!

I'm tempted to end the sign up period early, since there have been no new sign ups in a week... so if you're planning to sign up, but need more time to collect caps, let me know! Otherwise, I'll close sign ups on Saturday (because I really really really want to start the battle already ok).

Fall 2016 anime battle

emiels — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:22:30 GMT

A few people said they'd be interested, so let's do this!

Fall 2016 anime battle, in other words, battle for anime that's airing right now! I figured it would be a good way to get motivated to icon current shows c:

This is going to be a screencap battle. However, there won't be a set of caps everyone will have to icon - instead, every participant can sign up with as many caps as they want, so we'll have a pool of caps to pick from. Hopefully everyone will find something they like! Here is a list of shows that are eligible for this battle.

Technical stuff!

sign ups will last till November 7th. After that, I will compile everyone's screencaps into one post and the battle will officially start. New makers can still sign up after that, but they won't be able to submit any new screencaps.
tentative deadline for submissions is December 16th
there's no min or max number of icons each participant can submit
it would be cool if everyone could keep their icons secret until the reveal, but I won't hunt you down for posting your icons somewhere before the deadline ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
??? as you can see, this post is written by someone who has only a vague idea of how battles should be hosted.....

Sign up!

To sign up, please comment below with your username, icon comm name and links to screencaps you'd like to submit. You can sign up with as many caps as you like, from as many shows as you like, as long as they're all from shows that are currently airing, or have aired in the current season (if it's a film or an OVA/ONA/a short/etc). 20+ episode shows that started in the previous season and are still airing are allowed, but not long-running shows like One Piece or Naruto.

Here's a handy textbox:

Feel free to ask if anything is still unclear!

Promo the battle?

Interest check: seasonal anime battles?

emiels — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 13:17:58 GMT

Would anyone be interested in doing seasonal anime battles that focus on new anime series?

It would go more or less like this:

1. A new anime season starts
2. 2-3 weeks later (to give everyone a chance to watch a few eps of the new shows, see what they like) a battle post goes up
3. Participants submit screencaps from the shows they want to icon
4. I compile all the screencap submissions into one post
5. Everyone picks the screencaps they like and make as many or as few icons as they want (but I'm thinking at least 5?), submits the icons to me, the usual battle stuff
6. 2-3 weeks later a reveal post goes up with all the icons

y/n?
if y, Fall 2016 battle would go up in about two weeks. No need to sign up here, just let me know if there would be enough interest!

eight

emiels — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 21:30:30 GMT

20 x Star Wars
18 x Free!
8 x Life Is Strange
7 x Kuragehime
3 x AtLA/LoK
2 x Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Steven Universe
1 x One Punch Man, xxxHolic, The Wolf Among Us, The 100, Once Upon a Time, sense8

Star Wars for 20muses
01-05
06-10
11-15
16-20

I love red, and I love making red icons, but NEVER AGAIN. About 7 icons in, I realized that red might not have been the wisest choice for a hard mode set, because there's only a rather narrow range in which red is red, and not reddish orange or reddish pink. But I was too invested to switch to a different color or mode, so here's 20 icons in almost the same shade of red :U

Free! for 10in30
21-25
26-30

I picked option 3 - a random pack of textures. I quite like the selection I got, and trying to use them in non-obvious ways was fun! I didn't always succeed, as can be seen from the icons I guess... Also, my claim was just Free!, so I initially planned to make icons of the entire cast, but then those gays happened. It's was stronger than me u____u

Free!
31-35
Free!, Kuragehime
36-40
Kuragehime
41-45
One Punch Man, xxxHolic, AtLA/LoK
46-50
Steven Universe, Life Is Strange
51-55
Life is Strange
56-60
Dragon Age, Mass Effect, The Wolf Among Us
61-65
The 100, sense8, Once Upon a Time
66-68