Silent Twilight Reverie

Et Cetera

yunaura — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 15:24:53 GMT

I kinda miss LiveJournal but as the days, months, and year passes by, I find myself here less and less. I keep trying to rectify this (and who knows, maybe I will maybe I won't after this post) but until then, I'm more easily found on tumblr, dA, or twitter. (Linking public twitter because...yea. It's not that hard to find my personal one but I'll only add you if I've talked to you extensively before/know you personally, etc.)

じゃ…今までに色々なありがとうございます。そう言うだけど、これはまださようならね～
今に我慢して。時々帰るつもりかも知りません。

Overflowing with happiness~

yunaura — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:38:15 GMT

Battle Ready by ~Yunaura on deviantART

I could not resist taking her outside for a few quick photos before my camera battery gave out on me. Shameless plugging of this image everywhere~>///<

Comments and critiques welcome~~~<3

Happy New Year!

yunaura — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:50:20 GMT

I'm actually eeeearly!!!

*click image*

This image took approximately 4-5 hours to vector and reproduce. I wanted to try to get that color pencil kind of look that they use in the end animation for Kimi ni Todoke, but there's still some work to reach that. (It doesn't help that I'm rushing to get this done...)

Anyways, have a safe and fun New Years, everyone!

WIP - Nina Antalk (Koukaku no Regios)

yunaura — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:46:57 GMT

Oh man...I have not done any posts or graphic arts in sooo looong...I really meant to post something on Christmas, (I have the Photoshop file as proof...) but I fell asleep and didn't get the E-Card even remotely done on time. ~~I blame honeycorrupts for passing on her procrastination bug to me.~~

Well, tomorrow is New Years Eve, and hopefully I can get some semblance of an E-Card up this time..? :P Besides all the excuses and apologies, I hope everyone on my FList is doing well. I might've surprised some of you when I randomly started commenting again out of nowhere...I think Sempai is the only one who I still chat to on and off. ~~And that's because she spams my phone with random text messages, lololol.~~ I'm on Twitter as well now though. Not all that active, but I have the gadget sitting on my desktop, so I do see the messages fly by. Please add me because I feel so horrible that I have not kept up to date with anyone, and so out of touch that I don't know if you'd still like to chat to me or not. ;~; The username is Yunaura as well.

Well, here's a little piece of work-in-progress that I started a couple of days ago.

So far, I have this much retraced:

A lot of the lines don't quite make sense until you see it on top of the original image. However, I realized that more than half of my lines are going to be void because once all the shadows get converted, I'll be losing a lot of details. T_T;; I need to plan things out better...

This is the original image:

Nina Antalk from Koukaku no Regios (Chrome Shelled Regios)
I chose this image because it's rather kick-@$$. My favorite character is actually Felli-sempai or Fon-Fon, but any epic image with either of them usually had the rest of the cast as well. I think right now, one character is my limit in this psuedo-vectoring of mine...

And this is the style I'm going for:

This is from a 2005 game called OZ, or The Sword of Etheria. I started playing the PAL release of it (so I actually know what's going on, yayness), but I was in love with the artstyle from long before. The theme song, Polovtsian Dances, was remixed and placed in DDR Extreme 2. I, or a friend I bothered, looked into it and found out about the game. I bothered another friend to get it for me sometime last year, and I finally started playing it this year. The battle system is a little tedious, but it's mostly because I haven't fully adjusted to it as of yet. Too busy playing Oboro Muramasa: The Demon Blade, lol...

Well, I'm hoping to get somewhere near 75%, or the whole thing done tomorrow, but I have to go run a ton more errands since I'm going back to Berk on Friday afternoon. If I somehow end up not posting and E-Card, I wish you all a Happy New Year. May it be filled with happiness, prosperity, and luck.

Figurines are expensive love...

yunaura — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:47:45 GMT

Photos here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

yunaura — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:30:41 GMT

Odin Sphere Drabbles

yunaura — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:41:40 GMT

So...I felt the need to do a small writing exercise, although I know I've prolly hacked these pretty horribly since I haven't written much other than blog entries in forever...It's basically that one meme/challenge where you quickly write something up in the time span of the song you're listening too. These songs are mostly background songs with chorus-like lyrics on some, so I was depending on the title and melody alone for the prompt and mood, I guess.

I don't know, I felt like I had to get most of them out of my system as well, although they'll most likely still remain and keep re-writing themselves in different forms every time I listen to this OST...I didn't really reach the other songs I wanted either, but I reached the main few that really stuck in my head. I hate how the thoughts in my head don't quite articulate into words as nicely as they sounded in my head. :T Practice I guess, but I don't do this a lot.

1. A Ship of Fools
Destiny and prophecies were so mysterious and vague, always hidden and lurking in the dark. Only a few were ever destined to catch glimpses of it to be revealed. The wheel of fate slowly turns, picking up speed and momentum as it chooses and picks its prey without any discrimination. How else would you explain how five people from different countries suddenly be pitted into an interlacing path to save the world? It surely is a mysterious thing…but also in the end, destiny just loves to play you for a fool.

2. Believe
It was a light far off in the distance, but he reached for it anyways. He did not want to stay in the endless darkness and despair of betrayal. He remembered the words that old, dying dragon told him…and seeing the small blue creature emanating so much light and warmth, he would try to believe again. So he stood up once more, and walked on.

3. Black Sword
It was a mysterious weapon, yet so powerful that everyone feared the wielder as well as the weapon itself. After all, a blade alone could not create so much destruction…could it? They did not know what to make of it. The elves saw it as a creation of hope for them to return to the forges, the allies feared it to be double-edged, and the enemies feared it, for it had destroyed so many of their people. Yet, they leave it in existence…

4. Strange Names
She thought it was funny that she never heard his name until the very end. Constantly referring to him as “Kero-san”, she wondered if he ever cared. Probably not since he didn’t bother giving her any other name to go by…but hearing his real name was nice. Ingway…She hoped she could meet him again.

5. Break the Sword of Justice
She rushed in without a thought, hoping to soon join her sister in the heavens above…and maybe finally earn recognition and praise from her father. There was so many clashings of weapons around her, adrenaline surged through her veins, pushing her towards the center where he stood, clad in the black cloak of death with shining red eyes. And then their weapons met…

6. Dewdrops
It was so peaceful out in this forest. She was not the type to idle away a day doing nothing, but as the sun shone through the leafy canopies above, she could not help it. Her mind wandered to thoughts of him. Surely by now he would be back? He was an enemy…yet she was drawn to him like a moth to a flame, believing the feelings to be a mere aftereffect of the spell her father had set upon her. However, as she slowly drifted off in a nap, a single though ran through her mind: It’s not so bad after all though…He accepts me for me, and doesn’t see me as an object like anyone else would…
Oswald found Gwendolyn still resting gently against the tree, with the sunset shining on her hair, and a small smile on her face.

7. A Tiny Sunshine
The days were happy once again. Armageddon was avoided, and any remaining survivors slowly brought the world back to its former glory. Laughter filled the air around summer solstice as music and dancing lasted through the night. Even though the crumbling remains of former castles shadowed the distant horizon as a memoir of the hours of destruction, the moon gently shown upon the merry-making, until it sunk out of sight to give way to the new dawn.

8. Through the Gate
Why?! He was supposed to be resting! Injured and fatigue from that battle with Levanthan, there was no way he could be left alone. She rushed to Netherworld Endelphelia, franticly searching. She had to show him that she cared…That she knew that she really did love him now. Oh why did she figure it out so late?!

9. Hear Our Prayer
The land was rumbling and breaking apart. The end was near, and everyone knew it. There was nothing that could save them, not even climbing to the highest point in the world. Many clung to one another in resigned despair, a few weeping silent tears. But they hoped, oh how they hoped, that the world could still be saved. Even if they were not to survive, they still prayed that the world would remain and start anew. As the land continued to break and fall apart around them, they continued to hope to the end.

10. I Talk to the Rain
He did not know why he tried so hard to keep her. It was the same as clipping her wings and caging her in. She did not love him, nor would she ever. The ache in his heart was beyond unbearable as his thoughts became darker in despair. His hair clung to his forehead and neck as the rain slowly beat down upon him. He turned and lifted his head to the sky, no longer knowing if it was he or the gods who were crying. Maybe it was just pity for his broken and tainted soul that this rain even fell. He would let her go. He would do at least that much, to make the one he loved happy…

11. Ruthless
He didn’t know why he existed if his existence alone was a bother to those around him. Scorned and forsaken because he reeked of death. What was that supposed to even mean? Was it because he was a human among fairies? Yet, he no longer cared nor questioned his existence. He will just follow orders. However, in the quiet moments before battle, he’d still find himself looking to the sky for an answer, for any signs of hope. But it always falls short, and his head bows in submission each time…And then, a small ring before the battle clashed, and he looked no more.

12. Guess How Much I Love You
Amidst springtime joy
they walk in the sunshine’s warmth
smiling with their friends
although their hearts are heavy
and frozen in winter’s ice.

Crits are welcome, although these are pretty much raw format and from some random location in my head.

Meme

yunaura — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:32:08 GMT

From Moko-Nee and Aki-Nee and most likely others.

If there are one or more people on your friends list who make your world a better place just because they exist, and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the Internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

Odin Sphere: Oswald Wallpaper

yunaura — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:15:24 GMT

Because the obsession runs deeeeep...Besides, the artwork is gorgeous. o_o I didn't do much to the image really, just a little recoloring and decoration. I don't think it's the best work I could do to give this series more justice, but at 4AM after finishing Gwendolyn's book a few nights ago, I really wanted an Odin Sphere wallpaper. With my screen res being 1920x1200, it's rather hard to find good wallpapers without making them look stretched, distorted or pixelated.

1. Don't hot-link.
2. Don't rip.
3. Enjoy. :]

4:3
1024 x 768 | 1280 x 960 | 1600 x 1200

Widescreen
1280 x 768 | 1600 x 900 | 1920 x 1200

Tell me if you have a resolution that isn't here. :]

Scans! Scans! Scans!

yunaura — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:49:12 GMT

Alrighty~Here's my first load of scans to share. They're mostly calendars, plus the Odin Sphere Artbook and OST because Odin Sphere is *HEARTS*. ^^

1. Click on the small images for a full resolution preview.
I warn you that I scan images really HQ.
2. All files here are hosted on my own server. I simply ask that you do not direct link. [Right Click > Save As]
3. Scans are for free usage. I just ask that you don't post to AnimePaper or MiniTokyo.
4. Comments would be nice.
5. Enjoy!

Chi's Sweet Home 2008 Calendar
Thanks to my friend for lending this to me to scan.

Dowload

Harukanaru Toki no Nada De 2008 LALADX Furoku Calendar

Dowload

Inside are also the LALADX 01-2008 Issue Cover and Ads for La Corda and HaruToki4.

Type-Moon School Calendar (Type-Moon Magazine Furoku)

Dowload

Odin Sphere

Artbook | OST
NOTE: I did not scan this artbook or rip the OST. Scan was from a torrent, and OST courtesy of Nipponsei.

MISC. SCANS

Astronomical Observation by Kazawara Kamuro
Thanks to my friend for lending this to me to scan.

CLAMP
Tsubasa:

xXxHolic:

07-Ghost Shitajiki

Bride of the Water God Promo Poster

LALA November 2007 Cover featuring Hino Kahoko and Tsukimori Len of La Corda d'Oro

Duel Love Article in EGM (Electronics Gaming Monthly)

The fact that this game got reviewed in a guy(ish) game mag made me laugh so hard. Thanks to Linhk's bro for subscribing to the mag, and Linhk for finding it. Game art is by Hisaya Nakajo, creator of Hana-Kimi. :D

More scans will be randomly released over the summer ~~given that I get motivated enough to start scanning and then don't lose attention span or get sick of editing said scans~~. Leave a comment if there are any problems.

Also~! New layout ~~finally~~!!! Gwendolyn and Oswald of Odin Sphere~<3

yunaura — Thu, 22 May 2008 18:51:09 GMT

fanime! Fanime! FANIME! :D

Music Meme~

yunaura — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:28:25 GMT

Snagged from...Aki, Dest, Yami, Jenx. :P

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your LJ along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening to.

1. Utada Hikaru - Heart Station
2. Savage Garden - I Want You
3. Hayashi Asuca - Hanamusubi
4. Anberlin - Paperthin Hymn
5. On/Off - Futatsu no Kodou to Akai Tsumi (VK OP)
6. DJ Mystik - Moonlight Shadow (Eurodance Rave) The DDR version by Missing Heart is good too, though.
7. Utada Hikaru - Beautiful World

Bonus 8th to balance the languages. Savage Garden - Crash and Burn

I intermixed JP and ENG songs~Mainly because the JP songs would overwhelm the ENG ones by a whoooole lot.

And for anyone who's watched/played Devil May Cry, don't you think Sum41's Walking Disaster fits Dante's image? :P

Up for grabs by anyone.

icon_roulette Challenge 02

yunaura — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:39:57 GMT

Credit: yunaura
Fandom: Odin Sphere
#Icons: 25 + 30 variants
Resources: Linkage

01* Grief	02 Shine	03 Poison	04 Fairytale	05 Nature

06 Symbols	07 Movement	08* Clandestine	09* Comic Book Hero	10* Faceless

11 Autumn	12 Damage	13 Friendship	14 Texture	15 Rescue

16* Out of Context	17 Pilfer	18 Faith	19 Sound	20 Escape

21* Gemstones	22 Fight	23* Letter O	24* Letter N	25 Chill

*01. Translation: Don't go.
*08. Translation: Romance in the Dark
*09. Reference at least one comic book hero. Cite the hero and its comic in the icon post. Odin as Iron Man
*10. The face of the subject may not be visible in the icon.
*16. The mood or action in the icon should be contradicted by its caption or vice versa. Text: "I'll give you candy."
*21. Reference at least one type of gem stone. Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire
*23. The subject or text in the icon must begin with the letter "O". Oswald and Odette
*24. The subject or text in the icon must begin with the letter "N". Never give up

Variants and Extras

01-2	01-3*	01-4	03-2	03-3

03-4	04-2	05-2	06-2	07-2

07-3	08-2	08-3	09-2	11-2

12-2	12-3	13-2	14-2*	14-3

14-4	15-2	17-2	19-2	20-2

20-3	20-4	22-2	24-2	24-3

*01-3. Translation: So that I don't cry.
*14-2. Translation: If I could glow like the moon.

-Don't direct-link.
-Blanks aren't bases.
-Comments and crits would be awesome.

This batch is dedicated to pikachumaniac because her words of liking only textless icons somehow stuck in my head while I was doing these. Happy birthday again, too. :D

3 Days straight of staring at the monitor for 25 main icons...Well, back to the GH iconfiend100 challenge. ==;; But hey, I finished this batch about 11 days before it became a year old. xD;;

iconfiend100: Ghost Hunt General Series

yunaura — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:03:44 GMT

iconfiend100
Artist: yunaura
Subject: Ghost Hunt
Pairing/Characters: General Series
Theme set: Alpha
Number of icons: 3/100 + 5
Credits: List

NOTE: Updates will be slow...;;>>
-Don't direct-link.
-Blanks aren't bases.
-Will consider requests and ideas freely given.

01 kiss	02 forgiveness	03 soft	04 are you there?	05 loneliness

06 working	07 dancing	08 abandoned	09 a misunderstanding	10 vacation

11 hug	12 smile	13 tears	14 rain	15 sunshine

16 winter	17 innocence	18 so far away	19 silence	20 stars

21 in the moonlight	22 tickle	23 sweet dreams	24 blue	25 honorable

26 walls	27 happiness	28 sensual	29 food	30 over the rainbow

31 take your time	32 sugar & spice	33 holiday	34 beginner's luck	35 forgotten

36 misery loves company	37 comfort	38 candy	39 present	40 hold my hand

41 spiritual	42 starving	43 joy	44 heaven	45 31 flavors

46 silk	47 keeping a secret	48 open doors	49 lace	50 forever and a day

51 AC	52 AC	53 AC	54 AC	55 AC

56 AC	57 AC	58 AC	59 AC	60 AC

61 AC	62 AC	63 AC	64 AC	65 AC

66 AC	67 AC	68 AC	69 AC	70 AC

71 AC	72 AC	73 AC	74 AC	75 AC

76 AC	77 AC	78 AC	79 AC	80 AC

81 AC	82 AC	83 AC	84 AC	85 AC

86 AC	87 AC	88 AC	89 AC	90 AC

91 AC	92 AC	93 AC	94 AC	95 AC

96 AC	97 AC	98 AC	99 AC	100 AC

Alt 04 Are you there?	Alt 09 A Misunderstanding	Alt 09 A Misunderstanding	Alt 09 A Misunderstanding	Alt 09 A Misunderstanding

03/11/08: 04, 06, 09
I'm so sorry I've barely started these...School is such a life-drainer. D:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

yunaura — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 23:53:18 GMT

Merry Christmas to all! Hope you got some good presents, eatings, or quality time spent with the family ~~no matter how aggravating they are~~!!

[CLAMP] 2006-2007 Mini Calenders: Soel and Larg

yunaura — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:59:10 GMT

I finally have my own scanner, so I'm starting to slowly scan a lot of the things I've collected and such. The going is slow though, since I don't want to ruin the stuff. ^^;

Here's the first batch of scans for CLAMP fans: The mini calendars for 2006 and 2007 of Soel and Larg, the crazy white and black Mokona=Modoki.

Sample resolutions are provided; click the thumbnails/link.
Due to server issues, the second file is on MU instead of MediaFire.

2006: 12 scans

Image Sample Link: 1656x1100 | MediaFire

2007: 15 scans

Image Sample Link: 1856x1200 | MediaFire | MegaUploads

These scans are free to be used for graphics and such. Credit isn't necessary, but would be nice/courteous.
~~Drop me a line/link to your work for me to see because I'm a curious bugger this way~~. ^^
However, PLEASE DO NOT UPLOAD THESE SCANS ELSEWHERE.
Permission given to Ivy for Aethereality.Net
Thank you in advance for regarding my wishes.

If you need an upload elsewhere, I'll try my best to comply.
Comments would be awesome. ^^;

icon_roulette Challenge 01

yunaura — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:32:22 GMT

Credit: yunaura
Fandom: Devil May Cry (anime), Darker Than BLACK (manga)
#Icons: 25 + 30 variants (DMC: 26, DTB: 29)
Resources: cdg, colorfilter, Others

01 DMC Secrets	02 DMC Monster	03* Foreign Language DMC	04 DTB Chaos	05 DTB Digital

06 DTB Safe	07 DTB Caffeine	08 DTB Sorrow	09 DMC Found	10* DMC Black Space

11 DMC Profession	12 DTB Noir	13 DTB Devotion	14 DMC Regret	15 DTB Shy

16 DTB Day	17 DTB Warmth	18 DMC Limit	19* DMC The Letter G	20* DTB Charity

21 DMC Science Fiction	22* Alcoholic Beverage DMC	23 DMC Gravity	24 DTB Paradise	25 DMC Curse

*03. The caption in the icon must consist of a non-english language. Cite the language and its translation in the icon post.
Japanese: Subete no hajimari datta --"The start of everything"

*10. The majority of the icon must consist of black space/black decoration.

*15. Japanese: Wah!!

*19. The subject or text in the icon must begin with the letter "G".
"Guns and Money", although there's no money in this image. ^^;;

*20 This is a play off of 300's "THIS IS SPARTA!!!" because so many skits used it at AX07. It's still fun. x]

*22. The caption in the icon must consist of the name of an alcoholic beverage. Ex: Sex on the Beach, Kamikaze, Mai Tai.
In this case, I used Jack Daniel's. I originally just wanted to look for a bottle with a similar look to that bottle next to Dante. I ran into JD on some random site that was bashing a celebrity and their supposed "alcohol-rehab". Then I got into a stupid argument with my friend over the bottle in the screen being round or square, So then I took a look at the screen in the original size, and I saw that you could actually make out some of the JD logo on the bottle. xD Oops!

Variants and Extras

03-2 DMC Prologue	04-2 DTB Chaos #2	05-2 DTB Addiction	05-3 DTB r u there?	05-4 DTB r u there? #2

07-2 DTB Caffeine #2	07-3 DTB Tea	08-2 DTB Broken	09-2 DMC Found #2	09-3 DMC Hunt

09-4 DMC Hiding	10-2 DMC Lies	10-3 DMC Holding on	11-2 DMC Professional	12-2 DTB Noir #2

12-3 DTB Dangerous	13-2 DTB What?	13-3 DTB What? #2	14-2 DMC Twilight	17-2 DTB Warmth #2

17-3 DTB Sugar High	18-2 DMC Limit #2	20-2 DTB Blueberry	20-3 DTB Orange	21-2 DMC Devil Hunter

21-3 DMC Devil Hunter #2	22-1 DMC Medicinal	23-2 DMC Gravity #2	24-2 DTB Pleasures	24-3 DTB ¦D

Comments would make my day. 8D

Kuro-pon figurine of comedy for honeysempai

yunaura — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 03:24:59 GMT

Full figurine.

He has his bangs instead of the...forehead protector-thingy. xD;

Without the cloak.

Withouth cloak but with the protector!

The final image is a link because the image may ruin your view of Kuropon. xD;;
The secret of his hair is in this image.

Furthermore...his head pops off for you to take the cloak off or put it on...xD;;

10_lyricons: Ghost Hunt//Naru, Mai, G***//Sukiyaki

yunaura — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 09:32:12 GMT

Artist: yunaura
Subject: Ghost Hunt
Characters: Naru, Mai and G***
Number of icons: 10/10 + 10 variants + 5 extras
Credits: List
Lyrics: "Sukiyaki" by Utada Hikaru [ Listen ]
Set: Watanuki (Month of May)
Translation: None

NOTE: Third character is mentioned only in spoilers from beyond the anime and manga, going novel-verse, so the name is not mentioned.

Please credit Yunaura. Comments would be nice.
Blanks aren't bases, but your name may be added.
Thank you. :]

GHS001	GHS002 Greyscale	GHS003 Duplicate Image	GHS004 Border	GHS005 Non-100x100

GHS007	GHS008	GHS009	GHS010	GHS011 Font: Violation

Variants and extras

GHS001-1	GHS001-2	GHS002-1	GHS004-1	GHS005-1

GHS006	GHS010-1	GHS011-1	GHS011-2	GHS012

001 Indignant	002 First Love	003 Shadow King	004 Superiority	005 Perfection

*gurgle gurgle blurb*
I am officially burned out of creativity. Two banners for the xanga and LJ theme, and these icons in one weekend. @_@

Avatars IV

yunaura — Mon, 21 May 2007 04:23:48 GMT

I blame this batch on akinarei-nee. Plot bunnies took control of my photoshop~~~

This batch includes: ~~Plot-bunnies of doom from~~ Open Season, D.Gray-man, and La Corda d'Oro. La Corda has officially made the top of the list of most icons I have made, so I'm hoping to not make any more of it for a while.

Ghost Hunt icons will/should be out next week.
Back to homework. ;-; Save me~~

Credits and Resources. Please Credit Yunaura.
Comments would be make my day. 8]
Blanks aren't bases, but your name may be added.

~~Scapegoats~~ Plot-Bunnies from Open Season

001 what friends are for	002 Hole-In-One	003 Raining Bunnies	003-1 Raining variant

004 Rampage	004-1 Rampage variant	005 Amusement	006 Feeding Frenzy

007 Staring	008 Not Now	009 Washed Out	010 Fear

~All of these stem from the idea of writers being attacked by plot-bunnies for stories, although a few tell of the writer/author's triumphs. 8]
~I'm willing to change the # on 002 to any number you want. 2+2=4 was all that came to mind when I made that one. xP
~I'm out of original names per icon. :x

D.Gray-Man

001 Crowned Clown	002 What Difference Does it Make?	003 Trick	004 Closure

005 Danger	006 Determination	007 Time	008 Be My Escape

008-1 Be My Escape Variant	009 Triumph	010 Wonder	011 Driving Sideways

~001 is oooold.
~The rest are from dgray_awards contests.
~006 won "most creative".
~Italics are song names.

La Corda d'Oro

022 Smile	023 Wishes	024 Mystery	025 Secret

026 Green	027 Performance	028 Sun and Fun	029 Dreams

030 Innocence	031 Pure Joy	032 Rainbow	033 True

034 Dreamfield	035 Torn	036 Shadow	037 Innocent

~All of these were entries, or were supposed to be entries on la_corda_itest or la_corda_hush. Some actually entered, and others were entered too late.
~025 Might have gotten "best effect" on Hush, but I don't remember.
~I'm out of original names per icon. :x

Enjoy, and don't direct-link please.

Apologies in advance if I'm spamming your FL.

Basics of Photoshop and Avatar/Icon Base tips

yunaura — Sat, 19 May 2007 17:31:21 GMT

I call 100x100 icons "avatars" because the friend who hooked me into graphic making calls it so, but everyone else seems to refer to them as icons. *shrugs*

First off, I am currently using CS2, but it shouldn’t be that different. If there are a few parts that stray off to nowhere for 7.0 users, drop a comment and I’ll try to help out.
Secondly, this is my first attempt at a tutorial of any kind because I usually prefer teaching in person. Well, meeting new friends worldwide over the internet lately makes that a bit hard to do, ne? x]

Hope this is helpful, and sorry if parts of it sounds like a no-brainer "duh". :]
*A lot of these screenshots have been Photoshopped to crunch as much info as possible into one image.*

I’ll be guiding you through the steps possible to reach the goal of an icon, with alternate routes. This is a guide and thus means that you will be doing a lot of experimenting. I suggest maybe do a quick read through to learn a few of the tools I explain first, to get used to the names, where things are, etc. I tend to rattle off a lot of names cryptically when I really get into things.

[Saving]
[Image]
1. In the beginning, you should save as a .psd file, so that you will have all of your layers. Make sure that the file format is .psd, and the Layers box is checked.

File > Save As, or Shift + CTRL + S

Once the file has been saved, you can keep pressing CTRL + S every so often to keep an updated save of the file you are working on.

I also like doing this way for CompuServe GIF (*.GIF) and .PNG files, since these two formats keep image transparency.

2. When saving images in .jpg, however, I like using File > Save for Web…(ALT + Shift + CTRL + S)

[Image]
Make sure that the format is .jpg first (1) This method lets you choose the image quality (2) and that, in turn, controls the image final size (3).

LJ is limited to 40 kbps sized icons. I tend to like mine around 10kbps, although I sacrifice some quality for it to be that size. Ideally, I believe I read somewhere that you don’t really want to go below 70 or so on quality.

[Route A]

A1. I’m starting with this screenshot of Naru ~~because I need to drag more people into the Ghost Hunt addiction that’s been haunting me~~.

A2. Most screenshots tend to be really dark, really light, or monotoned. Auto-leveling helps get the image partially to its original colors, so Shift + CTRL + L, or Image > Adjustments > Auto Levels. [Shown here]

A3. See the difference? Some screens change drastically, while others do almost nothing. Either way, at least you now know what the original colors might have been.

[Image] (Saving and zooming in makes the text somewhat readable, but all text on images will appear in this guide.)

A4. Now take the Rectangular Marquee Tool (1) and select the part of the image you want to use. You can select while holding Shift to get the perfect square, or you can go to the top, where a drop down menu (2) will let you choose aspect ratio or size of the selection.

i.e. 1 to 1 ratio is a square in Fixed Aspect. If you are doing an icon challenge, like one of 10variations where you make an icon from the image’s original size, then you would use Fixed Size with 100px width by 100px height.

Likewise, next to the menu is Feather and four little rectangles (3). I’ll cover feathering later, but the little rectangles are what will help you continually add or subtract from your selected areas. The first is normal: one selection will disappear the moment you make another. The second continually adds to your selection, the third continually subtracts, and the fourth does “intersection” selections.

I generally avoid checking these boxes on Rectangular, because the Polygonal Lasso beneath is what I prefer having them checked for. To compensate, I hold Shift to add-on selections and ALT to subtract. I always work with one hand on the keyboard for key-cuts while the other hand clicks madly on the mouse.

On the side, you will see different mini windows. I have four out of habit, but at most, all you really need are the History and Layers one. If you don’t have these, go to Windows at the top, and check History and Layers. [Shown here] While in here, you can take a look at Arrange, and that just basically helps gallery all your opened images if you have a lot open.

I’ll explain all four windows I have and let you decide their importance.

Navigator gives you a thumbnail overview of your piece, and you can shift the mini box on it around to move the view of your image around when you are zoomed in. The little fulcrum under it can help you zoom in and out as well, although the Magnify Glass also helps with that. I prefer hitting CTRL + or CTRL – to zoom in and out.
The Info tab behind Navigator is helpful when doing image mapping for layouts. I barely do layouts so I don’t know much beyond that.

The Colors window helps control the Foreground color being used. You can also click on the Foreground/Background color squares to change their colors. Clicking the little black curved arrow will switch the two colors back and forth. You can also hit the X key on your keyboard. Hitting D will reset the colors to black and white. [Shown here]

History gives you a show of all the steps you’ve taken, within a limit of 20 steps. The first little icon under the steps creates a new document from wherever your current one is. It’s great if you find that your avatar can go two to three different variants that look good. The little camera next to it creates a snapshot of the document the way it currently is. Think of it as a bookmark in your file’s history. The snaps show up right under the Open command at the very top of the History list. You’ll find that you can go between snaps, but if you’re on a snap and you make a change, you will clear out your history. The trash can deletes shots.

You can always go backwards in what you did by clicking around in this History window, or go CTRL + ALT + Z to go back multiple steps. CTRL + Z only goes back once.

*warning: .psd files will not save any snapshots or any history made.*

The Layers window is most essential. You always have to pay attention to it to know that you are working on the right layer. It isn’t fun to make something all pretty, only to find out that you were on one layer the whole time, so you can’t change the focus of your base image, or move the small sparkle that’s covering your characters eye. You get the point.

Just about any .jpg image you bring into Photoshop will have a Locked layer (4). This means that you can’t do any editing to the layer, and if you draw on that locked layer, it’s permanent. A lot of people make the mistake of forgetting to start a new layer above the locked layer. I generally make a copy of the original, and throw away the locked.

Any layer can be renamed by double-clicking where the name is (5). The eyes represent the layer being “on or off”, meaning visible or not (6). Clicking and holding a layer allows you to change the layer order (7), or you can drag to the trash can to throw away (8), or the new layer icon to make a duplicate (8). The new layer icon will also create a new layer above the current selected one.

You can also delete/duplicate steps by right clicking the layer. Delete/duplicate/create new layer can also be done by going to Layers menu at the top. Three ways to do the same thing; take your pick on which is most efficient for you.

(Okay, back to the tutorial. @_@)

[Image]
A5. Now that you have your image selected in a square, go to Image > Crop.

A6. Once the image is cropped, go to Image > Image Size. I change the resolution to 100 as a personal preference, and then change the width/height to 100 px. The Constrain Proportions box should be checked so the image doesn’t distort and go too wide or too high.

[Image]
A5 can be avoided by using the Cropping Tool. You can hold Shift to keep a square proportion. Hit enter to confirm the cropping, then resize as told in A6.

Note the 100% notice at the top of the document window. This tells you the scaling at which you are looking at the image. Be careful around what percentage you work if you aren’t working on images that fit one screen nicely nicely. Scaled down around 66%, a lot of my wallpapers looked good until I finally went to 100%, and saw that what looked good at 66% was horrible at 100%. (Relates to Navigation explanation.)

Hit CTRL + 0 to fit the image on screen, meaning it might zoom in more than 100%.
Hit CTRL + ALT + 0 to show the image at 100% scaling.

[Image]
A7. Now that the image is icon sized, we go on to cleaning it up just a little bit more. Anime screenshots, or any image in general does not like to shrink and hold crispness, so we are going to duplicate the layer once and sharpen.

To duplicate (reminder):
Method 1: Right click layer > Duplicate Layer…
Method 2: Select Layer, go to Layers menu > Duplicate Layer…
Method 3: Drag layer to the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers window.

To Sharpen: Filter > Sharpen >Sharpen

A8. There are blend modes (1) (as I call them because I’m not sure of the proper name) at the top of the layers menu. Set your sharpened layer to either Overlay or Softlight, depending upon the image. If the image is generally already very dark, I tend to go for softlight with a lowered opacity.

The image shows you the different outcomes for the case of this image.

This step helps make the icon look more crisp and clean overall. This step has to be played with a lot to get a final look that you like. If you like how Overlay made the image look better than Softlight, but Overlay darkened the image too much, lower the Opacity % a bit. Adding a duplicate layer on Screen with a lowered opacity can also help brighten up images. The final result is how you want the image to come out to help you achieve your goals.

Another way you can go is to have the bottom-most layer sharpened, with a duplicate layer on top of that blurred just a little bit and set on Overlay or Softlight. This creates a bit of a glowing effect.

When blurring for this effect, use Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur, and it is preferred to not have a low radius setting, because too much blurring can make the icon look blurry overall. I tend to keep below 1 on most images.

Some people like to clean up the image well enough and leave it textless. I like to touch it up with a little bit of Selective Coloring, and you can find a guide for that here, because I still can’t explain it too well myself. Once that is all done, save.

[Route B]

Route B does not stray too far, it is simply the way I normally like to do avatars.

Follow steps A1 through A3 to clean the image, and A4 is optional.

B1. I like to select the whole image (CTRL + A or Select > All), and paste it into a new document.

New Document: CTRL + N, or File > New

[Image]
If you choose to follow this route, I find that saving a preset of dimensions for icons will save a lot of time. When you copy an image and go for a new document, the size in the window that shows up is the size of the image that you copied. Saving a preset will save you a few seconds each time so that you don’t have to type in 100 for width and height.

[Image]
B2. Time to resize the image now with Free Transform.

Image > Free Transform, or CTRL + T.

Make sure that you are always holding the Shift key when Free Transforming to make sure the image stays proportional, and always resize using a corner.

[Image]
Hold the blank areas to shift the image around, and avoid touching the center target. I really don’t know what it actually does, if anything, but I move it by mistake every now and then, but I move it around the center, and it tends to snap back to place.

In this step, you can move the image around while you’re resizing it, so you don’t have to resize so it fits perfectly in the 100x100 area. You can also move the mouse to the corner, let go of the shift key, and rotate the image slightly, but be careful of having the edges of the normal image . [Shown here and here]

Once this is done, you can continue on from A7.

[More Resources]
I finally took a closer look around icon_tutorial as well, and found a lot of good tutorials.

A Guide to Iconmaking
This one gives other basic info I may have missed.

Image Positioning Tutorial
This tutorial helps with the composition and positioning of icons. I just found this recently, and thought it was a really neat tutorial because I never really thought about the positioning of characters and such before. Well, I still don’t too much for the most part... ;;>>

Script Font Guide and Pixel Font Guide
These two are really helpful for when you select text to add to your icon.

Huge Tutorial List
This is one of many huge lists that someone compiled of all the tutorials others made to embellish icons. The styles and methods vary as people write it in ways that are most comfortable for them. You may find tutorials that achieve the same kind of ends using different methods. The trick is to read some that you like, and test them out. In time, you will be a mish-mash of styles and techniques that eventually becomes your own.

I’m sorry if this guide seems to jump around a lot. I have a bad time getting things in proper order and so forth, so question away if needed! :]

EDIT//Thank you Jon for editing. 8D

10_lyricons: Bleach//Ichigo and Inner Hollow//Animal I Have Become

yunaura — Wed, 16 May 2007 08:09:03 GMT

Artist: yunaura
Subject: BLEACH
Characters: Kurosaki Ichigo and Inner Hollow
Number of icons: 10/10 + 2 variants + 4 extras
Credits: List. Mostly dearest's textures with brushes from hanako_lovely.
Lyrics: "Animal I Have Become" by Three Days Grace [ Listen ]
Set: Watanuki (Month of May)
Translation: None

NOTE: BIG spoilers for anime eps 123-125.

Please credit Yunaura. Comments would be nice.
Blanks aren't bases, but your name may be added.
Thank you. :]

Initial banner that was scrapped because too high of a spoiler risk:

BA001 Violation Font	BA002 Border	BA003	BA004 non 100x100

BA005 Grayscale	BA006	BA007 Repeat Image	BA008

BA009	BA011	BA04-1 Variant	BA010 Extra

Others from Icontests

007 Broken	008 Struggle	009 Cursed	009-1 Cursed

I should upgrade to get more icon space. xD;;

Avatars III and mini-rant...

yunaura — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 04:37:13 GMT

It's been so dead here...*bows in apologies*

School is so time-consuming. ~~And it's only stupid HS at that!~~ I need to start homework for Spring Break. ==;;
APs testing in 2.5 weeks...*dies*
I hate Schaupp. Ridiculous amount of work for calc BC...YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY AP TEACHER, LADY!
Beta-ing and retyping some documents too...
GUUUR...Gotta send in ~~forced entry~~ acceptance intention to Berkeley...

Sorry for the mini-rant. ._.

A good batch of 40 from the past...3-4 months. -_-;; I do only a few a week during free times because it's a stress-reliever. So, BIG, GIANT apologies to kaho_yukimura. English reading and poetry disection has turned me off from editing anything that has to do with text. ==;; I have the first chapter done, but I still seem to be nit-picking at it rather than moving on...~~I also have a bad habit of changing things and diction around to clarify as well...~~

Samples:

Credits and Resources. Credit Yunaura please. Comments would be nice. Blanks aren't bases, but your name may be added.

La Corda d'Oro

001 Cadence	001-1 Variant	002 Camminando	003 Con spirito

004 Con amore	005 A niente	005-1 Arpeggio	006 Surprised

006-1 Dynamic	006-2 Caesura	007 Delicato	008 Corda

009 Animato	010 Con calore	010-1 Aria	011 Far Away

012 Capo	013 Articulation	014 Con fuoco	015 Lili

016 Searching	017 Timeless	018 Friends	019 Mischief

020 Con moto	021 Dal Segno	001 Violin	002 Piano

003 Trumpet	004 Flute	005 Cello	006 Clarinet

~Musical terms are found Un, deux, and trois. Dictionary.com was also used for the non-musical definitions.
~Non-musical themes were most likely entries to la_corda_itest or la_corda_hush, so duplicates were discarded entries. 006 and on with musical terms were also discarded entries, with the exception of 009 (image theme), 010-1 (image theme), 012 (ep1 theme).
~I think the first 7 are like...2-3 months old? Maybe older?
~The last six are from stock images and are only Corda related because they're instruments. x]
006-1: "The part inside of me that loves"
007: "don't breathe"
008: "dokimeki" (heartbeat)

Shounen Onmyouji

009 Heaven	010 Desire	011 In your eye	012 Enchanted

013 Daring	014 One Thing	014-1 Flame	015 Fushigi da ne

~There are so many variants of the same image for this set. Sorry! =w=;;
010: "Selfish isn't it?"
011: "The galaxy inside your eyes"
014: "When I point at the red and green petals of a chrysanthemum, I only think of one thing"

Enjoy, and don't direct-link please.

Apologies in advance if I'm spamming your FL. ><;

Bleach Wallpapers

yunaura — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 06:15:57 GMT

These are really old, but they haven't really gone anywhere, so I thought I might as well share them here as well. :]

The third one is more recent (last year xD) so it has two resolution sizes.
Explanations can be found at my MT.Net account.

1. 2. 3.

1. Memories in the Rain
2. Ambient Trance
3. Mission in Taisakusen: 1024x768 | 1600x1200

Enjoy! And please don't direct-link elsewhere or claim as your own. :[
Criticisms and comments are very much welcomed!

Girl's Side ;)

yunaura — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:39:45 GMT