After hesitating for a long time, I've decided to post some of my art!!
I don't draw, I rarely paint, I don't use other media, but I love photography and photomanipulations!

I have been creating avatars and both-serious and non-serious photomanipulations for about 3 years now. It's a lot of fun for me, as I can create alternate universes for any story or situation!

I'll be including a before and after, with the before in spoilers due to high res images.
And any credit for stock images, of course.

I'd like to open the thread with my newest piece (and by far my most complex), a teaser to an upcoming fanfiction I am writing!

The Battle of Coruscant

Spoiler: Before

This one is a simple manipulation I did to relearn some of GIMP's tools. I wanted to create an oil painting effect.

Spoiler: Before

This one is a bit silly, but someone requested it on the JCF!

Palpatine's Day Off

Unfortunately I no longer have the original, but it was just a field of tulips.

And finally, this is a poster I created a couple of years ago for my first fanfic.

She Shall Rise Again

It started with these two, meshed together

Spoiler

Spoiler: Before 1

Spoiler: Before 2

 

Yay!...*immediately puts thread on "Watched Threads" list*

I love your stuff, V...both serious and non!

That Padme one is lovely!

Love Palpy's day off...the kitten face in the cloud is the perfect touch

Edit: They had a poster contest in 7SA that you would've loved (if it weren't for the pesky spoiler potential)

 

Thank you!!!

 

I like how you changed the color of Padme's robe hood and enhanced her lip color to match.

How long did it take you to do the Piett one?

 

Thanks, matching perfectly like that can be difficult - luckily red is easier than most colors.

An entire day - I believe it was 10 hours. It wasn't the longest I've ever taken, but it had the most "moving parts", so to speak.
Luckily no hitches, which is always good. So that was cruising speed, . Photomanipulating can hit you with some unexpected issues.

 

Lookit' how proud Piett looks in his sparkly new getup!

 

Heyhey...saw your dA, but I didn't see this.

Three things, tho.

1. How much of concrit do you allow?

2. And how much from a pro? I would be nice, it's just tips.

3. PALPATINE AND KITTENS. I CAN DIE FREELY, I HAVE SEEN IT ALL.

 

I allow plenty of concrit, haha. This is a hobby but I'm totally for getting better at it. Plus I keep all the files, so I can always improve them!
But...keep in mind that I use GIMP, because I can't afford Photoshop, so it's really clunky and a lot harder to use.

I'm glad to be of service.

 

I can't afford it either (can anybody, really?), but that hasn't stopped me from using it for the past 18 years or so. Not that I'm advocating this, of course, I come from a pretty much lawless place.

One thing I would suggest you is to see if you can calibrate you desktop's monitor/your laptop's screen. Some of these images have quite a bit of stray background on the edge of bits that were copied and pasted and it can often be a result of not seeing it. Also, experiment with fonts and typography.

Other than that, a good start!

 

I will try that! I looked at them on my phone, zoomed in, and got what you are saying!!!

 

Glad it made sense!

 

Some more random stuff! A couple of rough edges, still, but working on it. My screen is NOT the best... nor are my eyes ...as I've found out, lol.

Through the Flames


Padmé Amidala - Royal Violet Dress
(A version of the travelling dress she wore, but I gave her the makeup from TPM and set it at the Lake Retreat).



Glorious Lord Vader
This one was inspired by the multitude of "halos" throughout the Saga (some relate it more to the ring theory) that surround Anakin.


AND I got back into digital painting last night...though only for a very small picture (and very heavily relied on the reference photo, since it was my first major one in....two years?)
I experienced how hard it is to do without a wacom or drawing tablet of any sort. I used my phone exclusively (Nexus 5), so no stylus either. Eek. Took 3.5 hours.

 

Y-you did that with A PHONE? I cannot come anywhere close to that with an actual Wacom. BRAVA!

 

Love Through the Flames piece. great job!

 

Thank you! If I could get a Wacom with Photoshop, I'd be a happy camper, haha. How much were you able to get one for?

Thank you much.

 

Mine is old, I got it in 2007, it's Graphire 2 or something and it costed about 100€.

 

Oh, well. Maybe I can find a much newer one for under $500. Not holding my breath, though.

 

Now that I posted the story, I can post the fanfic cover I spliced together ^_^

 

Wacom tablets make a difference in artwork.

I noticed when i worked on the mouse I couldn't be as precise nor did the tools work as good as they did on a tablet.

You definitely need to take some practice with it though, it's not user friendly in the beginning.

 

Learned a few new photoshop techniques, tried them out with STAR WARS!

First, a painting effect technique. These all took up to 2 hours a piece.

Admiral Piett

Spoiler

EDIT: Made from this photo. Yes, actual size.

Theed At Night

Spoiler

Lord Vader

Spoiler

Imperial Walkers

Spoiler

Second was a colour splitting technique. A lot rougher, but still cool.

Spoiler

 

Cool! I think the Piett one is my fave, followed by the AT-ATs and the color split Vader. Great job!

 

The walkers are the best.

 

A new digital painting I did (not using the above technique, it was actual painting!!) Dedicated to the awesome Shira A'dola !
First took about 14 hours on Sketchbook mobile (the details are insane), then GIMP to touch it up right before posting.

Here's the final product! (I really need a tablet to make bigger paintings).

Spoiler

Based off of