My Private Nation

Subject: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Batch: Batch #1, icons 1-8
Themes: Alone, Embrace, Sorrow, Laughter, Red, Forgotten, Kiss, Artist's Choice
Additonal Notes: I don't own it. Credit is at the table.

Teasers:

Because crescent_gaia is just oh so convincing like that, I joined poto_stillness. Look what I got:



And if you're interested, the icons I submitted are ( here )

The job search continues. Since I need money, at this point I'm basically looking for anything, anything where they'll hire me. Unfortunately my options are limited, since retail, food service, customer service, etc., aren't likely to hire someone with a master's degree, due to being very overqualified and not wanting to hire someone who might only be there a few months before finding something better. So I'll just have to see what happens. I've got some house-sitting lined up for the end of the month, which I'm basically committed to, so somehow I'll have to find a way to work that in (it's in LaCrosse, actually Onalaska, I think, but they're like the Twin Cities: might as well be the same city, and there might be more jobs available there that I'd be able to get anyway, so this might help. I can also stay at that house after they've returned, apparently, so if I need a place to stay, I have one.

Or if nothing else, once I'm done with that, I could go stay with crescent_gaia and look for a job in Chicago, or do temping (I'm registered at a temp agency here, but 90-95% of the jobs they get in are industrial). I can also hope that I get some translation work, but I'm not holding out hope on that, since I don't have any specialized knowledge of software, medical, or business terms.

Also, I finally got my card from kikibug13. Now I can write "Season's Greetings" in Bulgarian.

Now I'm off to see if Barnes & Noble or Wal-Mart (ugh) accept online applications.

Image URL: http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b144/ladylostris/tuomas1.jpg

Unresized

Rotated

Desaturated

Mirrored

Repeated

Recolored

Whole image

Texture

Original image

Not square

cracklizard! (And everyone else, too.)

Here are four Andromeda/Ted icons to choose from.



I'm going to use number two, Liz, but you can obviously still use it too if you want.

52 more icons of Lost 3x22 "Through the Looking Glass" from screencaps by dj43.

SPOILER WARNING: These icons contain spoilers for this episode.

Previews:

( 48 more under here )

-No hotlinking.
-Credit please.
-Comments are nice.
-Feel free to customize but please credit me for the base.

Harry Potter, using caps of the trailer for OotP:



I have three more in this category, but I entered them into an icon challenge so I can't post them until it's over. I also had to make that paw print brush myself, because apparently they're not very popular and the ones I found were either deleted or wouldn't open in my program at all.

Gavin Rossdale:



Random:
Lemur with broccoli:
Young Sirius Black:

There may be more I haven't posted, but this is what you get right now.

Five icons, all from the same base, all but one made following tutorials.

The base, for comparison:

Here's what I made:

How's this?



If you want anything different, or want it faster or slower, let me know and I'll change it.

Previews:

1	2	3
4	5	6
7	8	9

Go from to using GIMP 2. Should be translatable.

1. Duplicate the base. Set it to Overlay 100%. (This makes the colors more like what they're supposed to be.)

2. Duplicate the base again. Set this to Value at 100%. (This tones down the colors a little but still leaves them looking more natural.)

3. Make a new layer. Fill with b1a5a5 (gray). Set to Overlay 100%. (This lightens the image a little.)

4. Duplicate that layer. (This lightens it a little more.)

5. Make new layer. Fill with ffffff (white). Set it to Overlay 100%. This really lightens up the image and makes the colors more vibrant.

6. At this point, the image looks a little washed out due to the white layer. Make a new layer. Fill it with 19abbc (teal). Set to Overlay 80%. (This adds a teal tint to the icon, making it look less washed out, and lowering the opacity makes the color not too overwhelming. This also works well with the white layer below it.)

And you're done!

Note: For black and white images (such as this: ) it may work best to leave out the second copy of the base (skip step 2) and the white layer (skip step 5). Leaving out the white layer keeps the image from being too light. The last layer (step 6) is at 100% opacity instead of 80%.

Other examples using this technique (some with slight modifications):

This is my first tutorial. Let me know if it helps you or if it's confusing.

I'd like to see your results too, if you feel like sharing.