No Rhyme or Reason
- Thread starter keoni
- Start date
- 1,396
- Posts
- 16
- Years
- The suburbs, and no I don't need to describe much
- Seen Dec 21, 2015
First, second and last are your best for sure. You should really try to develop that smudge / paint style further, it is very appealing. Tags 4-8 are all the same style that seems rushed, low quality and pretty "trendy". I say this because I see tags like this all over planetrenders (ie: backgrounds with smudged gradients, with a render and a a butt-load of effect/bubble c4d's on top. Not to mention the yellow rectangle/line in the middle of the tag.)
Overall I like the gallery, but I'd love to see you stray away from some of the more trendy styles of tags and embrace your own original ideas.
Overall I like the gallery, but I'd love to see you stray away from some of the more trendy styles of tags and embrace your own original ideas.
Pretty much what Comic Tragedy said, but what I'll add is to do with consistency!
The first tag has great effects / compo and stuff, but the colours let it down, this is the opposite with the last, where the colours need a few tweaks, and definitely being the contrast down, but otherwise, very fresh palette, but then in the second one, you've got great colours and great effects and stuff.
Those three tags alone show you have the capacity to do great effects, great compo and great colours, just seemingly not all together all the time... Perhaps try spending a bit more time on your work, or maybe just spend more time doing adjustments seeing where it takes you by experimenting and playing around with adjustment layers!
I won't comment on the other ones, cause I've already told you what I think of those, and they are essentially the same, but if you can take elements from those and expand from there, that'd be great. They are way too similar, just need to branch out and experiment is my advice to you!
The first tag has great effects / compo and stuff, but the colours let it down, this is the opposite with the last, where the colours need a few tweaks, and definitely being the contrast down, but otherwise, very fresh palette, but then in the second one, you've got great colours and great effects and stuff.
Those three tags alone show you have the capacity to do great effects, great compo and great colours, just seemingly not all together all the time... Perhaps try spending a bit more time on your work, or maybe just spend more time doing adjustments seeing where it takes you by experimenting and playing around with adjustment layers!
I won't comment on the other ones, cause I've already told you what I think of those, and they are essentially the same, but if you can take elements from those and expand from there, that'd be great. They are way too similar, just need to branch out and experiment is my advice to you!
ilooktowardsthefuture.png
I think I left comments on this a while ago, and I'm not going to comment on the collab version, cause it technically isn't relevant for you.
But, I do like this style of tag, and I think you have nearly pulled it off, but just a few things that could be improved.
The first one is your use of the dirt texture / inverted dust or whatever. In the background and effects it looks ok, adds a bit of noise which just adds more detail and stuff which is all good, but where it covers parts of the face and the light sources, it just feels distracting. I think you can afford just to erase all those parts which clash with focal points, or with the lighting, so it is more crisp and feels neater and less messy.
The next point is a little contradictory, so to work it, you have to like rejig the whole thing, so just a thing to think about and take on board methinks. So firstly, that big main C4D which sweeps along the right side in the background, I feel, should be more prominent. It is the main source of flow, is a more suitable effect than the fragmented C4D, but it is hidden behind some brushing and stuff and is kind put back there. Now, if you want to leave it like that, you need to buff up the effects more so you have a stronger foreground / middle ground, because I don't feel the fragments are strong enough to stand alone. They would be nice blurred up a fair bit as a foreground effect, not in focus as they are now.
Those things said, the contradictory part is that I think you could go with more depth. Not just more layers of blurriness / sharpness, but just more depth of the tag itself. You've got the layers: colour background, sweeping C4D, stock, fragment C4D, dirt, adjustments. Because your layers seem to literally be a layer and cover nearly the whole canvas, you've only got that many layers of depth. If you added some more little bits behind the C4Ds, maybe some more foreground and stuff, just to make the individuals layers less flat. (hope that actually made sense...)
I reckon this could go with some text or some solid shapes / lines / boxes or some vector work in the right side just to fill it out a little more. I don't think you should just crop it, the length adds to the overall feel, but it does need some more details and interesting stuff happening, because the stock is way over to the left, and it doesn't have a whole lot of movement, so the right is a little static and empty.
But yeah, I really like the tag, good use of C4Ds!
gift for inxy.png
This one is like a more disappointing version of the one after it. You've got the same C4D, similar colours, similar smudging. But what makes this one a let down is the blurriness / low quality stock, and particularly the brushing you've added near his head. That lighting is way too strong, and not effective / really necessary. Not your best, but the style is definitely something to continue and perfect!
censorlink.png
The better version of the above. :P
Firstly I think the stock is a little too far to the left, and a little too far from the C4D. Just move him to the right a bit would be good. Again, I'd argue that the lighting is too strong, but really only where his face is. The white behind the C4D works, but the lighting would be a tonne crisper with the dodge tool, so you could use that over his face to maintain the quality of the stock and not make him cloudy.
Another thing, your stock in this one, and the one before is quite under-sharpened. Like, the C4D is in better focus than he is, and that is a little distracting.
Also, the colours I can see what you were going for, but I think a straight up black and white would've worked better, just so you get rid of that monotone look you've got. It looks like you've added a photofilter, or some warm adjustments over the top of the tag, and I don't think it is working when the rest of the tag is straight black and white, so I think try and make the whole thing black and white, either by putting an adjustment over the warm adjustment, or get rid of it.
The style as a whole is ok, but you need more variance rather than literally using the same C4D just rotated and positioning and stuff essentially the same. I think you could also have a bit more going on, maybe more smudge to make up for the fact that the main effect of C4D is so far away from the focal. The smudging you've got is good, just a matter of adding more and beefing it up a bit!
fight club.png
Style rips are the best way to learn new things, so don't worry about that.
Basically, there are two things that aren't working in this tag for me, which when easily fixed, will make the tag oh so much better.
Firstly, the big one, the stock isn't sharpened! The C4Ds behind him are sharper, and this is a fairly serious issue actually. All my attention is moving from him to the C4D, even though I know I should be looking at him. He needs a sharpen big time. In fact, he needs to be at least equal with the sharpest thing, but then I feel the whole tag could go a tiny sharpen after that. The effects which are not as sharpened feel quite low quality.
The next thing are the colours. They're ok, but it could be so much better. You could essentially keep the same colour scheme, but things like more contrast, more dynamic lighting and stuff would make a whole lot better. The other thing I'd recommend is to bring down the purples a little bit, or try and scatter / incorporate it into more areas of the tag. Those top two corners are dominating the rest of the tag because they are blobs of bright purple. Orange to purple gradient map on screen? Lower the opacity just a fraction methinks. ;)
But yeah, not too bad!
I think sometimes it looks like you leave execution behind a little bit for concept and effects and stuff. They seem to be your areas that were lacking in this update. That said, you definitely have the skills and knowledge to make it better and to include in the first place, so maybe just try and slow down, or just try and remember to really check your quality in the end. Test out sharpened and blurred versions of the same tag and just see if it looks better, if not, you just undo the change. Another tip I'd recommend is to leave the tag for a few hours, or overnight (whatever works for you) after finishing, and then come back and look at it again with fresh eyes. You will undoubtedly see some things you might change or have new ideas or whatever. And that will help with the execution and minor little tweaks and stuff too!
Good stuff though, liking your progression through styles and whatnot! Keep it up!
I think I left comments on this a while ago, and I'm not going to comment on the collab version, cause it technically isn't relevant for you.
But, I do like this style of tag, and I think you have nearly pulled it off, but just a few things that could be improved.
The first one is your use of the dirt texture / inverted dust or whatever. In the background and effects it looks ok, adds a bit of noise which just adds more detail and stuff which is all good, but where it covers parts of the face and the light sources, it just feels distracting. I think you can afford just to erase all those parts which clash with focal points, or with the lighting, so it is more crisp and feels neater and less messy.
The next point is a little contradictory, so to work it, you have to like rejig the whole thing, so just a thing to think about and take on board methinks. So firstly, that big main C4D which sweeps along the right side in the background, I feel, should be more prominent. It is the main source of flow, is a more suitable effect than the fragmented C4D, but it is hidden behind some brushing and stuff and is kind put back there. Now, if you want to leave it like that, you need to buff up the effects more so you have a stronger foreground / middle ground, because I don't feel the fragments are strong enough to stand alone. They would be nice blurred up a fair bit as a foreground effect, not in focus as they are now.
Those things said, the contradictory part is that I think you could go with more depth. Not just more layers of blurriness / sharpness, but just more depth of the tag itself. You've got the layers: colour background, sweeping C4D, stock, fragment C4D, dirt, adjustments. Because your layers seem to literally be a layer and cover nearly the whole canvas, you've only got that many layers of depth. If you added some more little bits behind the C4Ds, maybe some more foreground and stuff, just to make the individuals layers less flat. (hope that actually made sense...)
I reckon this could go with some text or some solid shapes / lines / boxes or some vector work in the right side just to fill it out a little more. I don't think you should just crop it, the length adds to the overall feel, but it does need some more details and interesting stuff happening, because the stock is way over to the left, and it doesn't have a whole lot of movement, so the right is a little static and empty.
But yeah, I really like the tag, good use of C4Ds!
gift for inxy.png
This one is like a more disappointing version of the one after it. You've got the same C4D, similar colours, similar smudging. But what makes this one a let down is the blurriness / low quality stock, and particularly the brushing you've added near his head. That lighting is way too strong, and not effective / really necessary. Not your best, but the style is definitely something to continue and perfect!
censorlink.png
The better version of the above. :P
Firstly I think the stock is a little too far to the left, and a little too far from the C4D. Just move him to the right a bit would be good. Again, I'd argue that the lighting is too strong, but really only where his face is. The white behind the C4D works, but the lighting would be a tonne crisper with the dodge tool, so you could use that over his face to maintain the quality of the stock and not make him cloudy.
Another thing, your stock in this one, and the one before is quite under-sharpened. Like, the C4D is in better focus than he is, and that is a little distracting.
Also, the colours I can see what you were going for, but I think a straight up black and white would've worked better, just so you get rid of that monotone look you've got. It looks like you've added a photofilter, or some warm adjustments over the top of the tag, and I don't think it is working when the rest of the tag is straight black and white, so I think try and make the whole thing black and white, either by putting an adjustment over the warm adjustment, or get rid of it.
The style as a whole is ok, but you need more variance rather than literally using the same C4D just rotated and positioning and stuff essentially the same. I think you could also have a bit more going on, maybe more smudge to make up for the fact that the main effect of C4D is so far away from the focal. The smudging you've got is good, just a matter of adding more and beefing it up a bit!
fight club.png
Style rips are the best way to learn new things, so don't worry about that.
Basically, there are two things that aren't working in this tag for me, which when easily fixed, will make the tag oh so much better.
Firstly, the big one, the stock isn't sharpened! The C4Ds behind him are sharper, and this is a fairly serious issue actually. All my attention is moving from him to the C4D, even though I know I should be looking at him. He needs a sharpen big time. In fact, he needs to be at least equal with the sharpest thing, but then I feel the whole tag could go a tiny sharpen after that. The effects which are not as sharpened feel quite low quality.
The next thing are the colours. They're ok, but it could be so much better. You could essentially keep the same colour scheme, but things like more contrast, more dynamic lighting and stuff would make a whole lot better. The other thing I'd recommend is to bring down the purples a little bit, or try and scatter / incorporate it into more areas of the tag. Those top two corners are dominating the rest of the tag because they are blobs of bright purple. Orange to purple gradient map on screen? Lower the opacity just a fraction methinks. ;)
But yeah, not too bad!
I think sometimes it looks like you leave execution behind a little bit for concept and effects and stuff. They seem to be your areas that were lacking in this update. That said, you definitely have the skills and knowledge to make it better and to include in the first place, so maybe just try and slow down, or just try and remember to really check your quality in the end. Test out sharpened and blurred versions of the same tag and just see if it looks better, if not, you just undo the change. Another tip I'd recommend is to leave the tag for a few hours, or overnight (whatever works for you) after finishing, and then come back and look at it again with fresh eyes. You will undoubtedly see some things you might change or have new ideas or whatever. And that will help with the execution and minor little tweaks and stuff too!
Good stuff though, liking your progression through styles and whatnot! Keep it up!
venom sprite
This is pretty cool, liking the colours, effects and the piece as a whole with the use of a sprite.
First irk is the text. It isn't bad, but the placement isn't fantastic, firstly because it is hard to read as it is over a really busy area, but also because it just feels a bit awkward. I'd bump it up a bit so it locks with the centre of the tag, and then the blue micro font underneath it, I'd either remove, or get rid of the very last line, and maybe position it directly under the actual text, or just make it so it doesn't over hang at the end. The text also could be moved to the centre to help the right side which is feeling a little empty.
Those light, bokeh, smudge things on the right side, the sort of white/green/yellow splotches are ok, but I'd recommend duplicating them, or adding more over the left side around the sprite, just to make some more foreground effects, but also to balance the tag a little bit more. They feel kind of out of place as they are isolated on that side only. That said, those white lines with glow directly above the elbow (sort of top left corner) feel awkward as well. Either make them bright green like the other effects you've got around there, or just bin them.
I said the colours were good, but looking at this tag more and more, I'm feeling it is a little bit too cold, and not that you should change the scheme, just add in some more green elements. Those splotches on the right side, could even be tweaked so the yellow areas are a brighter green, and then even some flecks, like 1px green/white dots could be nice just to add more details to the tag.
But yeah, quite a nice tag, sprite tags aren't always easy, but you've pulled it off quite well!
No real comments on the fight club one, it looks better sharpened, but besides that, it is essentially the same. But yeah, keep it up! ;D
This is pretty cool, liking the colours, effects and the piece as a whole with the use of a sprite.
First irk is the text. It isn't bad, but the placement isn't fantastic, firstly because it is hard to read as it is over a really busy area, but also because it just feels a bit awkward. I'd bump it up a bit so it locks with the centre of the tag, and then the blue micro font underneath it, I'd either remove, or get rid of the very last line, and maybe position it directly under the actual text, or just make it so it doesn't over hang at the end. The text also could be moved to the centre to help the right side which is feeling a little empty.
Those light, bokeh, smudge things on the right side, the sort of white/green/yellow splotches are ok, but I'd recommend duplicating them, or adding more over the left side around the sprite, just to make some more foreground effects, but also to balance the tag a little bit more. They feel kind of out of place as they are isolated on that side only. That said, those white lines with glow directly above the elbow (sort of top left corner) feel awkward as well. Either make them bright green like the other effects you've got around there, or just bin them.
I said the colours were good, but looking at this tag more and more, I'm feeling it is a little bit too cold, and not that you should change the scheme, just add in some more green elements. Those splotches on the right side, could even be tweaked so the yellow areas are a brighter green, and then even some flecks, like 1px green/white dots could be nice just to add more details to the tag.
But yeah, quite a nice tag, sprite tags aren't always easy, but you've pulled it off quite well!
No real comments on the fight club one, it looks better sharpened, but besides that, it is essentially the same. But yeah, keep it up! ;D
