neonspider (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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neonspiderwebs2022-02-28 09:35 pm
neonspider) wrote in neonspiderwebs2022-02-28 09:35 pm
20 Farscape icons for somein30 + 10 misc
Fandoms:
Farscape [20]
Once Upon a Time [2]
The Avengers (2012), Legend of the Seeker, LOST, Mahou shoujo madoka magika, The Shannara Chronicles, Supernatural, Teen Wolf, Zootopia (2016) [1 each]
Here's my entry for
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somein30 round 15, which was all about music! I went with Hard mode, which meant taking inspiration from music genres. I used my two absolute favorite genres: steampunk and dark cabaret. These are two obscure, closely related genres (many artists do both, and musically they sound similarish, the biggest differences are the visuals and themes in lyrics).Steampunk music is obviously all about the steampunk aesthethics: vintage, tech-y, muted colors, lots of neutral tones like brown and beige, grunge, with some ingredients from scifi and westerns and the Victorian era. The songs are often funny and tell stories about crazy inventions and imaginative adventures.
Dark cabaret is a slightly darker genre where the lyrics are often about death and decadence, but as opposed to other dark genres like goth rock or black metal, it doesn't take itself seriously at all, it's kind of like the "dark humour" genre of music. The visuals are very often b&w with a vintage, burlesque look with some creepy/dark elements thrown in. Both genres also have some circus/carnival vibes to them. Musically both of these genres usually fall somewhere in the folk range, the songs tend to be catchy and even sound a bit like children's songs. The dark cabaret genre is particularly fun in that the creepy vibe comes from the clash of fun, catchy melodies combined with dark themes in the lyrics.
I ended up making an entire set of Farscape this time, because there are at least some visual elements in it that work for both genres, so my goal was just to twist the show even more towards these genres using suitable fonts and colors and lots of grunge. Some of these are more literal and some a bit more subtle, but the inspiration was strongly there in each icon. I had a ton of fun with this set, I really hope you like these results, I'm just happy to have a cohesive set after the last one which was all over the place.
This post also includes a few other icons that I've never posted before. They're not exactly new, but I've tried to include them in some post for AGES but they never fit :p but this time I think the somein30 entry is close enough in style that I can sneak these icons in without ruining the post, it just bugs me so much knowing I have these unposted icons that I quite like but never had the chance to share.
Hope you'll find something to like here! As always, take any you like, and please let me know what you think :)
| SOMEIN30 ROUND 15 | |||||
| STEAMPUNK | |||||
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[01-05] |
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[06-10] |
| DARK CABARET | |||||
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[11-15] |
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[16-20] |
Some song recs/examples of these genres:
| OTHERS | |||||
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[21-25] |
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[26-30] |
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This whole set speaks to me, especially the dark cabaret ones! The reds, blacks and gritty are just perfection — 13, 18 and 20 *chef's kiss* But I also love the colors and composition on the steampunk ones (I had no idea it's also a music genre, so thank you) — 1, 3, 6 and 9 look so awesome!
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The diversity of font use and different font angles , size and placements add so much layering to the icons, my favs are 1, 5, 9, 15 and 20 in terms of text technique. It is amazing how to manage to blend in so much elements within such a small space elegantly and the icons look neat and put together, cohesive.
I love the more vintagey coloring you've going on for this set. Goes with the mood of your chosen themes really well . As always I loved reading your explanation as much as I loved the icons.
Loved the grungly red — black color combinations in the dark cabaret set , the idea itself is really interesting. The close crops of the last 3 icons looks like one of those bizarre dreamscape — beautiful. The crop of 18 and 10 are stunning. 10 looks very futuristic , with the chosen two colors.
I also absolutely loved 13, that elegant framing, that metallic red of frame and hair and the subjects facing each other, so pretty. The circular compositions of 1, 6 and 7 are beautiful , the way the subjects fit and the poster like approach — looks great.
23 — the avengers icon — so much detailing and perfection , just !! Amazed ! Saved it. Also, the Supernatural icon looks like an official arty dvd cover, it's professionally done ! I also loved the adjacent Teen Wolf one, the coloring, the bg — everything that's going on.
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The 3rd icon is very amazing!I do love 4,8 and 9 in the first set!
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Loving all the text and use of frames. My faves are 3, 4, 7, 15, 20, 26 and 28!
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Great composition and coloring :) Steampunk icons my faves are :D
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The brass colors are awesome and I love all the intricate compositions. The rich shadows and deep reds of the Dark Cabaret icons are stunning. I love how the gritty textures pull the two styles perfectly together! Finally, I also love the Supernatural and Avengers icons. There are so many little details in these icons <3
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But wow thanks so much for the lovely compliments, my main concern was keeping it cohesive despite having two genres, so I'm extra glad you think I pulled it off, and even happier that you liked the SPN one enough to save it :)
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With better time (maybe in the summer) I could write a tutorial for one of these, but just to give some quick answers...
- the coloring on 3 is how I do most of my colorings: just individually coloring every part (all the pieces of his clothing, including the metal mask) to make sure there is enough clear color distinction between all parts of the icon. The coloring methods vary cause the same thing won't work for everything, but I mainly use things like Variations, Gradient maps (my favorite), Color balance, Selective coloring, basic color layers on various different blend modes (often Soft light or Color, but Multiply is surprisingly useful as well), and just everything, I always want to keep things varied just to make sure I don't get stuck with any routine. The important point is that all coloring layers are masked to only affect one part. This is super super slow and painstaking and will look like a mess unless the masking is precise, but I don't currently know any better way to get the effect I want.
- the coloring on 27 was mainly done with various gradient maps on soft light first to get to a type of contrast that I wanted, and once that was achieved I just put another masked gradient map over his hair (on normal but a low opactity) to get a little bit of color difference there. This was an easier icon to color since only one part needed masking.
- as for textures, I used different textures in all of these cause I wanted slightly different types and levels of grittiness in each one. A few of the ones I found especially useful are this and this by NYVelvet for the gridlike effects, and then there are tons of general grunge textures like this and this by
I know this is vague but I hope this helped a bit!
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And I'm gonna snag the textures you linked in another comment.
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1 — Loooove the balance, texture use, text and coloring. They all fit together perfect.
2 — Omg, I can only imagine how long is take to cut all the characters! Who say that 100x100 is too small and you can't fit so many characters same icon :D Love the balance and the coloring is fantastic!
4 — Idea is amazing!! Love the description of alien and the circle texture
7 — Very, very beautiful green coloring, text<3
8 — Balance here is gorgeous! The way you set the texts is super stunning, I love the coloring and this also tell a story
11 — Chiana and Sikozu<3 Text is marvellous and monochrome coloring both of them look so brilliant!!
12 — Love red/b&w coloring and texture use :)
15 — So, so beautiful<3 Red color really pop-up and I love the circle.
18 — Marvellous crop!! Love grunge texture and sharpening is stunning!
20 — Fantastic crop and snake texture fit here perfect! Love text and the contrast
Thanks for participating for this stunning set!!
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11 is actually Chi with Jool, but the confusion is understandable since Jool and Sikozu have pretty much the same hair xD
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