Aw, thank you so much for the detailed and awesome comment! :)

Lol, I don't often do b&w for the same reason you mention! I mean I combine bw with color all the time, but leaving it JUST black and white is really difficult for me cause the contrast has to be spot on, and everything else too, and that's intimidating really! D: But lately I've been trying some bw stuff, inspired by this awesome guide by absolutelybatty who makes some of the best bw icons there are. Glad you like the bw in that icon, but I know I still have a lot work to do to really nail b&w ;) maybe one day. In distant future.

And text! I have such a rocky relationship with it, sometimes (like in my previous set) I want to use it but can't come up with anything and everything I try looks bad D: but then sometimes it just happens on its own and I have so much fun with it, idek! There are tons of fantastic text guides around, but then again for me the best way has been to just stare at everyone elses gorgeous text icons (some of my text idols: phaust_, theotherayn, neversleeps, wickdshy, library_of_sex, calrissian18 and pamkips) in awe and try to sort of analyze which components about the text make it look good, and trying to apply that to my own stuff in some way, idek.
Also theiconquest has definitely motivated me to do more text cause I have this obsession to get even amount of points in all the classes, which are (roughly) icons that focus on coloring, simple icons, complex icons, and icons with text. It would be fantastic to see you there one day too, it has no deadlines so it's pretty laid-back, 'do when you have time' type of thing :) (can't say I've done that much for it this far either, but this battle was a good step forward!)

Edited 2013-03-03 11:22 am (UTC)

I checked out that B&W tutorial and I'll have to play with it. Those are some good ideas.:) I actually joined icon_talk but have yet to do anything with it other than set it for notifications so I get notifications if someone posts. (That's pretty much how I read my Flist these days, via email.)

I've been playing with a little more text, and fonts.. but I find text easier to use on wallpapers. I like my room. LOL But lately it's also a vision thing. I had a lot of issues doing those icons this time because they were so small. I literally had to take my glasses off and sit an inch from the screen. :/ I'm sure it looked lovely. LOL.

Maybe once I have a job and have somewhat of a stable free time, I can look into it. I do think it's very interesting. It struck me as a sort of landcomm for icons without really being a landcomm. I wish there were more out there for wallpaper and blend artists.. *grumble* LOL