Gorgeous icons all year!

Thank you so much!! I'm really flattered you think so :3

Absolutely stunning icons throughout all of 2013. Can't wait to see what you give us in 2014.

Thank you so much for this and all the wonderful comments and support you've given this year!! I hope I can keep it up next year but don't expect too much x)
Have a fantastic iconing year!

Your use of color astounds me. It's not my style when I make icons, but I can't help being drawn to the bright colors you use. Just wow!

Thank you!! This is so wonderful to hear, especially since it's not your thing in your own icons - I must say I have huge respect and admiration for people like you who can work with pale and natural colors and make gorgeous things with them. I should challenge myself to try my hand at those too at some point :>

Thank you too! lol I like to try different things when I can, but I know my style and I do enjoy that style. In all honesty, my icons are made for me. I just like to share. Haha!

Well even if you don't think you've progressed much this year, you've certainly produced some incredible icons! Your creativity is such an inspiration :)

wow, thank you so much for the sweet words :) Have a wonderful new iconing year!!

January and April are totally my fave months with your icons, BUT, they're all fantastic!

Those are some of my favorite months too, I was so inspired! I hope I can produce something equally decent next year. Thank you so much for the lovely words and the inspiration you provide with your incredible icons :)

I love that your icons have been brighter recently, so I can definitely see a progression here that I personally love. All the brightness and vibrant colours! These October LOST icons and your new default are fabulous. And you still rock crazy complex compositions and muted icons, so really there's nothing to be sad about when you're consistently great :) Your posts have been massively inspiring and amazing to look at all year. ♥
(Also re the DW rewatch icons, the caps drove me mad and I made so much fugly I wanted to cry, so I feel you here :/)

Oh I'm super happy that you see some actual improvement here!! It was so depressing to make this post cause I kept thinking 'here's January. From then on everything just went down', lol. But yes you're right, my stuff has indeed gotten brighter recently. I think the more faded vintagey style has gotten much love from others, but now I just have a more contrasty and brighter phase so it's wonderful to hear that you like it! :>

Omg the DW caps were the worst. At least I made it through the first season, so the quality should go up a bit. But tbh I can't really blame the cap quality, I've worked with bad caps before and gotten good enough results, it was all just me and my weird mental block that made the rewatch icons so bad. I hope I can make some better ones now that I'm more inspired and less stressed out. I don't remember seeing any fugly at all in your icons though, I think they've been incredible all year and only gotten more so recently.

Have an amazing year 2014 whether you choose to spend some of it on icons or not! (*fingers crossed that you will :3*)

i like your use of colors like yellow and blue, all the icons are stunning and so magnificent!
not only beacuse of doctor who, but you're really one of my inspiration as a maker.

Wow, thank you so much!! Hee, yellow and bright blue/cyan are totally among my favorite colors to use, so I'm super glad they work for you :> I don't even know how to respond to that last part, it's just amazing if my icon messes can somehow inspire others, besides I really love your icons too!

OMG i'm not as good as you

I love your post :) The thing that always that never changes with your icons, is the colours and the creativeness, hope you keep this stanard going throught next year :)

Thank you so much for the sweet words! I'm really happy you like my icons and I'll do my best to keep the standards this year, but don't expect too much cause I have no idea if I'll be able to do that or not :D

Aw, I don't think you showed a lack of progression! I think your Nov + Dec icon are absolutely stunning in terms of color! And you're consistently so creative and unafraid to push boundaries (I love geometric textured Claire, too!) and you totally rock it?? Happy 2014 to you as well, and I hope the new year treats you well!

Oh thank you so much!! I'm really glad you like the newer stuff too, especially the color cause it was a focus in those (whenever I lack time I ditch most texture and composition work and focus on coloring cause it's something I can do fairly quickly). And it's just wonderful to hear you think so highly of my icons and even like the crazy textured Claire :)

Your stuff keeps getting more and more awesome, and I CANNOT WAIT for what your next posts will bring!! (Also, totally stealing that THG icon from November, muahahahah.)

Oh wow, thank you!! That's definitely relieving to hear cause I honestly thought I've only been getting worse :') Hee, I'm glad you found something to save - the great thing about that rumble was that it made me icon fandoms I've never tried my hand at before, and THG was one of them.

OMG! Absolutely amazing icons throughout all of the year!!!
Your composition skills and your colors are GORGEOUS!
Your icons are always so creative and it really inspire me to experiment more!

Whoa, thank you for the awesomely flattering comment! I don't even know what to say, just, THANKS ♥

Honestly, I think there is wonderful subtle progression happening throughout this year. You may feel as though it's not as clear as last year, but that doesn't mean it's there. For example, following your Rose icons throughout the post, you have moved from a slightly sharper looking style to something that is softer with the December icon, and the contrast is slightly richer as opposed to the more matte, vintage icons you produced towards the beginning of the year. Also, that Ben icon from December, is amazing - the lighting again is richer, and the painted-texture work is a new sort of composition/texture technique that is a lot of fun for you.

In previous years you've worked hard to develop all the technical skills that you needed to make icons - but now you have them, so any sort of progression you want to see may never be as visible because of that. I honestly think 2013 was such a flawless, flawless year for you, because you continued to ace all sorts of techniques while working with new and different fandoms, and that in itself is a total progression as well, because screencaps can be so varied, but you nail it every time - whether it's beautiful and vibrant (Lost) or dark and murky (Supernatural).

tl;dr Don't sell yourself short. 2013 looked wonderful on you, even when time was lacking, and I feel as though you'll continue to develop and refine your skills in 2014 as much as you did this year!

Oh you and your flawless comments!! I just love how you see the positive things that I can't. I'm just glad if there's any progression at all, even really subtle - but yes you're right about all those things. I'm still not quite sure if they're positive changes or negative but I hope I'll figure it out :> and eeks I'm so glad you like the painty Ben icon. I'd definitely want to work more with that kind of textures/brushes but they can be a real challenge alright!

In previous years you've worked hard to develop all the technical skills that you needed to make icons - but now you have them, so any sort of progression you want to see may never be as visible because of that. I honestly think 2013 was such a flawless, flawless year for you, because you continued to ace all sorts of techniques while working with new and different fandoms, and that in itself is a total progression as well, because screencaps can be so varied, but you nail it every time - whether it's beautiful and vibrant (Lost) or dark and murky (Supernatural).

I JUST LOVE HOW YOU PUT THIS OK ♥ Thank you for seeing it this way, that definitely makes me feel much better about not making really visible technical progress last year!

You're one of my favourite icon-makers, so it's fascinating to hear your analysis of each set. They're always so pretty, all year 'round.

Wow, thank you so much, that is seriously so amazing to hear!! *__*

Your icons are deeply impressive, I literally have no idea how you manage to do 90% of the stuff you do. I am in awe of your hard work and your creativity!

Wow, thank you for the lovely comment - most of the things I do are actually really simple, and I just use the same few techniques all the time, but it's great to hear it appears as if I'm doing something creative :D Hard work I can definitely agree with though!

You had one of the most incredible evolutions in iconning that I've yet to see, Tommi! You really nailed down a style that is so very much your own and instantly recognizable. Those lush, matte candy colors and your blocky text work are handled so skillfully that it almost looks easy though I doubt that's ever really the case. I've been missing for months so to come back and see examples of your latest work is quite fun and also intimidating. Like schryosel, your complex compositions kinda make me wanna stay away from iconmaking even longer. So good, it's scary!

Oh wow, thank you so much Kim and it's awesome to see you around again, it's been a while! I hope you're still into icons and that you've had a great year this far :)

Those lush, matte candy colors and your blocky text work are handled so skillfully that it almost looks easy though I doubt that's ever really the case.
Gah, this is seriously wonderful to hear, I recall about a year ago we were discussing text and how we'd both really practise it that year. And while I definitely think I made some text progress this year, I know it's still closer to a weakness than a strength to me, maybe. I definitely need to get out of the blocky text box at some point, there are some makers who twist text into such amazingly creative arrangements that i can't help being more than a little envious of! But it's definitely amazing to hear that my current blocky text thing works ok for you :>

BUT THIS:
and also intimidating. Like schryosel, your complex compositions kinda make me wanna stay away from iconmaking even longer. So good, it's scary!

WHAT NONSENSE IS THIS. Your icon mastery is waaayyy too awesome for you to need to have that reaction towards anyone, and least of all someone as rusty as I am (for not making basically anything in the last three months). We both need to make a big icon comeback asap, y/y? :3

You still think of text as a weakness for yourself? You seem to do so much with it and make it jump off the screen! I'd been trying to play around with text more before my hiatus, but it just always looked wrong and unnatural. I think I'm just better doing my linear textual compositions.

Yes, let's please make a huge comeback this year. That would be awwwwwesome! I just downloaded CS5 onto my laptop and am going on a texture grabbing spree in preparation for whatever inspired20in20 has coming in February. I can't wait to see what insane creations you'll churn out in 2014, Tommi! <3

First off, I love that pink is such a dominant colour among your icons. YAY FOR PINK AND ICONS WITH PINK. :D

Also, I do think you have progressed quite a bit.

Dare I say it, you style has become a lot more smoother? I mean, grunge does feature heavily in your work but the sharpness has given away to a slightly softer style.

There is also more use of lighting. It's pretty visible in the Lost posts especially. Which were really fantastic and vibrant and MAKE MOAR OF THEM OK?

Also, I see this increase in close crops. Beautiful close crops at that.

So yes, you have progressed bunches.HOORAY. :D Here's to kicking icon-butt in 2014. :D

P.S - your turbo-rumble icons from July will FOREVER be my favourites. <3

Omg, thanks for the awesome comment - especially about pink, I'm so glad someone likes it, I know I should be ashamed of how much pink I use. It's ridiculous, I was just thinking of this while looking at the icon nominations at bestof_icons and noticing how pink they would all look together in the voting!

It's awesome to hear you think I've made some progress. It's really difficult for me to see these things myself, unless it's a bit more obvious like the last two years. Now I think I've just sort of plateaued and I'm not sure if it's good or bad o.O

There is also more use of lighting. It's pretty visible in the Lost posts especially. Which were really fantastic and vibrant and MAKE MOAR OF THEM OK?
Ohh this is really good to hear cause I feel like I will definitely make more of LOST icons and this sort of style comes quite naturally with them :D

aw, thank you again. Your t-r set was incredible as well, I remember voting for like all of them xD it was such a fun round!

No one should ever be ashamed of using too much pink! It's a beautiful colour and I adore all things pink, even icons. ^_^

I can see why you would think that. Change over the period of a year tends to be harder to see cause it tends to be more subtle as opposed to change over a period of two to three years.

YAY FOR MOAR LOST ICONS .:D BRIGHT SHINY ONES.

Aw man, that round was an excellent one! I never felt so inspired!

Awesome from Day #1 tbh.

wow, it's so amazing to hear you think that, what a lovely comment - thank you so much!! :)