My First Batch of Icons

[xwacky]

In my effort to build up this livejournal, I made some icons today. :p This is the first time I've ever done any thing like this. True to my obsession, most of the icons are about Lee, Jamie, Apollo, and BSG. Since they are made from promotion pictures and my screencaps, I'm sure there are millions of similar ones out there.

I'm posting them in the order in which they are made:








Well, I had so much fun making the icons, I made some more from Crossroads II screencaps:

 
 
 
 



Thanks to o_yannik's excellent advice, I'm reworking on my icons that are made from screencaps:

 
 

OMG! This does make a world of difference!  *Twirl! you* o_yannik  You are awesome!

Comments

[o-yannik.livejournal.com]

Nice. :) I especially like the last one, with the Vipers - good cropping.

If you are iconing screencaps, it's good to use some kind of "auto contrast" feature (what program are you using? in Photoshop there is the function named just like that, but in other programs it may be somethng else). Then your icons have more impact.

You should check those communities (do I have the tags right?): userbsg_creative userbsg_graphics usergalactica_icons and maybe others. And maybe post your work there! :)

[o-yannik.livejournal.com]

No I don't have tags right, gotta work on it. Anyway: bsg_creative (actually just remembered, they don't accept icons, but some other things like banners and wallpapers), bsg_graphics, galactica_icons.

[xwacky.livejournal.com]

Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!

This is the first time I've ever digitally maneuvered a picture. I had no idea of the neat tricks and techniques one can use. Your advice is invaluable to me!

I'm using a demo version of Corel's Paint Shop Pro on my desktop. The icons made from screencaps are mostly done on my mac using GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program).

*runs off to experiment with the excellent suggestion*

[o-yannik.livejournal.com]

About neat tricks and techniques there is a community, I think (experimenting with tags again) icon_tutorial or usericon_tutorial that "teaches" some really crazy things you can do with icons. Haven't tried any of those tutorials though. I'm kind of graphic designer at work, so I don't need to indulge myself even more on fan-art. ;)

[xwacky.livejournal.com]

Thanks again for your suggestions and recommandations. You are the best! No wonder you make such cool icons and banners--you are a professional! :)

Can I boldly make a request here--if you have time, can you make me a Kara or (Kara/Lee) icon? I sadly need to add more females in my icon collections! %-\

[o-yannik.livejournal.com]

Unfortunatelly I'm going away tonight for a whole week. But. I will have laptop with me. :) Don't know if I will have time to do anything, but I'll try. Do you have some special episode, or--dunno--hair length, you'd like iconed?

Or you may try comunities, or journals of people who make icons - there are lots of fabulous icons out there, just waiting to be snached. ;)

[xwacky.livejournal.com]

Hope you have a good trip. Is it for business or pleasure? Anyway, don't worry about the icon if you don't have time.

As for Kara, I especially like her short hair in the first half of season 3. I thought she looked really beautiful in Unfinished Business (before she stepped into the rink of course).

I will try communities and other journals. Since I'm new to livejournal, I'm not quite clear on the etiquette here. I only dare to snatch icons if they are among the group of icons announced in a community. Am I allowed to just go to an indivial's journal to snatch icons there?

[suffolkgirl.livejournal.com]

Hey there, saw you mention you had a livejournal on AR, so I popped over to have a look and friended you. (This is BSGaddict, I have a different identity on LJ!)

And I found lots of lovely icons of Lee in a suit - yannik gives good advice, they're much brighter and sharper in that last batch. I'm no good at this kind of thing myself, so I'm very impressed.

Do you mind if I take a few to use? I'll credit of course. Saw your question about taking icons - usually the creator will say when posting them to feel free to take - if not, it's probably safer to post a comment on the post and ask. Most people are happy for you to use them as long as you credit them as the creator.

[xwacky.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you came by! I've been searching for BSGaddict at livejournal and couldn't find any. I just friended you too. ;)

Please feel free to take anything you like--I'd be really honored!

[suffolkgirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I have snagged a couple of your icons. :)

I picked a non-BSG name on here so I can use my LJ for other topics too - although it's turned out to be almost wholly BSG dominated!