Renegade's Little Hideout

[Renegade334]

Originally Posted by Marina

Hehe, I noticed your render in the banner entry thread and thought...."huh....I remember those as a couple of sigs..." Nice work on it by the way, I see you playing with your lovely brushes as usual >.<

I've always loved your style and was curious if you had time for a request! I know from your entry that you can't make deadline promises, and I'm totally ok with that. I have renders in mind and if you're interested, just let me know
In the mean while, I'm digging your valkyrie sig, is it available for use?

Ha - caught red-handed, indeed, and not even sorry about it! I did mention it in the 2009 Banner Contest thread, though, as I wasn't certain the sig's patched-together nature would allow it to make the cut, as the theme was 'friendship' and/or 'family'. That's what you get for being really picky about your renders/scans and suddenly realizing you're left with little to nothing that even remotely fits the picture. So I made due with what I had. Frankenstein would be proud of my stitching skills. *Demonic laugh*

For requests...why not? I'm a bit busy with RL at the moment but if I could make some headway and thereby get a breather, I wouldn't mind giving them a shot.

And, sure, nobody's asked for it yet, so, if you so desire, you can claim it.

EDIT:
Whoaaa...this one...mmh. How should I explain it? Well, as I do make a lots of experiments, fine-tuning, distracted fiddling and whatnot, I sometimes tend to make a lot of derivatives of a same product or design - only to stick with whatever looks or feels best.

So, well...I already had an idea in mind for this one, but it sort of branched into multiple variants, be it cropped or with additions. So here goes:

1. - Sea only.
2. - #1 + stone walls and foliage.
3. - #2 + hue.
4. - #2 + stylish sofa/curved wall.
5. - #4 + hue.
6. - #5 cropped.
7. - #5 cropped.

Oh, and, as always - BGs are created from scratch: one layer for the sky and clouds and another for the sea and waves. No sampling or ripping whatsoever.

And a cookie of gratitude for y'all who commented - the original scan!

[NorthernFallout]

Originally Posted by Renegade334

Another one...

98.

I usually try to keep my posts constructive, but I can't say anything else than that this sig is one of the most glorious and wonderful I've seen. Perfect metallic feeling, perfect composition, perfect text, perfect render.
I don't know how you create such, I don't know, quality and smoothness over everything in it.
If I would say anything negative, it's only the flare to the lower left that looks a bit stock. But that's being very picky.

[Cierra]

Well,can't say much but ur siggies are just wonderful. I love the way u mixin up the renders with some kewl brushes.
and also a HUGE cookie for the Valkyrie Goodness! 2 bad Marina-sama grabbed her first!

[Renegade334]

Originally Posted by AtomicoX

I usually try to keep my posts constructive, but I can't say anything else than that this sig is one of the most glorious and wonderful I've seen. Perfect metallic feeling, perfect composition, perfect text, perfect render.
I don't know how you create such, I don't know, quality and smoothness over everything in it.
If I would say anything negative, it's only the flare to the lower left that looks a bit stock. But that's being very picky.

No, it's actually a very pertinent bit of criticism you offered there - it indeed looks a bit bad, but back then, the left area felt actually quite...empty, which is what prompted me to use a flare, not only to fill the negative space but also to have the render's particular lighting dovetail with the dark-bright surroundings.

So, in a way, it's like falling from Charybdis into Scylla.

[NorthernFallout]

Originally Posted by Renegade334

No, it's actually a very pertinent bit of criticism you offered there - it indeed looks a bit bad, but back then, the left area felt actually quite...empty, which is what prompted me to use a flare, not only to fill the negative space but also to have the render's particular lighting dovetail with the dark-bright surroundings.

So, in a way, it's like falling from Charybdis into Scylla.

Now that you mention it, I see what you mean. It would get a bit empty. I was thinking more sharp or blurry to hide the "stock" feeling, however I don't think that would work either.
Wonderful as it is in other words

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Renegade334

Another one...

98.

Awesome!

Plus, it has a Valky in it, so that's double awesome!

Originally Posted by Renegade334

EDIT:



Optimized for blending with the header background.

One of the better banners posted so far!

I'll admit not being familiar with the characters, (thus the friendship/family theme is kinda not there for me), but I am certain it will be allowed in the end by the mods and I am aslo certain it will do well come nominations time.

[Renegade334]

Thanks, guys.

I just received a pm from Solace regarding the banner. 'Twas approved.



EDIT: removed the two experimental sigs. They're back to the chopping block.

[Nikusu]

Yessuh! Your thread is active again! I worshiped your Code Geass signatures.

Not even kidding.

[SkyLight]

Damn I still can't believe your mad skills

Could you make me an Signature?
Asking this in advance before making a request

[Renegade334]

Ah...for now, it'd be a bit tricky, as I'm without a computer of my own (my old, trusty motherboard died on me, ending a nearly, what, six-year old partnership?) and consequently without Photoshop. I'm not sure when my new machine will be in, as the one who's building it for me has other matters to attend in the meantime. Not to mention that certain spare parts have to be brought in. So, I guess that for the time being, I'm stuck in an impasse (I do intend to upgrade to PSE 7.0 and CS4, on the plus side). Sorry...

[SkyLight]

That's oke Hope to see you on again soon then ^^
I'll keep checking back here when your back as well

Cheers Sky

[Duomaxwe]

I hope you get a new machine sorted soon, I'm looking forward to seeing more from you.

[Renegade334]

Oh, it is already here on top of my desk - running nice and all.

The only problem is that I'm getting swamped with work, side projects and RL hurdles, not to mention deadlines to tackle head-on...the whole nine yards that everybody must have experienced at least once during their lifetime. Not sure when I'll be back in business - right now, I'm not really in the mood to make anything, what with all the workload piling up...but hopefully, by next week, I might cough up something new.

I'll have to go explore PSE7, too...since my previous version was PSE2 and things changed somewhat (possibly only appearance-wise, but one never knows), so I expect to have a few old habits to rectify once as I get myself going. Just a question of time and adaptation, nothing to spill milk over.

[Duomaxwe]

Is your DA linked anywhere?

I'd like to follow it :P (I assume you have one)

[King Lycan]

wow ..
I Love All Your Sigs
Do you take requests ?

[Renegade334]

Originally Posted by Duomaxwe

Is your DA linked anywhere?

I'd like to follow it :P (I assume you have one)

...DA? DeviantArt? I don't have a DeviantArt account if that's what the acronym means.

Originally Posted by King Lycan

wow ..
I Love All Your Sigs
Do you take requests ?

I used to. I'm still having timetable issues and PSing took on a backburner, so I'm afraid I'll have to decline, as I'm swamped with work nowadays and, alas, Time just loves backstabbing me. Not to mention that I upgraded to the latest Photoshop versions (CS and PE) and I'm still trying to adapt to certain changes that make it less, IMHO, easy for me to change current designs I'm working on, but that's just me (I find the brush manager a little less conciliating). Add that to the already present problem that I'm somewhat out of touch - after a couple months' worth of hiatus - and, well...

Anyway, I just tried a very humble comeback today - well, I didn't need a rocket scientist to tell me I had forgotten a few things about PS and to be really back in business with full ease, I'd need more practice.

So...well:

100.A.
100.B.

Yup, my hundredth or so. The sake-sipping girl above was #99 although I omitted to update the first page's list.


On a side note, I'm quite saddened AZUpload went offline. It was such a good sig rotator service...*MULTITON SIGH*
Hope it comes back soon...however, if someone's got a good or even better alternative, well...I'm game.

[SkyLight]

Originally Posted by Renegade334

...DA? DeviantArt? I don't have a DeviantArt account if that's what the acronym means.

I used to. I'm still having timetable issues and PSing took on a backburner, so I'm afraid I'll have to pass pass. Not to mention that I upgraded to the latest Photoshop versions (CS and PE) and I'm still trying to adapt to certain changes that make it less, IMHO, easy for me to switch between certain designs, but that's just me (I find the brush manager a little less conciliating). Add that to the fact that I'm somewhat out of touch, and, well...

Anyway, I just tried a very humble comeback today - well, I didn't need a rocket scientist to tell me I had forgotten a few things about PS and to be really back in business with full ease, I'd need more practice.

So...well:

100.A.
100.B.

Yup, my hundredth or so. The sake-sipping girl above was #99 although I omitted to update the first page's list.


On a side note, I'm quite saddened AZUpload went offline. It was such a good sig rotator service...*MULTITON SIGH*
Hope it comes back soon...however, if someone's got a good or even better alternative, well...I'm game.

They look really nice, I still can't really grasp PS and it is sometimes quite hard to come up with idea's.

Very nicely done.

[Mr.Raw]

That's it ...I am gonna subscribe to this thread

You're the best Graphic Designer I have Ever Seen
Btw...Have you ever tried animating a signature ?

[Renegade334]

Ah, unfortunately no - I stick to fixed, inanimate gfx. And I'm sure there are more talented gfx makers than me around. I kind of put PS behind me to focus on other things. I only use it to edit/resize/rework pics nowadays.

Well, this is one I made quite recently, but don't get your hopes up. I'm bound to get really busy in the near future, so don't expect me to make a decisive/permanent/temporary comeback to PS. This was just a spur of the moment thing, and it's up for grabs.

114. - 440x150px / 48kb

I'm aware the text clashes somewhat with the larger picture, but it's made to stand out. Furthermore, the render had this blue-red duality that makes it really hard to find a good way to embed it within a colorful background. I'm quite rusty on PS skills, too, so please cut me some slack. It's not my best work.

[Renegade334]

Well, it's been three years since I last made a new sig and I was made painfully aware of this disconnection yesterday when I decided, on a whim, to devise one new (and maybe final, who knows) GFX. I can't remember the number of backgrounds I tried to create to frame the render (it's not easy to find good high-res renders for Battlefield 3; the iconic soldier that appears on the official 1920x1080 wallpapers is not as sharply-drawn as I would've liked) and somehow, after merging two vastly different BGs (a grunge one and a C4D one) in order to mix colors and shapes, I obtained something unexpected yet surprisingly good; you can still see some lines that were originally part of an image of a falling building, but eventually got drowned into an impromptu explosion (the red parts were actually flame brush strokes that got blurred out by a plethora of filters and other manips). Funny how things turn out. Maybe I should increase the center area's color saturation and sharpen it a jiffy (to help him blend a little better with the surroundings), but for now I believe it's a-okay and is ready for use.
Edit: After some additional tinkering, I decided to use a slightly sharpened version.

Anyway, here is the final product. I don't think I'll be jumping back in the PS boat (and therefore I'm not sure I'll make more posts in this thread) anytime soon, since my attention is currently devoted to other more pressing concerns, but it was nice to go back in time and reacquaint myself with an old fun hobby, if not just to let some steam off through creativity.

115.A - 400x160px / 71kb
115.B - 400x160px / 75kb

And, oh, yeah, I saw that many of the GFX images on the first page have been dead for some time already, so I took the liberty of reupping my backups into an imgur folder (they're even chronologically sorted!). WARNING: some of the sigs are the original, unoptimized images and therefore have NOT been downsized to comply with Animesuki's sig size limit. You'll also find a few extras (unfinished or lesser sigs) in this other folder.




I also added the above banner to the first page. It was meant to be a header background image for an intranet website that never really saw light due to loss of interest.