Dave's Showcase

[Dave]

I have been getting the itch to jump into some sig-making again. Not commercially or for requests but more for when I can be bothered doing them. If something tickles my fancy, I will likely make a graphic for it. So yeah, first up:

I made this graphic for TM. He said he was interested in making a series of graphics for his involvement in the Music forum. He went ahead and created one but as I looked at it, I thought that it was something that I would like to give a go. At first, I toyed with really complex graphics. I had an idea of having people who were great at instruments over the course of history to be playing those instruments and have a line-up. However, that was just not feasible and as I tinkered with some of the images and looked for more, I found a drawn picture of Dave Grohl. I quite liked the idea of that and I went about finding more pictures of people that I love in music. I went for Hendrix, Lennon, Matt Bellamy and Dave Grohl. I used Photoshop to create it and saturated the whole thing down. I'm quite happy with the way that it turned out and I hope that TM likes it.

The other great thing about it is that it is very easy to copy. You could pick four artists and if I can find a drawing of them then it is easy to keep the series going that TM asked for.

 

[Dave]

I am really feeling the black white feature to the new sig and at the risk of tarnishing some earlier work I have made a couple more in order to promote the different parts of the forum. Please feel free to use any of the sig listed here to promote your favourite part of the boards. Here are the new additions to the family

I liked the idea of having them all being drawn but I felt that that could become boring and overused. So, I think I will keep that for any sigs that TM might need in the future. For these two, I just took a bunch of pictures and selected what I wanted from them. Once I had the pictures I wanted, I messed with the levels and curves to get a dynamic looking figure and then pasted them into one canvas. I tried to use as much contrast as was possible for black and white without saturating the product and I am happy with the way that they turned out.

I will be using the VGAT one just now and then all of them at a later date.

 

[Dave]

It's alive!

That's right, I have decided to try and get myself back into the graphics world. Naturally, I wont be doing requests, except for the people that I actually adore on the forum. If you want a request, put it in the requests forum and I might roll around to doing it. With that out of the way, I really want to get back into designing some graphics and get back to how varied I used to be. I decided to go with a self-serving first attempt and make a sig about myself because I had very little other inspiration for now.

How awesome is that!?

I mean seriously. I love how it turned out. I got into my suit and took the picture before importing it into Photoshop CS4 and making a quick select. I had problems with the feather function and decided instead to use the magic eraser and import it onto a smaller black canvas before messing with the levels and curves. I love using levels and curves and I think that this is a good example of how well it can come out. I love it. Truth be told, I stole the effect for the font from our new Graphics Mod because I have been really digging how simplistic they can look whilst remaining professional. I owe you one, Doc.

 

[The Doctor]

Nice one, Dave. I'm digging it. The text gave me a good chuckle. Very accurate. It looks quite good as does the whole sig. Great work.
I love the levels tool. It is very useful. I also like that if you do not feel like editing the image you are applying the command to you can make a Levels adjustment layer and clip it to the layer below.

Are you interested in having another battle like we used to? If so, shoot me a PM and I will fill you in on the details.

 

[Dave]

So yeah, with the battle with Doc currently under-way, I am trying to get some new ideas for sigs to meet the criteria. The next being Animation and/or comics. With that in mind, I have been trying to do some more sigs out of my comfort zone and get some new ideas going. So, I sat down and tried to create a Batman sig to some degree of success. This took me a long time and I am still not completely happy with how it came out.

To do this:

Firstly, I found a picture of Christian Bale as Batman and then found a picture of Batman. I went round both of the pictures with a soft edged brush before putting them both onto the same black canvas. Then, I found a picture of the Batman symbol and put it behind both of these pictures. I then toyed around with the fill and opacity until I reached a happy medium. After that, I increased the levels on the background layers and found a nice Batman quote and inserted it.

I like it but it is not what I was going for. I might give it another go but for now, it does the trick.

 

[The Doctor]

Not bad, not bad. It's put together well, it's a nice concept, the colors work well...but there's just something about it, something I can't place my finger on, that makes me...not "dislike" this sig, but not view it as one of your best. That isn't to say it's bad, as it's quite good. Perhaps it's a little too dark for me and the text would have been better brighter. I don't know.

Good work, just not my cup of tea.

 

[Dave]

Right, it seems as though I am having a little bit of trouble coming up with some inspiration for the next round of the battle between myself and Doc. I like the Batman one but it had a quality that I didn't like. I don't know what it was and I can't put my finger on it. That being said, it was a lot closer to what I wanted than this one is. I am getting their and I am thankful I am toying around with different ideas again.

How I did this:

This one is probably the easiest one I have ever done. I simply took some pictures from th3 netz and cropped around their eyes. Then, I put them all onto a white canvas, making sure that I was using the magic eraser to take away any remaining parts of background from the cropped images. Then, I put the text in and created a border.

Simple.

 

[Dave]

So yeah, I made this sig in my first go with Photoshop CS5. Personally, I think that it has a great level of usability and there is small changes in the way things are done that just make things slightly easier. That being said, I am still getting used to some of the new features with Photoshop. It's not that different completely but it is better. However, there is nothing in there, right now, that is that much better than CS4. I wouldn't shell out for the new one if you are not completely into Creative Suite.

How I made this:

Go to Doc's sig tutorial and tips and find out for yourself. I followed it roughly, just adding in a lot more yellows and reds into the individual layers before smudging. This just gives it a little more colour.

 

[Dave]

I like John Cena! There I said it. I hope my Dad will still talk to me.

Nah, I like Cena and I like his current gimmick. I know that the WWE are trying to get him to be a relate-able character to the everyday WWE fan and are having varying levels of success. However, I don't have a qualm with what he is trying to accomplish and have a great deal of respect for the man.

How I did this:

I basically followed Doc's smudging tutorial and added in a few more techniques of my own, that I feel are synonymous with my work. That being, playing with the levels and curves to get more contrast.

 

[Dave]

This is another attempt at trying to get the smudging right in pictures as I try and mould a new technique for myself. This time, it is Brock Lesnar who has my focus. First, I was going to put Shane Carwin in the background but decided to just go for the UFC logo and it works much better that way. I followed the same procedure as last time but worked with different brushes and colours to create this.

 

[Dave]

I think I have it nailed now. This time, I really tried to take what I had learned form doing all of these smudging ones and put them into ideas that I used to do. So naturally, Rob Van Dam is one hot potato in wrestling right now and after coming across that logo you can see in the background, I decided to follow it up and do an RVD one. That being said, I am quite happy with how it came out. I increased the spread of the jitter for the smudging and I am happy with how that showed up.

 

[Dave]

With the old smudging technique fucking nailed now, I am moving on to new pastures, perhaps greener, with my graphic design. So, as you may notice, this sig is pretty much different from anything I have done recently and whilst it is not on the level that the preceding ones are, that is to be expected as they came at the end of the smudging cycle and I pretty much had it down by then. This is a new way of creating sigs for myself and I hope I take to it like I did with the smudging.

How I did this:

Firstly, I started with a black canvas and used some grunge brushes to go over it with black and white. After that, I painted on some colour on a new layer and reduced the opacity. Then, I created a new layer of black and reduced that opacity too. I then inserted the picture of Shadow and made my pattern fill. I inserted that and burned and sharpened some of the parts of him. I continually messed with the levels and curves until I got what I wanted and then added the text and border.

 

[Dave]

I have made a couple more for fun...

Both of these came out of nowhere and I have no idea where the inspiration came from. I saw this render of Abe and decided to go for it. I decided that I would use the smudging and then insert a picture of the gameplay in behind it. I wanted to keep it quite colourful because of the colours that Abe is and I think it worked. It is the first time I have clipped a gradient to text and I like the way it came out. The Fisher one was a tutorial I was trying to follow and didn't successfully. I decided to just go in my own direction with it and I like how it came out.

 

[Dave]

This, again, is a mix of the two techniques that I have learned in the last couple of days. First, smudging and then using grunge brushes and different colours to create different effects.

How I made this:

First, I got a render of Leonidas off of a great render site that I had never used before (Planetrenders.net). With that done, I put it onto a black canvas and added the render. I then clouded the canvas and duplicated the render. Smudged the render and set them to a mix between overlay and soft light. After that, I added a warp to it to make the shield look watery as the rain poured off of it. Then, I added some red behind Leonidas and smudged that in. Then, I created a new layer before brushing on some colour and setting that to overlay. Then, I messed with the colour balance and got some good colours as it merged with the red and blue effect I was going for. Then I messed with the levels before adding text and a border.

 

[Dave]

This is another one I did in the same vein as the previous one but I thought that I would forego a border and text this time and use a Gears Of War render to be the text and use a white soft edged brush to go around the edges, so that it would fade into the background of the forum. I followed the same procedure doing this one as I did the last, with those two exceptions.

 

[The Doctor]

Dammit Dave! Sig after sig after sig...I don't have time to feedback them all!

All I gotta say is...WOW! You are improving at an insane rate. Your sigs are just awesome, better each time. You're getting the hang of smudging I see (Your Lesnar one is the best imo) and I don't think you give yourself enough credit. You're as good as me, easily, if not better. Your last two are just great, and I love that you're experimenting. For some reason it never even occurred to me to try out a grid pattern fill...I'll have to next time I make something.

 

[Dave]

Dammit Dave! Sig after sig after sig...I don't have time to feedback them all!

All I gotta say is...WOW! You are improving at an insane rate. Your sigs are just awesome, better each time. You're getting the hang of smudging I see (Your Lesnar one is the best imo) and I don't think you give yourself enough credit. You're as good as me, easily, if not better. Your last two are just great, and I love that you're experimenting. For some reason it never even occurred to me to try out a grid pattern fill...I'll have to next time I make something.

Merci!

For some insane reason, I am just going through a pell where I cannot stop making sigs and trying out new techniques. I think it is probably because I was out of the game for so long. Now though, I am really enjoying my work and making sigs with CS5 is just a dream to behold. Everything is just so much more crisp and whilst some things are still locked off, it is brilliant. Thanks for complimenting my work though. Over the last couple of days, I have been getting a lot of inspiration from renders that I see and I just want to make a sig out of them. There is no way that I am better than you though. Competitive? Maybe. Better? No freaking way.

That being said, I am trying and I think I am doing well with this section. I made a decision to help you out as much as possible and that is what I have done. POsted a few sigs per day and have been giving some advice to people in the mean time.

So, yeah. I made another sig.

I made this the same way as the last few but I like the way this one came out. I did some more smudging with heavier brushes and like the way the colours behind Leto merged together. I used the burn and dodge a lot more and stayed away from levels for once. I like this one.

 

[ABMorales787]

DAMN! When did you get so good at this, Dave?! I gotta say your work is phenomenal. I'm gonna have to start reading that tutorial as well. Your Brock and RVD ones are my favorite's for sure. I read you got CS5. I've been trying to find it, but it seems to complicated to install. I guess I'll have to actually buy it. Anyway, great job. Looking forward to more.

 

[Dave]

DAMN! When did you get so good at this, Dave?! I gotta say your work is phenomenal. I'm gonna have to start reading that tutorial as well. Your Brock and RVD ones are my favorite's for sure. I read you got CS5. I've been trying to find it, but it seems to complicated to install. I guess I'll have to actually buy it. Anyway, great job. Looking forward to more.

Thanks, man.

Truth be told, I only got into this quite recently. For a long time, I decided that I wasn't going to do any more graphics but when I got CS5, I really wanted to test it and really see how good it was. I also decided that I wanted to get back into doing these for a while and see where it goes. CS5 wasn't too hard to install, in all honesty. I got the trial from the Adobe website and I have 4 weeks left to run on that. The installation process was just like installing any other Photoshop, so it's not really that complicated.

Anyway, I have made another sig and I will likely make another couple for the day is through.

So, this one I decided to do when I saw the render. Personally, I love Breaking Benjamin and since IC told me that they tore the building down when he saw them, I have been dying to catch them live. That being said, I am happy with how this one turned out. I followed the same procedure as I did when I made the 30 Seconds To Mars sig, except I applied the image to a new layer before setting up a gradient and clipping it to the text. I am especially happy with the text this time around. Everything came together on this one, I like it.

 

[The Doctor]

Awesome work, Dave. You're getting better and better and better and this one is just fantastic. The colors are nice, and the text is extremely well done. The only thing I would have done differently is put the band members over the grid/dot pattern.

 

[GenMe]

Damn Dave you are on fire. Your doing a great job on all of the sigs. The Breaking Benjamin sig is great. The colors are cool and the font looks amazing. Great job Dave and like I said you are on fire man.

 

[Dave]

.

So yeah, another two bite the dust.

Both of these were quite simple to create using the techniques that I have listed before. There is nothing too hard in either of them and I took on Doc's advice about putting something over the fill in future. I think it works with some and doesn't with others. I decided to try a "Money" Mayweather one but it just didn't work. I am quite happy with how both of these came out, especially the Usher one. I think if you find a great render, you have already won half of the battle. The Miz one is not something I would usually do but I find myself liking him more than ever.

EDIT: Why do I keep forgetting the borders!? Eugh!

 

[Dave]

So yeah, after a couple of days hiatus, I am back again.

This time, I created a South Park sig that I am very proud of. What's that I hear you say? It looks like all of the other ones? I know it does. It's my style... Get over it!

That being said, I really like this one though. I like the way the sign on the left is not there but the writing still is. To do that, I smudged the outsides and left the text untouched. Then I moved the actual visible sign over into the centre and it seemed to work really well. Plus, Cartman is my favourite character ever.

 

[Dave]

Yeah, so this one was due to a bit of inspiration from both myself and Doc.

I was looking through some of my work over the last few weeks and saw the Randy Orton one I was sporting a couple of days ago and realised that I would like to see an Undertaker one done in the same style and was almost sure that I could find a picture of him in this pose. After that, I went back to how I did the Randy Orton sig and did the same. However, I added a lot more effects this time, like photo filter, high pass and gradient maps that I think look quite good.

I also followed Doc's tutorial on inserting masks and I like the way it came out.

 

[Dave]

So for this one, I was feeling very inspired to do a de-motivational poster that would attack the Conservative party and that is what I set out to do. To do this, I found the picture of David Cameron looking straight on and tried to find a picture of the Joker to do the same. With that done, I started with a black canvas and added the Cameron picture on top of it. Then, I repositioned the David Cameron picture and put the Joker picture on top of it. I erased the background of the Joker picture and managed to fix the two pictures so that they were aligned perfectly. Then I fixed the text and added a border around the picture of Cameron.

I very much like this.