Stinger's Sigs

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Well, starting today, I am getting into the whole Sig Making thing. I use GIMP 2.6. *Note* I'm just a beginner so don't expect anything too exciting. I'm sure with more practice I will get better. I do take requests, just ask in my Request thread, located in the Requests subforum. Of course, any and all advice on how to become better will be accepted.

So without any further ado....

A simple Christian sig. If you cant read the text, it says "Christian on Smackdown." This was actually the 2nd sig Ive ever made.

This was the first one I ever did. Just kind of threw in a couple of legends. Just messing around on this one. For my first sig ever, I kind of like the way it came out.

More to come...

*EDIT*

A very quick RVD. One picture. In the background is an air-brushed design of a dragon. Also, there is a tiny amount of blood in there from the blood brush. I like how this one came out, to be honest.

 

[The Doctor]

Hmm, well. They're not so bad, for a beginner.

They're all really small. I'm not really into small sigs, but oh well. That's all personal taste.

The Christian one is pretty good! The background is a nice color, and the pics are blended well. However, the text is hard to read. It would have been better if it were outlined or if it were a different color that stood out more.

The LEgends one, I don't like much. The background doesn't feel right to me, and the picture of Bret is way out of proportion with DiBiase and Austin. When making a sig with multiple subjects, you always want them to be in proportion with each other.

The RVD one is pretty nice. The background could have been lighter, though, and the text is hard to read which may have something to do with the small sig size. Other than that it's quite good-looking. I like what you did with the background and how it fits the color of RVD's singlet.

Remember to keep practicing and improving!

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Hmm, well. They're not so bad, for a beginner.

They're all really small. I'm not really into small sigs, but oh well. That's all personal taste.

The Christian one is pretty good! The background is a nice color, and the pics are blended well. However, the text is hard to read. It would have been better if it were outlined or if it were a different color that stood out more.

The LEgends one, I don't like much. The background doesn't feel right to me, and the picture of Bret is way out of proportion with DiBiase and Austin. When making a sig with multiple subjects, you always want them to be in proportion with each other.

The RVD one is pretty nice. The background could have been lighter, though, and the text is hard to read which may have something to do with the small sig size. Other than that it's quite good-looking. I like what you did with the background and how it fits the color of RVD's singlet.

Remember to keep practicing and improving!

Thanks Doc. I'll try to make the pics bigger. As for the legends one, I was just fooling around as it was my first one. I didn't expect it to get much love.

Anyways, here is one I threw together in the course of about 3 minutes. Got bored. Not that good, Oh well.

 

[The Doctor]

That's all right, I suppose. Not dreadful, not great. The colors work well together, but it seems a bit too busy for my liking. There's no real direction it seems. It's like you put together a background and stuck some Pokemon on it.

Also, I didn't notice on your other sigs, but you really need a border. I believe The People's Peep included an explanation on how to add one on his tutorial. Borders are necessary for sigs as they make them feel more complete. Choose a color that fits well (for example, in that sig, a red border would work best).

You should feel proud of every sig you make. If it's not good, try again. Keep practicing. Do your best on every one.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

One more sig, and then I'm done for the night.

I really like the way this one turned out. I used a black background, with a white fractal brush. I used a picture of Sting from WCW as the main picture, and 2 pictures of him during his WCW and TNA days as the background pictures. I like the way it sort of blends in. I just may be using this one as my sig.

Good night

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

It's a new day, and it's time for some new sigs from me. I'll be pumping out many of them over the next few days.

I like this one. I used a Maked Kane picture in the middle. A current Kane on the side, and I used Kane's mask on the other side, with the Opacity set pretty low. After that, I striped it, burned it, sharpened it, and added a black border.

This was fun to do. I used a blue background, with a white Rise brush. I took Megaman from his early days and made the opacity about 60, and Megaman from his later days and made the opacity around 85. I burned the whole picture, sharpened it a little, and added a blue border.

If I do Megaman, I have to do Protoman. In my opinion, this is better than Megaman. I used a red and white background to rival Megaman's blue and white one. I put in two pictures of Protoman. One from his early years, and one from his later years. I burnt it, added a fuzzy effect, and a silver border.

This one, I'm very proud of. I used a black background, along with a purple galactic brush with the opacity set around 40. I then cut the Undertaker's head off of a picture because I thought the head alone would be great for it. Then, I burnt it with shadows to make it darker, added text and a black border.

 

[The Doctor]

Not bad, you're getting better. However, your Mega Man one has a ton of "dead space" (as in space where nothing is really going on). Plus, the "EXE" part doesn't fit.

Kane one is all right. Not too bad, not excellent. Just a beginner sig. Good idea though, and a good sense of style.

Protoman one could be your best. There's a lack of dead space and things and placed well, with the exception of the text. I think it should either be on the other side and higher, or stuck in the corner.

The cuts are inconsistent on all your sigs. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad. A great place to get perfectly cut images is PSD Dreams. It's a great place to get pics of wrestlers for sigs, along with a lot of other pictures. Another place, specializing in videogame and anime pics, is Planet Renders. Every sig maker should register for an account on those sites. They're incredibly useful.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Thank You for your feedback, Doc. Here are two more. I tried using PSD Dreams, like you said.

Daniel Bryan. Found 3 renderings of him, put them on a read and black background. I made the opacity on all of them fairly low. Then I added text, added a dodge effect, and then it was done. I also think I added a blue border for some reason.

Everyone's favorite plumber, Mario. I used a blue and red background. Found pictures of him on PSD Dreams, changed the opacity of the picture where he has Flood on his back to about 40, added text, and burnt it. I also added a red border.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

I love this one. Being a die-hard Yankees fan, this project was a lot of fun. I used a Navy Blue background, then I found a picture of the Yankees symbol on PSD Dreams. I lowered the opacity a bit and put it in the corner. Then I found a picture of Derek Jeter. First off, I made it bigger and lowered the opacity to around 30. Then I made the same picture a bit smaller, turned the opacity back to 100, and put it right in front of the bigger Jeter. I then added text and a border. I love this sig, in fact in might even be the best one I've done in my 2 days of sig making.

 

[Dave]

I'll throw in some feedback too, if you don't mind.

Personally, I see a lot of dead space in your sigs and it is quite off-putting. What I would suggest is to reduce the size perimeters of your sigs and try and fill them out a bit more. That being said, I also think that you need to realise that increasing the size of images exponentially can make them look stretched out and pixelated. The Daniel Bryan sig is an example of this. You see the little halo above his head? That.

Another thing is the strong colours. You never really want to have strong colours in your background and this goes for anything. I have a qualification in psychology and colour psychology. This helped me immensely when I was doing web design and it could help you too. You really want to avoid strong colours being next to each other as well. One example of this is red and green. These colours do not mix and you should try and avoid that. Why not try what I do and work with a black or white canvas and add little bits of colour in as you need them?

The Yankees sig is pretty good and shows that you are taking the feedback on board and learning. What I would also suggest is to go search for Tutvid on Youtube and watch some of those. It will guide you from being a beginner to an all out expert. Failing that, use Doc's tutorial thread at the top of the page.

 

[The Doctor]

The Yankees sig is your best. There is minimal dead space and it looks very slick and it works well. However, a big problem with all your sigs is the quality. Do you save them as a jpeg? It would be better if you adjusted the quality when saving, or save it in a PNG format. The fuzziness makes sigs ugly.

Definitely work on filling space and getting colors to match. Dave gave some great advice, and I would listen to him if I were you.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Dave, Doc, Thanks.

Doc, Yes I do save them in a .jpg format. The reason I did not save it in PNG is because I thought it wouldnt work that way. If it does, like you say, then I will try it out.

Dave, I didnt stretch out the Daniel Bryan photo, saving it as a .jpg made it look fuzzy and stretched out. As for Doc's thread, I use GIMP. I got a tutorial from The People's Peep's thread. Good advice, I might check out some videos. Thank you to both of you.

Anyway, here's a sig I did early this morning. I was testing the smudge technique.

I took the pictures of Goldust and Black Reign, made them big, and smudged them all over the page. Then I lowered the size of the two pictures, Made Black Reign's opacity about 45, and Goldust's 100. I pasted them on the page, added a border, and text.

Another thing, Text is something I'm still trying to figure out. Know any GIMP Text tutorials?

 

[GenMe]

I really like the Goldust sig, the background blends in really good the only problem that I have is that Black reign really doesn't fit in well in the sig. Other than that the sig is awesome. Keep up your work. I also use gimp when I'm at work and I pretty much got the hang of it. It's really easy to use. If you need any help PM me and i'll help you out.

Edit: If you need any Gimp brushes PM me and I'll give you a pretty cool website link. And you could pretty much get any kind of Brushes.

 

[Dave]

That looks a whole lot better, Stinger.

When you use colours that compliment each other well, the sig tends to flow a lot better. Silver and gold are two colours that illustrate this point rather well. I like the sig overall and it is an improvement for sure. That being said, I didn't realise you were using GIMP. Things are a lot harder when you use GIMP for sure. I am using Photoshop CS5 at the moment and it is extraordinarily good. I would advise you go to the Adobe official page and download the trial for Photoshop and see how you like it. If you do, after 30 days, contact me and I can perhaps find you a way of getting it for free.

For now though, here is a GIMP text tutorial website:

http://www.pixel2life.com/tutorials/gimp/text_effects/

Never be afraid to search google for what you are looking for.

 

[The Doctor]

Not bad, not bad at all. You've been learning from our advice and that Goldust sig shows it. It's really nice-looking! I make it no secret that I love Goldust and this sig does him justice. The colors all flow together well and for a GIMP sig it's quite nice. I think the Black Reign picture could have been moved up a little but other than that it's all placed well. Keep on practicing!

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Here Doc, I tried saving this one as a .PNG

Sharkboy. I first used a black background, then using an aura brush, put dark blue and teal spots on the sig. I then smudged them both together. Then using PSD Dreams, I found pics of Sharkboy, pasted them onto the picture. The action shot has an opacity of about 60. Added text, blue border, and saved as a .PNG. I know there is some dead space here, but I kind of like it.

 

[Dave]

Here Doc, I tried saving this one as a .PNG

Sharkboy. I first used a black background, then using an aura brush, put dark blue and teal spots on the sig. I then smudged them both together. Then using PSD Dreams, I found pics of Sharkboy, pasted them onto the picture. The action shot has an opacity of about 60. Added text, blue border, and saved as a .PNG. I know there is some dead space here, but I kind of like it.

See, you can already see that that is much, much better.

The background is nice but I imagine it took you a while. Here is a little tip for making a very similar one without having to spend a lot of time. If you create a blue layer and then put some spots on it with another colour, then go:

Filter>Blur>Motion Blur

and set that to like 300, it should give you a better effect. As for the sig itself, it is much better in general. The quality is much better now that it is a PNG file and although there is some dead space, it is not that bad.

Good work, Stinger. Your development is coming along nicely now.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Using Dave's advice, I made this

Remember Rellik? That mysterious monster like superstar from TNA? Well, I thought it would be fun to make a sig of him. I like the way this came out. I used a black background, then with a galactic brush, I put red spots on the sig. Then I blurred the two together to make the background. Using PSD Dreams, I found pics of Rellik, made the opacity on one extremely low, and on the other extremely high. For text, I use flamingtext.com and copied and pasted. Then I added a red background and saved as a .PNG

 

[Dave]

Quite easily the best one you have done!

That is so much better and that is not to say that they were bad before because they weren't. That being said, it looks great. You ave reduced the size of the canvas and I hope that you see the advantage of that now. With a smaller canvas, you don't need to stretch out the pictures to fill space and at the end of the day, there is also way less dead space. The colour scheme is really nice and the background compliments the renders very nicely. The motion blur seems to go really well with this one.

Great job.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Here's a new one in honor of The Colons reuniting. Definitely not my best. Rellik is untouchable so far. What I did here was found to recent renders of them. Cut and pasted them onto a blue and green background, and burnt them. Behind the picture of them hugging is a supernova effect. I then added text and a light blue border and I was finished.

Sorry for the delay

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Here's another one.

I decided to redo the Sting sig since the first one I made was made before I knew about PSD Dreams. So anyway, I started with a black background, and using a fractal brush, I put white spots on it. Then I merged the two together. I then cut and pasted two renders of Sting onto the sig. Both of which are from his TNA run. I made one of the pictures black and white by pasting when the paintbrush mode was in "value" Then, I burnt it, added text, and a black border. Definitely better than The Colons sig I made early this morning.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

Here's a new one

I fixed up the Christian sig too, since the first one was made without renders from PSD Dreams. Anyway, I didnt smudge this one or anything, I decided to go with a simple yet intricate type of design. Black background with a blue water brush. Then I found 2 renders of Christian with both world titles, made the opacity low and put them on. Then I found a render of one of his logos and put that in between the two renders. Then I found another render of him, made the opacity 100% and put that over everything. Added a blue border and burnt it.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

This is Brent Smith, the lead singer of my favorite band, Shinedown. Now, there werent any renders of Brent, so I had to cut him out from a picture. Even though it does look like there are white spots on the picture, thats just the glare of the camera on his hair. Anyway, I used a black background, blue water brush, and I put it into cartoon mode. Then I pasted the picture of Brent in the right hand corner of the sig. Then I used flamingtext.com for the text you see. Brent is a very mysterious man, so I tried to make this one mysterious and dark without making it too dark.

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

My favorite Late Night talk show host of all time, Conan O' Brien! To me, he is the funniest ever. Right up there with Carson and Craig Ferguson. Anyway, I had to cut this picture of him, seeing as there werent any renders. I think it came out pretty well. Anyway, black background, blue brush, set the picture on in the corner, added text, which I am now good at. Added a blue border, burnt it and Voila!

 

[Dr. Stinger A. Zoidberg]

This is the Nostalgia Critic. One of my favorite people to watch on the internet. I too had to cut him out, and it was very hard because of all of the twists and turns. For what it's worth, I think I did pretty well. Put him on a green brush, which constitutes as the background in this picture. His famous line is "I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I remember it so you don't have to!" So, I added something similar in text. I burnt it and added a green border.