rosejailmaiden

So I needed a cute banner for the new forum I'm a member at (OtakuBoards) and it gave you a limit for pic size. I decided to run with the challenge, and I liked the end result. Here it is!



Just the result of an hour or so's messing around with Photoshop and the layers/filters.

For the background of Domino's eyes, I took the screenshot of that closeup right before she does her whole magical girl thing, desaturated, then applied a Sketch filter with the same violet shade I used for the background and turned down the opacity to about 70%. The main Domino picture is just a screenshot with the Contrast, Brightness, and Saturation turned WAAAAAY up to make up for the two layers of copies of that layer with the Halftone filter set to a low opacity on Multiply. As for the poem on the banner, I'd always wanted to use that nursery rhyme for something Domino but could never really fit it on an icon. The font is something I found on DaFont called A Lolita Scorned and I think it worked very well with the whole tone of the banner and tied together the Gothic feel of it. I think it's ironic I used that font, since Domino is one of the things that got me into Lolita fashion in the first place (one of my first exposures to the fashion was a fanart of her wearing Lolita, and as a result, I've always considered her "the Lolita Rocket", especially now that I know more about it as a fashion and can tell there was clearly Gothic Lolita influence on her design long before Marley existed.)

Anyway, I'm really proud of this- it seems like my best work for a while, and the last time I really did anything of the serious banner/wallpaper type was that icon I did for evilazurill 's Bulbagarden signature- and it really does look completely awesome. I didn't know I could do banners this well, especially given the size constaints (it actually came out smaller than the maximum).

It's been a while since I've drawn him, hasn't it?

Oddly enough, this started as a random bored doodle, but turned into something incredibly better than most of my planned work. Note that I actually drew perspective and background details this time. Note the decent foreshortening on Sebastian's arms, something that's usually a nightmare for me.  Yes,  I'm quite proud of my  handiwork this time. It is a lovely picture of Sebastian at his kitchen table in his apartment, getting his caffeine fix.  I'm glad my creativity's coming back in small doses.