a start of a wallpaper... I think. now what?

[MistressPookyChan]

Here is the start of a Ragnarok Online wallpaper I have been making as a gift for a friend. Thing is... I'm stuck. I was hoping to go for mystical/grungy looking, but I think the background looks too busy. I tried adding some black grungy effects and it just made it MORE busy. I was thinking of adding a black haze, but all the tutorials I went to didn't produce what I was looking for. So, to the lovely people of the AW.com forums... I ask you:

1) What should I do with this thing? (besides add text and fix the extraction.)

2) The background: grunge? haze? ditch the forest?

3) should i make a 1024x768 version or is it too bad for anyone else to want? ;)

And before anyone else asks: Yes, it is huge. I have a large resolution. Yes, there are no boxes (should I add boxes? ;D).

edit: added wallpaper *head meets desk*

[wizz-o-matic]

nop, no boxes this time ...

Key, my idea ... I'm going with 2 options:
1st - this wall can be made in a good grunge one ^_^ ... then you should add lots of grunge effects ... tho, I don't think you want it in this way ...

2nd - the bg is kinda too dark in my opinion. I would make it a bit brighter (not too much). and as you see in the bg, there is some light comming in between the leaves, so I'd make also some appropriate dizzy sun rays. And with a red-orrangeish hue over all bg ... like a forest in sunrise ... (since the char is in such color)

tho, that's only my idea ^_^

[kingkostas]

hmmm the character is perfect but i will not say the same about the bg. A simple gradient would be better i think. A simple gradients with the colors of dark blue with some glowing stripes of white ...in that way you can make the viewer to see the character without confuse his eyes watching the busy forest bg :)

[MistressPookyChan]

I tried it in an orangey color before but the character blended into the background too much, that's why I went darker. Should I still emphasize the light, though? Using what? beams only?

[kingkostas]

hmm yeah beams and something else... Put 2 flares or 1 in the blades just to emphasize them...

[LavaBug]

to be honest i think you should start over again with that background.
i think, it´s missing the connection with the character,
1)the color does not match the character i think
(since it´s too dark and color are neither matching nor complementary)
2)it is way too busy to me
3) it´s too static, you should try to give it some "motion" (if you know what i mean)
and (that´s what i usually aim for) try to make some kind of connection between bg and chara.

about the blade...light effect (beams, motion effects...etc) would be good.

if you want it dark and grungy or/and keep the current bg...maybe try to recolor the chara then?

that´s all i can think of now ^^"

[MistressPookyChan]

So should i ditch the forest theme all together and do something without photos? Maybe more of a grunge/tech?

[Xian Pu]

So should i ditch the forest theme all together and do something without photos? Maybe more of a grunge/tech?

Here's an idea for you. Keep the forest BG but in Photoshop duplicate the layer and go to filter>artistic>cutout then adjust accordingly. Once you've got it to your liking go to image>adjustments>brightness/contrast and bring the contrast up a little to where it's not so dark. And then add your brushes accordingly. Me myself, I'd go with either a light brown or an subtle gray. However, I'd also make a seperate layer that fits betweent the two aforementioned. I think you could make this work; however you've got to find a way to make it look like he's not floating.

And that's my two cents.

[MistressPookyChan]

Here's an idea for you. Keep the forest BG but in Photoshop duplicate the layer and go to filter>artistic>cutout then adjust accordingly. Once you've got it to your liking go to image>adjustments>brightness/contrast and bring the contrast up a little to where it's not so dark. And then add your brushes accordingly. Me myself, I'd go with either a light brown or an subtle gray. However, I'd also make a seperate layer that fits betweent the two aforementioned. I think you could make this work; however you've got to find a way to make it look like he's not floating.

And that's my two cents.

actually, I think he is supposed to be airborn. he's definately not just standing there. but how should i accomplish this? Just a simple motion blur?

[Xian Pu]

Yeah. Buuut I got something for you Pooky.
Duplicate layer, then select the arrow icon, then move it ever so slightly- doing so should erase hole. IE it will highlight the specific area- in this case him. Okay, now that that's out of the way, make sure you select the bottom most layer- now do a motion blur. I'd say about... hmmm fifteen degrees left to right. Then, once that's done, or you're satisfied with the blur, select layer, then select the show bounding box at the top. Now, drag the bottom most layer in the same direction as the motion blur. Again, once you've gotten that to your satisfaction select opacity, and drop it down to about 40-55%. That should give a good motion blur without comprimising the original image. Also, shadow play would be good too. However, I'd make the shadows only at about 10 to 15% opacity so they're visible, but just so.

[EternalBlue]

hehe, I definitely agree with the blur, it would give him some motion instead of having him just float there, even if he -is- supposed to be airborne. I think adding the sunlight rays would help, and maybe make the BG a dark-ish brown or brown-orange. I dunno, I've always had trouble with BG colours heh xD

[MistressPookyChan]

-got rid of the grunge effects
-added light beams
-did the motion blur that Xian suggested
-made the background more orange

Heading in the right direction now? (again, ignore the lack of extraction please. ^-^;; ) Is the motion blur too subtle?

[kingkostas]

It looks better now!!!

[Xian Pu]

Yeah you're headed in the right direction, me personally I would bring out the blur juuuust a smidge. Other than that, it's getting there.

[MistressPookyChan]

ok, more blur. Check.

How about the sun beams? yay or nay? Should I add a bit more to them?

[LavaBug]

despite of it´s new color looking better than before, i hate to say i still think you chose the wrong background for this character. i dont think this wood picture works at all.

i admit i dont know ragnarok, but this guy neither looks like he´s just been jumping/flying (and hitting the ground now) nor that´s about to jump/fly or something...
more like he´s about to fight, or use his swords while standing on the ground
and for the latter, he´s misplaced there since it looks like he´s standing some meters above the ground...motionless...

i´d say you should either start a new bg from scratch or chose another picture suiting the characterpic better...

as for effects to use and the chara, i´ll wait what directions you go next, before i make further suggestion...

[youko_kurama16]

its ok its not bad

[Cantelope]

Argh. The BG is too....yes, busy I guess. Black seems to make up 70% of the work, and it's spattered around randomly. I suggest you should look for a different Forest shot, because that one just doesn't seem like it'll work. Maybe if you can get a more calm setting, and use soft light with the current one, with some cutting here and there, you'd be able to get a nice effect....maybe.

Honestly though, it looks to me like it's just not gonna work out. =[ Start over perhaps?

[MistressPookyChan]

gah.

Ok, I rotated the character to look that way. he was originally horizontal. I thought that looks silly, so I turned him upright. He is not, I repeat, not standing on the ground. If it looks that way, then sorry.

The reason for using that forest image is sentimental. Like I said, I'm making it for a friend. The picture is one I took.

I try to make a wallpaper and fail miserabley again. oh well... thanks anyway. *throws in the recycle bin*

[3BladeDemoness]

Mistress ditch the forest thats a definate YES...

[MistressPookyChan]

Mistress ditch the forest thats a definate YES...

did you read what I posted just above? I said I threw it all away. Tossed. Done. And since I have no idea what to do with this assassin image and how to put him in a wallpaper, I will just retire him (and myself) from wallpapering for a bit until I get some inspiration/confidence back.