[SIG-in-Progress] "Prototype Gunner"

[Garvonis]

Siggy is finished, scroll down to rate the end result.

Yea, since I've been in Linux, I haven't exactly had the best of luck with getting Photoshop CS or CS2 to work all proper like... But tonight I've been fiddling with GIMP, and here's what I've gotten so far... Critique and suggestions are of course welcomed, 'tis why I posted this here thread, but I do plan on doing it all for myself, mind you...

Keep in mind that I'm still really new to GIMP, and how it works, with only just above newb skills in Photoshop before hand... Which reminds me, I still need to get brushes that work in GIMP... I guess brushes that are for photoshop can be read by GIMP.., right?

Prototype 1


Prototype 2


Prototype 3
Here's where I started messing with some brushes I downloaded off deviantART.com. Unfortunately, the ones I got were these friggin huge 650+450+(on average) px ones... Dunno how I can possibly get detailed with huge brushes like those... And I got rid of that 'blurred render' crap, it wasn't helping one bit...
Anyways, without knowing it, I ended up giving the background a sort of "worn off paper" kinda feel.. Though it looks a bit more like clouds from an orbit-bird's eye view...


Prototype 4
Alright, got rid of that cloudy feeling, for more gritty feelings..


Prototype 5
Expanding on the grittyness of it all, I tried to make the rust appear more aged, weathered, all that good stuff of the impure and unrefined ol' western metal you'd see. It's coming along nicely, now for the finishing touches, and it should be goooood...


Huzzah! New siggy! What do you guys think? I used a "miniature text" brush, thought it'd make it look more sophisticated, and make it seem like the text actually has a place in the siggy, other than just 'being sticked there to just add text to a siggy'. I also expanded more upon the 'scorch marks on the metal' to now smoke coming from ashes of a recently charred landscape. lol. (Gotta love backdrops that just come alive, don't ya?) Changed the contrast a bit on the guy and the old'western town in the background, and don't worry, it's supposed to be that unrecognizable, "it's only a fadded memory now." Get it? lol. TriumpH gave me the idea for the border, so props (or hates, lol) go to him on that.

Anyways, I call the piece, "Smokey Rusted Memories".

[MentaL]

[Despair]

the Prototype 3 looks good, the color is just about right. i would help more but ive never used gimp much

[fream12]

i like fototyype 1
sigg will be good if you finish it

[darranthegreat]

what is GIMP!? o.O
Did u draw that guy?

[Garvonis]

Well, siggy IS finished! Just need to say "Off with ze head!" so I can make an avvy to go with it, heh...

Anyways, the backdrop is from LawDogs, a TC for UT2k4, and the guy? Well, yes, I've drawn him. but no, I'm not his original creator. He was made for a different UT2k4 TC (the best single player mod for ut2k4 in my opnion) called Damnation: Hell Breaks Loose. I figured not a lot of people at all knew about the character, so I jumped at the chance of using such a cool western guy as a siggy... =P

Oh, and GIMP is a completely free image editor, with (almost) as much power (in terms of what it's able to do) as Photoshop. I mean, like there's only 1 or 2 things that Photoshop can do that GIMP can't really...

Woo! My first siggy that I can actually feel proud of! Doesn't it look so... dare I say, l33t? Buahahaha! Let this be a lesson to all of you fearing Linux; you STILL can make quality siggies and images in Linux! Yar-Har-Har!

Now lets all dem grunge tutorial following beeches beat my "Old Western Metallic Rust Grunge"! Buahahhaha! ...Did I mention I didn't even follow a tutorial? Wow, that just hit me right now... God I love having bragging rights for once....

[darranthegreat]

BLAH! Photoshop still ownz GIMP =p
And that dude is so cool man =)

[Garvonis]

BLAH! Photoshop still ownz GIMP =p
And that dude is so cool man =)

Yea... No doubt, on both points, Damnation for UT2k4 is a kickass single-player TC. But my point still stands, that you cans till do some cool work in GIMP.

So, let the rating of the siggy begin! <.<

[vinzone]

hmm nice sig but i dont rate since im noob bah anyway you kno i was gonna try linux but wasnt sure if my internet card would work on it so just said screw it

[Garvonis]

hmm nice sig but i dont rate since im noob bah anyway you kno i was gonna try linux but wasnt sure if my internet card would work on it so just said screw it

(Offtopicness: No doubt, if you get the latest version of Ubuntu or Gentoo linux, it will support your internet connection... Either way, you could download a LiveCD, boot up to it, then see if you're connected or not, and that's a good way to see if it will (generally) support your card. Either way, you could easily find out by telling your hardware specs in the Hardware/Software forum, and I could help you in finding out if Linux supports all your hardware, which it more than likely does.)

[vinzone]

more offtopicness: ok im downloading ubuntu linux live cd now to try it out just try it out instead of asking people cause im a bumb, download will be done in about 30 mins or less and then ill try it out wee hope it works will be fun

[RsX]

Its too big... scale it down...

[Garvonis]

Its too big... scale it down...

I thought the rule on siggies was changed to a max width of 500...?

Anyways, scaled it down to 380px width. Also made the border a lot better. Hmm.. Kinda think it looks a bit better too, lol.

[RsX]

Its still a bit too big but ok lol.. :P Check the forum rules for reassurance.

[Garvonis]

I scaled it again, and redid the text a bit...

I was going for "old western sign made 'o branches", then eventually "scratched into the metal", but somehow came around with "made of bones"... lol. Feedback required! >=D