Hey there ^^ The pen tool's not too hard to learn... There are some good tutorials out there on out how outline...
I'm not sure about extraction... I know Misa wrote one for extraction, but I have no idea where it is... But
basically if you learn how to outline, extraction is only a variation of it [like, instead of stroking a line, you use
the selection option - that will make sense if you learn how to outline using the pen tool]
Okay, on to uh, commenting...
Scan :
Uh, don't know if it's just me, but I think the scan's a bit blurry to start with... I know
everyone's mentioned the extraction, so I'll skip that... I'd probably play around with hue and
saturation for a bit, until the colours of the scan are a bit less bright... Generally, it's not likely that
you'll find a wallpaper with bright yellow anywhere... Because for people with extra-bright screens, it's
blinding... If you found a wall that hurt your eyes, you wouldn't use it, right?
Also, you realise, you *can* modify the scan... There's no rule saying that you have to keep the original. If you
have to, re-colour their clothes so that you won't have as many problems working on the background and background
colours.
And I'm not sure about the use of two characters... It's a bit too "full", if you ask me... But it
is quite interesting with the balance... Hmm... The only problem that two characters presents is the fact that it's
difficult to have them interacting... Especially if they're just standing, like in your wallpaper. This means that
you'll end up resorting to the generic "place one on the RHS, place one on the LHS"... Which is a tad
boring...
Choice of Colour :
Okay, most people don't use many colours together... Because it creates a weird clash usually... And generally,
lots of colours means that there's no focal point for the image. Anyway, it's usually not a good idea to use
colours from opposite ends of the colour wheel [<3 colour wheel]... For instance, the yellow in the scan... Would
mean that *I* wouldn't use purple. Because yellow contrasts very well with purple... If you'd like to see what
I mean, visit BakaShinigami... Great gallery, but he likes his contrast... Unfortunately, as you'll see, it's
a bit painful on the eyes.
So, as a rule of thumb, use the colours that are already in the scan. If you want to create a focal point, use contrast,
or use white [And I don't mean fake-white... I mean, pure white]... As long as you don't force everyone to
turn their monitors down for them to look at the wallpaper.
For me, I'd use the dark blue of LHS guy's pants... And maybe a darker version of RHS guy's red
clothes... And I would re-colour the yellow... Maybe change it to a more golden/brown yellow.
Background :
It's a bit generic, but I like the shapes... The only thing I'd have against it is that horrible light blue.
Because it's mostly dark on the LHS, you really notice that the bottom RHS is empty, and blindingly bright. Anyone
using Windows would have their time thingy there, so it's not a good place for a bright anything to be... Most
people would put the brighter area at the top RHS, because most people don't look there [I say most, because I have
quite a number of icons up there myself, so I'd be blinded regardless of where the bright spot is... @_@]
Uhm, dark backgrounds are good... Because they bring out the characters better. It's a good idea to make the
character/s the point of focus, because well, they're the reason why you're making the wall... Unless
it's a scenic... But yours clearly isn't a scenic.
Text :
I'm in agreement with Misa... The text is just... Bad. Your wall should say everything you need, and the text
really should just reinforce it... But not shove it in everyone's face... 'kay? And the fact that your font
doesn't match with the font in the KH bit, it looks very weird. I agree with Misa, delete it. That will mean that
you'll have a less cluttered wall. If you do a "busy" wallpaper, it's not a good idea to put too
much text... Otherwise, it's just a full-on mass of signals from the wallpaper, and people go all @_@
Useability :
Like I said, the colours kind of reduce its useability... But having two characters on each side also adds to that...
Because most people keep their icons on one side or the other... So it'll always cover one of the characters...
It's better to have one character in the center, but that might not always work...
Overall :
Uh, sorry, long rant... ^^; And sorry about all the talk about blinding... I'm kind of myopic, and I don't
want my vision to get worse... @_@ [<-- I really love that face] I think, work on extraction, colour selection...
Your background elements aren't too bad ^^ Maybe work on originality... Don't do the first idea that comes
into your head!
Hope that helps,
Tevi
