Well I wanted to make a wallpaper for my fav character Seung Mina!

I wanted to keep it simple and clean though. I didn't want it to be too cluttered, but im thinking I could add some things here and there. The problem is i dont know what else to do that'll enhace it, yet maintain the wallpaper's subtle form

Any ideas?...

My opinion is that if you want a simple wallpaper you don't need to add any more stuff to this one.

I have to agree. I like it the way it is and if you wanted it to be simple and clean then I think you got it already.

I think this wall is going good so far. Nice color choice for the background, and the extraction seems fairly clean. The background image looks pretty well made too (did you draw make that yourself?). I think the background image could use some refining, such as rounding out the edges and making the shapes look less gooey.

Here are the things that bothered me, in order that I saw them:
1. The head band designs do not match =P. Perhaps you could redo the background image to match the extraction's
2. Text placement seems a bit cheesy and competes too much with the background image. The way I see it, the background should be second on hierchy list.
3. The text feels a bit plain; the ghost text (or whatever you call it) doesn't cut it for me. Plus, what are "scarlet thunder" and "heart & soul girl" supposed to mean for the image.

I hope my feedback helps you on the final piece and I look foward to seeing the progress. Of course, my feedback is subjective and others may argue against it, though it is still what I feel could use some work.

Good luck and good job so far!

Thanx for the comments and suggestions so far.

As for the points mentioned in the above post:
1. Yes, the head bands do not match lol. The background image is seung mina from soul calibur 1, while the foreground image is her from soul calibur 3. Over the series, she has receives changes here and there. The thought did cross mind of altering the headband in the background. But if you look even closer, you'll realise shes actually a totally different out fit in the background (i.e. the scarf, sleeveless shirt, braided ponytail, earings). So, the wallpaper can be seen as her different apperances throughout the soul calibur sereis, rather than in one specific game.

2. It was difficult in deciding where the text should go, I didn't want it to be linear, like say a list in the middle, or down the sides, yet i didn't want to put it infront of the background image either. I settled for the text to orbit around the foreground image.

So After being drawn in by the scan, the veiwers eye would naturally drift on to the text. I can see what u mean about the text competing with the background, but with its size, its sharp contrast of the black and red of the background, and the negative space around it, i thought it was enough to give it priority, over the text.

3. "Scarlet thunder" is the name of the weapon, while "heart & soul girl" is the nickname given to her in soul edge & soul calibur 1 .

With the text, I wanted use somethng oriental in nature, so i used calligraphy font. Do you have any suggestions of other more suitable fonts? As for the ghost text...I tried without it, and the remaining text seemd to jump out in front, or float randomly above the image.

The ghost text uniformed it with the scan, and grounded it down to the wall. Do you think a lighter colour of the solid text, would take away the need for the ghost text? Should the ghost text be repositioned, resizeed, or taken out completely?

Once again thanks for your comments and criticism, I'll think about the things you mentioned.

I look forward for more opinions.

.....tooo much to read.....

my suggestion is...try adding some motion blur, or motion track, to her blade

and then post your modified version. I want to see that.(just me though )

I think your text choice is fine, as it has an oriental feel to it.

Try re-arranging the text some more and use more noticable variations in size to add more depth, as you said you wanted it to 'orbit' around her. You could test out overlapping the text over the scan, though that may be a bit intruding, it's worth a few seconds of your time to see what it looks like. Maybe re-arrange the text so that it corresponds to what it is talking about, ie: scarlet thunder moved next to her weapon, so that it is slightly more understandable to those who are less familiar with the game (I kind of figured what the text referred to, but moving it around may reinforce its correspondence). Also, if you have illustrator, try retracing some parts of the background image to smooth out the edges, because some of them are a bit jittery.

I'm sure you have other stuff to do than to do all these changes, and as it is right now I think it looks good; Just wanted to give a bit more feedback. Keep up the work!

oh yea, and make sure it's 1280x960, not 1280x968 =P. Perhaps crop off a few lines from the top and bottom.

Okay, I ve updated it a bit....

1. I redid the line woork in the back ground image

2. Changed to the right resolution lol

3. Altered the text positioning and made the "ghost text" more subtle.

4. Slight motion blur on the halberd

Im not sure about the text positioning, im prefering the the original positions. I tried at one point to it place a bit over the scan, but that was way to distracting and cluttered.

What do you think about the changes?

The thumbnail isn't linked, could you fix it? =P

lol yeah its just standing there man!

Versus Seung-Mina! (Versus MOLDY) Fight!

My bad...I put a new link...it should work now...

hmm...background image does look a little better. I think it looks good as it is. I don't know if you needed to get rid of the ghost text though, I think it looked fine with it. mmm....I don't know what else to say about the wall =P. Both versions look fine, maybe you can wait for other feedback.

Thanks for the constant feed back.

I also liked the ghost text...so i decided to put it back in lol.

I also added the slight motion blur for the blade. I changed the last thumbnail for the latest version.

Thanks again.

I think it looks pretty good. The thing that bothers me most is her hair going in between 'Soul' and 'Girl'. Try moving the text a bit so the hair slighly overlaps the letter, but still maintains legibility. As it is now, 'Soul' and 'Girl' don't seem connected, but separated by the hair. Don't worry about covering too much either, as it should be implied what it says.
Also, for the motion blur, It isn't very noticeable. I probably wouldn't have seen it if I didn't know it was supposed to be there. Also, I think you should only add the motion blur in one direction, otherwise it looks like she's shaking it back and forth.

Yup, ok got it... i guess thats pretty much it.

The character looks really good! I'm not sure on the text, but everything else looks really great, especially the motion blurring on her weapon. Good extraction. I like the black/red image of her in the background too. I'd make the text blend a little more into the background, it's a little too bright.

I lowered the opacity of the minor text to allow it blend more into the backgorund. i left the "Seung Mina" as is because its more of the title. I also decided to put some slight texture for the background.

The wall seemed a little empty, i think the texture complements the foreground image and make the wallpaper seem more solid. What do you think?

Ooh, that new texture adds quite a big element to the wallpaper. I think changing the opacity of the text works pretty well, and moving the text behind the hair looks more pleasing I think the motion blur at the hilt should go in the opposite direction so it looks more like she's swinging it up rather than pushing the whole thing up (which I don't think is how she uses that weapon). And just a side-note, your bottom left text is a bit too close to the edge, there is a lot of tension there.

I like how it's turned out, I don't know what else it needs, though I'll let you know if I can think of anything!