Comments/advice on a beginners work :)

Ok I'm pretty much new to photoshop, I've been looking at some tutorials, playing about here and there. I think I have a fairly OK grasp, I just lack imagination/creativity.. And it seems to take me ages to do a simple graphic..

Well theres 2 sig's I made, one for me and another for a friend on a different forum..

http://www.boomspeed.com/arkantos/ArkSiggy.jpg
Well I did my "Arkantos" one with the tuturial on the XP look and I think it looks simple yet nice.. But no-one has told me what they think of it and any improvements I could make yet, so I'm hoping to get that from here.

http://www.boomspeed.com/arkantos/BergySig.jpg
This one that I made for a friend (Bergy) is pretty big, but oh well. I did the main text using an action file someone sent me, and then did the rest myself.. (including the curvy thing, which i'm pretty proud of, lol). The pictures are from some weird anime show that he wanted in there, I had to dig out the pictures myself and couldn't find any better than them.
Well anyway, when I posted it for him and this other guy said it was "ok" and wasn't anything special, etc, etc... Which I was pretty miffed about since it took me a long time to do (I was messing about with this, that and the other.) and I was pretty proud of it. But then I thought maybe it isn't very good and I just suck at trying to make good things, bleh. (Actually I've just looked at it again now, it looks kinda dark and that pic on the right is seriously annoying me!)

Comments/suggestions/critisisms appreciated (sp?).

first of all, the font on the first one i think could use to be changed. To me it looks like it says "Arkanros" because of the font the "t" looks like an "r" or maybe a "y". Its very plain and im not sure where you got the picture of the guy from but ive seen those before in many places. I wouldnt say thats original. I like the background although it is simple.

The second i dont think the tentacle really fits in. it seems to stand out to me and become the focal point. I think the name or the pictures should be the focal point. Try tonin the tentacle down or get rid of it. Maybe put it behind the scanlines like the rest. Also you may want to bring out the "eater of souls" part its quite hard to read. Otherwise i think they are good to start with and i like the simplicity

good first try

Thanks Mi Lo Fu for your reply, it really is helpful. I was trying to keep my Arkantos sig quite simple.. I agree with you on the font thing, it does look a lot like an 'r' or 'y'.. I guess it just looks normal to me since I use it quite a bit and have got used to it.

The picture of a guy was from this site with loads of pictures like that, I think they are called "dollz" or something. I dunno, I stumbled across it and liked it so I saved it, and ended up using it in my sig. I also agree that it's very unorigional lol, but as I said I'm uncreative (any suggestions on being creative? lol..).

Also you've just pointed out whats been staring me in the face all along, the tentacle! That's whats making it seem so bad I think.. It doesn't really fit in and it seems to be the center point. Hehe, it was right there and I didn't notice that. The "Eater of Souls" part wasn't in there at first, I just thought I'd add it because it looked a bit plain. By the time I added it I'd had enough and just wanted to finish it, and so I just dumped it on there without any modification.

Also, does the image appear dark on a normal monitor? I'm on laptop, TFT monitor and it sometimes displays dark/lightness differently to a normal monitor, and so I don't know how it looks on a normal monitor.

Thanks again, can anyone else provide suggestions/comments/critique on these two pictures?

doesnt seem to dark on mine, good light tone i think. Suggestions on being creative...hmm thats a tricky one. Just keep in mind, tutorials are there to help but you cant build a page just from tutorials. You have to learn techniques then make them your own with customization. If your lookin to get into the real art side of it like photography, i would say go with your mind and heart. Sit for a while and just let your mind wander. When you think of something hold the thought and put it into an image that express its essence. One more thing about being creative, dont steal other peoples ideas. Have your own. I guess that could really define creativity lol. And nobody said your stuff had to be good when you start out. If you make an image that touches you and express what you want it to or how you feel then stick with it and dont listen to other people if they dont like it or get it. (Unless its really bad lol)=my 2 cents...mind you some people call me crazy lol

Check out the Resources section for Free image hosting services, boomspeed seems way way way way way too slow...

*still waiting for images to load.*

Thanks again, hehe.

I just did a new one for my friend, since I got to hate that last one, the tentacle just really annoyed me..

http://www.boomspeed.com/arkantos/BergySig2.jpg

I think this one is much better, any critique/advice/comments welcomed.

Your friend likes Cowboy Bebop? LOL. Pretty good for a first, to me it just seems to light over all, like you changed all the opacities the same percentage. I would change only certain layers to give focus to your main point.

much "butter" (no typo seen the commercial) i think its cool, Cowboy bebop rocks. I would say make the name more of a focal point, maybe lighter. Nice

Hehe, I was thinking of ways to make the name lighter but none would pop into my head. I thought of changing colour, but that would just look out of place then. Hmm..

Yeah my friend likes cowboy bebop lol, I never heard of it before, and it looks pretty weird to me but I just don't like anime stuff :/

you could use a lightsource or lighten up the background color to give it more of contrast and make it appear to shine out more