I know I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating. The sharpen tool sucks when over-used (which seems to be in most cases) but apparently it's what the 'people' like. *sigh* Sorry, just a little peeved when graphics which people have worked on for a *really* long time fail to get recognition because they don't have eyes and lips that don't just 'pop' but leap out of the frame and chase you down the street beating you over the head with a mallet whilst screaming "NOTICE ME!!!!"

An icon contest I watch (not zeppo_stillness or dawn_stillness I hasten to add!) frequently has entries which are so sharp you'd cut your eyeballs looking at them - and they invariably win - while there are really lovely icons there which are clear without being glaring. That's what I like about a graphic - something that's visibly clear but not too jarring. Yes, I use the sharpen filter, and I use the sharpen edges filter. I even use the little sharpen tool on eyes and lips (and hair) but I try my hardest not to overdo it. One of these days I'm going to make an overly sharpened icon and enter it into a contest just to see what the result would be.

(And the contest I was talking about is not one I tend to enter, I just watch it, so it's not me getting all petulant about losing out. *g*)

I am so far behind on my ficathon stories by the way! I will have something to post tomorrow - I swear it, I have my laptop in with me today, I'm leaving work early, I have the core stories in my head and scribbled on various pieces of paper, I just haven't got the main body of them done. The house is, however, remarkably tidy for me (as a result of the gas man having been yesterday) so I should be able to spend most of tonight just writing. And I will. The lures of Spider Solitaire and FreeCell be damned! *g*

ETA ( In case you wondered what I mean by 'over-sharpened' )

I know I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating. The sharpen tool sucks when over-used (which seems to be in most cases) but apparently it's what the 'people' like. *sigh* Sorry, just a little peeved when graphics which people have worked on for a *really* long time fail to get recognition because they don't have eyes and lips that don't just 'pop' but leap out of the frame and chase you down the street beating you over the head with a mallet whilst screaming "NOTICE ME!!!!"

An icon contest I watch (not zeppo_stillness or dawn_stillness I hasten to add!) frequently has entries which are so sharp you'd cut your eyeballs looking at them - and they invariably win - while there are really lovely icons there which are clear without being glaring. That's what I like about a graphic - something that's visibly clear but not too jarring. Yes, I use the sharpen filter, and I use the sharpen edges filter. I even use the little sharpen tool on eyes and lips (and hair) but I try my hardest not to overdo it. One of these days I'm going to make an overly sharpened icon and enter it into a contest just to see what the result would be.

(And the contest I was talking about is not one I tend to enter, I just watch it, so it's not me getting all petulant about losing out. *g*)

I am so far behind on my ficathon stories by the way! I will have something to post tomorrow - I swear it, I have my laptop in with me today, I'm leaving work early, I have the core stories in my head and scribbled on various pieces of paper, I just haven't got the main body of them done. The house is, however, remarkably tidy for me (as a result of the gas man having been yesterday) so I should be able to spend most of tonight just writing. And I will. The lures of Spider Solitaire and FreeCell be damned! *g*

ETA ( In case you wondered what I mean by 'over-sharpened' )

1. Finish Morocco Africander fic;
2. Start (and finish) Tunisia Africander fic;
3. Finalise caps for [ chalk it up to hormones ];
4. Code index and episode page for same;
5. Finalise entries for zeppo_stillness;
6. Work on new layout for WKA (nominations will be starting up again soon!);
7. Contact all authors of the 69 stories currently not working properly on INAP and start re-uploading those stories;
8. Update Pointless Nostalgic;
9. Transfer mood theme to my LJ scrapbook so that I can finalise the .htaccess file on moments-lost;
10. Work on Destiny;
11. Work on new layout for moments-lost.

I think that's everything! Think I'll get all that done this afternoon, or will I watch Neighbours to find out just how many of the cast they're going to kill off in the plane? (I'm betting David, Conor, Dylan or Skye (probably Skye) and maybe Paul. *g*). I haven't watched Neighbours for ages and caught it yesterday - it's all intriguing now!

ETA so I watched Neighbours. *g* They didn't confirm any specific character as being dead but we didn't see Paul, David and Lilliana, Alex (who I forgot about - of course they were going to kill him off) or Skye. We did see Conor but he did something really stupid (took off his life jacket so he could swim out of the plane) so he's not going to last long... *g*

Voting has started on round one of whedon_lims, I entered. I'm not telling anyone which is mine and it's definitely not the best of the bunch, but I think it holds its own. If I get voted off this round I won't be upset - there's some great competition in there!

1. Finish Morocco Africander fic;
2. Start (and finish) Tunisia Africander fic;
3. Finalise caps for [ chalk it up to hormones ];
4. Code index and episode page for same;
5. Finalise entries for zeppo_stillness;
6. Work on new layout for WKA (nominations will be starting up again soon!);
7. Contact all authors of the 69 stories currently not working properly on INAP and start re-uploading those stories;
8. Update Pointless Nostalgic;
9. Transfer mood theme to my LJ scrapbook so that I can finalise the .htaccess file on moments-lost;
10. Work on Destiny;
11. Work on new layout for moments-lost.

I think that's everything! Think I'll get all that done this afternoon, or will I watch Neighbours to find out just how many of the cast they're going to kill off in the plane? (I'm betting David, Conor, Dylan or Skye (probably Skye) and maybe Paul. *g*). I haven't watched Neighbours for ages and caught it yesterday - it's all intriguing now!

ETA so I watched Neighbours. *g* They didn't confirm any specific character as being dead but we didn't see Paul, David and Lilliana, Alex (who I forgot about - of course they were going to kill him off) or Skye. We did see Conor but he did something really stupid (took off his life jacket so he could swim out of the plane) so he's not going to last long... *g*

Voting has started on round one of whedon_lims, I entered. I'm not telling anyone which is mine and it's definitely not the best of the bunch, but I think it holds its own. If I get voted off this round I won't be upset - there's some great competition in there!