Popular Post DaRe Posted July 1, 2012 Popular Post Share Posted July 1, 2012 (edited) DaRe-Style Signatures [banner coming soon] IntroductionHey there, I'm DaRe, and I'm a rookie graphics designer who currently makes signatures, avatars, banners, and sometimes photo manipulation or photo enhancements. I've been at it since June 27, 2012. I started off by using deviantART Muro, and then I went to sumo.fm to work on my basics for a month. When I finally got my own computer (laptop) during the summer, I downloaded GIMP and used that for another month before going into Photoshop, my current program of use.I mostly make signature for myself when I find an image I want to work with or I want to try something new. When I try something new that I like, I stick with it for a little bit to master the style the best way I can. I try not to stick with one style for too long since I consider myself as a trainee, but practice makes perfect, right? Alot of my sigs consist of either animals (especially wolves), Pokemon, dragons, or other creatures I find. There are other sigs that I make that were requested, so they might not fit my best interest. I use it to get myself out of my comfort zone, and after some time of taking request on a couple sites, it no longer bothers me like it did at first.Outside of the digital world I live in a city in the Los Angeles County in California. I'm in college as a Creative Writing major and Music minor. I used to be in an Open Class drum corp as a bottom Bass drummer (Bass 5). Of course, I'm also a video gamer, usually a bit of PC, or when I'm not living in my dorms, my PS3. On the side, I create my own music, usually somewhere in the Hip-Hop and R&B range as of now.Note: I'm only posting sigs I made in Photoshop.Current Favorite Signature(s) http://i.imgur.com/Nr2Sgat.png http://i.imgur.com/cCwaEaw.png Pre-Episode: Getting Warmed Up (August 24 - September 3, 2012)This was an Episode when I first started using Photoshop, so I was learning some new basics as I went along. The old skills I picked up from sumo and GIMP really gave me a head start on my sig progress! However, I look at them months later and realize just how much I've improved since then. The Episode was cut short due to my laptop's screen braking from me being careless, right before school started too, so it couldn't have been timed any better than that! Of course, I would never intentionally break something worth hundreds of dollars.Favorite Sig of Pre-Episode: Hunter Troll Not including collabs, this is my second PS sig, and I loved it! There's so many things I liked about it at the time and so little things I didn't like about it. It's crazy how much I liked it, and looking back at my older sigs from two month before, it's definitely something to be proud of. Anyway, I like the colors, the text (for once), the background, many things to name. The only things I don't like is that the bow should've been blurred and everything else is flaws I don't see by myself. Thanks Chambers again for the render. [sIGS DISPLAYED HERE] Episode I (September 20 - October 5, 2012)After my laptop got repaired, Episode I started. This was where I was really starting to develop some sort of a style! Favorite Sig of Episode I: Dragons 01 This is the beginning of a series (that is also located in the Series section) I like to call Dragons 0.1! I was really satisfied with the result of this sig, and it's one of my favorites from Episode 1. I think this is one of the first sigs that I used the dodge and burn tools in Photoshop, don't remember if I did it on sumo or GIMP. [sIGS DISPLAYED HERE] Episode II (October 8 - November 3, 2012)Episode II was when I started to improve on my style by trying more new things and develop a signature style (no pun intended). This included using different smudge settings, new filters, and improving my basics. I even went to using more effects on my sigs later in the Episode, and by the end of the episode, I already had a pretty good idea about what exactly my style was.Favorite Sig of Episode II: Blue Eyes Toon Dragon (Dragons 04) I found a render for this sig, and at this point, I didn't use renders very often. I decided to use some effects, mostly C4D, with a smudged background to come up with this! This is a favorite of this Episode, and it has been a favorite of all sigs I've ever created for quite some time. I think the gradient maps helped the colors out, and the only thing I don't care for too much is the right side looking a little LQ. I think that was due to me darkening the edges. Oh well, still really diggin this sig! [sIGS DISPLAYED HERE] Episode III (November 5 - December 1, 2012)This Episode was where I started to work on a new smudge setting I picked up somwhere in the previous Episode the most. This was also the first real busy month I've had for requests, so I made sure I did all of the requests! Quite a few of my all time favorites are in this Episode too. Other than that, my style hasn't really changed all that much here. I tried out a couple new things too, like ripples, using a texture for the sig, etc.Favorite Sig of Episode III: AbSmudge This was me playing around with smudging for a battle, and it was a big win! The theme was "Abstract", so I tried to make it kinda abstractish, even though it's not that abstract. I was very pleased with the results, and I was surprised how much people seemed to like it when it was a new sig. I still look at it as a good sig, and it's one of my favorites! [sIGS DISPLAYED HERE] Episode IV (December 1 - 30, 2012)This is the Episode where I decided to take a break from C4D's and work on my skills of using a variety of brushes heavily for the first time ever. I smudged much less often, but this new style of mine was a little innovating for me and people seemed to like it. I plan on perfecting this style before moving on to others, or at least working on it until I get tired of it!Favorite Sig of Episode IV: AbSplash It all started out with a black canvas. I used a soft brush to draw a couple thick lines, and then I smudged from and around the edges to create a path. After a while I started adding a couple different kinds of brushes including splatter, alot of them being clipping masks. The rest of the sig was done with gradient maps, blurring and sharpening places, dodge/burn tool, and adding the border. It was fun making this, and I entered it for a 1vs1 battle that won 7-0 votes. [sIGS DISPLAYED HERE] Episode V: Interval (January 2 - February 18, 2013)This episode is when I started to slow down in making sigs, hence the name and time period. I've noticed that in the middle of the episode I started focusing more on using clipping masks, so that eventually became part of my new style. Still only using brushes to make sigs now, still on a C4D break. This is also the episode where I've had the least amount of inspiration to make sigs, and I'm not sure if that can be seen well or not.Favorite Sig of Episode V: DaRe is on Fire! I did this for a 1vs1 battle. The stock I used was from League of Legends, one of Warwick's skins, so like alot of those images, it made the placement a little awkward since their characters tend to be placed either on the far left or the far right of the images, making it difficult to place it well on a sig. I decided to add a few different brushes and clipping masks and a smoky brush to kind of add a "flamy" kind of feel, though it was unintentional at first. Either way, I won the battle. [sIGS DISPLAYED HERE] Episode VI (February 22 - April 27, 2013)It was around this Episode that inspiration started to pick back up, I think, after a few sigs in I went back to using C4D and from there I decided on what my general sig style would look like. Not that I did it on purpose, but that's just how it went! Favorite Sig of Episode VI: Nissan GTR This was one of my favorite car sigs at the time, and probably still is to date. I like the car and the stock itself, so I decided to make the car look like the smoke was red while it was burning out, but from the overflow of effects, I think I made it look more like a blood splatter! Anyway, this was a fun sig to make, and the best part is: it was a request! [sIGS DISPLAYED HERE] Episode VII (May 15 - July 5, 2013) After the previous Episode, I had some stressful times IRL, so I was only able to make one sig in a span of a month. After that was over, June arrived, and June's usually a month where everything falls together to a pile of awesomeness, and this month was no exception! Well, IRL, anyway, but I was pretty much stick on a style for a good amount of this Episode. Favorite Sig of Episode VII: inFAMOUS Second Son The moment I started on this sig, I knew I was going to enjoy it. Why? Not sure, but what I do know is that in the end, it was one of my favorite sigs at the time. I could see now how I could've improved, but still, this was a sig I loved for a long while, even after I made sigs that I think were considered better! [sIGS DISPLAYED HERE] Episode VIII (July 6 - August 17, 2013) On this Episode, I was starting to lose inspiration again, but I continued making sigs anyway, just at a slower pace. I think this was where the downfall began. Not in terms of my sig making skills, but in terms of my motivation to keep making sigs as actively as I used to. I wasn't going through rough times at this point either, the juices just weren't flowing as well. Favorite Sig of Episode VIII: Young Sinatra This wasn't hard to decide that this was my favorite sig. Requested by a friend, I had trouble finding a good image to work with before I found the stock used to create this. I have no idea how I came up with this as the result, but no regrets! Still up there as one of my current favorite sigs! [sIGS DISPLAYED HERE] Episode IX (September 17, 2013 - April 14, 2015) This is the most fragmented Episode thus far, as you may see. This is where my sig drive has died, came back to life, lived a bit, died again, and came back to life again, and that process repeated itself at least three times, dying for months and close to a year at a time. This was that time when I was more focused on making music and applying for colleges, and then in the later part of the Episodes, while I was at college. The last 9 sigs were made on the same night when I officially rose out of the hiatus! Favorite Sig of Episode IX: Mega Charizard X and Burnout DeLorean Being a Pokemon fan, well, someone who used to be a BIG Pokemon fan, died out, and then decided to slowly creep back at it, I was more than excited to hear about the announcement of Mega Charizard X, and that's what inspired this sig. Still my favorite Mega Evolution Pokemon, but anyway... one of my favorite sigs mostly because of the execution of this one, especially the lighting and the Motion Blur! Found the stock, decided to make use of it, and that's where this sig came in! This was meant to be a giveaway, as of now, no one claimed it, even though this is one of my favorite sigs due to the effects done, lighting, and the fact that I used a stock for this particular sig (which I do pretty often, as you may have noticed!). My only problem is that it's too centered, but eh, that's what happens sometimes. [sIG DISPLAYED HERE] Episode X (April 26th, 2015 - ) This is the current Episode. So far, nothing spectacular, but I plan on learning some new techniques soon and finding a new style to play with for a little while! [sIGS DISPLAYED HERE] Larger PiecesComing soonAvatarsComing soonThanks for stopping by! Requests are currently OPEN Edited April 28, 2015 by DaRe 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 My very first update! Meh, don't really like it that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chambers35 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Great start Dare, looks like that program is going to do you some good, that is until you get GIMP of PS Keep it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmgravekeeper Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Wow great work....you definitely are showing a lot of potential....I love your current sig/avy! And feel free to ask for any pointers....I'd love to be of help.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myers Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 If you're wanting to look at some perfect sigs for tips and pointers then just ask to see mine.... I like the totodile sig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 Great start Dare, looks like that program is going to do you some good, that is until you get GIMP of PS Keep it up! Thanks Chambers. I still got some work to do before I become decent enough to start my own shop or join other shops. Wow great work....you definitely are showing a lot of potential....I love your current sig/avy! And feel free to ask for any pointers....I'd love to be of help.... Thanks grave. I'll ask you for anything if I need the pointers. If you're wanting to look at some perfect sigs for tips and pointers then just ask to see mine.... I like the totodile sig Lol Thanks. I kinda like it too, my first simple sig from sumo.fm. Update July 1, 2012 I made a new avatar for ATHF89. I didn't really do much for this one other than crop the image and added a couple layer effects as well as some sharpening and some brightness/contrast tweaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 (edited) Major Update! I've made alot of pieces this month, and now I'm starting to feel better about my sig making skills, still got alot of room for improvement though. In chronological order: New Avatars New Signatures New LP's Edited July 18, 2012 by K9_Rage 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmgravekeeper Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Sweet good stuff....I think you'll have to work on the text a little cause the text isn't looking that great yet....btw text was one of the hardest things for me to learn personally.... ....you're improving really quickly....that's awesome.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 Sweet good stuff....I think you'll have to work on the text a little cause the text isn't looking that great yet....btw text was one of the hardest things for me to learn personally.... ....you're improving really quickly....that's awesome.... Thanks man. Yeah I suck at text, not to mention I don't have too many options of fonts to use. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 I've made alot more sigs between my last post and now, and I have GIMP now. Here's the last sig I made. I don't feel like updating the OP, maybe later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lime Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Make more son :3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 Make more son :3 I will, hopefully my thread can keep up lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lime Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I think you should make a Batman one seeing as how you havent made one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted August 14, 2012 Author Share Posted August 14, 2012 (edited) I think you should make a Batman one seeing as how you havent made one. Nah, unless it's a request I won't do it on my own will. Oh, and I'm not taking any requests here. Edited August 14, 2012 by K9_Rage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myers Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Nah, unless it's a request I won't do it on my own will. Oh, and I'm not taking any requests here. I WANT BATMAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share Posted September 27, 2012 This thread is extrememly outdated, I don't know if I want to update it anymore or not. My latest three tags, I have Photoshop CS6 now. I'll post more when the time comes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeautifulTorment Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Seeing a huge improvement man, keep at it. Glad to see you've started experimenting with Photoshop too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myers Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Yeah definite improvement, hope you like CS6. I still want batman.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 Seeing a huge improvement man, keep at it. Glad to see you've started experimenting with Photoshop too. Yeah definite improvement, hope you like CS6. I still want batman.. Thanks guys. Fine, I'll do Batman soon, only because you asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piggie_Pie Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 These sigs and avi's look great! nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 These sigs and avi's look great! nice work! Thanks. I'll update this thread one of these days so you can see all of my later works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share Posted December 23, 2012 Only because I wub you guys, I'll update this thing and scrap some of the old junk out. Few of my latest sigs: New Logo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 And now the thread is mostly updated! Just need to add my avatars and wallpapers and I'm all set. You may post a comment if you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmgravekeeper Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Really awesome, I love your style! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaRe Posted December 24, 2012 Author Share Posted December 24, 2012 Really awesome, I love your style! Thanks cmg! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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