Beginners Avatars

Okay, we all know there a quite a few very talented Avatar Artists on the board, but I'm sure there's quite a few more who have the creativity and ability to make great avatars, but don't know where to start or feel their work isn't quite up to scratch yet.

I didn't see any other threads like this upon doing a quick search, so here it is:

Post your Avatar attempts even if you don't think they are great. Perhaps some of the "veterans of the trade" will give you some hints on how to improve, or someone might like it enough to use, you won't know if you don't try.
I'm no good at them, but I still give some a go now and again when I'm bored, so I'll post a few. If anyone else wants to post their own efforts, feel free. It doesn't have to be a work of art, let's just see how much creativity is lurking here.







Remember, this isn't for masterpieces, just people who want to see how they are getting along with their avatar "skills". I'm sure there's a few members who have got the ability but haven't used it yet, so let's see it

Nice thread and work Chebob man.

I am more then willing to offer anyone any help i can. There is far better then me on this board, but i still think i could help people who need it.

One tip i will give is that if you haven't got and cant afford photoshop i would suggest a program called GIMP 2. Its a free program and is easy too use.

GIMP can be found HERE.

Thanks Pickle, I knew there'd be members willing to lend a hand

So, put your Avatars up for scrutiny, and members such as Picklewalsh can help you out, give a few hinters and advice.

I too would reccomend the Gimp if Photoshop is unnavailable, it takes a while to get used to the layout, but it can do quite a lot when you get the hang of it.

Great idea you have there, chebob!

Mechanic 32.

Here are a few I knocked together.

I'm new to this and not very good so any suggestions/critisisms would be appreciated.

Thanks

JM








[edit on 23/4/2006 by Jamesmickael]

They're looking good!

Lots of variety, and the styles are pretty original. I think you've got more ability than me, so I can't help, but I'm sure someone here can give you some pointers. Keep up the good work

Originally posted by Jamesmickael
Here are a few I knocked together.

I'm new to this and not very good........

Excellent!

Who says you're not very good?

Yep i have to agree with Mechanic 32, you have some great talent. The only thing i could suggest is, keep making them. Thats the best way to improve.

Thanks alot both of you - I was dreading what sort of reaction I got !

You've boosted my confidence !

So here's a few more .............




[edit on 20/4/2006 by Jamesmickael]

[edit on 23/4/2006 by Jamesmickael]

They all look good James, seems you've got a bit of a "back-catalogue" of avatars, and thats the best way to improve: keep making them again and again, practice makes perfect.

Here's another quick one:

Avatars need not be complex works of art. They can be very simple, and still be quite effective, as avatars.







All of these can be reproduced using nothing more than MS Paint.

Mechanic 32.

Just thought I'd throw a couple more very simple Avatars up. If your thinking of making your own but are put off by some of the more talented artists on ATS/BTS, don't worry! It's easy to make simple avatars without being a "wizard" of the arts, give it a go.

some lovely work here.
My best tip for avatars is keep it simple.
Work out what you want to do and play about with it, you will find the more you do the more features you will learn how to use. I reccomend photoshop. Though other programs can deliver similar effects...

DANS TOP 7 TIPS in no particular order
1. think about how your avatar will look on the page
2. I reccommend 160*300 as a good size.
3. Go easy on text and make sure you intergrate it into the avatar, i reccommend the use of perspective, shadows or strokes...
4. Image quality, you need to make sure you use good quality images, so then you can save them at lower resolutions, and they look good. Aim for file sizes of around 40kb
5. Make sure you intergrate the different aspects of your design, look at other images for inspiration, try a google image search. see something and try and replicate it, it will help you learn
6. try and be original!
7. Enjoy it!

Anyone wants any advice or help dont hesitate to contact me via u2u or email!

Dan

Thanks for adding those tips to the thread BigDanPrice

Here's another couple that took a few minutes:

This time of day is always slow for threads on ATS/BTS, a perfect time to brush up on the old electronic artistry.

Bored again, here's some more caffeine induced avatars. Not as happy with these, but the best way to learn is keep trying, so here they are anyway.

Some more made during this BTS "quiet time". Enjoy (or try to )




[edit on 18-5-2006 by chebob]

And some more. None of these take long to produce (as you may be able to tell ), it's just a case of messing around and finding out what works well and what doesn't. Give it a try if you haven't already, it's as good a way as any to improve your "Electronic Drawing" skills.

Chebob, your skills far surpass mine. I'm not sure if that's saying much though.

Good stuff!

Peace

Thanks "Doc", I'm nowhere near Kinglizard, Umbrax etc. standards but I think I'm improving.