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#i actually like low saturated colors better but in my previous pieces i just wanted to experiment with the other end of the spectrum
kalicocal · 2 years
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blind to you
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the-odd-job · 3 years
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What is your step by step drawing process like, if you don't mind my asking?
I'll just use Sunstealer as an example since he's the most recent thing I did. Under the cut because this is horridly long. You wanted step by step, I’ll give you step by step. 
That is a threat.
And every step of the way I use a sharp pen with high pressure sensitivity and a sharp eraser with high pressure sensitivity, unless stated otherwise.
1. Alright, sketch first of all. I pick a whatever color, set a folder to multiply, and add layers in it. I start with the face/helm and take moderate care with making it look decent.
2. From there I sketch the rest of the the pic, preferably very loosely. I aim to not lift the stylus from the pad very much and instead just SCRIBBLE lines into the vague shape I'm after.
3. Set the sketch folder’s opacity real damn low, like somewhere under 10%, create a new folder, set it to multiply, and this is where the horrid amount of layers and layer folders I use comes in. But, you can see I actually did a second sketch of the arms (and legs, though that isn’t visible here) ‘cause I couldn’t make them look right based on my initial sketch.
4. On top of my second sketch I draw the rest of the clean lines. The lines were drawn with this purplish color, btw. I use something akin to it pretty often in my lineart.
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5. After all that I use the Auto Select tool to select everything outside my lineart, e.g. everything I don’t want to have color. I then invert the selection and lay down my flats. At this point I used the gold as my base color, but then added separate folders for each following color, clipping them to the gold base layer below. In the case of black, its folder has a whole bunch of layers while I tried to figure out what parts to color black. With layers for the different parts, I can just click them on and off to see what things look like with or without them.
6. Okay, now to the meat of things. I use a correction layer (hue/saturation/luminosity in this case) to change the base gold to a far darker color that I can easily edit later without losing my initial color choice, and create a new layer on top of all my colors, set it on multiply, and in this case used a sort of peachy color to add my first shadows on top of the whole entire picture. At this point the exact colors in use don’t matter one bit, though, as long as you see what you’re doing.
7. I create a second multiply layer on top of the last one, and go over the whole thing again, adding deeper shadows, this time using bright red. But again, color doesn’t matter yet. I like contrast too, so you can see some areas turn almost black.
8. Shinies! We add our first Add (Glow) layer (that can be named differently in other programs, in SAI it was just “Luminosity”). Once again, color doesn’t matter, just as long as you see what you’re doing, but I was working with about the same peach I used on my first multiply layer. And how I add the shines is basically just color the glow over the whole area, then use the eraser in sweeping and circling motions to remove parts of it. I don’t treat each plate/portion separated by lines individually, because then you’ll just end up with mismatched areas that don’t communicate with each other at all and just fight. (Remember to erase the shine from over your shadows too. Auto Selecting the shadows and erasing the glow from the selected area is a good trick.)
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9. More shinies! This time we want it to show up as a bit lighter/brighter than our previous shiny. Using a brighter color or higher opacity does the trick. I do the same thing of coloring large areas and erasing shapes out of them afterwards, but this time I make it argue with my first glow layer a bit. Some overlap is good, but I also want them to live their own lives. (I included a view of the second glow layer alone, but I worked with both glow layers visible.)
10. We now have two multiply layers and two glow layers. What we also have, is a base color (gold) and separate folders for every subsequent color (black, face, insignia in this case. And optic, but let’s not touch that yet). We now copy our two multiply layers and two glow layers, and move copies of them into each folder (sans optic) and clip them to the base layer in that folder. We move copies of the multiply and glow layers right over our base layer too, below our other color folders. (I deleted the glow layers from the “face” folder because I don’t want the face to be as shiny, and the multiply layers from the “insignia” folder because there’s actually no shadow over the insignia.) We can make our original multiply and glow layers invisible so they’re not messing things up, and what we should have is... The same exact thing as in step 9. Wow.
11. Now we actually make it look good! Though let’s just color the optic while we’re at it so it’s not all empty. Anyway, this is the stage where we really start to think about color and opacity. I want a neutral lighting to showcase his colors best, so let’s see how we get that. The thing we’ll just do is use Tonal Correction > Hue/Saturation/Luminosity to change our multiply and glow layers one by one, starting from our first multiply layer. I turn the other multiply and glow layers off so I can see what I’m doing and and tweak the colors until I get something that doesn’t scream “interesting lighting”, because I want neutral lighting. 
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12. Then I go through all of the layers one by one and do the same thing to each of them. The reason I have them each on separate layers is exactly this, that I can affect all of the drawing’s colors individually and make them look just as I want to and always have the option of just going back and easily editing things. I also add a glow layer to the face, but with a brush rather than a pen so I get a softer look, buuut then add a second glow layer with a low opacity to add just a little bit of sharp light in there. And now we have a thing! But it looks pretty flat, doesn’t it? We don’t want that.
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13. First of all, let’s add some soft glow to the gold. New glow layer below our multiply and other glow layers, choosing a soft color to accentuate the gold, and then using either a brush or airbrush we add just a bit of color in there. Arrows point to the spots where I added it, because we want the effect to be subtle and easy to miss.
14. We can do better than that, though. Let’s add a multiply layer and do the same thing, adding juuuust hints of darker color here and there. It adds a touch more depth, but again, we want it to be easy to miss.
15. Let’s have a look at the black, next. You may have noticed I turned off the second glow layer on it entirely, and that’s because it was decided that the black shouldn’t be as shiny as the gold. We still want to add some life to it though, and because Sunstealer’s black tints towards blue, let’s make some blue happen by adding a glow layer, and again, very softly with a brush or airbrush, add just hints of color in there. 
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16. It still doesn’t really good though, does it? It’s pretty boring and lifeless despite our efforts. More layers, then! Some fucking edges, this time. A glow layer above all of our existing layers and folders to affect all of them (except optic, ‘cause optic doesn’t need it), take good ol’ bright white, turn the opacity down a bit, and add sharp light to the edges. Like, all the edges that are touched by light. Seams, everything. We want this motherfucker to shine.
17. Okay, now do the same, except this time on the shadows. The layer is on lower opacity and I didn’t use white but desaturated blue instead. Just add a bit of reflected light in there.
18. Slowly getting there, but let’s do a couple more things. First of all, warm color. Basically, I just like to slap a random color on top of the whole damn thing when I’m finishing a drawing, using either a color, a glow, or a normal layer, depending which one gets me the best results that time. Or, all three, if that’s what I feel like. This time I used a color layer with briiiiiight neon orange. I switched the layer to normal and opacity to 100% so you can see where it’s actually applied, which is, again, on top of all the layers. A pretty large area, but even on 100% opacity with a normal layer you can see it’s pretty transparent. If I had wanted to do a more interesting lighting, I would’ve left it more visible and maybe added another similar layer in a different color, but I wanted neutral lighting so we leave it as just a tiny, tiny hint in there. 
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19. Still not done. Colors reflect other colors, so let’s make that happen on the black and have it reflect our gold some.
20. Almost there. What are we missing? Color correction, that’s what. I didn’t do much of it for this piece, but with some I really play around with correction layers and layers set to overlay and whatnot. But let’s see what we have here. First of all, there’s one brightness/contrast correction layer affecting the gold only, increasing the contrast so things look a bit brighter. 
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21. There’s also a second brightness/contrast correction layer, this one simply increasing the brightness a bit. It’s mostly for the sake of the black, because I wanted to make it look a bit more blue by making it lighter, but it worked to make the whole image a little brighter along with it. Aside from the optic, that’s still on top of everything else. But like said, how many corrective layers I have going on depends entirely on what I’m doing. In some cases I can have around a dozen in effect, not all of them always affecting the entire image, but split around to do their thing on different layers.
22. But speaking of the optic! It glows, so let’s make it glow with two layers on top of both of the “color” and “lines” folders. One layer is for the blurred red glow, the second is for the sharply reflected light.
23. And for things like these I like a simple background, which I generally do by just using a couple of gradients and altering their color to whatever looks decent. I also often add an outline to the entire character in pieces like this to make the character pop a bit more, by just copying my base color layer and performing gaussian blur on it.
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WHEEZE. That’s that, though. Finished product can be viewed here. 
Oh, and ctrl+shift and tap will jump you straight to the layer you tapped on. Makes moving between layers and finding the damn layer you wanted to edit a hell of a lot easier.
Annnnnd obsessively naming layers and layer folders so you can tell what the heck they actually are when you have way, way many layers to work with.
*thumbs up*
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Season 2 Episode 14- Floundering Finale
It’s no secret that I think these designers stumbled to the finish line this season.  Unfortunately, Daniel, Chloe, and Santino really didn’t step it up going into the finale and we got three fairly underwhelming collections. None of the collections A) felt like full collections or B) had any surprising wow pieces.  This made it feel like I could take any look from one collection and throw it into the other and it would fit in.  Everything was just “fine”.
3. Daniel V.
Oof what a disappointment this was.  Daniel seemed to be the preordained winner of the season, but this collection was just a conglomerate of mall wear with a few “fancy dresses” with ugly appliques. There were certain flashes of brilliance, but he had too many starting points and never really went anywhere with any of them. It was such a shame to see Daniel fall so hard, but guess what?  We all done known this!!! He wasn’t that great on the season and this collection showed that.
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Serving you Blanche Deveroux realness.  Tacky floral? Check.  Shoulder pads? Check.  Fit and flair? Check.  Congratulations you’ve made your first grandma jacket!  
The skirt is nothing.
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The boring daughter of the woman in the first look.  I can get that top at J.Crew, Gap, Macy’s, literally any department store.  There is no design here.
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This is a cute coat, and had he run in this direction I think he could have eeked out the win because the judges really loved him.  The collar is wonderful and it is impeccably made.  the silhouette is gorgeous, too.
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And we’re back to mall wear.  The only part that is remotely designed are the shoulder straps.  Yawn.
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I agree with Michael Kors, I want to rip that thing off of her chest.  The pleating on the bottom is cute but still boring.
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Had this shirt been a mini dress I would have loved it, but it isnt.  The top is cute, but once again the skirt is nothing.  I also hate the two together, especially with the boots.
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Where did this come from?  It has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of his collection.  Had this been in the same cool tones I would have given it a pass, but changing the pallet and design details is too much.  I actually really like the pants but, as we know, I hate the under boob scoop.
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Oh look! He took my advice and made his shirt and skirt a mini dress for his thirteenth look.  This is cute and totally in line with the best pieces in his collection.  It isn’t shown here but I love the cowl neck back to these pieces.  I would have switched this piece and the previous piece in his lineup for a smoother transition.
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I want to like this but I just can’t.  Each piece individually is cute but all together it gets a bit costume, like someone on a Disney show.  Had he gotten rid of the purple sweater, which is a nothing piece already, it would have been much more successful.  But again with the damn chest patch.
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There were strokes of greatness in this collection. I absolutely love this top, it is so soft and delicate, the best parts of Daniel’s designs.  The pants are wonky but at least there is design there.
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J. Crew Outlet
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I like it but once again it does not fit with his collection.  No where else has he played with transparent volume or monotone multi-piece looks.  I like that he played with volume and top and on bottom, but was able to balance it out by keeping it body con in the middle.
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This dress is horrendous from beginning to end and not what I would want to leave in the mind of the public and the judges. The patch needs to go, but past that there are many more issues.  The color is so blah and the two browns do not mesh well.  All of the detail in the back looks very western, like cowboy boot or saloon door details.  Mess all around.
2. Santino
Santino created a lot of beautiful dresses for his finale collection, but he showed very little range.  It was quite boring and after a while and a lot of the pieces began to blend together.  That being said, there were no truly bad pieces in his collection but it didn’t feel like a full runway show to me.
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This is a gorgeous gown but it doesn’t give me the oomph I need from an opener.  The proportions are great and make the model look super tall and I love the fabrics he chose. It’s just a bit safe.
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This is cute and fun.  I love the leather pants, they add an edge to an extremely saccharine look.  The top is cute as well, I just wanted some more oomph again.
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Everyone on Project Runway has created this dress, and it’s normally in a quick or unconventional challenge.  I don’t need this in a 13 piece collection.  Love the color though.  Why this was in the middle of his maroon and pink looks I will never know.
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Yawn.  At least the blue dress was made well. What is up with the hem.  
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It’s a beautiful slip dress with a wonky back.
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For the 13th look it was more designed than any of the previous 3 looks.  Still, it needs even more.  Maybe if the lace was in a different tone than the dress?
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This one I love. The jumpsuit is nice but the star here is the cape.  It falls beautifully around her shoulders and arms and scoops around her neck wonderfully.  The only problem is that this should be a low point in a collection in terms of amount of design, not a high.
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She’s a majorette. The dress is ok but that jacket is hideous.  The horizontal lines are cutting her off at too many places.I
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I love the sudden pop of super saturation.  It’s the same cut on top as many of his other dresses but I enjoy the mix of fabrics.  I wish he had continued that into the skirt.
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And then this comes out of nowhere in the collection.  I kind of enjoy it just because I was so bored by everything else.  I don’t think he used the right fabric for the skirt or sleeves, it has too much structure for what he wanted.  I would have loved to see more of this leather work in his collection, but overall it’s a bit too Ren Fair.
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I. Love. This. Fabric.  He only used it in 2 pieces but I would have loved it in about 5 or 6.  And he knows how to work with it.  The way it flows around her body and drapes down is amazing. The pleating is amazing. I need Santino to stay in this lane because this is where his strength lies.
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His blue dress but in puce.  I like the lines of the trim though and it seems much better executed.
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Yes yes yes yes yes yes.  He should have opened with this look and gone from there because this is by far the best look in the collection.  The extra drape in the front is such a beautiful and understated edition.  I just love it, possibly the best look of all 3 collections.
1. Chloe
Chloe deserved to win just because of the lack of imagination of Daniel and Santino.  Still, it isn’t the best collection in the history of the show.  
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She had the best opener of any of the finalists.  It is fun, cool, and most importantly, interesting. It’s a new take on a classic coat dress.
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I haaaaate this print.  I have never been a fan of dark green and pink and the floral looks dated, even for 2005. The actual dress is cute and a lot of girls would rock that silhouette.
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The same ugly fabric but in a much more boring silhouette.
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I’ve been on the fence about this dress, but I’m coming down on the side of quite liking it.  The pleating on the bottom are something I’ve never seen before and I like the folding detailing of the shoulder.  The fabric and sleeve length make it a bit grandma but overall its a success.
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This is cute. The fabric could have easily gone grandam but the cuts make it young and fresh.  The dress is cute but the shrug is amazing.  The way the two pieces make a cutout in the back is sublime.  She did a great job with volume in this collection.
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This look I don’t like as much.  It’s a little too stiff and stuffy and doesn’t match the easier fun attitude of the previous looks.  The tuxedo stripe is problematic, she tried to be different by angling it to the pockets but it doesn’t work.
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The same boring dress Santino made twice.  The fabric is way too thick and stiff, it looks like maternity wear.  You can tell this was her 13th look.
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From the waist up I like it, a chic little cocktail dress.  The color is also extremely rich.  The fit and flair leaves a bit to be desired just because I’ve seen it so much.  I wish should have taken the pleating from her 4th look and added it to more pieces, maybe this one.
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In my opinion, the printed pieces in her collection were the least successful.  The lace up top looks costumey and the shirt hits the model and an odd length, accentuating her hips.  
Upon closer inspection it may not be a print but a lace overlay an odd choice considering the abundance of solids and lack of lace in the rest of her collection.
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I have no clue where anyone would wear this dress.  The front is too stuffy for a cocktail party but the back is completely inappropriate for the workplace.  I love the power of the cobalt blue though, she looks powerful.  The seams on the front make her look extremely tall and lean.
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I am really not responding well to the print’s that she chose.  This looks like random islands or a deconstructed globe.  Aside from that it is the same basic empire waist dress I’ve been harping on, but this time in a maxi.
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I don’t mind the print as much here because a lot of the focus is on the gorgeous cobalt blue.  The sleeves and back make this dress.  The rest is a bit underwhelming.
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This is a strong second to last dress, but I would never use it as a closer.  This shows a restrained and edited design eye but doesn’t scream “this is who I am as a designer”.  I really have no issues with the actual dress, and the back is fantastic.
A well deserved win for Chloe, even if it was by default.
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forthecow · 4 years
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20 Trailblazers Leading The Way In Concrete Stain Floor
A couple of weeks ago we made the decision to revive the concrete stain and sealer on our stamped concrete patio. The acid stain was pale, there was a grid function of rust stains from a prolonged-given that eradicated warm-tub, and discoloration from planters have been almost everywhere. It was higher-time this stamped concrete patio gained a facelift.
The solution is: Indeed, you may acid stain aged concrete. The process for acid staining previous concrete just isn't everything different from staining new concrete with several exceptions. Under, We'll walk you through how you can stain aged concrete as well as the distinctions from the best way to stain new concrete.
Definitely love this stain! Went with 1 coat of all-natural cedar for my entrance doorway and could not be happier.
Completely ready Seal® wood stain and sealer includes every one of the vital components of a high quality finish for exterior wood tasks.
I worked in janitorial for quite some time and these types of floors are straightforward to maintain. Receive a no slip floor polish from the janitorial offer. In the homesteading problem you don’t want to be slipping in moist snowy boots.
If the spray initial goes down around the floor, it’s super light. Mine was roughly the shade of bile when it initially strike the floor (I'd a little heart assault at that point)
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Definitely like this stain! Went with 1 coat of pure cedar for my front doorway and will not be happier.
We've got an enormous assortment of stains and sealers in several colors and finishes; choose the one which most closely fits your outdoor space. In case you are looking to spruce up other out of doors regions all over your home or business enterprise, We've got a variety of exterior paints and paint primer sealers and rust reformers which will help keep your deck and also other outside things looking fantastic For some time.
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Simple gray concrete looks as low-cost mainly because it sounds, but now I have bought a jade Inexperienced and walnut chessboard that cost me a lot less than $four for each piece to help make, such as the stain.
When you've got really hard to achieve rust stains, You should use a spray bottle to saturate the stain with lemon juice or vinegar. Spray the stain with the substances and Keep to the previously mentioned approach.
Select a corner and start spraying. Consider to help keep the spray in a fair layer when you go, but try to remember it doesn’t ought to be fantastic ( that’s why I like this undertaking a great deal of). As you get in the groove, it actually doesn’t consider prolonged to spray a complete space.
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It's a steep Studying curve The 1st time, but after you do it after, you get better after that. I recommend performing just one space, type of from the overwhelmed route, initially - then, modify appropriately and do another rooms you ought to do. I sprayed this stain out of an affordable backyard sprayer, used two coats, and then a sealer (following washing with a deck broom with a h2o/amonia blend to neutralize the acid).
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spicynbachili1 · 5 years
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BenQ EX3203R review: The HDR monitor that looks better without it
If the BenQ EX3203R title sounds acquainted, that’s as a result of there’s only one quantity separating it from its nearly similar sibling, the EX3200R. Each screens share the identical design and have a curved 31.5in VA panel to their title, and each include excessive 144Hz refresh charges and assist AMD’s adaptive body charge FreeSync tech.
What units the EX3203R aside, nonetheless, is its sharper 2560×1440 decision (which immediately fixes the principle criticism I had with the 1920×1080 EX3200R), and assist for FreeSync 2, AMD’s HDR (or excessive dynamic vary) commonplace. You’ll need to fork out significantly extra for the privilege, thoughts – £469 / $700 in comparison with the EX3200R’s £315 / $320 at time of writing – however for some, that could be a worth price paying. Is it finest gaming monitor materials, although? Let’s discover out.
I need to say, I’ve grown rising keen on this monitor’s general design now it’s crossed my desk for a second time. Whereas its enormous display screen can nonetheless be a bit overwhelming at occasions because of the sheer measurement of the factor and the way shut it sits to your face, it undoubtedly seems the a part of a mid-to-high-end gaming monitor. I a lot desire its silver, height-adjustable stand, shiny metallic ft and small, elegant bezels to its nearest competitor, the very ‘gamery’ AOC Agon AG322QC4 (one other curved 32in FreeSync 2 display screen with a 144Hz refresh charge and 2560×1440 decision), and it simply seems good. No flashing LEDs, no purple go-faster gaming stripes; only a great-looking monitor you wouldn’t be embarrassed to have in your desk.
Its 2560×1440 decision can be an enormous enchancment over the EX3200R’s 1920×1080 pixel rely and all the pieces from video games to textual content and desktop icons look infinitely higher for it. There was nonetheless a touch of fuzziness round sure letters after I was utilizing it for normal desktop work, however there was nothing I used to be significantly involved about. I wouldn’t suggest going for a good larger display screen with this decision – 32in might be the restrict for 2560×1440, identical to 27in is bordering on breaking level for 1920×1080 – however at no level did I really feel like I used to be straining my eyes or in want of one more eye take a look at.
Equally, the actual fact the EX3203R helps each AMD FreeSync 2 and VESA’s DisplayHDR 400 commonplace means the monitor’s general picture high quality can be a lot better than its non-HDR EX3200R sibling – no less than as soon as I’d fiddled with its onboard menu, that’s, however extra on that in a minute.
In case you’ve forgotten, FreeSync 2 is an extension of AMD’s current adaptive body charge tech, FreeSync, that provides HDR into the combination. In idea, this could imply brighter whites, blacker blacks, and extra vivid, life-like color copy on high of all the pieces else FreeSync does similar to tear-free and low latency gaming.
VESA’s DisplayHDR 400 commonplace, alternatively, is a extra formal, industry-wide HDR commonplace that denotes a monitor should be capable of hit a peak brightness of 400cd/m2 (therefore the 400), 95% protection of the rec.709 color gamut (which is what the common sRGB gamut is predicated on), and have a most black stage of zero.40cd/m2 (the nearer to zero.00cd/m2, true black, the higher). What it doesn’t require is any sort of DCI-P3 color gamut protection, which is now the de facto gamut by which everybody measures a display screen’s HDR chops, from TVs to Nvidia’s G-Sync HDR screens.
Fortunately, BenQ have crammed within the gaps right here, as they declare the EX3203R can cowl 90% of the DCI-P3 gamut – placing in the identical realm as these fancy Extremely HD Premium TVs and Nvidia’s aforementioned G-Sync HDR screens such because the Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ and Acer Predator X27. In idea, anyway. So whereas FreeSync 2 HDR continues to be as obscure an ordinary as something (AMD have by no means really stated what its specs are, helpfully), there’s nonetheless a lot to go on right here in terms of testing its image high quality.
Out of the field, my preliminary checks regarded fairly promising. My X-rite i1 DisplayPro calibrator measured a really respectable black stage of zero.13cd/m2, for instance, placing it nicely inside VESA’s DisplayHDR 400 specification, in addition to a stunning excessive distinction ratio of 3184:1, offering it with deep, inky blacks and loads of element when it got here to darkish shadow areas.
Admittedly, neither of those outcomes are literally nearly as good as these I recorded on the EX3200R (the EX3200R had even deeper blacks and a better distinction ratio), however that’s most likely as a result of the EX3200R isn’t almost as vibrant general. Certainly, whereas the EX3200R maxed out at 310cd/m2 (and extra typically settled across the 275cd/m2 mark), the EX3203R managed a way more spectacular 414cd/m2 straight off the bat – and that’s with out me going anyplace close to any sort of HDR management both.
Some might really feel in a different way, after all, however personally I’d take the additional brightness over marginally deeper blacks any day. In spite of everything, the brighter a monitor can go, the higher visible affect its HDR is doubtlessly going to make once you ultimately come to show it on in a recreation, which – let’s face it – might be the principle cause why you’d think about shopping for this monitor over anything.
The EX3203R comes with an honest collection of ports, together with a DisplayPort 1.four, two HDMI 2.zero inputs, two USB3 ports and a headphone jack.
To date, so good, then. We’ve acquired the brightness and the black ranges; all that’s left is the color accuracy. And right here’s the place all of it begins going a bit fudge-like.
In comparison with the EX3200R, the EX3203R is certainly the extra correct display screen out of the field. In response to my i1 DisplayPro, for instance, the EX3203R’s VA panel is able to displaying 91.four% of the usual sRGB color gamut on its default Commonplace image mode and Regular color temperature, whereas its DCI-P3 color gamut protection (the usual used to measure a monitor’s HDR chops) got here in at 65.2%.
That’s not dangerous as VA screens go, however 95% it ain’t. Fortuitously, the EX3203R is certainly able to hitting that VESA goal should you’re prepared to spend a couple of minutes organising considered one of its Customized profiles as an alternative. Unthankfully, the one method I used to be in a position to hit that 95% hurdle was to make use of the usage of the EX3203R’s Color Vibrance setting, which is form of just like the Philips 276E9QJAB‘s SmartImage mode – that’s, a largely synthetic impact that cranks up the color saturation for optimum, eye-popping affect.
With this set to its most setting of 20, my calibrated Customized mode outcomes noticed its sRGB protection rise all the best way as much as 97.9%, whereas its DCI-P3 jumped to 86.three%. That’s nonetheless not fairly as excessive as BenQ’s claimed DCI-P3 determine of 90%, all instructed, however that’s the very best I may handle with the obtainable settings.
The BenQ’s management buttons are situated beneath the bezel, however they’re fairly intuitive for probably the most half.
So sure, the EX3203R is able to hitting the VESA DisplayHDR 400 commonplace, however as I famous in my Philips evaluate, this sort of vibrancy impact is fairly rattling intense once you’re simply utilizing it for unusual desktop duties. The sheer vibrancy of sure colors typically felt only a bit an excessive amount of on the previous eyeballs for prolonged durations of time, and I repeatedly ended up turning it all the way down to its default stage of 10.
Many might nicely hate it, however man alive does it look spectacular once you’re taking part in video games. By no means earlier than have the autumnal forests of Murderer’s Creed Odyssey‘s Historic Greece regarded so wealthy and energetic, and ooof I’m nearly as a lot in love with these reds and oranges as I’m with Kassandra’s biceps. It makes for a shocking in-game image, no matter your emotions are about it in common desktop mode, and once you mix it with the EX3203R’s excessive 400+cd/m2 brightness and big display screen measurement it’s simple to really feel totally immersed in no matter world you occur to seek out your self in.
The issue, nonetheless, is that the monitor doesn’t do almost nearly as good an impression of this whizz-bang fizz-pop colors once you really get spherical to turning HDR on. With HDR enabled, the EX3203R’s pretty Color Vibrance setting is greyed out and off limits, so colors really regarded worse in HDR than they did with it switched off. Not by a lot, all instructed (and turning on HDR undoubtedly regarded higher than the monitor’s default Color Vibrance setting of 10), however neither Murderer’s Creed Odyssey or Closing Fantasy XV regarded almost as fairly in HDR as they did with no HDR and maxed out Color Vibrance.
When you thought that was problematic, it will get worse. Identical to the AOC Agon AG322QC4, the EX3202R regarded much more horrible after I turned on Murderer’s Creed Odyssey’s particular FreeSync 2 HDR setting. Not solely was the display screen abruptly too darkish and dingy, however there was additionally nothing I may do to make it even vaguely usable. This could be the fault of the sport quite than the monitor, after all, however should you’re going to make use of HDR on the EX3203R, you’d be a lot better off sticking with its default HDR choices than you’re fiddling round with any devoted FreeSync 2 assist.
The actually foolish factor in regards to the EX3203R, although, is that even once you’ve acquired HDR enabled, its most brightness doesn’t go almost as excessive as when HDR’s turned off. Once I caught my i1 DisplayPro over a white solar flare in Murderer’s Creed Odyssey, as an example, the display screen was solely hitting round 380cd/m2 as an alternative of over 400cd/m2 that I measured out of the field. Consequently, not solely do colors look much less intense with HDR turned on, however it’s not even doing its finest brightness ranges. All in all, the EX3203R does a greater job of hitting its HDR necessities by ignoring it altogether.
Reality be instructed, this can be a downside I encountered on the AOC as nicely. There, the AG322QC4 maxed out at round 380cd/m2 in unusual desktop mode, however may solely muster round 350cd/m2 in HDR, regardless of additionally being a VESA DisplayHDR 400 display screen. The twist? The AOC really did look higher in HDR than not, and had higher out of the field color accuracy (95% sRGB and 69% DCI-P3). Plus, it’s cheaper, going for simply £399 / $548 at time of writing.
Certain, the AOC doesn’t get pleasure from the BenQ’s Color Vibrance mode, however name me loopy, I’d quite purchase an HDR display screen that really seems prefer it’s doing one thing in HDR (and doing it nicely, no much less) than spend a load of cash on one that really seems higher with all of it turned off. In fact, all that is null and void should you don’t have a appropriate AMD graphics card (see my What graphics card do I want for HDR? information for more information on this), however out of the 2, I feel you’d be a lot better off with the AOC than the EX3203R. The EX3203R could be a superior monitor than the EX3200R, however neither are higher worth for cash than the AOC Agon AG322QC4.
from SpicyNBAChili.com http://spicymoviechili.spicynbachili.com/benq-ex3203r-review-the-hdr-monitor-that-looks-better-without-it/
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tdrcycle09 · 7 years
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Mini Challenge #2 - No Need To Adjust Your TV Sets...
This mini had our girls twisting and turning with their makeups, designing their best optical illusion makeups! Let’s see how they did!
Analyse Thropic
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For this illusion makeup mini, I did a low-poly makeup look made of graphic triangles and quadrilaterals. The shapes are arranged and colored to mimic the placement of a standard drag beat, but the non-blended nature of these shapes gives the look a sort of computer-generated feel.
Lila: When you said you were doing a low poly look, I was so excited because it’s such a fun aesthetic. Now, I do like how you’ve set it out, it’s really intriguing and the effort into even the most minute areas, like how the hair and ears are covered. It’s just that your white line spacing is really putting it off the perfect-o mark for me. If you used a really, *really* thin brush the finesse your white spacing, it would honestly have made it look more low poly, because it’s coming across as mosaic rather than low poly. Good job with this, however! I hope you come back to this look in the future since it’s such an original idea.
Gluttoni:  Anal! This is a very cool optical illusion and I like your take on the facial anatomy. Can't say it's the most innovative of them all but I can tell you are listening and learning so I can really ask for more.
Letha:  I quite like the idea here, Analyse, its very “Your internet connection ain’t shit, so here’s some 144p playback”. The placement of the shapes, as well as the colors, make sense when deconstructing a face. Where you lose me is the white lines. They make everything too stark and disjointed, instead of just low-poly. I think had the shapes been connected while still holding their crisp lines, it might have been more effective. But good job, nonetheless!
Toni:I think this is a really interesting concept and I like that you went outside you comfort zone! Clearly you know your base paint because this style of paint requires you to know where everything goes. I would have loved to see thinner lines between the shapes to really drive home that it was all one image that was in low poly, as well as adding a few more triangles to add a bit more of the feel to it, but over all this is well done!
Antonina: Hey darling! I like what you’ve done here, it’s a great base for a future look. It just doesn’t feel like something finished. I think using this and adding more drag details, like more eye makeup, lashes and a fuller upper lip is something you should explore in the future, because it really is a good start. I’m not getting a super strong illusion from this, but I love the colors you have used and even tho the lines on your face could be sharper, I think they look good right now as well. You keep surprising me, keep it up!
Avana Noir
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Hello Judges and TDR community.  For this Mini I was inspired by surrealism art. So i decided to paint myself with three faces. Since surrealism if very out of this world and very imaginative. I really wanted to push what i  can create with a makeup brush. This was kind of challegning but I think I did a great job. I was also inspired by the makeup used by the Japanese Geisha, hence the white face and uses of pinks. I hope you enjoy this look! Thank you!   
Lila: On paper, and in execution, this is a great optical illusion and I hope you indulge with it a little bit more since it sticks to your aesthetic really well. For what it is, however, I wish you could’ve blended the Ghost In The Shell-like real face a lot more to show that the face is beneath the illusion of a split. I’m getting a Kim Chi vibe from this and I really think you could use this makeup in your look again, just as a whole white face rather than the split, but if you were to do this again with the split, I would concentrate on detailing the looks to appear more consistent with your features, because its looking a little messy. Overall, I do enjoy this, good submission, Mom!
Gluttoni:  I was actually really surprised with your submission in the best way possible. This was ambitious and quite a cool illusion. I think this is probably the cleanest I've seen your makeup so honestly keep on this track.
Letha: This is a really fun idea, Avana, and the creativity really shows through with this concept. The illusion works if I don’t look too closely at it, but the details up close sort of spoil it. It would be more effective if your lines were crisper, and had more highlights/contours on the faces you added, as well as the perimeter of the middle face, to make them really pop. But still, good job!
Toni:Oh she had to show me she wore her nails, okay i see you! I really like this! I think it was a smart optical and for your first time atempting it I think it’s really well done. I do wish the lines were cleaned up more so it was clear that it was a clear split of the two faces and so that there arent just these huge black lines going down your face. I so think that you could have used a bit on the fine tuning of the fake faces. But over all this is a really cool look and something I think you should redo to go out in!
Antonina: You were one of my personal favorites this week! I’m getting Picasso meets Studio Ghibli from this. I don’t have a problem with the messy lines in this, because it’s supposed to be artsy. I got dizzy looking at your submission, and that’s a good thing when it comes to optical illusions, right? The line’s could be darker though, and the wig looks a little to plastic-y. A really dark line around the white face, and maybe a black wig would take me all the way to Spirited Away, but I still love this as it is. 
Daddie Dearest
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Let me first apologize for the quality of this submission. I was on very constricted time this week, and I hope the judges know the quality of my work is better than this. Anyway, my favorite part of drag is the transformation, so I chose a look that displayed both sides of Daddie in an interesting way. The drag side was heavily inspired by my lovely boy-girlfriend, Ellie Dee. For the boy side, I wanted it to look like someone took a hammer, smashed my face, and removed the pieces. Thanks judges!
Lila: I think makeup is one of your strongest assets, and I love your beat a lot because it’s so creative already with the element of your beard. However, I know this mini challenge has thrown half of you off, but you could’ve taken the crack to the Nth degree here. It would’ve been fun to see some sort of skin peeling illusion or something like (this) where the paper would rip off. Although there is an illusion here, I wish it was a little bit more than it is. Nevertheless, good job!
Gluttoni:  Yo Dad, I'm just going to be honest and say I was expecting just a tad more from you. You are clear one of the more advanced makeup artist in the competition so a take on something you've done the previous week disappoints me slightly. I'm going to hold that against you because I respect you as an artist and this evidently still good work.
Letha: Daddie! The makeup is BEAT as always, and I love the contrasting tones/colors. That being said, if I haven’t seen this exact look from you, I feel like I’ve seen similar, and while it’s good, it’s not really pushing the creative envelope. I don’t get a big sense of an optical illusion, but still, there’s no denying your skills, so good job!
Toni: I know this week was really rough on you because you had to scrap your first idea and then quickly make something new out of nothing so I want to give you points for that because I know you were in a panic. I like this a lot, is it the most exciting thing out there? no but Its solid. I think you could have gone all the way and maybe blacked out some chips where it looks like pieces of your face had fallen off kinda like a cracked doll. Over all I think this is a good submission for your situation. 
Antonina: Hola papi! This is very pretty, it’s a cool submission, but it’s not the best match for the challenge. But you already know that. I think this was just another chance for you to keep practicing your makeup. You look great, but it was not one of my favorite looks I’ve seen from you so far. The gray part looks a little random and rushed. Maybe if the parts where your real skin tone was showing was white or at least a lot lighter it would give it more dimension. Keep on pushing papi, you got a lot of stuff to show us I can tell. 
Dotte Com
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Behold the face of pixel perfection! It was difficult to mine my crafting skills when it came to this challenge, but that didn’t stop me one 8-bit! There’s more than just drawing squares, since your 3D shape has to appear 2D. It was one direction that I enjoyed playing with and I feel like I rose to this cyber-occasion.
Lila: I LOVE this, and I expect to see you continuing this type of experimentation. This was a huge risk and it is up there with one of the more creative choices of this mini challenge. Two things (because I’m nitpicky) that you could’ve enhanced our digital experience with, the pixels could be a lot smaller in some places, your nose contour is looking a lot wider than usual and it could’ve been shaped just to make it more narrow. And, instead of the wavy hair, you could’ve treat us to more of a squared off headpiece or wig, just to tie in that digital look you were trying to serve. This illusion was really exciting to wait for and you did such a great job with it, none the less!
Gluttoni:  Dotte! I am so proud of you for this one! You really took the theme and ran the fuck away with this. Not only that  you definitely tied it into your own persona to really seal the deal. It's a little rough around the edges but I think got good grasp on different hues and saturation that I wouldn't expect from you. Keep blazing a path like this for yourself and I think you may find yourself in the top way more often. Being tenacious will get you everywhere in life.
Letha: This is a really cool idea, Dotte, and totally fitting for your aesthetic. I’m not totally feeling the hair here, as something shorter or maybe with a blunt bang might have carried the whole “cybernetic technomatic” type vibe a little more. Overall, the pixels are in cool places and seem to mimic a face (as well as down the neck yas thank you for doing that), I would appreciate cleaner lines though, as it appears muddy in places. I love how you took this mini as an opportunity to both experiment with your makeup skills, as well as expressing who Dotte is, so Halleloo to that!
Toni: Dotte I was worried for you with this that it wasn’t going to be enough but I really love this. I think its fun and just enough of an illusion to really be interesting to look at. I love that you paid attention to the challenge and did everything from shoulders up because that was asked of you and not many of your sisters took that chance. I think if you were to do this again it would be nice to slow down and really make those lines hard and crisp, mostly around the eyes. I really loved that, good job this week!
Antonina: I think this is the  best I’ve seen you look! The colors are perfect for your face! Of course you shouldn’t do pixel makeup every week,but I think you could really use parts of this in your “normal” makeup. The dedication alone of painting your chest is great. I know hair isn’t part of this challenge, but a small comment on that anyway. I love this hairdo, I just want some more volume on top of your head. Great work this week. 
Ebony Boss
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For week 2 I told myself I was gonna step it up majorly. I feel as if my cracked porcelain doll really did that. I wanted to do an illusion that is not the most well known for being an illusion. I think the look is one of my best and really does make me look like a cracked porcelain doll.
Lila: While I agree that this is the best you’ve looked in a while, this is a little safe for what we’ve received for the challenge. I do think you have stepped in terms of bringing us a stronger beat than you’ve done in the past, but I think it’d be much more impactful if you chiseled your contour to a fine point to try and create that porcelain perfection most dolls have. Try to bring in your contour on your nose a little bit more to make it seem more narrow. I wish the elements had a lot more, like adding really thin cracks in different shades, a brown perhaps, just to compliment the harsher cracks. Overall, this is a good submission this mini!
Gluttoni:  My dear Ebony, I am glad I got to see you start and finish this look because I can easily differentiate the growth for the before and after. You took my advice for cleaning up your line and might I say I think the overall illusion benefited from that greatly. You have a very stoic face which I think would be softened if you were a little more expressive. I want you to look as personable as you actually are. The concept of this look is good and extra points for making it a whole look but do you think this the most inventive idea you could achieve. Push yourself darling.
Letha: You really are improving with every mug you do, Ebony, and that is evident with this look. The cracks have believable shapes to them, especially on the forehead, and some shading/highlighting would sell them even more. The nose contour is a tad muddy and doesn’t really make your nose look thinner. The cheek contour could also be moved up a bit, as it is basically on your jaw. The contour color threw me for a second, but it does make sense with the story you’re telling, but it is a bit muddy/patchy in places (the forehead, for instance). I wish the lips had a more “dolly” shape to them, but the mouth lines are cute. I will say this for taking mug pics- find your lens and find an expression. A wide-eyed doll expression could have helped sell this look, but you look a tad over it, so keep that in mind for the future! Strong work!
Toni: I said this to you before but I’ll say it again, I think this is the best you’ve looked ever to me. I think that you should take what you did here and apply it to your normal makeup. I do wish the lines were a bit more clean and sharp, as well as maybe being a bit more, for lack of a better term, polished and flawless like most dolls are if that make sense. I think if you spent more times on your eyes as well to give us that doll eye shape would sell this more. Also girl, where is your lash going? what is she doing? over all I am really proud of you!
Antonina: Hey babe! Great step up, I don’t even recognize you besides that nose contour that still needs work! The look is very cute though. To really make it an illusion, I would have wanted you to make your skin look like porcelain. A lot of shimmering highlight might do the trick. I see doll, I just wanted MORE doll. Take it over the top, the concept is cute but needs more work to really fool us you’re a cracked doll. Keep on pushing doll face!
Judah Kiss
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Hi judges! So we originally talked and this mini was going to be late due to personal circumstances around my new job, and I was very upset about it. Woke up this morning at 7am and couldn’t sleep; so I got right to work to submit something.
For this mini, i chose to attempt to recreate Bearonce Knowes’ negative face makeup, with the purpose of makeup turning my face into ‘camera negative’. With more time and more blending I think it would have come out better, but the idea is there, and I’m very happy to have submitted something on time.
Lila: I see a drive in you that is surrounded in a lot of passion for this competition, so I wouldn’t be so hard on myself! Now, Although there are elements that are slightly askew and rushed, I do like this. It’s a nice play on an optical illusion in the sense that it’s more of a inversion - bezold illusive where you’d have to manipulate the image to see it’s opposite contour-highlighting. I think you’ve said it best in your description that if you did have a little more time, you’d have been able to perfect this makeup job. Nevertheless, great job, I hope to see you come back to this idea and perfect it in the future because its a fun little makeup you’ve created!
Gluttoni: Judah, girl.... This is probably the opposite of what I expected from you. I know you have a keen eye for detail and this keep of makes me want to retract that idea I have of you. The idea itself it's definitely on par with the creative force that I know you to be but the execution leaves something to be desired. I think your proportions need to flesh out sometime during the competition.
Letha: This is such a cool look, Judah, and even though it is a replica of a look someone else did, it’s very creative.  I do agree that some more time on blending would have served you well, as well as having more time to make crisper lines. More work around the eyes, and perhaps some white lashes would also have been a really neat addition. I do think the bare neck reads as stark against the grayscale face and the dark shirt, so either painting it black or some sort of gray would have helped. All in all, strong work, Judah!
Toni: I’m glad you were able to get on in time and I see the clear influence. I do like this and think for your first attempt at it that it was done well but due to rushing there are issues with it that really shatter the illusion. I think if you had more time to slow down and focus on blending and making sure it was one flawless transition from dark to light then it would be a really amazing look! Good job!
Antonina: I didn’t need to read your explanation to understand your concept. It’s very obvious, and I like that. It’s a good thing that you have references and tries new things. I know your lines and blending is normally much more clean than this, so I hope stress won’t be your downfall in this competition. I see creativity and passion, so I hope you will have time to really perfect your next submission.I know you’ve got what it takes.
Klinker
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I'm the Russian Window. The ruined country post war represented by Windows with their flag's color. 
Lila: I’m gonna be honest, I don’t see much of an optical illusion with this makeup. It’s more mondrian artsy fartsy than a head being taken off the body or an eye socket being pulled all the way down to the chin. With your makeup, try to set it so that it isn’t shiny with translucent powder, or even baby powder for that matter. I wish you gave this a little bit more dimension as well as the flat colours could’ve had that Phi Phi O’Hara look to them. Overall, its an alright submission.
Gluttoni: *Gluttoni’s Critiques will be edited in later, she apologises in advance!*
Letha: Heya, Klinker! This look makes for a cool photograph, but I’m not really getting “optical illusion”. Part of optical illusion is tricking the eye to seeing something that isnt really there, and the best way to sort of “cheat” new shapes is to have either a totally matte surface, or to have shine in very specific areas. With this paint, the colors aren’t “set”, so your skin sort of shines and the illusion is betrayed by the real shapes that are there. I would suggest powdering to make it more believable, but good job, nonetheless! 
Toni: Well dear I can’t say im too excited about this submission because it seems instead of doing an optical illusion you decided to give us a bit more of an art movement, something very “some body that I use to know”. that aside im glad you went out of your comfort zone but for next time you do this make sure you set your makeup so you dont look so dewy and make sure to have very clean and very sharp lines like an actual mosaic would have.
Antonina: As art photographs, I think this is really cool. As submission for this challenge, not so much. I don’t know how to critique this really, because I like it for all the wrong reasons. The photos are strong and feels almost political for some reason? You are so unexpected, and I love that, but for the second time in a row I can’t really connect your submission to the challenge. Don’t waste this chance to grow, because I see a lot of good in you that I want to see more of. 
Lexi Lamour
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Well would you believe this shit?! I woke up from a well deserved nap after results were posted Monday and when I went to roll over and get comfortable my body moved....but my head didn't!!! When I went to reach for my head I found that it was detached from my body! In a PANIC I picked it up and ran to the mirror only to find out that my fear was true! I came to get my phone only to find a message from that witch bitch, Analyse! She was NOT happy about coming 2nd in the main for week one and while still in her witchy look cast a spell on me to sever my head! Only thing is there are 2 things that worked in my favor. 1) She got the spell wrong.....and 2) I don't have a soul....just a dark empty void of a shell. At first I was shocked, but then I decided I still looked good. I guess things could be worse!  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯Hi, Judges! I knew what I wanted to do as soon as I saw what the mini challenge was. This was a fun bit of makeup that I've always wanted to try and see how it looked. I really enjoyed doing it and taking a multitude of different pics. I couldn't choose which ones to do, so I picked 2 that fit in with the first part of my description. Now....can you tell Analyse to fix me.....before I throw my head at her!!!!!!
Lila: I am honestly happy with this. No, it’s not a full face of makeup, but it’s definitely an optical illusion that I was expecting to see. It would’ve been fun to see you in some face makeup, even if it was just like a little beat on, it would’ve been funny to even have some sort of like Toni face mask realness, like you were in the spa chair getting your facial done. Take care with how you draw the hollow part of the neck, I would’ve love to have seen some reds or whatever your drag character oozes inside, even if you stuck Lisa Frank stickers all over the inside area I wouldn’t have been mad! Nevertheless, I’m happy that you went down this route, and I like this submission a lot!
Gluttoni: *Gluttoni’s Critiques will be edited in later, she apologises in advance!*
Letha: Now THIS is an optical illusion! Even if I hadn’t read your explanation it would have made sense, which is always a plus. I’m guessing the “curse” aspect is why it’s such a clean cut, but I still think adding some things like a trachea or some arteries (not gore, just a cross-section) might have helped sell the illusion a bit more, as right now it’s just sort of a patchy gray. I do wish there was a little more going on on the face, even like a sleeping mask because you “just woke up”. Still, this is a great job, and you really sold it!
Toni: This is an illusion! I really am shocked by this because this is so cool and at first i was like “what the fuck?”. I would have loved if you had done more thought, because it is a shoulders up it does seem a bit bare, even a light paint would have added something to this submission. It was smart to ahve a balck back ground that way it would make sense to have the black in your neck. Over all this is a really well done illusion. 
Antonina: Hi Lexi! I’m gonna be honest....I don’t see it. Maybe I’m just stupid lol. The disconnected head is a good idea though. Without any face makeup, the neck is the only thing to look at, and then it looks a little weak. Maybe I’m just a little spoiled with your last main challenge submission. The top part of the neck makeup where it’s really black looks really cool though. The idea is good, it’s exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for. The end results just didn’t match my expectations because I know how fierce you are. 
Marcella Fox
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Hello judges! Let me introduce you to my great Aunt Hortense - she was a model back in the 1980s, known for her high cheekbones and striking gaze. She felt out of the public eye after a scandal involving a grapefruit, and since then has kept a low profile. The menopause has been rather unkind to her, resulting in a more-than-barely-noticeable moustache and, as you can see, she is still recovering from her recent rhinoplasty procedure. Still though, she never steps out of the house without a face full of make-up - I’m sure you can all agree she still looks glamorous! I had a lot of fun with this mini challenge! I immediately thought of doing an upside-down illusion, and I was inspired by this cyclops I saw while googling ideas. I made an eye to put in my mouth, turned my actual eyes into giant nostrils, and hid my real nostrils with a plaster/bandaid. My eyebrows became a moustache, and I drew a giant pair of lips on my forehead. I wrapped a scarf around my head to look like, well, a scarf :p And held some hair underneath my chin to complete this fab 80’s look :]
Lila: SHOCKED. GAGGED. PULLED THE PAG. Marcella Fox, this is friggin’ CRAZY and I love it. The fact that some people won’t be able to establish you’re upside down and your eyeball is your mouth opened, I keep having to look back and do double takes because it’s SO interesting. I only noticed that you were upside down when I saw your hand holding the wig, and I’m just a sporadic mess because there’s no words to describe how you hit the nail on the head for me this challenge. One thing, and it’s a little nitpick, is if you had some sort of stand or piece of fabric tacked to your headwrap so that it looks like your character has a body, but like, honestly, the tiniest nitpick isn’t gonna take away how much I am impressed by this look. Great submission, Marcie!
Gluttoni: *Gluttoni’s Critiques will be edited in later, she apologises in advance!*
Letha: Up until this very moment, Toni had always been my favorite Cyclops from the 80′s. But NO LONGER, Marcella, it’s your Aunt Hortense! You managed to brilliantly combine camp/comedy with technique and the result is honestly so amazing. The lines are great and make sense, and the highlighting on the lips is so good. Your workarounds for hiding your natural features are also quite clever (though i would have suggested a bit more dramatic of a bandage for the rhinoplasty, as the beige of the current one gets a little lost in the shuffle of the face). These are honestly just nitpicks though, because I am still in AWE of this piece. Amazing job, Marcella!
Toni: YOU COME INTO MY HOUSE? AND MAKE ME LOOK AT THIS MONSTER?? I’m shocked, gagged, disgusted, horrified and I love every bit of it! This makes me so freaking uncomfortable to look at but in the best was possible. I think this holds truest to what a makeup illusion should be because this is so hard for my brain to process. If you wore this look out youd get tipped no question. Just make sure to have those really clean lines so that everything looks a bit more realistic, but over all im SHOOK BITCH.
Antonina: Wow! This is like a challenge: “How many faces can you find?”. I get so much backstory just by looking at your pictures, and to read your description was a joy. Keep taking every chance to be funny! The creature you created is so interesting and I can’t stop staring at it! I honestly don’t know what to say more than you did such a great job. 
Paprika
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My makeup for the mini was inspired by 80s Patrick Nagel, in the way that he drew the features of so many of the women in his prints and the color scheme he used, as well as (obviously) miss Kim Chi. I love drawing on my face and doing creative mugs so for the opitcal illusion challenge I wanted to play off of that and BECOME a drawing.
Lila: You are so pretty and no matter what you do, optical illusion or normal face, you’re always gonna make me jealous. I would consider this an optical illusion because I’ve seen a lot of people try this with the Marilyn Monroe tutorials and stuff, so I’m pleased to see you go down this route! You look like a CD cover for an indie music band which I enjoy. I wish the black was a little more black than grey. I’m guessing you used either a black face paint or eyeliner, so to get that pure black just set the area with some eyeshadow of the same colour. However, great submission this week, Paps!
Gluttoni: *Gluttoni’s Critiques will be edited in later, she apologises in advance!*
Letha: This is a very cool look, Paprika, and beautiful as well. The colors are simple but the effect is still striking. I would suggest better lighting (I’m guessing that’s a window to your right, try facing it so the tone is more even all over your face) as well as a better backdrop, even hanging up a black sheet could work. I like the shapes of the face a lot, but I would recommend setting the black with shadow to help make it as opaque as possible. The hair is brown instead of black, which is fair if that’s all you have, but having a more solid (less flyaway) hairstyle would match this look I think. Overall, great job, Pappy!
Toni: As someone who has Nagels art hanging all over her drag room i am so glad to see you do something like this! I really think this is striking and true to the art style. I don’t think this is what would be considered a standard illusion but the way you did it really sells it for me. I think if you really darkened thosse shadows and cleaned up your lines it would be so amazing. Good work this week babe!
Antonina: I really like this. I wanna see a video of you in this look reading poetry in french. It looks really good, there are some areas that could use some more work though. For example, the crease lines are very different from eachother. If you’re gonna do this again, make the dark parts darker and maybe some cool collar bone shadows? I think you’re on the right track, keep it up. 
Phoebe St. Jefferson
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For my mini I was really anxious about this, because make up is for sure one of my insecurities in drag. Despite this i chose to do something really ambitious and yolo my way through this. I decided to turn myself into a snake/reptile type creature, but also blend my hand into my face. For this I followed the example of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sekYblpNDAo But I also tried to make it a little more cartoony, something fun that will actually look like my kind of style. For the make up I primed, sketched out where the mouth was with clown white, then darkened the lines with a cheap eyeliner pencil. For the color of the snake I went in with clown white mixed in with a little black eyeshadow. The hardest part of this challenge was taking a picture where all the lines matched up. Anyways enough of me rambling. Hope u enjoy boos xoxoxoxo.
Lila: WHAT? Scared of makeup my ass! This is by far it’s one of the more creative submissions we received! I see an optical illusion in this, honestly. It must be a trend to have snakes on this cycle, so I cant wait to see who does a snake for the main challenge. One thing to watch is your positioning with this type of optical illusion. I can see a small shed of skin at the bow of your thumb and index finger, and you could’ve colour matched your hoodie and background to try and make it pop a lot more. Otherwise, great submission, Phoebs!
Gluttoni: *Gluttoni’s Critiques will be edited in later, she apologises in advance!*
Letha: This look is honestly incredible, Phoebe! It’s very creative, and you went outside the box by incorporating/camouflaging your hand into the illusion! Are the lines perfect and crisp? Not entirely, but the effect is still there. I would appreciate a bit more detail on the mouth itself, as it reads more of a flat pink, but it’s still really cool. One way I could see this look being elevated would be to have had the hand painted as a CLOSED mouth with maybe the tongue flicking out, then lowering your hand to reveal the open mouth, but I can understand the difficulty of trying to pull that off lol. You should be very proud of yourself, Phoebe, and I hope this mini helps you with your makeup insecurity, because from what I see, you can do great work!
Toni: Honestly for your level of makeup skills this is amazing and I’m so glad you went down this route and took my suggestions. I would make sure to pay attention to where you are taking your pictures and their position because they can alter how its viewed and I think if you had the opportunity to take it against a solid background it would have made this more striking but I really love this over all!
Antonina: Thanks for the nightmares Phoebs!! This creature is scary af lol. This is one of the most memorable submissions we got this weak! That paint must have taken you quite some time to do! If you want to do this look again, get some snake eye lenses to get the full fantasy, but for a week 2 mini challenge of TDR I think you’ve shown a lot of dedication already. All the blacks could be darker, but most imporantly around your eyes. It looks a little sloppy. But hey, whatever, this is a great sssssssssssubmission. 
Sugar Monroe
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For this “optical illusion” mini, I was inspired buy a lot of color blocking makeup I saw and also stained glass? Idk. This is what I came up with. Lol
Lila: When I opened up the submissions, I got a little bit of an Indiah Ferrah / Phoenix 1st Episode Workroom vibe when I saw some of the other girls doing a similar look to what you’ve done this mini. While the whole mondrian-mosaic fantasy is kind of the go-to illusion, it’s not really optical, or for that matter original. a spin on this could’ve been following the natural contours of your face with the shapes or even doing your contours with the black lines and a blending of all the colours. It just doesn’t scream illusive to me. With your colours, try to add a darker and a lighter hue too, just to make them seem 3-D. Overall, this was an alright submission.
Gluttoni: *Gluttoni’s Critiques will be edited in later, she apologises in advance!*
Letha: While I do think the colors are very refreshing and vibrant, a lot of the critiques I had for Klinker apply here, Sugar. The black lines are generally strong and not muddy, but setting the areas with a corresponding powder (or even a translucent color all over) would have sold an illusion more. You lose opacity in some place, the white/purple most noticeably, but most of the areas pop quite nicely. I feel like the illusion aspect of the challenge could have been executed better, but I do enjoy the look you made. Solid work.
Toni:I know you had some troubles with this mini but i do wish you had worked more with the judges to find something you were able to do ebcause this is much less of an illusion and more just kinda an art style makeup if thake makes sense. Be careful on that babe. But I do want to give you props for going out side of your normal paint, if you were to do this again I’d say think out those black lines so that you can have more color showing as well as adding more shapes. Good luck this week love!
Antonina: The red and the pink looks really bright and good, but what’s going on with the purple on your forehead? All the other colors looks good, but you should have filled in the purple a lot more. It’s not my favorite submission this week, but that doesn’t mean you look  bad, it’s cute. I just wasn’t surprised by it. I think you did a good job for what it is, but I wanted more of a concept. Also, a little more color on the lips wouldn’t hurt. I believe in you Sugar, surprise us next time! This is alright, but give us more! 
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unifiedsocialblog · 5 years
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16 Tools for Creating Quick and Beautiful Social Media Images
Millions of people, post hundreds of millions of social media images. Every. Day.
But only a few (relatively) inspire you enough to stop and notice rather than scroll on or leave entirely.
Why?
Because too many images are low-quality, unappealing, booooring or just not worth sharing.
But hey, good for you. Because there’s no need for any of this.
Not with so many great tools available to you.
Building a library of high-res, eye-catching, notable, shareable and beautiful images is easy. And cheap (or free).
Let’s have a look at 16 great ones.
Bonus: Get the free cheat with all the recommended image sizes for every network.
16 of the best social media image tools
FULL SERVICE IMAGE CREATION TOOLS
1. Canva
What is it
An online web app to design graphics for projects, big and small.
Why use it
No design or editing experience required.
And, it’s the most versatile tool out there (though flexibility comes with a cost—many of the other tools are easier to use).
Create excellent looking graphics for your social media posts. Edit photos, create infographics, build graphs—fairly quickly and easily (sometimes versatility makes things a little harder to do).
Choose from a ton of ready-made layouts.
I created this a while back, summarizing an article on the web (actually, I created a whole blog, visually summarizing books, articles, meetings, and movies).
You can, too.
Get your words right…
Then images
Select a template
Same for fonts, colors and layout
Have fun doing all that
Then, post away
Start for free. Pay for more services, if/as you need them.
Canva has preset image sizes for Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. This is important since each platform has settings and limitations for images.
Be the designer you never thought you could be.
2. BeFunky
What is it
BeFunky helps you… be funky. Like Canva, it’s a one-stop-shop for creating graphics, and collages.
Why use it
It’s easy. It does a whole lot. So you don’t have to (or are unable to do).
Need to add effects to your images (like make it cartoon-y)? Or assemble them into a funky, yet professional, collage? Fix images with issues like over-or-under-saturation?
BeFunky will help. Then, pick a layout for your social media needs. Like headers, blog resources, or a small business template.
All done online, without downloading a thing. Except for your finished and polished images.
Get 125 digital effects for free. Or, pay a monthly fee to get high-res and other crazy-cool image effects and templates.
DESIGN TOOLS
3. Creative Market
What is it
A digital warehouse of ready-to-use design assets assembled from tens-of-thousands of independent creators.
Graphics, fonts, website themes, photos, mockups, and more—you can find it all in Creative Market.
Why use it
Because all the hard work is done for you. Everything is assembled to look and work well together.
Browse what they have, enjoy what you see, pick what works best for your social media images and posts.
There’s a lot to choose from. Don’t get overwhelmed. But if you do, start with their free stuff. They offer six free products every week, so you can build up your own collection.
Like this one (of typefaces, graphics, fonts, patterns, mockups and clipart).
Has your creative flow runneth dry? If so, inspire yourself with Made with Creative Market.
STOCK IMAGES
There’s a place for everything, including stock images.
Maybe the big companies can shoot, draw, or create their own, but for the rest of us, flock to stock.
But try to be non-mainstream about the ones you select. Because they’re boring (which you don’t want to be).
This is a crowded field. I’ll share a couple I think make stock rock.
4. Adobe Stock
What is it
A collection of over 90 million high-quality assets to use in your social campaigns. For photos, illustrations, videos and templates.
Why use it
Because you’re a professional digital marketer.
Not a professional illustrator, photographer, or videographer.
Better you license what they’ve done to accomplish what you need for your social campaigns, right?
Browse and find what inspires you and your audience
Select a license
Download the images
Attach them to your posts
Share across your social channels
Even better, use Hootsuite to do all of that in one easy-to-use dashboard.
5. iStock
What is it
A collection of royalty-free photos, illustrations and videos
Why use it
To find plenty of photos and drawings that look great, yet not so mainstream.
It’s my go-to site, for my stuff and for my clients.
It’s easy to find images and save to a ‘board.’ I keep a board for each project to verify and create a consistent design language for any new website.
Do the same for your social campaigns.
Here’s a search results for “retro” and “cry” (for a client piece I’m doing).
ANIMATION
6. Giphy
What is it
A giant and growing collection of free animated gifs.
Why use it
To spice up, excite and wake up your social audience.
Consider this a part of building your brand voice.
As with all content, images are meant to enhance the words. A little motion makes it more memorable. Though use sparingly, otherwise it distracts rather than enhances.
Do some Giphy searches. Enjoy the chuckles. Make it so your audience does, too (with a purpose).
DATA VISUALIZATION
7. Infogram
What is it
An online app to create infographics and reports. Including charts, maps, graphics, and dashboards.
Why use it
Using data in your social posts builds credibility with your audience.
You may not need a full infographic. Fine. Create charts and graphs to make your points well-understood, with over 35 chart types to choose.
Chart of the day: Top 10 best regarded companies of 2017, rated on a scale of 0-100. https://t.co/fyg8kqituN #chartoftheday #dataviz pic.twitter.com/FxaGkAsCUT
— Infogram (@infogram) November 29, 2017
Working with data can be tricky. Infogram makes it easy and painless. Fun, too.
Start for free. As you get to be a pro, consider one of their three packages, from $19 to $149 USD a month.
8. Piktochart
What is it
Another way to create infographics, presentations, and printables.
Why use it
It’s easy. And you can…
Start for free
Browse and pick with a template (there’s hundreds)
Plug in your data
Select an awesome image or 10 or 20
Drop some of your own in
Preview it. Refine it. Play with it. Preview it again.
Download it
Post it
Once you get good, create your own template to keep a consistent look for your campaign(s).
With three packages, from $12.50 to $82.50 USD per month.
Bonus: Get the free cheat with all the recommended image sizes for every network.
Get the free template now!
9. Easel.ly
What is it
The same as the previous two apps above.
Why use it
It’s got a cute name.
And…
It has a set of graphics different from Infogram and Piktochart.
Good to have options for your visuals.
PHOTO EDITORS
10. Hootsuite Composer (with in-place image editor)
What is it
A social media image editor and library that you can use when creating and scheduling your posts across networks.
Why use it
To write your words, then enhance them with pictures. All in one place, within Hootsuite Composer.
It’s easy:
Create a new post
Write your text
Add a stunning image (upload your own, or pick one from the media library)
Customize it
Post or schedule it
Voila. Finí. Done.
About those customizations…
All the usual suspects like resize, crop, turn, transform, filter, and more.
Want to post your piece on Facebook or Instagram? Select one of the recommended image sizes.
Add your logo or watermark, too (coming soon).
No need to write here, edit there. Do all this from a single platform.
For free.
It comes with whatever Hootsuite package you’ve signed up for.
11. Stencil
What is it
An online, social media image editor created for marketers, bloggers, and small businesses.
Why use it
It’s easy to get started, easy to use. With a zillion choices for images, backgrounds, icons, quotes, and templates.
Okay, maybe I exaggerated on the zillion part:
2,100,000+ photos
1,000,000+ icons and graphics
100,000+ quotes
2,500+ fonts
730+ templates
Using Stencil is simple. You’re presented with a canvas. Select photos, icons, templates and quotes to place on it. Drag, crop, resize, tilt, filter, set transparency, change colors, change fonts, add a background.
I created this one in 45 seconds.
Select a pre-sized format to look perfect on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram.
Then, preview it, download it, share it, save it, or schedule it.
Start creating for free. Then pay $9 or $12 USD a month for more visual goodness.
PHOTO OVERLAYS
12. Over
What is it
A mobile app (for iPhone and Android) for adding text, overlays, and blending colors for images.
Why use it
Because all you need is your phone, app, and thumb to wow your audience.
Load the app
Pick a template (or start from scratch)
Add text, pick photos, videos, colors, fonts, and graphics (all royalty-free)
Customize it
Share it (and schedule it, too)
Choose from a ton of assets to support your brand and message. Even more, learn from their tips, trends, and insights for standing out from the crowd.
Feeling inspired? No? You will when you start using Over. Kind of hard not to.
Now… go blend a cloud, make an ice cream cone drip, or put yourself posing on top of the Burj Khalifa.
13. PicMonkey
What is it
An online app to perfect or radically change your social media photos.
Why use it
Because it’s online, nothing to download or install.
And… with a boat load of features to create the effect you were looking for (or just stumbled on to).
Start right away to blend colors, create double-exposures, add filters, and all the other editing features.
Like the other social media image tools in this roundup, use a template or start with a blank slate.
From $7.99 to $12.99 to $39.99 USD per month.
ANNOTATIONS AND MOCKUPS
15. Placeit
What is it
An online web app to create a mockup.
Why use it
Because sometimes, just a screenshot of your website or app won’t give the reader the right information.
PlaceIt helps you quickly generate demos of your website or product being used in real life.
For example, take a website screenshot, then put that screenshot on someone’s Macbook screen with PlaceIt.
Pick a mockup template—there’s tons to choose from. Then customize it. Placeit has some brains, too. It’s easy to adjust the things that make sense for that template.
PlaceIt is free for low-res images, $29 USD a month for hi-res ones.
16. Skitch
What is it
Skitch is an application to add any comments to any visual. It’s an Evernote product, available for Apple products.
Why use it
To easily and visually convey your ideas to others.
Got a webpage, or app window you want to comment on? Or need to show someone what’s not working on your screen?
Either way, take a snapshot of your screen. Use arrows, text, stickers, and a handful of other tools to make your point.
Pictures + words—they go so well together. The more senses you use, the more sense you’ll make.
And it’s free.
The right social media tool for the right social media job, right?
As you can see, there’s many of them. I use a bunch myself. Sometimes it depends on the job, for sure. Other times, it depends on my mood. I like having options.
Got your social images ready? Use Hootsuite to share them with the world. Take or upload a photo, customize it, then post or schedule it to the network (or networks) of your choosing. Try it for free.
Get Started
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