Beketov

Nice to see a manip, most people seem to ignore them in favor of cuts. I like the use of shapes on the side as a way of stylizing the manip (which is very important) but I think more could have been done to bring them out. I also think the sig is a little over-contrasted. Try some exposure layers to get the balance back to normal. Right now the jersey and text are blown out and the darks are almost crushed. Speaking of text, kill the subtext, it’s nearly impossible to read anyway. Lighting is okay but could be stronger. Overall, pretty good but feels a tad unfinished.

4+1

The stock work and blending needs some work here. I can see the theme you were trying to go for but everything just seems to be kinda thrown in to see what would stick. Get some colours that work well (orange, red, yellow would work great with the old Canucks jersey) rather than working in pinks as this seems to be. Also, get some curves layers to add contrast to the piece, its looking a little washed out as it is now. Lastly, get some effects on the text, Whether it be lighting or some extra layers for depth or what have you. As is it looks a little slapped on which you want to avoid.

I totally agree with Boubabi that this should be a WP BTW. Amazing BG work, great use of depth and colouring. Love the render effects. The lighting at the bottom is great but I'd like to see a little more near his head to explain why his face is so bright. I also like the simplicity of the text but find it stands out just a tad too much, especially the SHAD part that seems bolder and brighter than the rest. Overall, very well done though.

I like the look of the desaturated face and the sharpening on the face is perfectly balanced. However, this piece does still need more work. The text effects are a little bland and un-blended (the positioning could be tweaked as well) and the whole piece needs some lighting to really make the render pop. Lastly, those lines are okay if you want to create some depth but having them over almost the entire sig as you do now just makes for a distraction.

Hey look, it's that thing I fixed! Because I collated this with you (although I can't submit mine dammit!) I actually know more on the issues it has which is good news for you. First off, the text needed some major work. It was too far from the render, the subtext stood out too much, and the effect just didn't really blend well with the piece. Second, the lighting was started but never really went anywhere. Those light streaks worked great, which is why I left them, but you need to have them do SOMETHING with the render. Lighting can't just be slapped on if it doesn't interact with the render. Get some curves layers on that bad boy and make the light really pop one side of his face. Lastly, don't be afraid to experiment. I probably doubled the amount of layers this thing had by just adding different things here and there. Fill out the canvas and blur some things to create depth. Also, avoid grey things on lighten unless they are there only for depth, it just looks weird against the colour. Nice JC BTW, I left that

Best piece of advice I can give you is work smaller. This would be considered an LP (Large Piece) which means its much harder to get right than a sig, as a Wallpaper is harder. Simply put, the more congas you have to fill the harder a piece is to make. Work with a sig size canvas (400x200 is a decent place to start) and work up from there. As for the actual piece, get yourself some stocks and learn how different settings affect them. Right now this looks like a photo with a few filters and some text which is fine to start yourself off but it won't get you too far. Also, don't be afraid to go simple with the font. It sounds counterproductive but working with implicated fonts just limits what you can do with them. I've done better things with Arial and Helvetica than I ever could with something elaborate. Jackim put up a very good beginners guide HERE which you should definitely give a read. It covers a lot of the basics to help people out. Follow some tutorials and look at what others are doing, you'll get the hang of it eventually.

I actually don't mind the lighting. It hits a bit of an odd spot on his chin but lights him up realistically which is key. Love the playing on bright face with dark head. Text pops quite a bit but for the theme of this sig I think that kinda works. I feel like the colours in the BG might be a bit over-saturated so maybe bring them down a tad to make sure they aren't too distracting. Good job and very creative.

Are any of your sigs not sexy? Render effects are sick, text is well done. BG might be a tad bit too sharp for my liking but hey, that's just me. I'd also like to see your darks brought down a tad bit more to give just a little extra contrast, especially in the render. Could really make him pop. Very well done as usual though.

I like the idea of the clipping mask splatter but I'm not sure on the brush choice. Makes the money seem to fade away a little oddly. As Boubabi said as well, maybe get it in the theme of the rest of the sig somehow. Maybe on the text? Speaking of which, get the text down lower and over the render a bit more to keep your focus in the right spot. Lighting could also help get the focus on the render where it should be instead of bringing the eye all over the place as it does now.

Love the render effects and the stat sheet kinda thing in the BG is cool and original. Overall I actually find the effects are well done with the exception of the text. Something about it looks slapped on to me. Maybe it's a lack of blending, maybe its that the effects look cheesy. I'm not really sure, I just know that it doesn't flow well with the rest of the piece which makes it stand out like a sore thumb.

Definitely need to darken this up a bit too get some contrast, everything just looks a little too bright right now. I do think the lighting is very well done, there's just no darks to contrast it. Also, I love the render, there's a lot of good passion going on with it, but what's up with the cutoff bottom? Sometimes cutting a render off can work but I think style wise it doesn't fit this sig and just stands out as odd.

Definitely agree on the weird colour combination. Maybe try getting that green to be a light shade of blue or something and tone down the orange a tad, could work. I love the effects on the render but the lighting could be a tad stronger. In a similar vein, I love the effects on the Sleeman text but the John seems slapped on and unnecessary. Overall, this piece looks very well done but a tad unfinished. A few extra layers could have really made this thing pop.

Contrast is a little on the weird side here. The lighting is done beautifully but the BG is so dark that the exposure is a bit off. As Boubabi said, add some offset and it should be good to go. Love the text work and always impressed when people can make Davos colours work. Jersey might be a bit oversharp, especially around the logo, but it's not the biggest problem in the world. Overall, very well made sig.

Feels great to retire Miller with a second cup, not sure I've ever won two with one player before. It it was a roller coaster of a season for me. Was great to finish off my career where it started and help Helsinki break the curse.

I've been invisible against my old team but I'd rather get the wins. GG

Claim for this week. Will post loot later

Back in my day we had reason to accuse people of rigging, now it's just a fad! #oldmanVHL

You suck at reminding me, I almost left again without uploading this. Ho Ho Ho motherfuckers! http://www.mediafire.com/download/38qs212gmyi7fdr/Koponen_collab.psd

Salty much?

Hey look, I'm doing things! 3-1 looks promising but we all know that with STHS that's the most dangerous lead to have.

If it were a clipping mask of say an image onto a text layer or something only the top image would apply. However, adjustment layers are infinite. You can add as many as you want. For example, to help my lighting I clip two curves layers to my render. One to brighten, on to darken. I then mask them based on what is needed. Also, as a general hint, you can apply clipping masks by holding alt and clicking the line between the layers you want clipped.

4+1

We can't be letting them over double us in shots, I can only do so much.

And I faced 16 shots extra. I'll take it.