Knockpixel Critique V2

[MissBean]

CRITIQUE
Credit goes partway to x_GinnyPotter_x for her original suggestion in the KA Suggestion Box.
rules
1. You may only post one banner at a time. However you may post two versions of the same banner if you are unsure about which is better. For example, if I have one banner with a balloon in the background and one with a lollipop, but both are else wise the same, you may post both. Please try to limit to two versions, don't post five with each a different color scheme. Yeah I know it's annoying to stare at 10 different canvases that are all tweaked a little bit for an hour and try to decide which is the best!
2. I DONT CARE IF ITS BEEN A YEAR SINCE THE LAST PERSON POSTED!
ALWAYS (<--- notice that it's bolded and BIG) critique the banner before you. Even if you have personally witness the person give that banner to the requester.
3. I was good, quality critique. No: "oh that's really good! Here's mine:" You must say at least two negative and two positive things above the banner before you. Why positive? Because we don't want anyones feelings hurt. There's gotta be something there that you like.
4. If you want, it is optional to choose a critique severity for your banner. If you're new to critique, I would suggest using this system, or if you really would perfer one of them specifically. Make sure to write down which category you want in your post! Otherwise, just ignored this system and you'll get what you get.
Mild, Medium, or Harsh.
Mild: "That's a really good banner! I think the coloring on her eyes is a little too blue- it looks unrealistic. Also, maybe you could sharpen it once. Just my two cents. However the composition is really nice- whatever you do DON'T MOVE THAT BUTTERFLY! Oh and also how did you ever pull off that artsy look? I could never do that! It really fits the theme. Good work!" Basically, you get praised but also some area to improve. Very vague which gives you a wide area to change. Choose this if you think your banner is so bad you just don't know where to start, you don't want to be upset, or you don't want to be told what to do.

Medium: "Hm... there's something weird about that girl, she doesn't look like Lily at all. Maybe you could try Kirsten Dunst? She's an old favorite of mine for Lily. Also the blending is a bit too soft on her arm... make sure you fix that whether or not you change the girl. I would use a hard eraser. I've seen some of your other work and I know you can do it! Otherwise, really really nice coloring! The blues and greens work very well together. Also the text flows nicely, is that Georgia? You've got some real talent!" In short, you gain some self-esteem, but not too much. There's definetely some stuff you've got to work on, but at least you've got detail instructions telling you how to go about it. There may be more than two things wrong with your banner though. I suggest this if you're happy with your banner but you want it to really be your best ever, or if you know there's something wrong but you're not quite sure how to fix it. Or it you just want some critique.

Harsh: "Eh, this isn't really my cup of tea. The two people are way too pixely... please blur over their skin. There's a tutorial how to do it here. Also the coloring is way too bright. You could try a levels layer but those are difficult so maybe you'll have to redo the selective coloring. And also, the text is not going to work. I think ibleum or Selfish would be much nicer. You can download them at dafont. Don't give up though this banner has potential. You chose nice images and the border was a good idea!" Really, you're fishing around for compliments. You want to be told what to do, but not how to do it. You want this banner torn to shreds, you want to break down and cry, and you definetely WONT say "You know what, I am not going to do all of that! I like this banner perfectly fine that's too much work!" afterwards. Hehe I know that feeling... Choose this option if you think your banner is the best thing that ever walked this earth, or if you're really strong willed. In which case, I am so jealous.


5. Please obide by the person's wishes. Critique how they want to be critiqued (Mild, Medium, or Harsh). DON'T be extremely harsh if they posted for Mild critique. If you don't want to do a certain type of critique that they are asking for, don't. Wait until another banner pops up that you can critique the right way.

6. The golden rule of critique. Critique how you want to be critiqued. Haha. No seriously, I don't want any nastiness. You know what I mean.

7. If you don't abide by these rules, penalties may be taken. These can include but are not limited to: Banning for the critique thread, disqualification from the current/upcoming challenge, or deletion of your post.

8. Before I forget and someone asks, BA members are allowed to critique in this thread. However they are NOT allowed to post banners for critique. In other words, there will be no images posted in a BA member's post. Only words. If a BA member critiqued before you, then please critique 2 people behind you. For example:
Person A
Ba Member - critiques person A
Person B- critiques person A
Yeah, I know, lucky person A. I'd suggest always checking to see if you've got two rounds of critique. BA members must abide by the same rules despite not being able to receive critique themselves.
^The same applies for anyone who just wants to critique, but not post a banner. Like Sitara nicely put it in the questions thread, sometimes you're just having a good day.
9. If one banner has been critiqued at least three times by means of rule nine, it is not required to post critique. There's only so much you can say about one banner!
10. You may request a certain type of critique if there's something in particular you would like. I'll use Ari's post as an example:

Whatever's to your fancy. Really, I just want a first impression, as there's not much substance there to give a full critique on.

Or you could point to certain aspects of your banner, perhaps you really want help with that text. Or maybe there's something wrong with the image of the boat, but you just can't put your finger on it.

Well, that's all. Enjoy! Please direct questions to the Suggestions/Questions thread.


-------------------------

The last two banners posted in the old thread:

by the opaleye

Here's my banner. I've made so many versions of this it is not funny. But here is one of them. To see some others there are links in the last post of my thread. I had this sort of banner epiphany one night for this song with this random frame thing. I guess I'm trying to experiment with my composition at the moment. Anyway, tell me what you think. The colourisation took me ages and ages and ages especially for the model.

The song is 'Meet me on the equinox' which Annalise has already made a banner of so I hope she isn't annoyed at me!

by Annalise28

Here is the banner I made to promote the SBBC. I don't like it much so I need some tips! xxxx

[clabbert2101]

Oh, first post! -christians thread with butterbeer-

Julia: I really like this banner. It seems to be very much in the same style as your Novelle Vogue banner, which I adore.

I like how you have the text for the most part, except for that stripe across the top of the girl's head. I'd use a layer mask or just an eraser to get rid of that, so it looks like the text goes behind her. I don't know how hard this would be, but I'd try the same thing with that red-outlinely chair thing.

Maybe add a few more orangey-yellow tones to the girl? Because she's very gray and a bit flat.

And maybe make the text go over those empty peachy rectangles to the left of the chair thing? Because that area looks a bit blank right now. Yes. -makes no sense-



Annalise: On my piece of crap low contrast and brightness desktop computer, I can barely see the main text, and only saw the "SBBC" text. Maybe give the main text a white drop shadow by going to Filters > Light and Shadow > Drop Shadow and setting the color to white. Also, the text seems a bit stretched out. Try adjusting it so it fits more neatly onto the left of the banner.

Other than that, this banner seems a bit empty. Maybe try finding a larger picture of Molly to fill some of the negative space and add some movement. Right now she just looks like she's been placed on a background, but she doesn't really belong there. She's blended a bit to smoothly, and therefore fading into the background.


Happy bannering!

~Bella

[Annalise28]

Hey, thanks for the critique, everyone. Since it has been ages since another banner has been posted, I will post another of mine, if that's alright.

I am quite proud of this banner, to be honest. I think it is my best ever, but I know I can definitely improve still!

Harsh, harsh, harsh !

xxxxxx

~ Annalise x

[piccplayr]

Annalise: I really like your banner, but I will try to be harsh. I don't really like the text. I feel like it fades into the background, and that makes it difficult to see. Maybe you could try a different color or a drop shadow to make it pop. I also think it could be a bit bigger since you have a lot of negative space. You did a great job filling it with the texture, but I still feel like there is too much. Maybe if your picture was a little bigger, and just a little off center. Your colors are just amazing, and you blended the couple nicely.

Here is my banner for the current KA challenge. I think it needs some work, so please be harsh.

EDIT: I fixed it a little on my own, but I would still love some critiquing ^_^



--Caitlin

[the opaleye]

Caitlin: Wow, I love the composition of this banner! And the colour scheme is so pretty and fitting for the issue. I love it! One thing of concern for me is the pixelation of the text. Is that on purpose? I still find it a bit distracting. I'm not sure how to fix this as I don't know what caused it. I like the fonts you used but perhaps you could try making the plain block font a little smaller to make the effect of the larger scripty words have more impact. I love that quotation and was excited to see that you had used it. I love that brush of the world! It is so awesome. Where did you find that?!?!?! The drop shadow behind the text is also good. Erm, what else? The girls face seems a tiny little bit blurred. Perhaps up the saturation and contrast just a tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny bit.

And here is an entry I've been working on for the KA challenge. I have serious banner block at the moment after working on all my BB4B finals. HARSH!


without brush

[Annalise28]

Well, Julia. You are amazing, and you know it. And this banner just shouts amazing, especially since it has helped you into the BA, which I knew would happen, but I am still sad nevertheless, as you are leaving KA.

Anyway, critique. Wow, you just have to make this hard for me, don't you... The smoke into the mountain could have been blended a little better. The pink of the smoke picture is a little too bright when next to the ice, making it easy to see that it isn't the same picture. Other than that, though... Wow, it is really, really hard. Maybe the writing could have been curved to fit the ice a little better, but I seriously can't talk since I *fail* at curved text. Anyway, this banner is simply beautiful and I think it looks really cool with the brush.

Onto what I can hopefully call my best banner, and definitely my favourite one.
I made this on Christmas morning... I have no idea how I thought of it.


Harsh critique is fine.

~ Annalise x

. And another leaves us

[Russia Snow]

Annalise! Yes, I'm here, FINALLY!

I love this banner, and I agree that it is the best you've done. The texture, the girls and the font are all <3

I think the black line through the middle is part of the picture of the girl? There is probably a way you could smooth it out a bit though, blend it in a bit more. It also looks odd how the line is ontop of one girls face, but behind the other. The colours are <3 but I would suggest removing the flames from the bigger girls hair on the right side, or at least making them less obvious.

Other than that, this banner is really good, keep up the great work Annalise! You;re getting better all the time!

~Russia xxxxx

[the opaleye]

'sup, Annalise!

I'm here to critique my KA buddy!!!

So, this is a great banner. You are improving soooo much. Like, exponentially. I agree with Russia about the black line. I assume it is from the picture of the smaller girl since it is behind her and not on top of her face too. To get rid of it, I would use the smudge tool. Heaps and heap of smudge tool until it's all smudged out! Then I would also get rid of the firey texture from over the larger girls face (or even the smaller girls face as well). I don't really like textures going over faces and things. I used to do it all the time when I first started bannering but I think a banner looks more polished if the texture isn't just slapped on top of everything. Know what I mean? Hope that wasn't too harsh!!! I really like this banner. The colours are, as Russia said, ah-mazing.

*hugs*

Julia XD

[Annalise28]

Well, this *may* be considered naughty but... it seems that I am the only KAer here, using this thread like the good old times

So, yeah.

GUYS! *HUGS* I love you all!!!!!!!!

Thank you soo much for the crit. I fixed it so that there is no line through the larger girl, but the way I made the banner made it impossible for me to fix the fire... for some reason. It was really annoying .

Well, yeah, as always, I have another banner that I'll leave here for anyone who wishes to critique it


As always, harsh!!!

~ Annalise x *hugs*

[th_poet14]

Wow, it's been awhile since I've been in here...

Critique:

I really like the banner, but I think it's a little too busy. The center figures are so bright, and then you've got the couple on the side, and then the running figures, and the repeating text. It's a little too much for one banner. I love the way you've blended the center figures and the ones on the left, so I would keep those and tone down the next, maybe not repeat it, and get rid of the figures above the text, just to make it a little less distracting and crazy. However, I love your use of light and dark!

My banner...which is the first one in I think three months



Please be harsh!

Kate