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WINNER'S CIRCLE Click on the winner's name to see their entry. COMPETITIONS #1-100 WINNERS

Most graphic work can now be viewed at my Flickr gallery! As always, constructive criticism is welcomed. If you wish to make a request, please send a PM; I do not have a request thread. Animated signatures:

Tutorial: Loki Signature This thread will outline the method I used to create the Loki signature I'm currently sporting. I'm using Photoshop CS5 on Windows 7. There are probably differences between versions of Photoshop and/or between operating systems. I just don't know what those might be. General Setup: The process behind this signature was a little different that what I normally do. Usually, I find a render and make/find an appropriate background. When working with renders of real, live people, it's hard to make or find a background that matches well enough. For this signature, I took a screencap from an Avengers trailer and used that as my base. Here's the image, if anyone would like to follow along. Step 1: Open your image. Crop the image to an appropriate signature size; my standard is 500px x 150px. Note: I always name my layers so I know what I'm working on. I strongly recommend this; it makes it easier to keep track of everything. Step 2: Add a new Group . I make one group at the top of the layer stack, and put all of my Adjustment layers in it. This way I can easily turn it off and see what the original image looked like, and whether my adjustments made an improvement, or made it worse. Step 3: Add Adjustment layers , starting with a Gradient Map. This gives the image the overall color scheme. The one I chose can be found by clicking the gradient drop down box, and there's a little arrow to the right of the drop down menu (marked in red). From the next menu, choose Metals. I want a greenish signature because I know the character wears a green costume. Double-click on the gradient drop down box and a new window, called Gradient Editor, should pop up. To change the color of the signature, I'm going to change the dark blue (marked in red, below) to dark green, and the light blue (marked in yellow, below) to light green. Double-click the boxes and a color picker will open. For the dark green I used #0d4e0b, and for the light green I used #e9f5e9. I set the Blend mode to Hue, and the Opacity to 70%. The image will now have a green gradient to it. Note: Blend mode and Opacity are things that can be experimented with. I usually cycle through all the options before choosing the one I like the most. Step 4: Add a Brightness/Contrast Adjustment layer. The image is very dark, so I set the brightness to 90. I also wanted to give the image a little more contrast, so I set the contrast to 20. Step 5: Add a Color Balance Adjustment layer. I don't really have a method for using this; I just slide the bars left and right, and see what looks best. In this case, I used Cyan/Red +4, Magenta/Green -18, and Yellow/Blue -21. Step 6: Add a Vibrance Adjustment layer. Once again, there's no real method to this. I slide the bar up or down and see what works. In this case, I used Vibrance +50. Step 7: Add a texture above the background layer. I used this texture. Again, I cycled through the blending options, and chose Color Dodge, Opacity 40%. Note: The texture lightened up the image quite a bit. Some of the adjustment layers may need to be readjusted to counteract this. I don't know why I didn't screencap this step, whoops. But you can see the effect of the texture in the step 8 picture. Step 8: Add a Gradient Fill layer, but DON'T put it in the Group; put it right above the background layer. A menu will pop up; the settings I used were the transparent to black Gradient, Style: Reflected, Angle: 0, Scale: 105%, and Reverse is checked. This serves to black out the sides of the signature a little, bringing the focus to the character. Step 9: Add text. The text I used was “You were made to be ruled,” a line spoken one of the movie trailers. I made two text layers, one plain (“You were made to be”), and one a little fancier (“ruled”). For the plain text, I used Times New Roman 15pt, and for the fancy text, I used The King & Queen Font 23pt; the color of both was white. The blending settings for the both text layers used the Outer Glow effect. Right-click on the layer, and select Blending Options. Click Outer Glow to bring up the menu. These are the settings I used for the plain text layer: Blend Mode: Screen Opacity: 45% Noise: 0% Color: #b95bfb Technique: Softer Spread: 13% Size: 4px Range: 70% Jitter: 0% And this is how the fancy text layer differs: Opacity: 100% Size: 13% Range: 50% For the plain text layer, change the opacity to 60%, and the fill to 0%. For the fancy text layer, the opacity is 50%, and the fill is 0%. Step 10: Add a border. Create a new layer above the text layers. Press Ctrl+A to select the whole image. Select Edit, then Stroke from the top menu. In the new window, select the width and color. I chose 1px and black. Click OK. And voila! This was a more complicated signature, and it was even difficult for me to recreate it. I'm not sure if this is the exact order I did things, but I think it's close. If there's something that doesn't make sense, let me know, and I'll edit this post.

Obviously I have alot of improving to do and this will be my way of doing it. The HeartBeatx Emporium is a signature and avatar request shop. All requested items are free, but a simple thanks will be much appreciated if you like your items outcome x3. If you want to see a small collection of my work check here: http://forums.kametsu.com/index.php?/topic/35972-heartbeatx-showcase/ One requirement I have to make if use is made of my work, please credit me. Please, its not much to ask. Through this improvement plan I hope to gain new skills and advance my style. Thankyou <3 Requests should be in this format: Render/Stock: High Quality images produce better results Text: Border Style: Square / Round / Hybrid Other: (This can be things like general colour scheme. If none is really asked for then I will probably go with my own style which is generally just colourful) Leave the rest to me. Latest Completions Queue EMPTY! KEEP EM COMIN!

Hello, i figured ive made enough art to start a showcase. Please let me know what you like and please dont be afraid to criticize =) btw, ill try and update this thread more and more but youll have more luck getting newer stuff sooner from my Deviant Art - http://radical-ed360.deviantart.com/ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Hello there! To accompany my arrival to this community ( which was recieved with a beautiful warm welcome ) I figured I would put out some of my showcase. Dont expect anything great. They are in order from Newest to Oldest. ありがとう！

Banner of the Month: February Rules: All entries are to be submitted by Thursday, February 21. Voting will take place between February 22 and March 1. Extended until further notice from the 28th to the 7th. There is no theme this month; anything goes. Only one entry per participant. However, you may edit your entry until the deadline. Banners must be your own work. Entries can be in GIF, JPG, JPEG or PNG format, and should be 860 (or more) x160 pixels, with transparency on the right side. Animated banners are allowed. Pre-made banners are allowed, as long as they have not been used in a past Kametsu competition. Please read all Graphical Division Rules and Forum Rules before entering. All rules apply. Unlike the SOTW contest, there is no separate thread for discussion of the BOTM; discussions may be posted here.

Signature of the Week #105 Theme: Villains! Rules: All entries are to be submitted by Sunday, February 24.Your entry must be related to the chosen theme.Only one entry per participant. However, you may edit your entry until the deadline.Signatures must be your own work.Entries can be in GIF, JPG, JPEG or PNG format, and should be no larger than 600x220 pixels. Animated signatures are allowed.Pre-made signatures are allowed, as long as they have not been used in a past Kametsu competition.In addition to your entry, please also submit a theme idea for next week's competition. Please check the SOTW Themes thread to make sure your theme has not already been used.Please read all Graphical Division Rules and Forum Rules before entering. All rules apply. I've decided that the discussions threads were pointless, so we're not doing that anymore. Discussions can go here, like we used to do.

Signature of the Week #104 Theme: Pop-out! This theme is more difficult to fit within the size limitations, but please do your best. Rules: All entries are to be submitted by Sunday, February 17.Your entry must be related to the chosen theme.Only one entry per participant. However, you may edit your entry until the deadline.Signatures must be your own work.Entries can be in GIF, JPG, JPEG or PNG format, and should be no larger than 600x220 pixels. Animated signatures are allowed.Pre-made signatures are allowed, as long as they have not been used in a past Kametsu competition.In addition to your entry, please also submit a theme idea for next week's competition. Please check this thread to make sure your theme has not already been used.Please read all Graphical Division Rules and Forum Rules before entering. All rules apply.This thread is strictly for entry submission, voting, and results. Other SOTW discussions belong in a separate SOTW Discussions thread. ANY DISCUSSIONS POSTED HERE WILL BE DELETED.

Tutorial: Text as requested by ba11ard This thread will show the different styles of text I use, and explain why I use them. I guess this could be considered more of an analysis than an actual tutorial. Style #1: "Label" A lot of times, the text I use is simply my username; this helps users quickly identify that this signature is mine, and prevents others from stealing. This is helpful in competitions, such as the SOTW contests. In the above case, the font is small, but still easily readable. Default fonts work well for this purpose; most fancy fonts get more difficult to decipher as they get smaller. Also, the opacity is turned down and blending options (such as multiply/screen/overlay) are used, to blend it into the background more. The text should be readable, but not over-powering, as to take away from the focus of the render. I FORGOT TO MENTION. The text should be near the render, but not on top of it (in most cases; sometimes it's unavoidable). This gives the signature a focal point. If the text was on one side and the render on another, the eye wouldn't know where to focus. Here are more examples of this type of text: For this one, I put the text layer underneath the bokeh texture to blend it. I don't normally set text on an angle like this (personal preference), but I thought it fit the signature, because there are so many definite lines of motion. More text styles coming soon!

Signature of the Week #103 Theme: Animals! This theme includes drawings, photos, etc. of animals that can be found in the world today, such as ducks and badgers. Mythical and fictional animals, such as Pokemon and unicorns, cannot be used. Rules:All entries are to be submitted by Friday, February 8.Your entry must be related to the chosen theme.Only one entry per participant. However, you may edit your entry until the deadline.Signatures must be your own work.Entries can be in GIF, JPG, JPEG or PNG format, and should be no larger than 600x220 pixels. Animated signatures are allowed.Pre-made signatures are allowed, as long as they have not been used in a past Kametsu competition.In addition to your entry, please also submit a theme idea for next week's competition. Please check this thread to make sure your theme has not already been used.Please read all Graphical Division Rules and Forum Rules before entering. All rules apply.This thread is strictly for entry submission, voting, and results. Other SOTW discussions belong in a separate SOTW Discussions thread. ANY DISCUSSIONS POSTED HERE WILL BE DELETED.

Signature of the Week #102 Theme: Anime/Manga/Game starting with the letters "A" through "I"! Rules:All entries are to be submitted by Friday, February 1.Your entry must be related to the chosen theme.Only one entry per participant. However, you may edit your entry until the deadline.Signatures must be your own work.Entries can be in GIF, JPG, JPEG or PNG format, and should be no larger than 600x220 pixels. Animated signatures are allowed.Pre-made signatures are allowed, as long as they have not been used in a past Kametsu competition.In addition to your entry, please also submit a theme idea for next week's competition. Please check this thread to make sure your theme has not already been used.Please read all Graphical Division Rules and Forum Rules before entering. All rules apply.This thread is strictly for entry submission, voting, and results. Other SOTW discussions belong in a separate SOTW Discussions thread. ANY DISCUSSIONS POSTED HERE WILL BE DELETED.

Signature of the Week #100 This week's theme, as chosen by Dreamcastor: Mortal Kombat! Please read all Graphical Division rules before entering. Entry deadline: Friday, January 11 Voting deadline: Sunday, January 13 Tuesday, January 15

Signature of the Week #99 This week's theme, as chosen by firedogx10: Post-Apocalyptic! Please read all Graphical Division rules before entering. Entry deadline: Friday, December 28 Voting deadline: Sunday, December 30 Wednesday, January 2

Next week's Signature of the Week marks Kametsu's 100th competition since the Graphics Team restarted the weekly contest in 2010! The contest will keep on going strong, don't you worry. However, after the 100th competition, some changes will be implemented. A new contest banner! It's similar to the current one, but I figured we could freshen things up a little. Pre-made signatures will now be allowed! This means that any signatures made for purposes other than Kametsu contests can be entered. Signatures previously entered in our SOTW competitions are still invalid entries. And watch out, I've got a pretty good memory. I will find you. Themes will be reset! I know some of the recent contestants have been complaining that all the good themes are taken. Well, your prayers have been answered! Starting with SOTW #101, all themes will be fair game! You're welcome. If anyone has any other suggestions to improve the competitions (or anything in the Graphical Division, for that matter), let any of the Graphics Team members (me or Apollo) know, and we'll take your ideas into consideration. One thing that always bothers me is closing the poll. Is deleting the poll the best way to go? The only other option would be to close the whole thread, and we've been asked before not to do that. So I don't even know. And also, thanks for all the time spent and hard work that everyone has put into these competitions. We couldn't keep them going without willing participants. So now that it's going on 4am, I'll catch you on the flipside.

Signature of the Week #98 This week's theme, as chosen by poetictragedy: Marvel! This theme includes any characters from the Marvel universe (games, comics, movies, etc.). Please read all Graphical Division rules before entering. Entry deadline: Friday, December 21 Voting deadline: Sunday, December 23

Signature of the Week #96 This week's theme, as chosen by poetictragedy: Outlaw Star! Please read all Graphical Division rules before entering. Entry deadline: Friday, December 7 Voting deadline: Sunday, December 9

Signature of the Week #95 This week's theme, as chosen by poetictragedy: Assassin's Creed! Please read all Graphical Division rules before entering. Entry deadline: Friday, November 30 Voting deadline: Sunday, December 2

Signature of the Week #91 This week's theme, as chosen by poetictragedy: Comics! This theme can include any comic book character(s) in a drawn format (meaning live-action or CGI, as in a video game, are not allowed); this can include fanart, original comic book scans, etc. Manga is also not allowed. Please read all Graphical Division rules before entering. Entry deadline: Friday, October 26 Voting deadline: Sunday, October 28

Signature of the Week #90 This week's theme, as chosen by Sakura Rei: Kanon! Please read all Graphical Division rules before entering. Entry deadline: Friday, October 19 Voting deadline: Sunday, October 21

Signature of the Week #89 This week's theme, as chosen by firedogx10: Futurama! Please read all Graphical Division rules before entering. Extended entry deadline: Friday, October 12 Extended voting deadline: Sunday, October 14

Signature of the Week #86 This week's theme, as chosen by poetictragedy: Bokeh! Bokeh is "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light." Examples can be found here and here. Textures for use in signatures can be found here. All entries must include a bokeh light effect somewhere in the image; like this previous SOTW entry, or the like the Neal Caffrey signature I'm currently using. if anyone needs any additional information, just ask. Please read all Graphical Division rules before entering. Entry deadline: Friday, September 7 Voting deadline: Sunday, September 9

BOTM: August Please read all Graphical Division rules before entering. Entry deadline: Friday, August 24 Voting deadline: Friday, August 31

BOTM: July Please read the rules before entering. Entry deadline: Tuesday, July 24 Voting deadline: Tuesday, July 31

Signature of the Week #81 This week's theme, as chosen by playlamegetfame: Chosen Render! All entries must include this image.Please read the rules before entering. Entry deadline: Friday, July 20 Voting deadline: Tuesday, July 24 Also, if somebody with super powers could pin this thread and unpin the SOTW #80 thread, I'd be super grateful.