Tags: bio

Gunshou Bio

gunshou is an American in her late twenties, teaches high school English language and literature, works evenings at a pediatric hospital, and wishes she could get a job playing video games all day. She has been making LJ icons and layouts for two years, primarily within the Final Fantasy fandom. She plays a dark elf assassin on Everquest II, which really says all you need to know about her personality. gunshou's offline interests include the martial art Shim Gum Do, in which she is a second degree black belt in sword and a first degree black belt in self-defense. Despite this, she is rather unathletic and relies strongly on the laws of inertia. A long time ago, she was a talented pianist, and regrets that higher education denied her the opportunity to practice for the past decade. She has a toy poodle named Shadow who lives with her mother several states away, and whom she misses very much. She also writes fanfic and is a (rarely commenting) member of Fandom Wank, effectively making her an evil, talentless ball of slime floating in the cesspit of the universe, according to conventional wisdom. When her army of penguins marches on the world, all shall love her and despair.

WHAT gunshou LOOKS FOR IN AN ICON:
Cropping that is creative without being ridiculous (no slices of ears and shoulders, for example). Simple or complex doesn't matter as much as a clear image and a cohesive composition. I prefer stills to animation, unless the animation is subtle. Pretty colors or a nifty effect will always catch my attention.

WHAT gunshou DISLIKES IN AN ICON:
Oversaturated selective colors that make people and objects look radioactive. Any icon where I can't figure out what the subject is supposed to be. Unaliased true-type text, which looks jagged and pixelated. Oversharp zombie icons make me giggle and yell "braaaaaaaaiiiiiiinnnssssss" in a growly voice, which tends to cause embarrassment when I'm at work.

SOME OF gunshou's OWN ICONS, WITH COMMENTARY:
<--- I made this icon when stills of FF7:AC were first appearing on the internet. It's pretty basic, way before I really understood what my graphics program could do. It could stand to be sharpened, the colors brightened. The border is far too stark and pulls the eye away from the image. And text is forever the bane of my icon existance. Still, that line is still funny.


---> I like icons that use white or blank space to good effect. This one is sharp and clear, with a pretty light effect, and the mask feathers the image a bit and keeps the white border from being too harsh. The tiny text adds a bit of border decoration, although if I were to redo it, I'd probably fade it a bit to keep the focus on the image. Or give up the text altogether and use a decorative brush in that space.


<--- This icon remains one of my favorites, and I use it often. A simple, sexy crop is enhanced by techniques to clarify and brighten the image. The selective color draws the eye, and the diamonds in the texture echo the diamonds on her sleeves. The tiny text brush balances the icon and focuses attention on the nearest white space, which is LeBlanc's chest. And there's nothing wrong with that. ^.~


SOME OF gunshou'S FAVORITE rusalkatrix ICONS, WITH COMMENTARY:
---> This icon cracks me up every time. Really, that's all it takes some days, a great expression to go with some witty text.


<--- I know I said I'm not a fan of cropping this "creative," but for fans of the game, Edea's hoopy thing is distinctive enough that it works as the focus of the icon. Again, the colors are gorgeous, and the light texture along the top gives the icon a touch of mysterious magic. The only distracting piece is the tiny bit of white around her fur ruff.


---> Trixie's photoshopping ability (the blending of two separate pictures: in this case, Rinoa's head on a model's body) is amazing. I love how seamless this icon looks, and the pretty effect of the wing stamps. The coloring is subtle and simple, proof that a zillion textures can just distract from a good main image.


You can find gunshou's icons at iconage.

She also moderates ff_eye_candy, a Final Fantasy icontest, and dothack_awards, a .hack (anime and manga) icontest.

She is the creator and moderator of redobanners, a place to request that an ugly awards banner be fixed.

Rusalkatrix Bio

rusalkatrix lives in New York, where she alternates writing YA fiction and panhandling. She started making icons in late 2005, because her favorite fandoms (old or fringe video games, Japanese cute art) weren't getting enough love, and she wanted to fill the void. Offline interests include books, comic books, good sushi, and lusting after clothes she can't afford. She is totally not down with that penguin army thing, and prefers the ill-tempered goodness of Pallas' cats.

As you can see from this bio, she is way less interesting (or far more mysterious) than her cohort gunshou. ;)


WHAT rusalkatrix LOOKS FOR IN AN ICON:
Originality. I like risk-taking (icons that aren't automatic crowd pleasers, but are beautifully done). Pretty coloring, whether it's muted or vibrant. I like clean, simple composition (I'm a big fan of white space), but I also like icons that are complicated and colorful--the important thing is balance. Nothing gratuitous.


WHAT rusalkatrix DISLIKES IN AN ICON:
Oversaturated icons (bright colors are nice, but everything in moderation, okay?), text that is meant to be read but is illegible, text that doesn't mesh well/distracts from the image, radioactive neon coloring, brush abuse, black 1px borders by default (not every icon needs a black border), oversharpened anything (beware of jagged edges) . . . And this probably goes without saying, but please don't enter an icon of your baby.


SOME OF rusalkatrix's OWN ICONS, WITH COMMENTARY:
<--- I made this icon when I was first learning to use Photoshop. I didn't have any textures, so I filled a layer with pink and then scribbled a gold brush over it. (Why? Um, because otherwise it would have had a blank background?) I also knew I wanted text, but had no idea what to write. So since the character is an archer, I went with that. The line art looks washed out--I could have used blend layers (multiply, soft light) or a nice color overlay (or both) to bring them out more. I didn't really know what I was doing when I made this, and it shows.



---> A frilly dress, pretty colors (I think I used a blue and purple gradient), and a crop that draws your eye to just the right aspects: Lolita cuteness! Bondage! ♥ If I were to redo it, I'd probably omit the white swirly brush on the right side, & fix the border. (There's a pale white border inside the darker one, and it's a bit distracting.) It's a simple icon, and it doesn't really require extra adornment (i.e. brushes).


<--- This is one of my favorite icons that I've made lately. Mostly because I think it's pretty (the line art is enhanced by the delicate coloring, the lights add life to the image, the text blends well & doesn't distract), but also because I rescued it from being mediocre. It was a long & crazy process, but it showed me that, even if I'm dissatisfied with an icon I'm working on, a different approach might result in something I'll really be proud of. [ tutorial ]



SOME OF rusalkatrix'S FAVORITE gunshou ICONS, WITH COMMENTARY:
---> Lovely coloring and a great image choice. Cheetara looks both sexy and badass, and while the composition is simple enough to keep the focus on her expression, the texture behind her does much more than just take up space. The reddish pattern (and check out those spots!) adds to the wild/animal feel of the icon.


<--- Now, this character is known for being buxom, and for having some serious décolletage--but this icon manages to be sexy without exploiting any of that. To me, it's all about the coloring--her skin looks so luminous and cool; the muted purples and pinks contribute to a soft, nighttime atmosphere. And since we don't see her eyes, she's mysterious and tangible all at once.


---> I love when icon makers mix real-world images with something more fantastic, and this icon is a perfect example. Here we have framed wedding photos, made from a video game wedding scene. I think that this technique could easily look gratuitous (like if you just photoshopped some random images into frames), but the wedding aspect really elevates it & makes it seem real. Even fictional couples display their wedding photos, right? ^^ I also like that the man's face isn't as clear as the woman's, because it gives the eye a definite focus.



You can find rusalkatrix's icons at trixicons.

She is the creator and moderator of ff_seasonal, a Final Fantasy icontest with seasonal themes.