Did all people hand in their works? And when can we see all the entries? I am so curious! ^^

Hmm... your poem is nice, but I suggest you don't put so many sentences your wallpaper. How about just picking your most favorite two sentences and place them nicely on the wallpaper. And the rest of the poem you can add in the description of the wallpaper! ^^

Anyways I think your wallpaper got deleted because the extraction is rather bad. That means... look closely at it... there are too many white spots outside of the outlines of the scan. So you could either vector it or work some more on the extraction. How did you extract the scan? I suggest using the pentool it allows you to make it a lot more cleaner. When I was a beginner I used to erase... but you can never get it that clean by using that technique. So use the pentool and zoom in. If you need anymore help on this, please feel free to ask me... I just don't know how much you already know about it!

Also some parts of your wallpaper and especially on the character look a bit blurry. I don't really know why... but this might also be why it god deleted.

I like the colors and the whole setting. It has a nice atmosphere... so you should definitely keep on working your wallpaper. It simply takes some time to get used to pen tool and photoshop... Good luck with it! ^^

Hmm... well first of all if this is supposed to become a wallpaper you must change the formate of the wallpaper... or else it can never be used as a wallpaper.

The white lines... I cannot really see what they are?

So if this is meant to be a wallpaper there will be even more space on the left... You could add another character... or you can try around using a stock photo, using brushes, different photoshop options there are so many... it is mostly about trying around really... I think the idea with the lilac squares looks okay... and also that you put the white lines on it... the contrast of lilac and white works nicely. So if we try to think further on this first idea... why don't you add some of these lines... but they should make sense. Maybe you can find a stock photo and vector (done with pentool) the outlines of a skating area or some other surrounding... or some buildings... but so far the lines do not make sense to me. And if you wanna stick to such lines... sense making or not, they should look a little more clean and regular.

I would also change the AIRGEAR logo... do you know how to vector it? Or otherwise simply use another font... I'd make it white too so that it fits better to the white lines.

The rolls at the very bottom look a bit jerky...

Apart from that I really think your wallpaper could look nicely... you already have ideas... You just need to develop them a little further. Good luck with it and I hope you'll have some fun too... after all this should be the first reason for making wallpapers.

It's a bit difficult to say a lot about this wallpaper because the resolution is so small that you can not see any details. I cannot really tell from here whether the extraction of the scan is clean... but as far as I can see it now... that seems to be okay.

I agree with the two others concerning the text... First get rid of the typo with "until" and if you want to add text then it should be readable. So yes I also agree with Odeena to move it a little the "s" of comes interferes with the character. It looks a bit weird when only a "s" of the text is mixed with the character and furthermore you can hardly see it. So moving it a bit more to the left would certainly be good.

What I may also recommend is experimenting a little with the Brightness of your wallpaper. Part of why the letters are so hard to read is because there is such a strong white in the middle. So try to play around with the Brightness in photoshop... (you can find it when you go to Image and then Adjustments)

Apart from that I think you did quite well for your first wallpaper. So good luck with finishing it and feel free to ask if you have further questions! ^^ I hope my comment was of some help...

I agree with Misa, the edges look quite blurry. But I do think your wallpaper was considered to be a little bit too simple. Like for example the yellow dots are so regular like geometric circles and it looks a little as if they were just randomly placed. Or the flower on the right ... maybe to add some different color tones would be a good idea. But most important certainly is to do something about the sharpness...

The colors you have chosen are pretty nice though... So I think if you work on the sharpness and add some more detail to the Sakura flowers... then it could be nice to look at.

I agree with sailorchiron, the background looks quite chaotic. Does is show flowers? The character almost seems to disappear in the background. And why are there these two sqares at the top of the bottom with a slightly different color tone?

The quality of the scan looks good though.

Did you mix different images into the background? I'd try to make it look a bit more calm but it is a bit hard to tell since the resolution was reduced.

Hmm... I think the perspective is okay. But about the riflemen... I just see now that some are standing right behind one of the characters. I think that if you color these... it might be a bit too much on the left side of the wallpaper. And then the riflemen in the distance are maybe a bit too small compared to the ones in the left because the do not look so far away actually. And all is on the left.
Also the guns... is there smoke coming out of them, right? I am not sure whether this is a good position for this smoke since it's in the middle of the image, so it will be like in the center of attention. The soldiers in the back look a little as if they were falling off the mountain but in fact the wild boar throws them into the air... yes I can see what your friend means.
I think you chose something really difficult. There is a lot of movement in the whole setting and it is difficult to make a movement visible in an image. I think that's why the characters look rather placed on the mountain than thrown into the air.
There is so much happening in the scene that there almost is not enough space. Well I think I would remove the riflemen directly behind the woman. And place the other riflemen in the back a bit more into the middle... and maybe less smoke so that the confrontation with the wild boar is in the center.

Hello... The quality of the scans is okay... they don't look blurry. The extraction could be a little improved, especially with the first scan but it's not grave only if you look closely. But what you may have to think about are your backgrounds. They look a bit as if you just randomly chose various shapes and colors and put a scan on them. So maybe I would try to think Where are the characters?, Which surrounding may look nicely? etc.

The first one... there are some weird dots all over the wall... did you use a brush? I think they rather make it look unclean... so if you can I'd leave them out. Maybe you want to add some shadow at the bottom to make the character fit in there better and not just placed on a background.

And the second wallpaper... I'd change the background. The white frames... what do they express? Why are they even infront of the characters? In my point of view the white frames should not interfere with the characters.

It's a bit difficult to give you feedback on this one because I do not understand clearly what you are expecting... ^^ The character scans don't look perfectly sharp to me but maybe the quality at the upload site is reduced... And the rest of your wallpaper so far is only a sketch. The scenery you chose is a war scene with falling soldiers... so this already is a question of taste... some people will like, some won't. But I would most certainly like to help you more... it's just a bit difficult to say much from the current state of the image.

Hello Kazki,
I'd like to help you but the image you've posted there is so small! I cannot really tell you anything when I cannot take a detailled look at your wallpaper.

Hello Tama-Neko,

thanks for this really interesting insight into the world of the mesh tool. I haven't used this tool so far and it sounds really confusing but worth to spend some time with. I think I want to give it a try as soon as I'll have an image with more gradients...
I love to use Illustrator but I don't know so much about it. And instead of using the same techniques all the time, I would really like to improve by doing new things. When I make vectors I am always a bit frustrated with the hard shades... so the mesh tool seems to be one way to make it look more realistic...
Oh well thanks again!

First of all I think the way you placed your wallpaper is a little odd... Why did you put it into the left corner? Do you have your desktop icons on the right? Even if you do... I think the wallpaper design should not stop that abruptly. It's just black at the right and buttom... and I cannot see an idea behind it, a meaning so it looks as if you had run out of ideas.
The problem of this wall may be the second scan that is taking most of the space even though it is designed like a background shape. That may be considered as ghosting which is probably why your wallpaper wasput into quarantine. Try to be creative... think of a main concept for your wallpaper instead of just somehow filling the background.
Another thing is that the wallpaper doesn't really look clean. I cannot even tell anymore whether the original scan was a bit messy already... because there are so many brushes... You used this text... does this have a meaning? It does look a little randomly placed.

Hmm... well the characters in front look really clean so that's already a good point!
Your wallpaper looks really sparkly... but that's not the problem. I think you should try to think of a concept of your wallpaper. The background on the left looks as if you just "threw" many things together. I can see that you intended to have a shading of the girls in the back, same what you did with the font. But to tell you the truth, it doesn't look so appealing. I'd suggest to think of another way to "fill" your background. Try to be creative... Your background also shows a mixture of so many different brushes. I would try to use less...
And the color of your background. Everything looks icy? Why? The girls don't really look like ice queens. So what I can suggest to you is to spend some more time on the concept of your wallpaper. It is more than just placing a scan on a almost randomly mixture of shapes and brushes.
So if you try to develop the background a bit more... with a nice idea behind it... then it could definitely turn out nicely. ^-^ I hope this was of some help...

Edit: The background you made may have been considered as "ghosting" that is simply putting a character into the background. And it is considered to be a rather lazy technique... and it make everything look rather messy... I have to agree with that. So main focus should be to get rid of the girls in the back!

Quote by iserialWell i can explain for the picture quality. The source came from a crappy screenshot (hi, 640*480 pic from a divx :p) and i had to clear up...everything!
Some areas lack details because i couldn't draw something destroyed by the video compression.

Concept of the wall, huh? i really didn't thought about such a thing. There's not much space left for background but i may add... how about a big city in the night? (i have the feeling that i will have to change everything with that^^")

A concept doesn't mean you have to add a city scape... *lol* I really don't see how that would fit in. But You didn't change the black edges for example... you simply used the screenshot size which may be a reason for deletion too... I am not sure though. I guess the main problems are these lines... I would have vectored the scan... *lol* but I am a vector addict so I do that most of the times.

Hello...
the scan quality of the first one is really poor. The background photo is really sharp... so that creates a weird effect. However if you want your wallpapers not deleted I'd recommend you to leave the photographic backgrounds... You might also have to improve your skills on extraction of scans... are you using the pen tool already? It works really well for it... because right now you can still see white edges on the outside of the scans.
But you sound quite happy with photographic backgrounds... so I am actually not sure whether you want to change this "technique".
If you don't vector scans they should be in an very good quality...
I hope my comment was of some help...

hmm... I think it would be helpful to know the original scan. Then we could tell you a bit more of why it got deleted. But I must say those lines look really "smudgy", like Kuroimisa said.
And if I may suggest something, I'd no place the font on her face. But well I am not a supporter of fonts in wallpapers anyways.
Apart from that I like that you stick to a certain color scheme... but again, maybe the original image already was like this... I don't know...
Another problem in my point of view are the black edges. I think sometimes they may look good. But here they don't really make any sense to me...
But you shouldn't give up on this wallpaper!

Hmm...Well... why did it get deleted? If you look at it closely there can be seen that your scan lacks some quality. It would have been nice if you posted the link of the original scan here. As far as I can see it has been put together or something because the outer hair of both characters seems to have been added. And it is not added too well... Why? Because one can see that it has been added and there is something like a soft line. The pieces don't smootly connect... there seems to be a breaking, there is no soft hairline it is not becoming "one".

I can also see that the extraction could be improved. Which means. On these parts of the scan that has a darker background you can still see white parts. What are you using to "cut" the original scan out of its old background? I can only suggest the pen tool! You have to zoom in and start folowing the shapes of the original scan with the pentool. I don't know whether you are using this tool already.

What else? You used some grass at the bottom that to me looks as if it has been taken from a photo... especially behind the screen this grass looks a bit odd. "out of place" and totally different from how the girls were drawn.

The use of a giant moon seems to be something very popular... but not everybody likes it... However that is not the reason why it is in quarantine...

I hope this was some sort of help for you. I think it's a good idea to ask when you don't understand why your wallpaper got deleted. Just try to see it as a feedback that you have to improve and keep on making wallpapers. That's how you will improve the most!
If you have some further questions on the pen tool for example, feel free to ask me!

Yes, your wallpaper looks as if it was split up in two parts. It is not creating a new setting. Maybe you wanted to make it look modern. And they often combine their art with these geometric shapes. But still both will always be connected in some way. Adjusing the color is always a good idea. Like candy-chan said: eyedropper! So you can make sure to pick the same color like in the original scan.
Placing letters in the middle is not forbidden... sometimes it might work... but you used that kind of font. It's huge so it naturally gets the first attention. The original scan is almost disappearing when it is placed next to such a scan that is dominating the whole wallpaper.
Also the shapes that you were using. You have these circles and at the same time there are squares. I think the scan that you chose isn't supporting the sort of style you were going for with these shapes.
Keep in mind ... you want people to look at your work. Especially since it is a wallpaper. So the ideal would be to have people using it as your desktop. That means they want something nicely to be looked at. Not something that "splits their eyes in two dimensions" almost. It should create an atmosphere, a feeling, a beautiful image... so it's important that there is some harmony between the elements, may it be shapes, style, fonts, colors etc.

That many wallpapers? I will try and help you, but honestly I think you should not post that many at the same time. It's a bit overhelming for those who want to help...
Okay I have seen every of your "wallpapers". I don't want to hurt your feelings, but they actually look like screenshots. Every single one of them looks rather blurry. Making a wallpaper is more than that. I don't really know how to help you to improve the "wallpapers" that you showed here. So I will try to give you some hints about making wallpapers. And hopefully this will help you.
When you want to make a wallpaper, first of all you need to have a nice scan to work with. So I suggest, browse the Gallery here on MT for lovely scans, don't use any screenshots from Anime unless you know how to improve their quality.
When you make wallpapers there are most often two options. You either have a scan in excellent quality that can be used for your wallpaper and only has to be extracted. That is like "taking it out" from it's usual background so that you can work with it on Photoshop. That other option is making a vector. For this you need to know how to use the pen tool on Photoshop.
So if you are using Photoshop what I would suggest now is to learn to use the pen tool for either extraction or vectoring. I learned it with help of the Pen tool tutorial by Kuroimisa. You can find it here on the site of the Underappreciated Group: http://theunderappreciated.minitokyo.net/.
Next thing is to make a nice background that also fits to the original art of the scan. And it is not enough here either to simply use a photo and place the vector or extracted scan on it... But that's so much to talk about... you need to go step by step. So I again suggest to look at the pen tool. Spend some time with Photoshop and you will find out how many things you can do there. It's like a new universe I think.
Hope I didn't sound harsh... I was trying to help and sometimes you need to give an honest opinion. Have fun exploring photoshop!

Hello Terra-chan... ^-^

I can really understand your opinion... you're right. But that's what competitions are like... if they had judged it in the other way... then some people would also think it's unfair cause they had the highest score on one of their wallpapers... And after all it should be fun... So somewhere a decision has to be made... and I think the winners had really good entries after all...

Oh so the results are out... congrats to the winners Tevi, Smilebit and DC! ... unfortunately the site is soooo slow and since I lack time to wait all day... I haven't managed yet to take a closer look at all the entries... but I certainly will... ^-^
I like your two entries Misa... as usual they are really beautifully done.

Yes, the background looks plain... a bit boring... I agree with BiNumber3, a scenic bg would be really nice. Making a scenic bg is not that easy... so first I suggest you to think of a scenery where the two characters could belong to.
What I also suggest you to change is the text. I'd say... no next at all... the image should speak for itself only sometimes a text can be a great addition to the image. But usually I'd say don't use text inside the image.
Well I am no expert on walling either but if you have a question on it... feel free to ask me in my guestbook! ^_^ Good luck with your wallpaper. And have fun creating it!

Hello Omni... I just read this thread... I am too busy at the moment. But I am happy that every participant will have 4 weeks to finish the wallpaper. That makes it a lot easier for people like me who are busy in their day lives with things far from walling, graphics etc. and only find time for walling in the late evening... I will come up with some suggestions of scans of Amano's artwork within the next days...

Until then... ^_^

DC already finished it? Hmm... and I haven't even started I am still thinking... *lol* However I just saw the calendar... so IF i make it through this crazy round... I am spending the whole 27th on a train... *lol* Great... Well I am so confused by the theme... but I still want to make it!... O-O

*lol* @artgeek12: Good luck... *lol*