EDIT (8-22-15): Inspired by Monu-chan's advice, I
altered both wallpaper versions by adding better clouds and fixing the blurred shading on Nao's uniform, knee, and
upper thigh. I also added a lens glare to Jojiro's spectacles. Finally, I added a "Divide" layer to
darken the right side of the "twilight" side of the wallpaper.
EDIT 2 (8-25-15): Oops, I made a boo-boo: the Daylight alternate ended up less sharper than its Twilight counterpart, so
it should be more clearer now. I converted it wrong when shrinking it from 3920x2205 (I use Bilinear in PS to preserve
quality). Sorry! Should look much better on the desktop (which is where I noticed it on mine. -_-)
First, some pointless info:
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Created in: Photoshop CS6, Pen Tool w/ Fill
File Size of Final: 104 MB
# of Layers: 385
# of Groups: 85
Project Duration: 18-19 Days, avg. 3-4 hrs a day
Source Image
Original Size vector art
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Hello again, I have returned from my vector cave and reunited with my Photoshop! This is my first vector
in...in...*counts on fingers in years* 3, I suppose? But enough with that, let's get down to the basics!
VECTOR LINES:
To start off, I suck at backgrounds: always have in the six years I've been here. Next, I suck at reconstruction of
missing body parts. Lastly, I suck at vectoring missing lines covered by translucent circles and texts from scans.
Unfortunately for me, this project had all three of them, which is why this
wallpaper took so long. I also had to center the scan to align to the 1920x1080 dimensions or it'd look off-center.
That's where I had to reconstruct Jojiro's finger (the easiest) and Yusa's right leg and hair and discard
the idea of including the pink and green smoke in the scan. That was the easy part.
The hard parts were the lines and colors covered by the text and bubbles. *shiver* I had to vector Nao's camcorder
belt pouch, Jojiro's pants leg, Yusa's sailor top, and Yuu's shirt. I had to be creative with Yusa's
ribbon because I had no reference on the scan itself, so I scoured Google for screenshots and constructed the ribbon
using a few headshots from the official website. This is true for Nao's pouch as well. Using "Difference"
on the scan over a grey background layer I could make out the lines for the pouch; the colors were determined from a
screen of Nao from the back wearing the belt.
COLOR/SHADING:
Colors were mostly used from the screenshots mentioned above, although I had to darken certain shades since the colors
from the screenshot would not do. I also had to get imaginative with my shades for Yusa's stocking and
Jojiro's leg, so forgive me if they're not proportionate. There's also gradients in certain places like
Nao's hair, Yusa's reconstructed stocking, and some brushing for Jojiro.
BACKGROUND(s):
There are two variants to the background: the average daytime sky with sun and clouds; and the "twilight"
background including a parallel between twilight and nightfall. Both backgrounds used a cloud brush. The stars were
brushed manually and replicated several times with outer glow for each duplicate with low opacity. The lone meteor,
inspired by the anime's OP, was created with brush and the smudge tool with a purple outer glow. I considered
adding more than one, but I think it would have looked superfluous. Plus, like I said previously, I suck at backgrounds.
:p Finally, I added a dark layer using (I think) Darken to mimic a galaxy. Since I colored the characters using
artificial light, I had to add a Lighting Effect to blend them in with the background without destroying the color. Not
sure if it looks good or not. The "Daylight" alternative colors were unchanged.
Please let me know what you think! I am rusty after all. ^^;
