DaRe-Style Graphics
[new banner soon]
Established June 27, 2012
Beginners Start Somewhere!
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Current Program: Photoshop CS6
Preferred Theme: Pokemon, animals/creatures, any monster/beast that looks cool.
Current Teacher: N/A
Current State: Former Deja View Member; Free Agent Sig Maker |
I first started making digital art with deviantART Muro, and it became a fun tool to use. I first used it for drawing characters and making some sort of effects with them, and then I eventually went to making signatures and things of that nature. Because it's only made by dA Muro, it's almost impossible to make pieces that can compete with the wild cats out there on this site, but I was happy with what I had and appreciated all of the support and critique I've been given. Here's the first thread I made showing some of my firsts here.
For now, I'm a trainee and only consider myself as that, but I always do what I can to improve myself and establish/improve my own personal styles. For a month I was using Sumo, a good and free website used for art, and it's alot better than dAM in every way! I later got my own computer, so I downloaded and started using GIMP since it's free and it's a better program to use for digital art and graphics design. Now Another month later I finally got my hands on Photoshop CS6, and now I have tools to help me explore the program thanks to my cousin. 
Due to real like obstacles I started making sigs less often, but I still enjoy making them when I have the chance. After taking and completing several requests for 6 months, I feel that I have gone a pretty long way for someone who's only been making sigs for less than a year and with a decent program for even a shorter amount of time. Until I feel motivated to, I probably won't explore too many new styles for the time being and work on improving my current ones, but that doesn't mean I won't change up from time to time every once in a while. If you want to request a sig from me, you can shoot me a PM until I eventually create a new thread for requests or join another sig shop.
Current Confidence Level: 
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Satisfactory at the Time:
This is the first avatar I made off of a dragon I found on the Internet. I really had no idea what I was going to do when I started it, only that I was going to finish it somehow. I decided to make the canvas transparent and just work as I go. Overall, I think it's alright, but it's only my first piece so I won't beat myself up about it.
Click on the images to see full resolution
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Sumo.fm Avys
GIMP Avys
Photoshop CS6 Avys
Signatures
deviantART Muro: Getting Started (May 8, 2012 - June 29, 2012)
I mostly used dA Muro for drawing purposes or to create, well, muros on it. It wasn't until a certain sig battle that I started using it for sigs, but I have only used it a few times over the course of almost two months. It wasn't until June 27th I started making sigs again for it, but that only lasted two nights. This is NOT for making sigs. This is alright for drawing or paint, but not anything as complex and intricate as sigs. This is basically one step ahead of Microsoft Paint (and I have experience with that too).
First Signature
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Satisfactory at the Time: 
I don't even like this sig, at all, despite it being my first. I did this for a sig battle (not to mention my first) and even before I entered it I didn't like the results. For one, I didn't care for the character I was using, so I didn't have that much inspiration in making something I would be satisfied making. Because I can't make text on dA Muro, I decided to improvise and actually write it, only for the battle though. The only things I like about this sig is the position of the character and the location in the sig I placed it as well as the blur I added on his left arm and gun. I also liked that I somehow managed to create a light source in the sig. All I did (and can do) was add brighter colors on the top right corner and blend them like I blended the rest of the sig. This was the first time I've done this style of "art", but I gotta start somewhere, right?
Charmeleon Flare
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Satisfactory at the Time:
I kinda like this piece, but not really. I thought about what I wanted to do, and it only came out half as well as I wanted it. Before I go on the positives, I don't like what I did on the top left corner. I now know I could do better, but even before then, I thought it would potentially kill the sig overall. I was going for a light source like my first sig, to make Charmeleon look like he's either absorbing the heat or trying to resist it, but I forgot how I did it. It didn't turn out exactly as planned, even though I blurred the line between the light and not to light. I do like the colors I added and the top orange layer I added to make the sig overall look and possibly feel warm. I think it turned out pretty well overall for a n00b like me, and once again I've learned a couple things from this sig alone.
Metal Head Grunt Tag
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Satisfactory at the Time: 
I like this piece. Not only do I like the background, but I also like what I did on the bottom of the sig to make it seem like the back is more foggy than the front. There was no real theme or plan of this sig (as I tend to do with my pieces), so I decided to do something simple. I forgot to add a blur on the sig, but it's too late now since it didn't autosave while I was working on it, meaning that if I try to edit it, it goes back to when I placed the render the sig and nothing else. No need to start over just to add a thing or two to the sig unless it was a big thing (this sig isn't that much of a big deal with blur thanks to the fog). Horray for the first sig I became happy with making!
Dragon Realm
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Satisfactory at the Time:
First pop-up sig, and I like it! I like the effects I added to the sig when I first planned on making a sig as simple as Metal Head Grunt Tag. To me, the colors and the way I blended them fits the render very nicely. I even decided to add a Scatter effect (the bubblies) to make it look even nicer. Once again, I forgot to add a blur to the render, but again it was too late to go back and change it without starting over. Oh well, I'm still very pleased with the results, and it's a sig people seem to like. I might make a Dragon series dedicated to sigs with dragon renders/stocks.
Yellow Rayze
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Satisfactory at the Time:
This tag is based on a character I made and own, Rayze III. I decided to make a sig off of him since I decided to draw him on a board one day and use a drawing I did a year ago for it. I managed to add plenty of yellow on this sig, and I couldn't make any effects behind the actual character. I could make effects behind the image, but it wouldn't be all that good. Overall, I think it's average. The effects were alright and the color looks nice, but I wish I was able to do more with this tag.
Crystal Dragon
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Satistactory at the Time:
I like it, so far my favorite sig made by dAM. I knew just by the render I was going to enjoy making this piece, so I went ahead and did just that. I added a small fog around the bottom and the top left corner to make some sort of atmosphere. The background was my biggest issue at first, but I knew which colors I was going to use and had an idea about how to use it. My only problem was how I was going to use the blur, but I eventually figured it out and it looked decent. Thanks to an awesome render, this sig was really fun to work with, and it was very cooperative. After editing it three times, it's definitely a sig I'm proud of.
Sumo.fm: Learning The Ropes (June 29, 2012 - July 27, 2012)
Sumo.fm is a good site for this field of artwork for novices who don't have GIMP and can't afford Photoshop (assuming you're not a 
). This is the second program I used for sigs, and it took over a months worth of sigs and avys.
U.M.A._Mailman: Hell Bringer
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Satisfactory at the Time: 
This is the first sig I made from sumo.fm. I just love it so much, yet it's not really a sig I picture myself using (which is why I gave it to U.M.A._Mailman). I randomly found the render of this, and I decided to use it. I chose a red theme mostly because the render had some red to start with, so I found that fitting. Learning some of the effects of it, I eventually developed my own style and got used to some of the effects and tools that sumo offers. This should truly be considered my first signature, while the others were just pieces of art with an image attached to it.
ATHF89: Lucario
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Satisfactory at the Time: 
This is alright I guess. Because I forgot to set the background to transparent, the top part isn't at all transparent. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with this sig. The canvas is taller than what I'm used to doing, but since it's a pop-up, I guess it's not that bad. I still didn't quite know how to shrink the renders/stocks, only re-positioning them, so I used a bigger canvas and cropped it down until it was in a decent size for a sig (if you can even call it decent). Overall I had fun making this, and I'm happy that ATHF89, also known as Aqua, likes it as well. I can do better though.
Green Tree Python
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Satisfactory at the Time:
I wanted to make an animal sig, so I thought of Chambers. I asked him to name me a few cool species of snakes, because to me he'll always be a snake. He named a few, and he said the green tree python was really cool especially, so I decided to find a good image of that. I had some difficulties finding a good image, but I eventually found one I can work with. I tried to make my own background and blur the image and the newly made backgrounds together, but it didn't turn out right. I decided to not do that and start over, and it was starting to look really nice. Of course Chambers' favorite color is purple, so I wanted to have a bit of purple in the sig. Overall, I had two versions of this sig, and he liked the second one more. I like this sig alot.
The One and Only: Totodile
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Satisfactory at the Time: 
Pokemon! I was looking for some character I like, and I found a Totodile. This is the first part of my "The One and Only" series I'm starting. If you know what Totodile really looks like, you know that he was originally blue. I decided to change his color to green to make a new atmosphere. This is the first sig I've made from sumo.fm that I made a background, smudged it, and didn't use any Distort backgrounds with it. It's just a simple sig, and I like it the way it is. I wish I found a slightly higher quality render though, but it's still pretty decent after using some Layer Effects. This is also the first I learned how to shrink renders/stocks for a tag, and also the first sig since reading through this very well put together tutorial Fox made. Hopefully I can keep getting better.
GIMP: Getting There (July 27, 2012 - August 23, 2012)
I've wanted this program for over a year now, and I finally got it after telling my mom I wanted my own laptop to use it. So, here we are with my dream program, and I may shoot for Photoshop. Btw it's better than sumo.fm and a gazillion times better than dAM.
GIMP Contributed Collaborations
Since all of the other sig makers here are friends to me, I may ask to collab with any of them and we put together a tag together. I'm only posting collabs done from members of this site.
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Posted by apokolypz
This was the first time I've done a collab with anyone, so I know I've done plenty of mistakes. For one, I sent the starting piece in a png file and did alot of unnecessary converting, just so he can work on it. It was only one layer when he got it, and he had some difficulty finishing it. Sorry man, I know better now, especially since now I have PS and can still go to GIMP and convert with ease. Overall I like the result that I helped produce. Thanks buddy.
Photoshop CS6: Evolving (August 23, 2012 - )
Photoshop is an Adobe software that's used for graphics design, photo manipulation, and everything related to that. This is the best program to use for making sigs (as far as I know), however, it's very expensive. Unless you find a way to do some illegal procedures like pirating or torrenting to get this free, you're gonna have to save up plenty of money for this. There is a free trial that lasts a limited time though. CS6 is the latest version of Photoshop. I believe this to be where I truly evolve and develop my styles, mostly because of the options I have with Photoshop and the fact that I've been using the program for the longest time in my sig making "career".
After about a few months of using PS, I decided to divide my sigs in Episodes, to better show my progress in my signature making. They usually are 20+ sigs each. I might group some together into Seasons soon.
Pre-Episode: Getting Warmed Up (August 24 - September 3, 2012)
This was an Episode when I first started using Photoshop, so I was learning some new basics as I went along. The old skills I picked up from sumo and GIMP really gave me a headstart on my sig progress! However, I look at them months later and realize just how much I've improved since then. The Episode was cut short due to my laptop's screen braking from me being careless, right before school started too, so it couldn't have been timed any better than that! Of course, I would never intentionally break something worth hundreds of dollars.
Black and white version
Satisfactory at the Time:
This is my first Photoshop sig, and I loved it! This gave me some problems since I was transitioning from GIMP to PS, but I managed to pull through after 4 hours of working on this sig and exploring everything. What bothered me was the limited amount of redo's, but I used that to make myself even better. Not my traditional kind of smudging, but it looks cool. My issues with this sig is that the render looks cut off on the right where the staff is and the line going through his hat. It messes up the sig for me, and I couldn't undo it. I swore I erased it, but I don't remember what brought it back. Other than that, I dig it. Thanks for the render Chambers.
Hunter Troll
Black and white version
Satisfactory at the Time: 
Not including collabs, this is my second PS sig, and I loved it! There's so many things I liked about it at the time and so little things I didn't like about it. It's crazy how much I liked it, and looking back at my older sigs from two month before, it's definitely something to be proud of. Anyway, I like the colors, the text (for once), the background, many things to name. The only things I don't like is that the bow should've been blurred and everything else is flaws I don't see by myself. Thanks Chambers again for the render.
xBird
Satisfactory at the Time:
This was a gift I decided to make for a friend on another site. His username there is actually xGod, but out of a joke I called him xBird and thus this sig was created. Not too sure if he likes the sig or not, but I'm sure he at the very least appreciates it.
Episode I: New Age (September 20 - October 5, 2012)
After my laptop got repaired,
Episode I started. This was where I was really starting to develop some sort of a style!
Satisfactory at the Time:
This was the first sig that I spent serious time in after my laptop was broken for 16 and a half days. I did this for a SOTM, and it was in 3rd place out of 5, not bad I suppose. Either way, I was really to see that my sig making skills didn't rust up over the extended unexpected break!
TG09 da Wolf
Satisfactory at the Time:
Since I realized TG loves wolves too, I decided to give him this sig, as a semi-request. He loved it, and I enjoyed making it! Even months later, I still very much like this sig for the C4D I added, probably one of the few times I actually used it in my sigs that went with the flow decently in this Episode.
Dragons 01
Satisfactory at time Time:
This is the beginning of a series (that is also located in the Series section) I like to call DragonS 0.1! I was really satisfied with the result of this sig, and it's one of my favorites from Episode 1. I think this is one of the first sigs that I used the dodge and burn tools in Photoshop, don't remember if I did it on sumo or GIMP.
Episode II: Transition (October 8 - November 3, 2012)
Episode II was when I started to improve on my style by trying more new things and develop a signature style (no pun intended). This included using different smudge settings, new filters, and improving my basics. I even went to using more effects on my sigs later in the Episode, and by the end of the episode, I already had a pretty good idea about what exactly my style was.
Satisfactory at the Time:
I was really hapy with the result of this sig... at first. I tried out a new style of smudging, and it lasted for quite a while. Since I've always been a fan of smudging, I think this was where my smudging journey returned after taking a break from it. This was before I was aware of how much I could change brush settings though, but even so, I think this was at the time one of the most impressive smudges I've done for this Episode.
Dragons 04 (Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon)
Satisfactory at the Time:
I found a render for this sig, and at this point, I didn't use renders very often. I decided to use some effects, mostly C4D, with a smudged background to come up with this! This is a favorite of this Episode, and it has been a favorite of all sigs I've ever created for quite some time. I think the gradient maps helped the colors out, and the only thing I don't care for too much is the right side looking a little LQ. I think that was due to me darkening the edges. Oh well, still really diggin this sig!
King of Pop
Satisfactory at the Time: 
I got hooked to MJ's music for a bit before I made this sig, so I decided to find a decent MJ image to make a sig out of it. Because of the effects, colors, and because it has him in it, it's one of my favorites from this Episode and all time. Billie Jean is not my lover!
Episode III: Smudge-Ripple Era (November 5 - December 1, 2012)
This Episode was where I started to work on a new smudge setting I picked up somewhere in the previous Episode the most. This was also the first real busy month I've had for requests, so I made sure I did all of the requests! Quite a few of my all time favorites are in this Episode too. Other than that, my style hasn't really changed all that much here. I tried out a couple new things too, like ripples, using a texture for the sig, etc.
Satisfactory at the Time:
One of my favorite sigs to date! I found a stock like this, and thought I might as well make a vertical tag of it. The effects I added and the smudging I did were put together in a combination I didn't initially think I could do. Maybe the focal takes up alot of the sig space, but I like it just how it is. I even did the text in the only way I found fit. The two hours I spent on this sig will be remembered for quite a while.
AbSmudge
Satisfactory at the Time:
This was me playing around with smudging for a battle, and it was a big win! The theme was "Abstract", so I tried to make it kinda abstractish, even though it's not that abstract. I was very pleased with the results, and I was surprised how much people seemed to like it when it was a new sig. I still look at it as a good sig, and it's one of my favorites!
Dare Cityron
Satisfactory at the Time:
This is one of my original characters (OC's) I started developing back in 2007. He went from being a cat with white fur and random stripes to being some creature with black fur. I call him Dare Jak Cityron. He's looked similar to this since 2009, when we were both 13, and as I got older, so did he. This was him when he was 15 in 2011, when he got a haircut, so it's not an updated drawing of him (as of 2012). I decided to scan him once I got my own printer/scanner, and I colored him in and tried to clean up the outlines as best as I could. Now that you know a bit about him, this sig was made just so I can make a signature off of a drawing! Not any of my favorites nor my most impressive ones, but it was fun regardless.
Episode IV: Anti-C4D Era (December 1 - 30, 2012)
This is the Episode where I decided to take a break from C4D's and work on my skills of using different brushes as effects for the first time ever. I smudged much less often, but this new style of mine was a little innovating for me and people seemed to like it. I planned on perfecting this style before moving on to others, or at least working on it until I got tired of it!
Satisfactory at the Time:
I was surprised I actually pulled it off at first, but this was my first sig using vector brushes. I used only two C4D's on this sig, and the rest of the effects were from vector brushes. It was tied for third in a sig battle I entered, and it became one of my favorite sigs. Since the creation of this sig, I've been using this style and vector brushes several times.
Dare Cityron Again
Satisfactory at the Time:
I decided to make another Dare sig, this time without C4D and only using vector brushes. This isn't the first time I used Lens Flare, but it became sometime I got obsessed with using for a short bit of time. For something that was flat at first, I think I did a decent job making it unflat. or barely unflat. Overall it's okay, nothing too fancy.
AbSplash
Satisfactory at the Time:
Sequel of AbSmudge. I made this for a sig battle with the theme Abstract, and I surprised myself with the outcome! It all started out with a couple yellow lines that I managed to smudge on and around, and the rest was magic. I won that battle in a huge landslide, and it got me in the top three in other sig battles too. This is currently my favorite sig of the Ab series!
Episode V: Interval (January 1 - February 18, 2013)
This is the Episode where I first became less active in making sigs for two reasons: 1. Real life obstacles, and 2. Lack of motivation. This is currently my least favorite Episode, and I only like some of the sigs on this one. I didn't get back to using C4D yet, so the amount of sigs with only using brushes continued. Don't worry, it doesn't last much longer after this point.
Satisfactory at the Time:
I consider this to be my first successful pop-out sig, and it wasn't easy for me to finish it. Other than that, I never thought it was all that. Lighting was tricky with a canvas that's empty where its source is supposed to be, so I don't think I did it very well on that. Overall, it looks cool, but that's about all I want to say about it.
Tribal Smudge
Satisfactory at the Time:
I decided to make some sigs with Tribal renders, and this is one of them, my favorite at that. I like the contrast in the different colors, which wasn't what I went for at first. The smudge isn't spectacular like you may see in other people's works, but the turnout worked out. I might have smoothened the sig a bit to make it look smooth.
Overall nice turnout.
Lucario
Satisfactory at the Time:
I did this for a 4 way battle over at a graphics site, and it managed to win! Once I found the stock, I knew I was going to like the turnout of the sig, however it turned out. I went to a more "paint" kind of approach, making the sig look like a painting. Overall, I really like the turnout, and Aura Sphere is an awesome move!
Photoshop Contributed Collaborations
Collaborations where I used Photoshop. I'm only posting collabs with members of this site though.
DaRe Gets In2 Another Collab
Larger Pieces
This is the home of my larger pieces, or LP's, that are larger than signatures. Anything larger than 500x500 applies.
My first software of making digital art, and not a very good one in comparison to others. However, it's awesome in it's own ways, and that's why I still like it and still will be using it in the future.
Click on the images to see the full resolution.
Click on the image to see the full resolution.
Satisfactory:
Here's the first image I used to work on this large piece. I didn't know for sure what I was going to do with this, so I decided to use blur effects. Since I'm new to this program, I decided to mess around with different things to get a little comfortable, and I ended up discovering some 3D effects. Because the site has some bugs, I was forced to re-do the whole thing three times. It was a little frustrating, but it was worth the fun time of making this anyway. For a image with low quality being used, I say I did a very nice job on making it look representable.
Click on the images to see the full resolution.
Click image to see the full resolution.
Satisfactory:
I used this as my wallpaper for a few weeks, so you know I like it. Ingur slowered the quality of the wallpaper, so I wansn't too happy with that. This is the first time I've done a wallpaper on GIMP, so it wasn't until later I learned about Emporting images to png, psd, or whatever file type I need. Overall it's a pretty decent "stock colored manipulation", right?
Photoshop CS6
Coming soon
Sig/Avy Series
A series is basically a group of sigs or avys I made for either one person or different people with a very similar signature or avatar, or a certain theme. These don't happen often, but so far they're fun.
[hide][top]DaRe's Trophy Adventures v5.banners
Program(s):
Sumo.fm;
GIMP
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Chapter Banners
Sub-Chapter Banners
Game Log Sub-Chapter Banners
DTA Archives
My tagwalls can be for anything really, as long as it's related to my sigs. It can be my recent sigs, favorite sigs, or even sigs that made me want to capture a turtle!
Tutorials
I would make these so people can learn how to make sigs like mine. I wonder how many people would actually try them.
Person(s)
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Reason(s)
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| JackAttack |
For your CnC with my sigs when I was starting up and the continued CnC in the CnC thread and even on this thread. You really helped me out to guide me in the right direction. You've brought me some hope and advice on being a better sig maker, and I appreciate it. Thanks man. |
| Fox |
For posting this, your sigs when i requested them repeatedly for observing and use for signatures and avys only, and being an inspiration to me. You've done more for me than you may realize, even months before I started making sigs. Thank you. |
| Hitmon133 |
For your advice that you gave me in the very beginning of my sig making journey and even suggesting a site for me to try when I couldn't get GIMP nor PS due to restrictions of now having my own laptop at the time. I may not have used pixlr to finish a sig, but I did try and I appreciate your support when the time came. |
| apokolypz |
The pancake man! I remember you giving out CnC for me since the beginning, and you were my first collab partner. You're always fun to chat with and have made an influence on me in sig making. Thanks apoko, and stay cool. Watch out for those monsters, they seem to like eating pancakes and they're targeting you with syrup! |
| Chambers35 |
You've always been a good buddy of mine since you joined this site, and you became a very good sig artist. When I needed you to CnC a sig, you didn't hesitate to give me your input on it and how I can improve. Thanks for the support buddy ol pal. Believe it or not you've been an inspiration for me as well. |
| djunglist |
I've always enjoyed looking at your sigs, and recently I've used a couple of your psd's that you shared and your clipping text tutorial for my learning purposes only. Thanks man, those really helped me more than you may think. :D |
| kid420247 |
Since Day 1 that I joined this site you've been a friend to me. You were pretty active in my updates here when I was still using sumo.fm, and I always appreaciate you doing that. Thanks for being a good pal, for showing support, and overall being awesome. |
| Prosthetic |
You've been consistent in CnC'ing my post recently, and I always enjoy reading your input. I appreciate you always giving me ideas and suggestions on how to improve my sigs. Thanks man, and keep it up because I got more improvements to make. ;) |
| Curse |
Can't forget you man. If you didn't link me to sumo.fm, I would've been fucked with dA and have given up on sig making or wouldn't be as good at sig making as I am today. I don't even think I would've been able to convince my mom to buy me a new laptop for GIMP and other things if you didn't show me sumo.fm since I most likely would've given up and missed the opportunity. You definitely deserve a shoutout man. |
| Feral |
For being an awesome sidekick and supporting me. I would feel like a jerk leaving you out after all of the 200+ pages of VM's we share together. |
| The Wolf Brigade Crew |
You guys gave me a reason to make these fun avys and wear them while everyone else either goes "WTF!" or "That's cool, I want one! :O. " You guys have supported me and my works since the nest beginning, and I thank you guys for doing that. I will make another WB wave of avys one day. |
| Everyone who has requested anything from me |
I don't like doing requests, but I appreaciate those who have requested for me. It may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but it's all good because it's part of the learning progress. It even gets me to try different things and get used to broading my range of sig making, like I wanted it to be. Hopefully I can get in some more requests soon, might join the biggest shop of this time. |
| Everyone I received any sig/avy/banner from. |
I always appreciate it when you guys do requests for me, so I have to give a mention to you guys. Thank you for providing service for me for the past couple years. I even use those sigs/avys as references to look at for more ideas on establishing a style I want to get comfortable with. |
| Everyone who has shown support for me. |
There's alot more I can shoutout to, but I appreciate everyone who has supported me in my sig making journey. This has definiely made me want to do more sigs and share them to you all. Thank you.  |
| If I forgot anybody, I apologize. Please let me know if I did and I'll give you a FUS RO DAH! |
That's all folks. Thank you for taking the time to look at this this thread and thank you for those who were kind enough to comment on here with nice remarks, suggestions, and anything useful.
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About LinkBacks
I've actually been drawing for a bit before this, but I haven't drawn actively until 2008.
Originally Posted by SideEffect
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