Sfifer

Nitenurse - 1 NinjaManDan - 0 Simply because Nitenurse's was more aesthetically pleasing. Ninja, your's is just a bit cluttered and feint for my tastes

Thanks. I'm thinking of using the top one as album art for the aforementioned FreeThought. I'm still waiting on a reply from the guy who took the photo though.

New photo edits! Original

I wouldn't say I thought it out. I just sat down and did it.

simpeltje you cannot enter now, there is already a competition running. Read the rules on page 1 before posting.

Here's a small edit I think I prefer the latter

Thanks guys, means a lot. Here's a quick mock-up logo I made for my band, FreeThought

Hi, most, if not all, of the things you asked for are all ready implemented in some way or another. Here's how: 1. Shapes can already be drawn in paint.NET by using the designated tools for these found on the sidebar on the left of the screen. Holding shift whilst dragging the mouse will keep the dimensions of said shapes proportional. 2. This can be achieved by using Layers. 3. Brushes can be used thanks to Simon Brown's Custom Brushes Plugin 4. See above 5. This can be achieved by going to the "Layers" drop down menu and selecting "Rotate/Zoom" 6. I'm not sure what you mean but chances are that Simon Brown's Custom Brushes Plugin covers it.

You should probably post more pictures for each step.

You mean like the Windows 7 Snipping Tool?

Oh no I completely get where you're coming from. More of a realistic perspective. Where as I was going for more of an artistic perspective. I agree, a hybrid of the two would seem like an even more realistic result as well. I did enjoy your tutorial nonetheless. It reminded me of a technique I don't often use for blurring and meshing separate layers together, so for that I thank you. It certainly was well written and, for me anyway, the point of any tutorial is to provide inspiration for the individual to add his/her own flavor to it.

yeah I picked up on the murkiness idea but felt it made the image lack a focal point. Hence I took some liberties with the blurring and tried an alternative method so I could get more of a progressive blur towards the rear of the image.

My attempt

I am all for that!

UPDATE TIME! Full Size