whoops i forgot about this ;A; sometimes its good to comment me directly ahaha but i forget everything so. i think its better! i'd probably drop the opacity a little more, but i think its good enough ehehe. you can reping everyone - i personally wouldnt since the difference isnt big, but its always up to you! c:

Just a quick question for you. I have this CW in mind I want to make but looking through the CW guidelines does that mean we can't do like makeup kits like these for example subeta has made?

i'm not the best person to reply to this question ;c i don't think we're allowed to do full face makeups, but it's possible to kinda make a mask?

you might wanna ask someone else though, sorry!

It's probably best to make a ticket and ask for Jessi to handle your question, as she is the staff member working on CWs.

As to my knowledge, it is not possible to make face masks that covers the basic face features (eyes, nose, mouths) unless you make it like a mask mask like (the last two were probably an exception as they are modeled after animals so covering the eyes were alright)

Thank you guys! I'm going to go the mask route and see how it goes. I'm hoping it gets accepted as a mask.

Username --- Link to the CI --- First: Second: Third: Last:

Was there a denial --- Your custom clothing Pawesome Pink Blush was denied for the following reason(s): • ITEM: Issues from previous denial were not sufficiently addressed (Pillow shading, Blotchy shading) • NOTE: This is still not up to site standards. While the lineart has improved a bit, the item overall is flat and lacking in shading and depth. It may help to review some of the already-existing cat items (there are several) to get a better idea of how this will need to look to be accepted.

What do you need help with --- I'm kinda lost here, so any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Optional Can we take a look at the PSD files --- Yes Can we redline --- Yep.

Username --- Link to the overlay(s) --- Unneccessary. Denial was item-based, not overlay. Link to the CI --- Here-- 200x200 version

What do you need help with --- I'm struggling with re-doing the image with harsher lighting to eliminate the "pillow shading" critique. I'm also not at all sure what the note means.. The item is too simple, not in looks, but... in looks. (That's basically what it says to me? This is why I'm confused). Also, not sure where the gradient shading critique is coming from. BASICALLY ALL THE SHADING IS AWFUL.

There's an animation to go with the image-- smoke rising from the brush (it's a "smokey eye makeup") and blinking eyes. I refuse to go back and re-do the animation until I get the rest figured out though ><;

Was there a denial --- A plethora of denial reasons, actually. -Artwork does not match Subeta style, quality, or level of detail. -Pillow Shading -Gradient or soft shaded -Additional note at the end saying that the item is "too simple- not necessarily in looks but in its overall quality and shading"

Optional Can we take a look at the PSD files --- yes Can we redline --- yes

usually pillow shading happens when the shading is too soft and there are no "hard edges" on it; here's a quick (not great) comparison:

vs

sometimes when you shade in layers and don't overlap the colors like on the second example, when you resize it ends up giving you this pillow shading they talk about. it also might end up looking soft shaded instead since you have kind of a "gradient" going on. otoh, when you overlap shading layers a bit, this gets rid of this effect when resized. idk if thats clear? ;c

what i'd personally do is try to make it more cel shaded, and try to use different colors so that it doesn't look too flat

if you paint it aqua, try to avoid similar hues to shade it; i like using multiply layers with purples, so that it gives a little bit of a contrast between the base and the shadows; and then a light blue set to overlay for highlight

here's a quick edit i made that could hopefully help you out somehow c:

and here's the link to download the psd https://puu.sh/AFsxm/6995a8ea6e.psd

good luck ^o^

oh my, that's so lovely!

THANK YOU. I couldn't see my way past my own drawing, but this has given me a really good start-- I've gotten a couple denials on CI's for that gradient shading critique, so I think you're definitely on the nose with using too similar of a color.

You're brilliant-- thank you for taking the time! <3

Edit: -fingers crossed!-

LOOKS A LOT BETTER! :D glad i could help ^o^

Out of the two stones you posted above, which of the two examples would be the correct one to use? Left or right?

Just asking out of curiosity more than anything. ;P

there's no right or wrong, but i've noticed that when you make it as a hard gradient (aka the one on the left) and then resize, chances of it giving that pillow effect they say as well as "gradient" is higher since the colors don't overlap x:

OKAY FRIENDS! This dragon is going to be the death of me.

First denial: Post here! --"Pillow shading, gradient shading, not up to subeta standards." Second denial: --"Better, but shading looks airbrushed." Third denial: --"Shading is too sharp. Check settings when resizing"

The default setting when resizing is literally the setting they told me to check. First the shading was gradient and airbrushed, now it's too sharp? I'm absolutely lost. I lowered the saturation of the base color and increased the tone of the purple in the shading from the second to the third in an effort to try to get rid of the "airbrushed shading" critique.

Anyone have anything else that might help? I'd be happy to provide the .psd if it would be helpful, but I'll be real honest that I have no idea how to upload those.

The most frustrating thing is that this is someone else's release. I'm fairly new to the CW game, and it's really frustrating to have to have them go through the whole process over and over again then wait 3-5 days for the denial, rinse, repeat. I just want to get this guy figured out ;_;

From what I'm seeing, your shading looks like you're trying to texture it, but since the shades are so close together, the texture is making them look like they're blending together instead of looking separated like they should with cell shading. The second problem I am seeing is that you're using VERY small details for your texturing. At 200x200, doing details THAT small is pointless, as they end up blending together and further looking like that airbrush problem that staff is talking about.

If you can post just the flat colored png (no shading) I can do a shading redline if you'd like to give you an idea of what I would personally do.

Thanks hon! Here is a (mostly) flat image. I appreciate your insight-- I've been really trying to work on editing myself a bit more as I go along. The 64x64 size is just not super forgiving for details, I agree, and then I end up trying to rework with a 1px brush which is ridiculous.

This is a pretty big image but I wanted to make you a kind of step-by-step process. Please note this is simply how I do things. This is not a 'you have to do it this way'. The main goal here is to help you find what works for you :)

Click to Enlarge

1. What you provided me
2. I just blocked out the shaded parts and made them ' flat '
3. Shading sketch. I recommend this to anyone who is just learning to shade, or just learning how to cell shade. Block out where your major shading should go. This helps to make sure you're shading the whole object as one object, and not each color as an individual piece of the puzzle. Remember that the image is a whole, not just parts!
4. Refined that sketch and I lowered the opacity --
5. Shading layer two at full opacity so you can see the details
6. Shading layer two with lowered opacity
7. Highlight at full opacity
8. Highlight at lowered opacity -- Bottom shows Yours vs Mine (big and small) so you can see the difference directly :)

Please let me know if this helped or if you have absolutely any questions at all :)

that looks great!

It really helps to see it step by step and to see the difference between yours and mine.

You made him look amazing!

I’m gonna get after it again and try again using your help and pointers. I agree that i need to take a step back and think of it as the whole instead of just parts— i definitely go piece by piece when shading.

Thank you <3

It's really easy to do that, especially with a full body. I catch myself even still doing it now, even though it's been pointed out to me countless times to not do it =P

Feel free to poke me (here or comments or smail) if you need anything else when you start working on it again :)

Username --- Link to the overlay(s) --- old ---> new Link to the CI --- CI was okay

What do you need help with --- I did this as a commission, but it's really my first time with a wig. I'd created the wig to match the pink/orange color scheme of , which I'd made just prior. Since many of the recent (at the time I did it) items and revamps were quite soft, I went for soft in order to future-proof the item. I realized a week later, however, it was too soft and probably not detailed enough. She submitted it after some time, and unsurprisingly it was rejected.

So I changed it to try to address the issues mentioned in the rejection. The highlights/shadows are less monotone, more detail and contrast added to try to kill the "soft" look, I tried to add darker hues to eliminate the sticker effect, and the shadows to the right side of the HA are more pronounced to indicate the global lightsource.

However now the overlay is quite different. I still don't know whether it would be accepted, and the releaser doesn't like it anymore. That's kind of the biggest problem, since she paid for it back in May when I first did it. If anyone has the time, some advice on how to fix up this overlay while being closer to the original would be greatly appreciated. If I need to totally scrap the shading and start over from flats, please feel free to be harsh.

Was there a denial --- • OVERLAY: Artwork does not match Subeta style, quality, or level of detail in general • OVERLAY: Gradient or soft shaded instead of cel-shaded • OVERLAY: Pillow shading • OVERLAY: Sticker effect: flatness due to black lineart around the edges and colored or missing lineart inside • OVERLAY: Gray artwork, possibly from shading with black and/or highlighting with white

Optional Can we take a look at the PSD files --- No.. it's kind of a mess from redoing it between PS and Krita... Can we redline --- Yes please!

Ugh, wigs are hard! I personally struggle with them, but I think I can offer at least a little advice. I think your edited version is headed in the right direction, but you went overboard a bit. The shadows are now very harsh, which I assume is why your releaser isn't happy.

Honestly, I don't think you're too far off from acceptance on the original art, despite all the denials. We have tons of softly shaded wigs on site, after all. :p Here are a few tips I think will help (with a handy visual aid).

O: Your original art.

1: Add in a little additional shading using the correct light source, but more importantly you need more definition. This does not necessarily mean amping up the shading. You need some additional darker (but not black - try a deep red or magenta) lineart that defines the dark area beneath/between strands, around the bangs, and around the base of the tails at the scalp. Make sure to bring some of your outer lineart inward as you define areas, this is what gets rid of sticker effect.

2: Overall lighten (I used a soft pinkish yellow on a Soft Light layer) on the scalp, the tops of tails, and a few areas on the tails themselves that would naturally receive more light. This soft, broad highlight helps soften the overall look without making it blurry or painterly, AND will help pump up the color to get rid of the perceived grayness of the shading.

3. Final sharp highlights. Just a few strands where the highlights would be strongest, on the scalp/part area, and a few in the tails. Staff seems to like more individual strands in wig coloring, rather than larger blocks of color. It's all a stylistic thing, though.

I hope this is clear and provides a little help! Let me know if you have questions and I'll do my best to clarify.