New Wallpaper - Squiggly

[ruel24]

Yeah, the names aren't that inventive. lol Anyway, here it is:



Full size: http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/8824/squiggly.png

[ah7013]

Wow, nice work.

[Sfiet_Konstantin]

Yeah
Nice, but just a little too blue.
Maybe darker and with less contrast ?

[ruel24]

I changed the background color to a gradient using a color directly from the Mageia pallete. Personlly, I'm not a big fan of such unsaturated colors. My original idea was for a wallpaper that looked more festive as a contrast to the fall/winter time where everything is so gloomy.

Just for you:



Full size: http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/656/ ... ymuted.png

[Sfiet_Konstantin]

Why not try some festive colors then ?
Orange ? Red ? Because blue is very clean and calm, maybe cold, but it is nearly impossible to have something festive (i think)

[ruel24]

Now, I'm getting the feeling you're just being critical. Listen, can you draw at all? If you can't do better than someone else (and even if you can, it's rather taboo to do so) don't criticize someone else. It takes hours upon hours to draw seemingly simple things, and often days. Lots of little details to get in there. Then, I might just scrap it and start something new. If it isn't good enough for you, don't put it on your computer. I don't get paid to do this and what I draw is not up for discussion. Besides, you clearly miss the entire point of it. It's festive within a constraint. That constraint is the color blue. Blue is the color of this distro. It's a muted and unsaturated palette, to which I'm not exactly ecstatic about, but it's blue, never the less. So, within that constraint, I decided to do a simple background that is more festive, hence the color choices of light to royal blue and some purple over a more muted gradient. But the focus is on the glass logo not the background. The background merely provides one with a slight distraction only to focus the viewer's eyes on the crown jewel - the glassy logo. The only reason the busy-ness in the background exists is because it accentuates the glassy effect. Personally, I like my backgrounds simple because busy just doesn't work well for a desktop background with icons. Simple and to the point is my aim - simulating textures and materials with FOSS tools (mainly Inkscape) without cheating and using Photoshop layering effects or something. Again, I draw for my own purpose and share it with anyone who decides they want it. If you don't, there's no one twisting anyone's arm. It's that simple. However, if you can do better, give it a shot.

[doktor5000]

Orange ? Red ? Because blue is very clean and calm, maybe cold, but it is nearly impossible to have something festive (i think)

Because he already hit the chosen Mageia color palette exactly right?

Mageia_colour_palette_Poster2Pallet.png (77.06 KiB) Viewed 5294 times

[Sfiet_Konstantin]

Oh right, I don't know that the Mageia palette is quite restrictive.
And sorry for being so critical. I only wanted to give my point of view to help improving the background, and may have it included in mageia 2 (why not).
And yes, I don't know how to draw at all, so I won't do any better.
So, I apologize.

[wobo]

Of course, this color palette is only for the official backgrounds. For additional backgrounds you are free to select pink striped brown or yellow shaded green as well

[schultz]

Guess what Schultz is going to say?

Can you post it here please: http://www.flickr.com/groups/mageia-2-artwork/

Although in fairness you have already put some very nice work there.

[ruel24]

Original, or darker?

[Max]

Why not both?

[schultz]

yep both is good.

And please give feedback on everyone else's work there and comments to your own feedback.

[ruel24]

I try to stop by and give feedback on my own, but as for others, I don't like being critical. Everyone has different talent levels. I'm certainly not the most talented guy out there. I just don't believe in criticizing and it's too easy to do when you give feedback.

Please bear in mind that, since I still have all the source files, I can make changes easily. If something is a little too much, I could change it and make it more palatable.

[schultz]

I know that it is easy to criticize, and if I have in any comments, its is meant constructively.

But any feedback is great, it just helps to know what people want.

[Max]

I know that it is easy to criticize, and if I have in any comments, its is meant constructively.

But any feedback is great, it just helps to know what people want.

Yes, we want feedback, but constructive feedback.
Speaking for myself, but probably others as well, I went for what I thought would look nice. After some prompting I went with something totally different and way "out there". It turns out that that one is what people like best. It just goes to show that we are often not the best critics of our own work.
So please, drop by and provide feedback. This way we'll know what the Mageia community likes, and not just what the artwork team likes.

Also, I have all the source files from my artwork too, so changes are relatively easy.

[schultz]

I know that it is easy to criticize, and if I have in any comments, its is meant constructively.

But any feedback is great, it just helps to know what people want.

Yes, we want feedback, but constructive feedback.
Speaking for myself, but probably others as well, I went for what I thought would look nice. After some prompting I went with something totally different and way "out there". It turns out that that one is what people like best. It just goes to show that we are often not the best critics of our own work.
So please, drop by and provide feedback. This way we'll know what the Mageia community likes, and not just what the artwork team likes.

Also, I have all the source files from my artwork too, so changes are relatively easy.

+1, phrased perfectly.

[wobo]

"Constructive" feedback is not easy. Neither in the technical area nor in artwork. In the techie area it may be constructive when a non-tech user just writes that "the package does not work with my foo chip". In artwork it is much more difficult because the judgement (and so the feedback) is based on individual taste. A good example are these squiggly graphics. I am sure they are excellent - I do not like any of them. But having not the slightest bit of graphic skills nor talent I would not know what to change or improve to make these graphics look better for me. That's why I only give feedback for graphics I like, saying "I like it".

[schultz]

Fair enough, however, saying I like it is still useful.

And while it may not be obvious what you like/don't like, surely there is an underlying pattern somewhere, be it light/dark, or plain/complex. It doesn't have to be specific, but an idea.

The other thing about this is that the feedback doesn't need to be from your personal point of view, but from how you see Mageia 2 looking.

[ruel24]

I tried to get feedback in a thread I started, but it just got looked at with no responses. Personally, the most beautiful distro release ever was Linux Mint 9. It would be difficult to duplicate, as the dark color scheme doesn't work as well with all the compositing going on in KDE Plasma. The opaque look makes it work in Linux Mint 9. (click on it to see a bigger image)

[isadora]

Totally agree, .......... as if it were even for it's codename.

[ruel24]

Totally agree, .......... as if it were even for it's codename.

LOL