minka_g, posts by tag: {contest - LiveJournal (original) (raw)

rukitoaoi_nil is currently running a graphic contest to make a banner/layout/wallpaper etc for a AoixRuki fic. I was really creative and chose to work with my own story.

Before the image, credits are in order:

Original images used were a major bitch. Ruki was all grainy so I had to hand-smooth him out and Aoi was… well, just annoying and bright. Images were taken from jrock_scans ages ago. The background is made of a mixture of textures and layers taken from various stock images and then some heavy brush work. For details, please refer to my Credits post which can be found here.

The kanji in the top right corner translates into Yakuza (here) and I have no clue what the rest says that is burnt into the picture. ;)

Lyrics are from the song Omerta by Katatonia. For those that don’t know, ‘omerta’ is the name given to the code of silence in Mafia gangs. Not quite Yakuza, but close enough…

And now, on to the image. Of course, being me, it’s dirty, it’s grungy and (hopefully) has that element of gangster suave.

Click for full image (it is kinda large so would soooo kill my layout)

Not overly slashy, but then again neither is the story. Any of you reading the fic will know the great battles I am having with my muses and actually getting them to take it off and get it on, so to speak. My Ruki muse is threatening legal action… ;)

So anyway, that ruled out using any already made manips as most are filled with yaoi goodness. My first attempt was a lot different and while it turned out really cool they weren’t even touching so I’ll just use that as a poster for a chapter later on. Finally, I came up with this idea which meant that I had to start from scratch and since I’ve never done any actual manipulation before, it was both hard and a major learning curve. Let’s just say that I have a whole new respect for people who are able to do this sort of thing so easily.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions and anything else is greatly welcomed and appreciated.