It hasn't always been a manip. Only the most recent is. Sometimes it's been straight up Arwen. Sometimes Arwen with a non-LotR background. But any way it's done, it's always supposed to look like Arwen. So it doesn't matter if it's manipulated or not.


But if you want to do prototypes and we decide, you can do it that way.

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going on a journey through my old claims

Ok, well I had some free time today and I also thought about one thing that might look good.

I think it was decided that green would be the way to go, and I know a lot of people mentioned using Arwen from the coronation scene. Well good pictures of that scene are hard to come by so this is pretty much I believe anyway, the only picture of Arwen in the green gown that can be used.

My idea for the header is at the moment, utilizing this one image and setting it against a forest setting. Getting the unusual colour gown to match or at least complement the forest setting was difficult, but I know now it can be done, if another forest setting is required. Maybe I could be more adventurous with my trees if you like this idea. Also, I would like to have the four Hobbits walking through the forest (with this design I think they would look good to the left of Arwen's shoulder in the bright patch of light). This would tie in with the Hobbit theme without moving away from Arwen. Also, this is just a rough edit so if you see bits I haven't erased yet, or things I need to fix, I wasn't being too picky. I assure you it will look better in the end. The first image is a lighter version and the second darker. I was trying to see which shade complimeted the colours best.

Also I would like to add something like the icicles currently seen on the header, maybe ivy or some flowers or just something. A little corner decoration. I haven't looked at fonts yet.





Also if you note it's pretty simple, so whether people would want textures or not as they would be moving away from the traditional look which I think we're hoping to keep?

Anyway, let me know what you think. And please be honest (I know you will be) because I'd rather know if I'm going in the right direction.
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^ By me and my SS *squiggle hugs*

Oooh, shiny *stares* I like where you're going with this! The idea of having the hobbits in the background is great to tie the traditional Arwen-o-centric look in with The Hobbit. And green would be quite pretty. It's tough with the coronation dress, though, because (as you said) the picture you used is one of the only good-quality ones out there. The problem with it (because I just pulled up the original image to take a look =P) is that there's a ton of missing color information, particularly on the sleeve - all it's become is washed-out white. There's also the issue with the washed-out white bits of Arwen's hair, where's hard to erase the background while making it look natural. Have you thought of taking a picture of one of Arwen's other dresses and shifting the colors to green-land (Greenland...hahahahaha)? For instance, her blue-silver Requiem dress, or even the famous blood-red dress, would probably be pretty easy to switch, and then you could get everyone in an uproar thinking there was another costume out there. As I said, I do love the coronation dress, but it's so hard to find good pictures of it (and the one we have isn't actually very green) that I don't know if you should think of it as your only option.

Of the two versions you posted, I like the second one more - I think it blends better - but be careful about too much clipping in the dark areas of the trees and around Arwen's face. Where are you looking for foresty images, out of curiosity?

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I like I must admit I've been sorta on the edge about the shade of green we're using, but this looks great. I agree with Arwen that the second one is better, possibly because I think darker greens are prettier than light shades

Also, I love the idea with the hobbits - good thinking

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by Lembas

Thanks a lot for your comments Arwen.

I agree about the sleeve, it was very difficult to keep the colour there (not that there was a great deal anyway ) and have a glowy feel at the same time. I really wanted a glowy feel. I did actually take down the tones quite a lot, and then built them back up again with the different layers. Taking the tones down really restored the colour of the dress but made Arwen look very far removed from a pale Elf. I actually know what to do regarding the colour of her hair, I tried taking the brightness down and it became the same colour as the hair around it... I just didn't do it on the prototypes. But I agree, it is a pain that it's there anyway. The worst part was erasing the background of the white bits which isn't something I'm completely happy with.

I was thinking once I saw the problems with this dress that maybe using of her other dresses might be better. Also, there would be more choice regarding facical expressions and positions as well.

I was looking on dA for the forest images. It was pretty much one of the first ones I saw, so I thought I'd go for it and see. As I said, I reckion I could have been more exciting in my choice, but I thought it would do for a start.

Thanks again for your comments, I really appreciate it. You too Ana! Glad we are turning you to the Green Side!

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^ By me and my SS *squiggle hugs*

^Glad to be turned

Just a thought... the scene where Arwen is reading about the Anduril poem, isn't she reading a green book? Somehow I always think green when I think the Hobbit, and since we're going with green, would it be an idea to have an image of her reading that book in the header image? It's up to you of course, JF, I just thought I'd share my idea

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by Lembas

http://arwen-undomiel.com/images/hr_ttt.html
http://arwen-undomiel.com/images/hr_rotk.html
^There are some high-res pictures of Arwen you could use if you just wanted to change the dress color.

And I like the concept. Also, ivy would be a really nice touch - also if you wanted to put the links on some stretch of ivy or plants.

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going on a journey through my old claims

I'm sure whatever you decide on will be great If you have time, try http://www.sxc.hu for forest images. That's where I've found most of the backdrops for A-U headers in the past. So much prettyness!

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I like the second one better as well.

But aren't there any kind of screencaps from the movies we could use? I know you only really see her from the waist up in the moving for the most part, but surely it wouldn't be too hard to get good quality screencaps to manip. And if we can't find them online, it wouldn't be too hard to make some ourselves, I would think.

But I attempted one myself, if that's alright. But I don't have a proper photoshop, so use a simple photo editing site. And in my attempt to make her kinda glowy and better quality, I think I made her dress too green. But I basically put Arwen to a background.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g111/ ... titled.jpg


But another idea... what about using a picture from the Fellowship of the Rings.. the scene where they first show Frodo reading the book, leaning against a tree for our background hobbit?

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

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^ By me and my SS *squiggle hugs*

Love love love the hobbits in the background! Didn't notice them at first, but they're a fantastic touch. The bluebells are lovely, but if you're going to go with more of a multi-colored look (which totally has precedent in most past A-U layouts), maybe Arwen's dress doesn't need to be green after all. Really, if it's already decided that the main color scheme of the site is going to be green, all that means is that the header has to have enough green in it (or even just colors that would compliment the green) to blend with the site. Right now your demo header is green-green-green-green-green...bluebells! Maybe leaving Arwen's dress as is would bring out the blue more while still giving you the wonderful green of the forest?

That said, if you really want to go for Arwen in a green dress, here are a few images.

<a href="http://i53.tinypic.com/2hdwvbb.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/2hdwvbb_th.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> <a href="http://i54.tinypic.com/2lnh2co.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/2lnh2co_th.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> <a href="http://i55.tinypic.com/2d795r8.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/2d795r8_th.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> <a href="http://i53.tinypic.com/290ssuq.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/290ssuq_th.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> <a href="http://i52.tinypic.com/2aan69y.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/2aan69y_th.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> <a href="http://i53.tinypic.com/153ut7t.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/153ut7t_th.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

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Oooh, I love that second pic Arwen! So beautiful!
And JF, the hobbits are such a nice touch in that blend I like the bluebells too, but they look a bit out of place when everything else is green, so I think if you keep them I agree with Arwen that the dress should be a different color as well.

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by Lembas

I agree. Either it should all be on the green/yellow side, or there needs to be more "off" colors. I personally loved the previous forest picture. But again, it's up to you.


I'm not sure what you mean by the link reading down the trunk? You mean, all the links like "films" "gallery" etc? Because I think those would be too many to read down. And we'd probably want to keep those consistent across the bottom.

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going on a journey through my old claims

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^ By me and my SS *squiggle hugs*

JF, these are beautiful! I personally like the first option [non-blurred] because the text is easier to read. Also, I have no experience with PSP or graphics making, but I agree with you, it's better without the ivy.

JF, that looks so much better with the dress closer to the original color! And you did a great job matching the hue to the bluebells

Background, blurred vs. non-blurred - right now, I think the first version looks a little overly sharp - you're starting to get some sharpening-created graininess to what's otherwise a very soft and delicate image. Maybe try sizing the original image down, but without sharpening it afterward, or using the unsharpen mask on a super-low setting? The blurred background effect is interesting, but if you were to go in that direction, I might try gaussian rather than motion blur since the streaks can be distracting.

Tree-ivy - in practice, the idea's great, and it helps blend the trunk with the rest of the graphic. The brushes are unfortunately a little flat, though, all basically the same color green without the perspective necessary to make them look like they're wrapped around the trunk. Maybe try finding a photographic image of ivy and erasing the background to fit it around the tree? Or find an image of an ivy-wrapped tree and use it in place of the tree already in the image?

Text - love the font. Would definitely recommend NOT making it green, though. One of my biggest self-criticisms for the current layout is that the site title doesn't stand out nearly enough. Site regulars will be able to read it; newbies, not so much. Maybe try more of a screened effect, or even a white-to-light-blue type of gradient to tie the text in with the bluebells/dress. A faint bevel could help it seem less flat as well.

I know we all love to play around with blending modes, and soft light or overlay are great ways to get brighter colors and contrast, but Arwen's hair distracts me a little right now. It's hard with dark hair to preserve texture, but its solid dark mass quality makes it an instant focal point right now. How about lightening the hair up a little before you apply blending modes, so you preserve some of the shadows and highlights? You can also think about the lighting in the background and how it would fall on Arwen's hair were she really in the forest. Or you could try darkening the background right around her head a bit so it blends more naturally.

Hope I'm not being too harsh. You're doing great work, and I just find it really exciting and want to help out

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