Katsuko's Icons and Artwork

It's been a while since I posted here, but... yeah. Too much other stuff going on.

At any rate, I have about a dozen icons that I made for myself recently plus a manga colourization that I did for shits and giggles while I wasn't feeling well. I figured it might be kind to share the icons, just in case anyone actually digs 'em.

6 xxxHOLiC
[1] Watanuki
[5] Doumeki/Watanuki
4 Sims 2
[4] miscellaneous sims
1 Spike: After the Fall
[1] speech bubble

Notes:
1. All icons are up for grabs.
2. Textless icons are not bases; please do not add to them!
3. Please credit as either katsuko or katsukoarts.
4. Image and text credits are likewise behind the cut tag.

( xxxHOLiC / Sims 2 / S:AtF )

( xxxHOLiC Chapter 104 Splash Page )

Every story has to start somewhere.

( 14 Images and Story Here )

Okay, you already know I've completely left canon behind where it comes to my character sims with Misa (although I've left tiny hints of her canon background). So when I make new Death Note sims based on Yagami Light and L Lawliet, you know damned well canon is not an issue.

( Background and 17 Images )

Thanks for reading this babble! But still, they're the most fun sims I've ever had!

Brief intro: Recently, I purchased The Sims 2 Deluxe, and have been having fun just messing around with it. Not long ago, I decided to start a legacy family in Strangetown. I'm letting them alone for a bit (although the Joneses will be appearing sooner or later) since I realized the custom skin will be inherited by all the children and the only genetic diversity will be with their features; plus, I got it in my head after seeing so many Death Note sims to try something of my own. A pseudo-legacy (i.e. I'm ignoring the rules of the challenge save for trying to get the family through ten generations) with one Misa Amane as the founder.

Now, for the record, I'm using the InSimenator for a lot of things, such as changing appearances and keeping the family pretty rich, and changing turn-ons and turn-offs where needed. Other than that, I'm letting things run as they will. And I apologize for some of the picture quality, I'm working with the in-game camera and Elements as my editor. Hopefully future installments will be somewhat better quality! I'll stfu now and let you read on.


( 28 pictures and story under the cut )

I finally have enough up for another update. Yes, I'm stupidly pleased because of this. It's also one of my largest updates for some time: 14 icons and 4 bases. Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you; I really am including four of my bases in this update.

2 Doctor Who
[2] Donna Noble
12 Death Note
[9] Light
[1] L
[1] Misa
[1] Light/Misa
Bases
[4] Death Note

Notes:
1. All icons are up for grabs.
2. Textless icons are not bases; please do not add to them!
3. Bases are in their own row at the bottom of the table and are marked with the notation "B" as well as a number designation.
4. Please credit as either katsuko or katsukoarts.
5. Image and text credits are likewise behind the cut tag.

( Icon and Base Collection )

Just a few today. Three of them I made for my own entertainment, the other six were entries to dn_stillness. The credits makes note of which contest they appeared in.

8 Death Note
[3] Misa
[2] Light
[2] Light/Misa
[1] Light/Misa/Ryuuk
1 Sandman
[1] Death

Notes:
1. All icons are up for grabs.
2. Textless icons are not bases; please do not add to them!
3. Please credit as either katsuko or katsukoarts.
4. Image and text credits are likewise behind the cut tag.

( Death and Notebooks )

I recently (read: about a month ago) joined a couple of Death Note icontest communities: dn_stillness and dn_lims. As a result I've made a pretty good batch of icons (Stillness has a limit set of three per person while LIMS has one per challenge arc) that have already been through voting and are safe for me to share now; I was eliminated from LIMS in the first week but I've stayed for voting and a second chance in the next arc, and I have three icons currently up for a challenge on Stillness that won't be appearing here for a good while.

Notes:
1. All icons are up for grabs.
2. Textless icons are not bases; please do not add to them!
3. Please credit as either katsuko or katsukoarts.
4. Image and text credits are likewise behind the cut tag.

( Icontest Collection )

It's official, the YGO muse has died a horrible death. Apparently my new muse wrote its name in the Death Note. Anyway, as the subject bar clearly states, this time around I'm bringing you 13 Death Note icons.

[5] Light
[1] Light/Misa
[1] L/Misa
[1] L/Light/Misa
[5] Misa

Notes:
1. All icons are up for grabs.
2. Textless icons are not bases; please do not add to them!
3. Please credit as either katsuko or katsukoarts.
4. Image and text credits are likewise behind the cut tag.

( Death Note )

It's been a while since I've done one of these, hasn't it? Way too long, maybe! Anyways, got a bit of a mix this time around~

4 Yuugiou
[2] Yami no Bakura
[1] Jyonouchi/Mai
[1] Yami no Yuugi/Jyonouchi
3 Doctor Who
[2] Nine/Jack
[1] Ten/Jack/Rose
19 Death Note
[2] L/Light
[17] Light

Notes:
1. All icons are up for grabs.
2. Textless icons are not bases; please do not add to them!
3. Please credit as either katsuko or katsukoarts.
4. Image and text credits are likewise behind the cut tag.

( Icon Grab Bag )

( Click Here )

For the record, this is the fanmix that I made in August and have finally got set up on the Asylum for download without having to rely on YouSendIt or the ilk. Files in the .zip include the cover artwork and all 17 songs.

Hey, all. Just thought I'd throw out a header post here for the hell of it. Granted, these aren't anywhere near all the headers I've made for my journal (one of which hasn't appeared anywhere yet... but will after I return home this evening ♥), but just a smattering amount. I've also included character journal headers, in case anyone either really likes what I've done with said header or wants to use it for a character journal of his or her own.

Notes:
1. All of these headers are up for grabs.
2. If you snag any, please comment to let me know.
3. Please credit if you do use any of these, either as katsuko or katsukoarts.

( Header Set 1 by Katsuko )

Greetings, all. I was recently playing around in Photoshop again, working on an icon for apollymi when I stumbled across this style. I initially created it using C2, but decided to try it in Elements and found out I get the same look. So I would venture a guess that this can probably be done in older versions of Photoshop as well.

How to go from this to this using Photoshop Elements or Photoshop C2.

( A thief and a stealer of souls )

I've been a member of ygo_chorus since about mid-August, I believe, and have entered nine of the challenges. And just to show off some of the various styles I've tried for each challenge, I'm releasing all of the icontest entries I've done thus far; you'll note that two of the blocks say that the image is coming soon, and that's because voting has not yet been completed on the current challenge. When everything is tallied, I'll make the image visible. Edit 11/9/2006: Challenge 70 icons are now visible.

Notes:
1. All icons are up for grabs.
2. Please credit as either katsuko or katsukoarts.
3. Image and text credits are likewise behind the cut tag.

( The Icontest Collection )

Hey, all. I know, it's been a little while, but I have a little something to post today. I got a bit bored and started playing with gradients, so I figured I'd share some of what I came up with.

Notes:
1. All of these gradients are up for grabs.
2. If you snag any, please comment to let me know.
3. Use of these gradients is encouraged, but if you use them in a tutorial please include a section that says "gradient by katsuko" or "gradient from katsukoarts."
4. There is no spoon.

( Gradient Set 1 by KatsukoArts )

[Last linked tutorial, folks. From here on in, it's all the new stuff!]

How to go from this to using Photoshop CS.

( Faded Photographs )

P.S.: Anyone intested in seeing the header image that I used the same technique on, click here to see it. And yep, the icon used on this post is the one I mentioned that placed second in ygo_chorus' Challenge 64. I'm still not completely sure how/why it did so well, but I love this look....

[Note: The following text if word-for-word what I originally wrote for the tutorial. And yeah, the icon I wrote said tutorial for was an icontest entry that didn't place ^^]

Well, the last challenge from ygo_chorus was a good opportunity for me to experiment a bit with a picture that had been in my head for some time. I also tried out a new technique and I was very pleased with how it turned out. So of course I had to share it ^_^

How to go from this to using Photoshop CS.

( Fake Cut to Original Tutorial on katsuko )

[Note: New text here. I was a bit disappointed with where the icon ended up in the Chorus standing, but my Challenge 64 icon performed quite well. And the style I used for that is the subject of the last linked-from-personal-journal tutorial I have to link to ♥]

Tutorial to go from this (original from Kokoro no Naka) to this using Photoshop CS. Other versions should work as well.

( I think it's pretty easy, anyway )

Yes, that's a fake-cut. It makes more sense to just do a link to the original tutorial rather than copy and paste it here in it's entirity.

I have two more tutorials to repost here; after that any tutorials will be posted directly into the community ^_^

Welcome to KatsukoArts, yet another hint of my frigging insanity on the web.

For the most part, my personal journal katsuko is locked down to Friends Only status. The only real public entries I make are fiction announcements and things that I want to share with the entire LJ community. Recently, this has included icon tutorials.

So, I figured, why not just bite the bullet and make a journal--or, even better, a community--just for my non-writing creative outlets?

Thus this community was born. To start off with it'll be links back to my previous icon tutorials that are located in my personal journal, but all new tutorials will appear herein. As will any fanart I create of my own, wallpapers, and fanmixes (and yes, that means Unpredictable will have a new home here as well; the files are hopefully going to be uploaded to my personal site in the near future so they'll be on unlimited download).

That said, enjoy your stay!