Electivire GIMP Sig Tutorial

Hey there, this is my first attempt at a GIMP tutorial so I may be hazy and vague at times, but try to stay with me. This tutorial is intended for people who have a good amount of experience with making sigs, and don't have to follow me word for word to get a good sig.

Step 1. Paste your render in. Then make a new layer and hide the render layer. now, fill up the new layer by pasting your render in multiple times.

Step 2. Take out your smudge tool and smudge back and forth in the direction that you want the flow of the sig.

Step3. Duplicate this background layer. Got to Filters>Blur>Motion Blur>Linear. Set the length to about 50 or so, and the angle so that it too, follows the flow of the sig. Set this layer to Soft Light at 100% Opacity. You will get something like this.


Step 4. Make a new layer. Completely brush over it with sparks. Desaturate this layer by going to Colors>Desaturate. Leave the settings how they are. Set this layer to Saturation at about 25.5% opacity. You should get something like this.


Step 5. Unhide your render layer and move it to the top. Duplicate this layer. On the duplicate, blur it out completely by taking out the blur tool and setting the rate to 100% and the scale to 10.00. Move this layer under the original render. This makes the render seem a little bigger, helps it blend a little, and gives it a better presence. Leave it at Normal and 100% Opacity.

Step 6. Sharpen where you want your focal to be. In my case, it was the lighting and right hand. Next, blur the edges of the render until it blends in nicely.

Step 7. I personally, use this technique in many of my sigs. Anyways, what you do is make a new layer and brush in intricate patterns with a white, 3-5 pixel brush. Then, you take out your smudge tool, and smudge it until you can barely see it. This makes everything a little bit lighter. Leave this layer at Normal at 100% Opacity. You should get something like this.


Step 8. Now, it's c4d time. Paste in several c4d's that match the flow and theme of your sig. In my case, I chose ones that went at a slight angle from the lower left to the upper right, and had an "electric" feel. Now, go to Colors>Colorize and mess around with the settings until they match your sig's main colors and focal point. You can set these layers to whatever looks best.

Step 9. Paste in another c4d, but make sure that it has very good texture. Take this layer and go to Noise>Pick and maximize the settings. Set this layer to Value at 10%. This adds a bit of texture to the sig.

Step 10. Anyways, make another layer for a different c4d. Make sure that this one is in front of your render and also has a lot of texture. Go to Colors>Colorize and mess around with the settings until it is completely black. Then, do another linear blur with the same angle as before and the length at 15-20. Set this layer to dodge. If done correctly, this will make your render a little brighter and have better colors. You should get something like this.


Step 11. Use a soft white brush and brush around where you want your lighting to be. Set this layer to Soft Light at 100% Opacity.

Step 11a. In my case, I couldn't use a white FG to Transparent for lighting because my light was coming from the electricity. If you can, make a new layer, and use a white radial FG to Transparent Gradient where you want the light to come from. Mess around with the Opacity and layer settings until you get something that you like.

Step 12. Set your color to black. Go to Gradients and choose an FG to Transparent Gradient. Set this to Radial. Then, drag it in the opposite place from where the light comes from (this means that if your light is coming from the upper left, drag this gradient from the lower right corner to where the light ends). Mess around with Opacity and layer settings until you get something that you like.

Step 13. Here I added some text. You don't have to do this, but if you do, make sure that the color matches the sig and that it follows the flow too.

Step 14. Now for some Gradient Maps. Yay, I lurve Gradient maps! Go to Layers>New from Visible. Set your FG color to an orange-ish color and your BG color to a Purple-ish color. Go to Colors>Maps>Gradient Map. Set this layer to Soft Light at a little under 20%. For Gradient Map #2, o to Layers>New from Visible. Set your gradient to Full Saturation Spectrum and make another Gradient Map. Set this layer to Soft Light at about 10% Opacity. For Gradient Map #3, go to Layers>New from Visible. Use the default Gradient (Black and White) and repeat the Gradient Map. Set this layer to Soft Light at a little under 20%. And for the final Gradient Map, o to Layers>New from Visible. Set your Gradient to Tropical Colors and make another Gradient Map. Set this to the same settings as the Black and White Gradient Map layer.

Step 15 (optional). I made a new layer behind my two render layers. I used a white, small square brush, set the spacing to about 150, and stroked it so that it followed the flow. Set this layer to Overlay at 50%.

Not that hard, right? just kidding. Here is my result.

I don't know if you will get something exactly like mine, I made the sig, then the tut. As for the weird transparency around it, don't ask. Just, don't. I have no idea how that happened.

It came out better than I thought it would good job.

Not bad Apollo.

Thanks

That's why my tutorial is awesome.

Not to take anything away from you as a graphic artist Palmer but it's okay...