Lacus Clyne

I'm thinking it should replace my current "Vlad the Impaler" sig. What do you think?
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m.../lacuscopy.gif

uhm
i dont like it
no blending whatsoever
the light source is not substantial
and the bg
eh

What about this?
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...ysk/lacus2.gif

i dont know exactly what to do about the bg i tried lightening the load of it by blurring and erasing some.
or
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...lacus3copy.gif

better.
Try blending the render (her hair mostly) and making it less blurry. It was good (as far as blurry-ness) in the first one.

I dont think the cinema border works here.

i think i got it right this time.
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...acus32copy.gif

whoa whoa whoa. easy captain.
still needs the 1 px black border.
the bg looks a lot better, but it looks like you just ran a 50% OP eraser over her ponytails
start again from the original.
try to get the bg like it is again
take a small soft brush (13 px 0% hardness) and set it to about 33% OP then just dab away at the tips and around the edges.

Just a ?, What is your smudged layer mode set to?
Try linear dodge.

once again, another try.
#1
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...ACUS21copy.gif
or #2
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...ACUS22copy.gif
and for your question, i had 1 layer on linear dodge, then duped it to overlay, lighten or screen i think.

ok enough with the gradient maps, they make your sig look hazy and unfocused.
I'd say (in a not-sober state) to just go back to the original image
blend the hair
do summin with the bg
and add c4d's

lol dont think i can really comment but i like the last v1 the best.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...lacus3copy.gif
This one was my fav. i think the cenima border works fine but blend the render more in with a soft eraser