Sal's Realm Newspaper

Graphics

Well, I'm not the section head for graphics, but I'm still here you welcome you all to the graphics section of this month's issue. For this issue, we have an interview with Rezolution_X , who was interviewed by Red , about his talent and history with graphics. We also have the usual recognition for Signature of the Week winners, and the Large Art, Signature, Pixel, and Tutorial of the month. That's all for this issue, I hope you enjoy the interview.

Note: All of the graphics displayed on this page are copyrighted by their owners. You may NOT do anything to these graphics, including, but not limited to, using, editing them, or claiming them as your own, without the consent of the owner.

- Mrcsupertrain

Signature of the Month

Congratulations Cookthechef!

Large Piece of the Month

Congratulations Cookthechef!

(Please click here to view it.)

Pixel of the Month

Congratulations Doomcreater0!

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Interview With Rezolution_X - By: Red

Who here remembers Rezolution_X, retired Graphics Moderator? After a long time absence from Sal's, we managed to track him down, tie him up, and wrestle some long-wanted answers from him. In this exclusive interview, we'll get a peek at his history at the forum, as well as and bits and bytes of his real life and a few pointers about graphics.

In his own words, the Cliff's Notes version of his history at the forum:

Hmm.. I came here around.. 3-4 years ago? *Checks the old forum for join date* 19-February 05 =)

I was still playing runescape a bit then, but was using a different helpsite until a new quest came out and Slams was the first to have a guide for it (Oooh.. Anyone still call this place Slams or am I old fashioned?)

Anywow, I thought I'd check out the forum, and it seemed a WHOLE lot friendlier and better layed out than the others, so I joined and checked out the GFX forum. It was a little bare, so I started by making a tutorial for Photoshop, and instantly got an admin compliment it (and sticky it), as well as a few members, so I figured I'd make a few more. I ended up making around 5 or so over the first day or two, and then "Poof", I got a PM from Hex (Neverdead) and checked the GFX section, and it seemed I had my own sub-forum "Rezolution_X's Tutorials". Then a few imfamous members came (Skandal, Drok and Zombie_Kid are the most notable, Skandie and Drok rocked though)

A few weeks passed, and Skandal and I had set up the graphics team (Which soon had a few more members doing requests) and just came on each day to find more and more members getting into graphics. About 3 or so weeks after joining, I got promotoed to GFX mod along with Skandal and kind of just hit it out and rode the wave.

I think the most memorable moments have been in the Signature Requests. The Sig team seemed to race each other at times to make sigs, and we managed to get some (at the time) pretty good sigs in a matter of 3-4 minutes sometimes

Then there were all the "colorful" members we have had, some great, some...not so much, and a whole bunch of fun times on #Slams (before a big controversy about not being able to properly regulate its use here on the forums, so it switched to #Novus etc. and just became an awesome hangout)

So, what about your real life? In your profile, it says you're born in '87, which would make you...

19, Turning 20 in November.. Urrk... *Feels old*. (I'm) originally from South Australia - moved to Victoria when I was 6. Been here since. I finished all my studies. VCE (basically a Highschool pass for Americans, year 12) and a few diplomas (Information Technology, Web Design and Multimedia)... Kind of thinking of doing a 3D Animation course now (Australia is awesome at 3D on the world stage ^.^)

And on your spare time?

I draw Manga (JapAnime that isn't animated to those who don't know, and, not very well or often) Run, Skateboard, Do Yoga, Meditation. I'm trying to teach myself Japanese and then there's my part-time job and friends.

When asked to show some of his manga drawings, he replies,

Well.. I can but they kinda suck (And all the ones I have scanned are old... I should possibly practice more)

Moving on to the topic of graphics. He tells that he started making them only 4-5 weeks before joining Sal's, but not anymore.

Urrr.. I think the last real graphic I made was around 2 years ago lol. Everything since then has been crummy stuff I've done for friends (Basically, I used brushes that I didn't make, less than 2-3 Adjustment layers, no channel altering, and no real blending, so I think I'd get my butt whooped by Slams top artists now lol)

We ask him if he has any tips for newbies, and if he can recommend any sites for them to look at.

Don't start unless you're having fun. If you're doing it and not having fun, chances are your work will be horrible. Try not to copy anyones style. I tend to refuse to "Teach" people the "Right" way to do things, because each person does things their own way. Just stick to your style and ignore those who tell you it's bad because it's different. Refine it up and you'll soon find you have something that looks good, and is unique, which beats something perfect, that gets lost among all the works of it that look the same.

Well, there's always www.good-tutorials.com and www.pixel2life.com
Apart from that, perhaps www.sxc.hu for some good quality stock photos?

To round it up, we ask him about his computers, whether he really builds them himself, and he reminiscences:

Yeah. I make all my computers. It ends up not only being faster for cheaper, you also get to chose exactly what you get, and can personalize it more.
It's alot easier now days than it was when I was a kid. I remember piecing together a computer with an AMAZING 486 Processor! And a 400 Meg Hard disk (How could I ever use that much space!?) back when I was 5-6 with my dad. Big clunky things they were. And those huge B:/ Drives (Errmm.. Like Floppy disks, but huge and actually floppy). And a mouse with 2 buttons, and a ball that got stuck every 3 minutes (Fond memories of playing Commander Keen and the original C&C (First game I ever modded BTW. ^.^ Muhaha! Face the lazer Orcas with infinite ammo! ) )

A huge thanks and best of wishes to Rezolution_X, retired moderator of Slam's GFX section. And to our readers: make sure you don't miss the next issue!