The Icon Alchemist's Journal

I Heart Huckabees

2005-07-27T17:54:07Z

13 I ♥ Huckabees icons.

All bases done by drive_thru_rx except 10-13 which I created using screencaps by _euroticket.

As usual, comment/credit.

1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
7. 8. 9.
10. 11. 12.
13.

icon_alchemy @ 2005-04-22T07:20:00

2005-04-22T15:27:01Z

I keep taking these long breaks from doing any graphics, and for that I apologize. I also apologize for the quality of the graphics on this journal, as many posts are very old. I have been improving my icon skills, but sadly I haven't made many of these icons public yet. However, looking back on some Friends Only banners I have made both recently and in the past, a number of them were, I felt, good enough to share. So, available with comment/credit somewhere on your journal or userinfo, .

1 Naruto, 1 Full Metal Alchemist, 1 Franz Ferdinand

icon_alchemy @ 2004-12-11T05:59:00

2004-12-11T17:10:35Z

First of all: Excuse the old icons for sucking. Not all of them of course, but there are a few here I am not proud of at all, but don't want to delete for various reasons. Now, the good news: I have been in the icon-making mood as of late, and so there will be, for the first time in a while, an actual update.

Naruto: 6 [or 4.6]
Bleach: 2
Cardcaptor Sakura: 1
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: 14
The Delgados: 2
RENT: 1

Comment/Credit.

Naruto

Bleach

Cardcaptor Sakura

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The Delgados

RENT

Lyrics from Naruto #4 - the Delgados "Woke From Dreaming".

I'm taking requests for a while for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory icons - these were a bit rushed, and I am able and willing to make better ones if anyone has suggestions. There may even be a second update relatively soon for more icons from different series - I actually meant to do more Bleach, and then the CatCF trailer came out. Alas.

Smallville

2004-09-13T22:38:34Z

Icon Name: Smallville, I suppose
Series: Smallville
Created By: Himeko Kurai
Rules: Comment if taking/Credit if using

Comments: Well, I was rather upset after getting into Smallville recently to find that there are in fact no good icons [that I could find] for it on the web. This is the first part of the result. The second part will be a mini-movie icon, but for that I will need to get the episodes, which are currently only available to me through a friend. Hopefully, though, this transfer will commence soon.

In the meantime, enjoy one of the few simple, clean, pretty [in my opinion] Smallville lj icons out there.

Ryouma is talking some smack, g

2004-09-06T22:19:51Z

Icon Name: Er... I dunno, give it one yourself if you take xD
Series: Prince of Tennis
Created By: Himeko Kurai
Rules: Comment if taking/Credit if using

Comments: First of all, I have been dead in the iconing world and I know it and I apologize. Various things have been happening, and I was estranged from livejournal for quite a while. I won't promise I'll always be on now, but I do finally have another icon. On the icon itself, this stems from a conversation I had with a friend while I was showing him TeniPuri episode 5 [it was 5, right?]. It was such a funny idea to me to hear Tezuka talk like a 'gangsta' that I got the icon-making urge, which I haven't had in a long time. I also have a Ryouma one coming up that I can't seem to figureout a caption for, but as soon as I do, I will post it. <3 TeniPuri

Poke

2004-03-18T23:27:03Z

Icon Name: Poke!
Series: Full Metal Alchemist
Rules: Comment if taking/credit if using

Comments: Not much to say, I wish I could of made this a higher quality image. When I saw this episode, I knew this scene needed to be iconed. I want to learn spiffy text effects and stuff, anyone willing to teach me or know of good tutorials?

icon_alchemy @ 2004-03-18T13:28:00

2004-03-18T22:38:54Z

Icon Name: Watch or Die
Series: Read or Dream
-all icons will now be created by me, Himeko Kurai-
Rules: Comment if taking, credit if using

Well, finally, here is the better version of the Read or Die icon the paigedayspring requested. I like it much much better. It's cleaner, prettier, and has a great icon template made by peacefully. The reason there have been no updates is that I've become very involved in Ragnarok Online, aka Crack Cocaine: The MMORPG.

Maggie

2004-02-25T09:50:57Z

Icon Name: Maggie
Series: Read or Dream (R.O.D. the TV)
Created By: Himeko Kurai
Rules: Comment if taking/credit if using

Comments: I like the simple way this turned out, and I like using the chinese-y font for the sisters. I had to wait to make this one because I needed to get a raw copy of an ROD episode. The fansube had some credits put in at the mini-movie part and it cut into the picture, so I had to wait for someone to seed raw eps >.< Thank goodness for the raw providers and anime.mircx.com. Made by request of paigedayspring, who I thank for making me make some icons for this awesome series everyone should see.

Ed Smallness icons

2004-02-24T22:45:08Z

Icon Name: (1)Size Matters (2)Smaller is Better
Series: Full Metal Alchemist
Created By: Himeko Kurai
Rules: Comment if taking/Credit if using

Comments: Well, in Ed's case this is true, at least. Hm, I seem to be making lots of two-version icons nowadays. This was my first attempt at fading the letters, I think it came out just fine. Looking at this layout, I wonder if I should do what everyone else does and just post a bunch of icons at once, but I really like the feel of putting a little explanation for each one and having it on a separate entry. That way as more people visit this journal, I can see which are the most popular icons by how many comments each receives.

1. 2.

And for today, just because, I am going to post a regular icon I made that I happen to really love. Usually only mini-movies go here, but since no icon users check the himekokurai journal, I think I should post it so everyone can see this one. It sort of goes along with the icon on the post below. Icon name is "Forgotten".

Fake Smile/Smiling Hurts

2004-02-19T00:20:04Z

Icon Name(#1): Fake Smile
Icon name(#2): Smiling Hurts
Series: Full Metal Alchemist
Created By: Himeko Kurai
Rules: Comment if taking, credit if using.

Comments: I knew when making this that I HAD to make two versions of it. It was just one of those kinds of things. I thought for a long time on what I wanted it to say, and I'm very happy with what I eventually churned out, because I think it fits the emotion I was trying to capture perfectly. I think it's interesting how he really does look like he has a fake smile in this OP. Enough talking, the icons are better than anything I can say anyway.

1. 2.

Read or Dream Icon

2004-02-16T22:06:12Z

Icon name:Page Turner
Series: Read or Dream (R.O.D. the TV)
Created By:HimekoKurai
Rules: Comment/credit.

Comments: This is version one of the requested Read or Dream icon. I don't know if this is a good version or not, as I am rather tired upon finishing it. This icon was created for paigedayspring and it's up to her if it is available for public use. I can't decide yet if I like it or not (if not I will have to do another one) but I do know that I like the fact that I finished the icon with a "page turn" effect. I never thought I would be able to put that one to good use, but it's perfect for R.O.D. Not much to say about the icon, the picture I was using ended up smaller than I thought, and the mini-movie had to be larger than I thought so it was visible, so I ended up with a semi-odd layout, which is what I can't figure out if I like or not. The Maggie one is next, and by then I should have some idea of if this one should be scrapped and a new one created.

On a side note, I apologize about the time it took to create this one, because I said it would be done on the 14th not realizing it was Valentines >.>' And then the next day things got hectic, so here I am posting it 2 days late .

>>EDIT<<
There were a few people requesting a white version of this, so here it is.

Sexy Boy

2004-02-04T01:22:44Z

Icon Name: Sexy Boy (after the song by Air)
Series: Full Metal Alchemist
Created By: HimekoKurai (I'm sure Epiphany will make some someday)
Rules: Same as always, comment if taking, credit if using.

Comments: This icon name is taken from the title of a song by Air, which is an awesome song and everyone should have it. I think it speaks for itself...being the girl of the Icon Alchemists, some fangirl-ish icons are sort of inevitable. This has two versions because I could decide if I wanted it with text or without...looking back, I may do a second version of Power Abuse too. I really don't like the text I did on it...and I may change the background to the skirts flying.

Version 1:

Version 2:

Sakura Icon

2004-02-03T22:42:30Z

Icon Name: Sakura Drops (named after the Utada Hikaru song, yes.)
Series: Card Captor Sakura
Created By: HimekoKurai
Rules: Comment if taking/Credit if using

Comments: This was fun and (relatively) simple to make. I enjoyed doing a cute Sakura icons, after all of the newer anime ones I've been making.

Hawkeye

2004-01-29T15:42:59Z

Icon Name: Hawkeye - My Fandom Kicks Ass
Series: Full Metal Alchemist
Created By: HimekoKurai
Rules: Comment if taking/Credit if using

Comments: Hawkeye kicks ass.

If anyone knows the Japanese site I got the base art for this, i would be very greatful for the info. I'm looking all over but can't find it.

GetBackers

2004-01-29T10:43:35Z

Icon name: Tare.Ginji
Series: Get Backers
Created By: HimekoKurai
Rules: Comment if taking, credit if using. Keywords is fine.

Comments: Not much really, just wanted to do a cute Ginji mini-movie. Thought for a while about making it say "My fandom goes tare" but then didn't think enough people would understand the reference.

The template for this icon is from perfectsquare, and it was perfect for the icon. Making the movie the right size for it was annoying, though. I guess using templates is a bit more difficult with mini-movies...it's actually much easier with regular icons.

User Picture

2004-01-28T13:56:39Z

Icon Name: Icon Alchemy (user icon)
Created By: HimekoKurai
Rules: Not available. You may download if you simply want to admire it every now and than...I know I will ^.~ Otherwise, there's no point....it has our name on it.

Comments: DAMN was this difficult. First I had to try and cut down the 147 frames of animation to something reasonable, then I finally ended up leaving it at 38 frames, which is still a lot. I had to screenshot the picture, which was hard because it only showed without words over it for like 1/2 second. Then, in Photoshop, I had to change the horrible pink background of the image to nice Full Metal-y greys. After FINALLY figuring out how I wanted the whole layout to look,I was ready to cut, paste, and save as....for each of 38 DAMN FRAMES. It was incredibly tedious.

On the bright side, I think it turned out rather incredible and I'm very very proud of it. It barely made it in under 40k after optimization, too....thank goodness.

Power Abuse

2004-01-28T11:40:35Z

Posted By: HimekoKurai
Icon title: Power Abuse.
Rules: Comment if taking, Credit if using.

This is my first mini-movie icon to make alone. I am so proud of myself.

First Post

2004-01-28T09:25:09Z

This journal will contain the collected works of Himeko Kurai and Epiphany.

Full Metal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi or Hagaren)will most likely be the prevalent series. In honor of this incredible series, the first post will be a FMA mini-movie icon:

Rules: Comment and Credit, please.

>>This post by HimekoKurai<<