at first i read through this and at the end i was like, wow.. these people are dicks.. then i realized it's just the one
gj to the rest of u
however, usually with ppl that are nub n such, it's best to be OVER polite.. as they tend to listen more if u are.
few things to the op [op = original poster; the person who created the topic, in case anyone was unaware <3]...
1] ignore the part someone stated where 2 images will ruin a sig every time. that's bs. however, starting out.. making one image go well with a sig can be difficult as well so for simplicity sake, i would in fact recommend starting with only 1 image.
2] starting out, i'd recommend video tutorials more than image/text based ones. these are easier to follow especially considering most text based tutorials leave out things [usually pretty simple things that they forget to include because they been doing it for so long.]
3] when searching for tutorials, be picky and dynamic. picky meaning, look at the end result of a tutorial and the beginning of it before trying it out. if the result isn't to your liking or the beginning is not from scratch, skip it. by dynamic, i mean don't do the same types of tutorials.
4] time for me to be a hypocrite. once you get familiar with a few types of styles, search again for tutorials of those same styles [preferably start with the style you first did]. you will notice some people use different approaches to reach a relatively similar outcome. by learning the different ways you can achieve the same results, you will diversify your creation process and not stick to the same filters/brushes/etc. to reach your results.
5] ignore people that try and tell you to conform. most signatures are the same damn thing. abstract, grunge, whatever it is, most of these are pretty much the same damn thing. it's boring and overrated. they think they're skilled because yes, it does look good.. but it's no different than tracing. once you are more comfortable with photoshop, look at other images/buildings/scenery/bodies/anything. if you think of just the silliest idea, try and replicate that in your work in a creative way. i had an image one time of a woman falling over a bench [i'm a photographer], though it sold just as much as any other portrait, it sold faster. falling happens every day, but you don't see it often [not counting parties xD]
6] ignore negative criticism. people that are always rude n such all the time have issues. usually resulting in poor parents [which probably also had poor parents] or trying to fit in [though there are other reasons too].
7] ignore vague criticism. if someone says, that sucks, or needs improved, or whatever.. that doesn't help and you may as well just ignore it. if someone wishes to criticize they should list what it is exactly they don't like [lighting, colors, blurryness, whatever]. if they can't pinpoint what they dislike, they aren't knowledgeable for their opinion to matter. everyone dislikes something. megan fox tends to be the top of most people here's wish list but personally i don't find her that attractive, like yea.. she looks good, i'd hit it.. but i know plenty of people in real life i'd go after first [excluding the fact she's famous lmao]
8] ignore polite comments. if someone says that's great, say ty to be polite in return. but don't take it to heart. there's always something that needs work or else you could sell it for millions. keep showing it off til u get criticisms if you can't decide it for yourself.
9] follow helpful instructions. if someone provides a suggestion or references some site or style or whatever. even if it's below your skill level or anything else, follow it. check it out. if it's something you never done before even if it's something you could do easily, do it anyway. cutting a tomato may be simple, but the thought of it now exists in your head and maybe you have some chicken and you'd like to try something knew, now your mind will come up with oo.. maybe i can slice it thin and then season/dress/etc. sounds stupid i dont care, but it works
10] i don't have a 10th one, or maybe i'm just tired of typing.. but i decided to make a 10 anyway just because xD
oh and as for my opinion.. yes, ur sig needs a LOT of work. but if you follow some sig creating video tutorials that can change fast. make sure you download a lot of brush packs [deviantart.com has a lot]. these tutorials will give you the fastest start but don't stick to them, look up other tutorials too. very specific ones. lol this could have been the 10th and 11th tip lol.
here's a quick tutorial to try of the top of my head.
Shine animation
1 make a new document and fill it with any color or leave it white.
2 make a text layer, type anything.
3 make a new layer above it.
4 select white as foreground color and black as background color [or press D then X]
5 select the gradient tool
6 on your image click and hold your mouse to make a starting point and drag your mouse slightly to the left or right [i usually go in a slight south east fashion]. how far you drag is going to be how wide your shine is.
7 now right click that layer from your layers panel and select create clipping mask.
8 drag the shine layer to the left where you can't see the shine on the text any more
9 open up your animation window [Window>Animation]
10 select the "Duplicates selected frames" option.
11 now we should be on the second frame. click on your gradient layer and hold shift then drag it to the right til you cant see the shine any more.
12 now select the tween option in the animation window, select how many frames you want, we'll select 5.
now click play and watch.
hope i helped, if not.. oo well i tried xD