My current sig is a failed attempt at smudge/c4d. But I still think it's alright, which is why I'm using it.

For example, I would like to be able to do something like

Any links to this tuts, or videos would be awesome!

If they are successful links and teach me, I'll gib fg

This post was edited by PikaBhew on Nov 14 2016 08:48pm

Hard default brush click and drag

quality takes time. lots of it. especially if you want it to look something like what you linked or better.
compared to your current sig, it looks like you were smudging with a large brush, and a single smudge layer before giving up and throwing/filtering things ontop of it.
i'd suggest dropping Sane a pm, asking if he still has his smudge tuts that he made a while back, or one of his several gif's detailing the process of creating some of his works.
or you can find out whoever made that sig, or any other smudge artists you like and asking them for some tips.
i'm sure almost everyone will tell you that time is the key.

everyone feels some sense of pride for their work, whether it's good or bad.
years down the road, you'll look back at your old work, compare, and see how much you've grown.

Honestly I wouldn't use C4D for such effect. Too much effort for small result.

Personally I'd use just PS and brush effects, you can just "paint" them if you have a Wacom, I understand it would be harder with just a mouse tho.
Still with PS you can do some plain backgrounds with colors and contrasts and then use liquefy effect and work manually on it.
There are also some effects you can play with but it will obviously require time and some attempts.
Don't expect to get the result you are looking for at first try and be patient!

Awesome! This helps. I will see if sane can help me. I knew time was a big thing, but nobody ever says how long it takes or so. And it's also relative. For instance I'm meh at sigs, definitely not great at smudge, it will take me a lot longer to make this kind of work, as opposed to someone who does smudge work all the time.

But I will try to make them better!

Well if I may give you another advice try to see Photoshop (or any other GFX software) as a simple tool.
You have to think freely and then elaborate your ideas and produce them with a software.
If you don't do that you'll end being slave of your tools and be constrained by them and by your ability to use them.

I use PS, as long as many other software, since more than 10 years now, daily, and I still have to learn how to master them.
I can tell you for sure that, for example with PS, you can achieve the same exact result in many different ways.
One chooses the more practical way according to what he needs to produce.

This post was edited by Darkal on Nov 15 2016 10:23am

Thanks! I use PS as well. I have definitely grown since I first started.. if I could find my original graphics or would embarrassing