Assorted Graphic Questions, answer all you can please Options

[n00b]

Here are some assorted questions, I'd rather not post in seprate topics.
Hope this is okay


1. What are some tips on submitting graphics to createblog?
I mean SHOULD they have borders/ lots of colors/ other to get accepted?

2. Where do you get apple custom shapes for photoshop?

3. What are some good grunge/splatters/textures brush sites?

4. Is image mapping the best way to organize a skin?

[talcumpowder]

1. Feel. It's all about the aesthetic (go look that word up if you don't know it) feel. Theme your pieces, at least marginally. What good is a pretty blend of a model when there's no emotions or story behind it? It's just what it is, a pretty blend, and nothing more. It doesn't become art.

3. Texture sites?! Oh boy.... -tries to decide which texture sites to share-
[ http://www.oxoniensis-art.net/ ] <- soft, grunge-pastel and paper.
[ http://44suburbia.org/ ] <- all grunge, all the time
[ http://painted-passion.org/textures.html ] <- softer, more fluid
[ http://community.livejournal.com/texturize ] <- mostly icon, but ocassionally big ones
[ http://zero.chotoka.net/ ] <- best. site. ever!
[ http://illusion.here-after.net/ ] <-bright, cheery (very pink)
[ http://www.contagiouz.org/Hauptordner/Layout/ ] <- Okay, not great.
[ http://www.ex-posed.com/carton/ ] <- lots of paper, I like paper
[ http://www.kyuusho.net/textures.php ] <- e-hem. very... BLUE! colourize them if need be.
[ http://hybrid-genesis.net/ ] <- what? oh. standard stuff.
[ http://veredgf.fredfarm.com/textura/index.html ] <- more standard stuff.
[ http://www.aethereality.net/ ] <- pretty and standard stuff
(Are you tired, good. I just ran out of sites to pimp.)

4. Depends on how much time you want to spend on it and how much you're gonna be editing/switching it. And how space-constricted you are. Me? Eh. I always try and do double-nav, because if you turn off images (for some god-awful reason) you then have no navigation.
Here, the image slicing is rather nessecary (and for once, I don't have a second navigation), but here it isn't. Mostly because it won't make the page load any faster (there's, like, 500-something images on one of the pages) or enhance it in any way.