Never tried to make an actually good icon before and I think I did pretty well for myself. I originally commissioned an icon something like this (though the rain was a last minute idea) but was pretty much scammed. I asked for a full body icon of Violet holding a parasol and ended up with a half body icon. It had no shading and almost no detail and was of a much much MUCH lover quality than the examples given. And that was after waiting long enough that I had to ask when she was going to finish it because I thought she might have forgotten my order. Apparently this is a rather common occurrence with this person (although they do sometimes put effort into their coms). Fortunately, I didn't spend all that much money on it.

And that concludes this rant brought to you by Violet. x3