how do you get (or make) your profile pics?

[cynderthekitsune]

i usually get mine from anime, manga, or fan art - like most of my Vocaloid pics are from either Lucky Star's OVA or they're from an artwork from Project DIVA. i usually pick Miku as i always feel oddly similar to her, at least her as how i see her :P
if it's Touhou, then it's usually from ZUN's manga or it's from an official artwork. i avoid the fan art like the plague for some reason, lol

though, i usually snap a large image of them, and then save it. it's good since i can crop it later, and i don't have to worry about being super precise when screenshotting it


but how do you make (or get) your profile pics?

[KrazyKoen]

I've switched to using this photo I took of one of my Emmett Kelly Jr statues over the past year or so. I like this one, something about his general mood is very relatable to me. Before then I would find a random image or meme I thought was funny and make it my pfp.

[ConnorTheVGFan78]

In recent years, I've usually used customizable characters in games I'm playing as my profile pic. A good example is right now as I'm writing this post, my profile pic is a Red Panda from the game Super Animal Royale with cosmetics that I usually wear in the game. In the past, I have used other customizable characters from other games (like Animal Crossing, Minecraft, RuneScape, etc.). I've also been thinking about learning to draw, and using OCs from future drawings as profile pics. Would love to look into doing that instead of relying on character creation and cosmetics in games.

Way before that, I used to use a lot of memes, characters from memes, or just unrelated characters in general as my profile pic. I remember most of the time when I was in High School (about 2016 - 2019), I had my profile pic everywhere set as the Windows XP Minesweeper face with sunglasses on. That was my longest-running profile pic, until Animal Crossing: New Horizons released, then I started using my character from that instead.

[maddy ੈ✩‧₊]

i usually draw something to use so it's the most representative of me!
on a few sites i have a screenshot of my animal crossing character too so it's more personal but without having to be something i created myself.
otherwise, i like to use silly photos of animals or characters i like from video games when i feel like it's less important to have my own identity highlighted.

[Paprika]

Taking actual photos ! It's one of the reasons I wanted to have Matcha & Paprika as real things I can take in pictures instead of fanarts. I could do my own profile pics and use my (surprisingly still working) 20 years old camera !

[Bede]

I get my profile pics from a variety of places! I'll sometimes draw my own profile pictures, but I most often get them from (fan)art that I like. (Always remembering to credit the artist, of course!)

When it's not my own art or fanart, I use official art from the things I enjoy, but I like to heavily edit the official art when I do that! Usually adjusting things like colors, the shape, etc. Here are some examples of my icon edits! (First one is my current Tumblr icon.)