Edit 2:


I'm getting better at picking colors :D

yeah, and the are some parts at the corners that need dithering too. But what do you think about the colors?

I saturated it alitle now it looks much better and added a face :D

I'm going to work some more with the colors and dither later.
Edit 2


Edit 3

Edit 4

Edit 5




Edited by Alex Pang - 29 May 2011 at 1:05pm

Thank you, any suggestions on how I can improve?

Aother update:

Animation :D
Am I ready to publish?

NO!
Where's that whole foreground with the trees and stuff on your first post.
Don't be lazy , ya bum.

You are the artist not me. What I wish doesn't matter.
I was only trying to prevent you from being lazy with your own ideas.
The current version just seems incomplete or somehow poorly designed.
You have a face in the space cloud but what's its story? What's happening? Other than practicing pixel techniques and color picking what are we looking at? If this is 'space' how come its so confined and boxed in?

Art is best when it tells in own story. Just think about layout and composition a little more before you call it complete.

Yes I am the artist who is designing everything, but you are an artist with more experience. This gives you more authority then me. What my point is that it would be wise for me to listen to your advice. If your advice is to finish and add more elements to the piece then it's my duty as an artist to do so. You are like my costumer, if I want to evolve I have to think outside the box, in this case doing something I'm not fully comfortable with, thats making the piece bigger.








Thanks, the original idea was to make a two frame animation with two different saturations on the pallets for the two frames. But it quickly evolved into making the stars fade when the color fades. Now I realize that your right, but I took a twist in this whole project and turned it to a Shoot'em up mockup.

Here is a picture of my progress.



Update 2




Edited by Alex Pang - 02 June 2011 at 2:06am

I know you are still working on this so I'm just going to remind or bring up the subject of composition and storytelling so you keep them in mind as you work on this piece and any other piece.
In all art, composition is very important and should never be overlooked. Even a game mockup depends on this to communicate with the viewer.
First row shows your current composition which is equal in weight and has no direction. The next 3 show variations on composition. As you work see the 'shapes' that make the whole. The last one is your original WIP which actually had a decent composition and is the reason I thought you had quit on your idea once you finished the nebula part.
The bottom 2 images are more about storytelling. If the nebula has a mean face or menacing expression then a ship going into it just says the pilot is stupid. The mean nebula would be smart enough to entice the ship in with a welcoming expression and let the evil come later. However, if the nebula has a mean expression and the ship is running away then it makes more sense to the viewer and tells its own story.
Just stuff to consider as you work :)






Edited by jalonso - 02 June 2011 at 6:36am

Composition IS the essence of art and its main communication tool. When something looks wrong look at that. That's the problem with the tiles.
This is similar to writing. Several words in random order are just words that say nothing. Words with structure create sentences and convey ideas and tell stories. Also, note that size and weight of items matter.
So composition is the 2D plane and size and weight is the 3D.
If art is a visual form of writing/communication then structure and composition must be used.

Playing around with the spaceship. :D


And some bullets etc.