Pixel Joint Forum: Little tree guy

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   Hullo there PJ! Back again with more craptastic pixel art for you guys to help spruce up.

That pun actually wasn't intended.

ON TOPIC THOUGH, I decided I was bored today and that I wanted to make a sprite. I chose green as my base colour and this is what came to mind. 

Black outline: 

Non-black outline: 

The problem I'm having, is I hate the leaves. I can't get them looking the way I want, no matter how I go about it. I don't hate the body, but it could probably be improved. Thanks in advance for the help.

MAJOR edit: 

Redid the leaves. I'm happy with em now. Probably an extra colour in there I don't need, but I'm too lazy to find it.

Now, the problem is, the base looks like ass in comparison to the top. And i have no idea how to improve it. Oh well, again, help is loved.

minor edit: Here's a progress animation. Even though not much changes. No lineart because I forgot to save it.

EDIT AGAAAAAAAAIN:

I'm very impatient I guess xD

Here's an edit of the body. I donno how I feel about it. Crits?

Edited by Jimmy Bojangles - 10 November 2009 at 1:03am

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Jimmy Bojangles Midshipman Joined: 22 October 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 62	Topic: Little tree guy Posted: 09 November 2009 at 5:23pm
	Hullo there PJ! Back again with more craptastic pixel art for you guys to help spruce up. That pun actually wasn't intended. ON TOPIC THOUGH, I decided I was bored today and that I wanted to make a sprite. I chose green as my base colour and this is what came to mind. Black outline: Non-black outline: The problem I'm having, is I hate the leaves. I can't get them looking the way I want, no matter how I go about it. I don't hate the body, but it could probably be improved. Thanks in advance for the help. MAJOR edit: Redid the leaves. I'm happy with em now. Probably an extra colour in there I don't need, but I'm too lazy to find it. Now, the problem is, the base looks like ass in comparison to the top. And i have no idea how to improve it. Oh well, again, help is loved. minor edit: Here's a progress animation. Even though not much changes. No lineart because I forgot to save it. EDIT AGAAAAAAAAIN: I'm very impatient I guess xD Here's an edit of the body. I donno how I feel about it. Crits? Edited by Jimmy Bojangles - 10 November 2009 at 1:03am
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Hatch Admiral Joined: 05 August 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1387	Posted: 10 November 2009 at 5:32pm
	I think you should simplify your shading a bit and brighten your colors. The face gets lost on the dark trunk tones, at least on my monitor. Try working on a brighter background. You'll perceive the brightness very differently. Also, the facial features are just drawn on. This would be ok, but your detailed shading makes it seem like they ought to be integrated in three dimensions with the trunk. Right now they look like, well, 3 black lines. You shading on the leafy top is nice, but it has very little overall depth. Try to shade it like a sphere (sort of) first, then add texture.
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Jimmy Bojangles Midshipman Joined: 22 October 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 62	Posted: 10 November 2009 at 5:43pm
	I definitely see what you mean about the face. And the leaves for that matter, I just have no idea how make it look more spherical. Does that make the face look better? I had to add an extra colour to do it, but I can remove black entirely now whenever I get around to it.
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Hatch Admiral Joined: 05 August 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1387	Posted: 10 November 2009 at 6:27pm
	I really think you need to simplify. Often less is more on a little sprite like this. You just can't cram much detail in or it ends up looking really messy. Something like this maybe:
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Jimmy Bojangles Midshipman Joined: 22 October 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 62	Posted: 19 November 2009 at 2:07am
	Sorry for the long wait for a reply. Hatch: I tryed my damndest in not copying you in redoing it. The body's fairly close to the shading in your edit, but that's mostly from lack of available shading methods (seeing as it's a 32x32 sprite). I apologize if it's too close. I'm fairly sure it's 6 colours (Not counting the extra colour in the green pallet, and the black surrounding it.) Edited by Jimmy Bojangles - 19 November 2009 at 2:09am
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Hatch Admiral Joined: 05 August 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1387	Posted: 19 November 2009 at 7:15am
	I should apologize. With such a small piece, using such a simple shading style, it's nearly impossible to take anything from an edit without making a pixel-for-pixel copy. Anyhoo, it's looking much better! I'd brighten up your lightest trunk color a bit to make the face stand out more. Are you gonna do several characters like this or is he just a one-off thing?
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Jimmy Bojangles Midshipman Joined: 22 October 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 62	Posted: 19 November 2009 at 10:57am
	To be completely honest, I have no clue if I'll be doing more. My friend is learning to code in Python and wants me to makes some sprites for him. If I make anything else in the near future it'll probably be a couple owls and a boxer. As strange as that sounds. Anyways, I brightened up the lightest trunk shade: I think I may actually do a couple more little creature-type things and submit them all at once, in one image.
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WIP (Work In Progress)
Pixel Joint Forum : Pixel Art : WIP (Work In Progress)