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CHALLENGE 8/18/2014: Mother Nature

Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: Pixel Art
Forum Name: Collaborations/Challenges
Forum Discription: Submit pixel art project ideas/templates or contribute to an existing pixel art collaboration.
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=19585
Printed Date: 08 September 2025 at 12:13am


Topic: CHALLENGE 8/18/2014: Mother Nature
Posted By: administrator
Subject: CHALLENGE 8/18/2014: Mother Nature
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 12:01am

CHALLENGE: Mother Nature

Create a sprite of Mother Nature - the personification of nature.

In the interest of inclusivity, you may instead make a sprite of Father Nature, if you are so inclined.

Canvas Size - Max 100 x 100.
Colours - Exactly 11.
Transparency - Required.
Animation - Optional.

CHALLENGE RULES

  • Participants have until this upcoming Sunday at midnight (12AM Pacific) to /pixels/submit_icons.asp'>submit their entry (strict). Don't forget to check the 'Submit to weekly challenge' checkbox.
  • Only new pixels allowed.
  • Open to all members.
  • Posting WIPs in this thread or in new threads in the /forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=8'>WIP section is highly encouraged, but ONLY SUBMIT YOUR FINAL ART.

CHALLENGE JUDGING

  • Every Sunday at midnight (12AM Pacific) the previous week's entries are judged.
  • Every week a new voting poll will be posted for previous week's entries.
  • Winner announced the following week.

CHALLENGE PRIZES/GOODIES

  • Top three finishers will receive an award displayed in your PJ gallery profile for all to see and envy.
  • Top finisher gets to call the following week's challenge...sweet.
  • 'Participation' ribbons will be given for all who enter.
  • No matter what happens you get challenged :)

CHALLENGE VOTING

/pixels/poll.asp?id=1411' name='vote' target='_blank'>Vote now for your favorite pixelart in this week's challenge!

CHALLENGE AWARDS

The Mother Nature pixel art challenge is complete and we have three new champions. This week's challenge awards go to the following pieces:

/pixelart/88499.htm' target='_blank' class='winner1'>Dance by /p/47306.htm' target='_blank'>andrae
/pixelart/88410.htm' target='_blank' class='winner2'>A Good Laugh by /p/25118.htm' target='_blank'>Adcrusher
/pixelart/88385.htm' target='_blank' class='winner3'>superoriginal by /p/38888.htm' target='_blank'>Siikikala


Thanks so much to all who took the time to vote and participate in the challenge!

/pixelart/88425.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Alma Mater by /p/48314.htm' target='_blank'>jtfjtfjtf
/pixelart/88508.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Nature by /p/47183.htm' target='_blank'>Daruda
/pixelart/88516.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>[Mother Nature] by /p/17275.htm' target='_blank'>Satsume
/pixelart/88481.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Creepy Nature Lady by /p/33679.htm' target='_blank'>Oh look a Harmonica!
/pixelart/88463.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>The Protector by /p/48526.htm' target='_blank'>CaKlassen
/pixelart/88449.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mae Natureza by /p/32655.htm' target='_blank'>Geoglatico
/pixelart/88394.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mhysa by /p/33190.htm' target='_blank'>Dont
/pixelart/88519.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Nature giving birth by /p/41335.htm' target='_blank'>CrimsonPixel
/pixelart/88384.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Nature by /p/38793.htm' target='_blank'>Peyton
/pixelart/88502.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Golem by /p/44444.htm' target='_blank'>BatElite
/pixelart/88494.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Effigies by /p/48561.htm' target='_blank'>Pix.Ed.
/pixelart/88391.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Dziewanna of the Woods by /p/925.htm' target='_blank'>-DE-
/pixelart/88517.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Parent Nature by /p/48485.htm' target='_blank'>LTPATS
/pixelart/88462.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Nature of Elements by /p/48365.htm' target='_blank'>Froste
/pixelart/88471.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>La madre de aquellos by /p/48133.htm' target='_blank'>BlackDragon555
/pixelart/88464.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Nature by /p/10492.htm' target='_blank'>felchqueen
/pixelart/88419.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Nature by /p/29378.htm' target='_blank'>DoctorDRG
/pixelart/88367.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Nature by /p/47461.htm' target='_blank'>Drazile
/pixelart/88527.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>The Matron by /p/38019.htm' target='_blank'>Daimoth
/pixelart/88465.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Earth by /p/41383.htm' target='_blank'>Pixelart_kid
/pixelart/88460.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Nature's Queen by /p/39054.htm' target='_blank'>ADrawingMan
/pixelart/88515.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Earth by /p/46026.htm' target='_blank'>binderbear
/pixelart/88511.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mom earth by /p/48345.htm' target='_blank'>Evidence
/pixelart/88448.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother earth by /p/34815.htm' target='_blank'>ClownAround
/pixelart/88473.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Nature by /p/47323.htm' target='_blank'>CarlSki
/pixelart/88503.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Nature by /p/48582.htm' target='_blank'>PansPixelPuder
/pixelart/88380.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Nature Sprite by /p/8024.htm' target='_blank'>skeddles
/pixelart/88430.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mother Nature is ready for battle! by /p/47461.htm' target='_blank'>Drazile
/pixelart/88443.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mrs. Nature by /p/47822.htm' target='_blank'>rhlstudios
/pixelart/88406.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Terra Calidus by /p/34829.htm' target='_blank'>Mandrill
/pixelart/88478.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>She's Got The Whole World by /p/46005.htm' target='_blank'>KamiWasa
/pixelart/88518.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>mother nature has bad mood by /p/38285.htm' target='_blank'>atpalicis


Replies:
Posted By: Drazile
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 2:02am
Oooh, I like this theme :D

Posted By: jtfjtfjtf
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 3:54am
When it says exactly 11, does that include the transparency? 

Posted By: Mandrill
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 5:06am
Yep

Transparency is always seen as a colour on PJ.


Posted By: Dont
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 9:22am
this is gonna be much fun

Posted By: Limes
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 10:41am
Unfortunately I don't enter contests with transparency. I really want to though

Posted By: felchqueen
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 11:05am
This one is going to be tough for me, early days, but before I go too far in the wrong direction anyone see anything obviously wrong?



This is my first 'person' so any advice appreciated, I'm aware the hands need work (there are none at moment :) )  I think I'm going to go for a leafy dress when I've got the shading sorted.

Posted By: DatMuffinMan
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 12:53pm
all my animations end up looking stupid :(

I don't see what I'm doing wrong yet (maybe I'm too tired). How do I make the bush (it will be) look clumsier and weightier?


Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 12:55pm
Transparency is seen as a color on any pixel site

It IS any color that contains a mask so you don't see the color that is still there but unseen thus it exists


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Posted By: Siikikala
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 2:57pm


I'm decently happy how this has gone so far, i'm still pretty poor at keeping proportions and anatomy. I've tried multiple tutorials, but i'm still not really getting it.

I'm also tiptoeing on adding nudity, since i think it's widely attached to being close to nature.i leaned more towards not, so i added the leaf underwear. facial expression is kind of bland too, but it's most likely to be changed since i really haven't figured how to make the expression i have in mind detailed in this small scale.

Posted By: Dont
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 6:27pm


shhhh... she's angry

Posted By: Adcrusher
Date Posted: 18 August 2014 at 10:06pm
Cool stuff so far!


I got two WIP's goin'


Mother Nature


Father Nature(don't ask me what he needs that walking stick for)

I'm not sure if I'll submit these, I just wanted to practice some anatomy without references. I also can't tell how good they are, because it's 1 AM and I'm falling asleep. Anyway, good luck and keep up the pixeling.

Posted By: Froste
Date Posted: 19 August 2014 at 4:52pm
Here is my attempt. When I think of nature, I think of the basic elements of the world. I figured Mother Nature should have command of them all. It is very difficult being constricted on colors.  I needed certain colors for certain areas so I wasn't able to have much for shadows and highlights. Did however give me some practice on recycling colors. I had to scale it down because of that fact.

Posted By: Limes
Date Posted: 19 August 2014 at 5:24pm
That was good recycling and a obvious improvement from your other posts. One problem is that dithering isn't necessary at that small of a sprite. Only use dithering as a last resort even try not using it at all!

There are times when dithering can look good, this is not one of those times.

Posted By: Pixelart_kid
Date Posted: 19 August 2014 at 6:59pm
This is my WIP

Posted By: CaKlassen
Date Posted: 19 August 2014 at 10:04pm
My WIP after an hour and a bit of work. I'm not at all satisfied with the wolf's body, and some colours need revising, but I'm happy with my progress so far!



Princess Mononoke inspiration may or may not be present.

Posted By: jtfjtfjtf
Date Posted: 20 August 2014 at 1:27am
Originally posted by Limes

Unfortunately I don't enter contests with transparency. I really want to though


Are you philosophically opposed?

Posted By: Daimoth
Date Posted: 20 August 2014 at 6:23am
Transparencies, they burnses.

Posted By: felchqueen
Date Posted: 20 August 2014 at 9:38am
Help! Really struggling with this, it looks messy to my eyes, but I'm not sure how to tighten it up. was I wrong to go for green skin?

Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 20 August 2014 at 3:40pm
Originally posted by felchqueen

Help! Really struggling with this, it looks messy to my eyes, but I'm not sure how to tighten it up. was I wrong to go for green skin?




looks like you're trying to dither, stop trying to dither and commit to the cel shading. think in clusters. another tip is don't ever try to use the whole range of a color ramp in every part of the sprite, like for example the lower leg, it doesn't need to go from the brightest bright to darkest dark. And you don't need to use every one, sometimes there are hard edges that skip a couple colors. I think you started with too many colors, so you may want to reduce the number you have, then slowly back in, only when and where you need them. that should help clean it up a bit. I think you should allocate more colors towards the water(?) and smoke(?) as they're a bit hard to read. lastly, her breasts are too high.


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Posted By: Mandrill
Date Posted: 20 August 2014 at 5:31pm
Originally posted by felchqueen

Help! Really struggling with this, it looks messy to my eyes, but I'm not sure how to tighten it up. was I wrong to go for green skin?




There are some issues with the shading. It looks like you didn't follow the shapes that are present in her body. I would rework the pose to something more dynamic/curvy and lower here right shoulder.

It's a funny coincidence that we both chose the same pose for our mother nature's torso and right arm placement. They even have similar lightsources! I think that an edit would look almost like the piece I submitted. Here is a link to it. I hope it helps with the anatomy.

http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/88406.htm#c488742 - http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/88406.htm#c488742


The palette is not that much of a problem in my opinion... hmm, maybe go for a darker blue instead of grey though.

Like skeddles said, two things you could do are to try to get rid of dithering and to work out bigger clusters. Outlining the whole piece with a darker colour might refine it as well.

I really like the pose and design choices, everything feels linked and  homogeneous.

Posted By: rhlstudios
Date Posted: 20 August 2014 at 7:28pm
Did somebody say... CURVY?!
This'll be my first time submitting to one of these, what fun XD I'll have to finish this lady up tomorrow, her tree fro is more time consuming than I was anticipating


Posted By: felchqueen
Date Posted: 20 August 2014 at 9:54pm
@Skeddles and Mandrill, thank you for your responses, I'll knock back the colour and make some adjustments, let's see where that takes me.

And here we are, better, worse?

Posted By: Mandrill
Date Posted: 21 August 2014 at 4:02am
@ felch

Much easier on the eyes! The shading, especially on her legs, looks a whole lot better.

Torso, arms and neck/face still need some work though.

@ rhlsudios

Nicely done!

Posted By: Siikikala
Date Posted: 21 August 2014 at 4:07am
Originally posted by rhlstudios


Did somebody say... CURVY?!This'll be my first time submitting to one of these, what fun XD I'll have to finish this lady up tomorrow, her tree fro is more time consuming than I was anticipating


The grain texture is great! And those are quite some hips.

Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 21 August 2014 at 1:29pm
Originally posted by felchqueen

@Skeddles and Mandrill, thank you for your responses, I'll knock back the colour and make some adjustments, let's see where that takes me.

And here we are, better, worse?




much better


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Posted By: LameCakes
Date Posted: 21 August 2014 at 6:18pm
Here's my WIP for the contest. A little Mucha inspired. I'm also still playing around with the colours, they're a little more muted and sickly than I would like.

Gonna add some more detailing in the background as well as finish the face and hair. Any comments or criticism are very much welcome :)



Edit:

Fixed it up a bit. I'll continue tomorrow :P


Posted By: felchqueen
Date Posted: 21 August 2014 at 11:13pm
A bit more work on the face and neck, which I'm sort of OK with, stuck on that left arm, If I add yellow where I think the sun should hit it, it looks too strong... I'll keep fiddling.

Posted By: Mandrill
Date Posted: 22 August 2014 at 9:45am
Originally posted by felchqueen

A bit more work on the face and neck, which I'm sort of OK with, stuck on that left arm, If I add yellow where I think the sun should hit it, it looks too strong... I'll keep fiddling.




I pixelled a bit over it and think that it lacks shadows. I would use the darker green you antialiased her leg with to create them. This should help with your arm problem as well! They generate enough depth to push her arm back and make you able to use a less strong colour to highlight properly.

Posted By: Daimoth
Date Posted: 22 August 2014 at 12:07pm
I find it curious that mother nature is usually depicted as young, playful, and at least half nude. I always picture her old, or at least older, with an overt stateliness; her expression indifferent and cold. She is the giver and taker of all life, after all.

Here's my WIP:



Mutant one first ("The Matron"), granny nature comes later if I can swing it.

Updates:

Posted By: felchqueen
Date Posted: 23 August 2014 at 2:35am
@Daimoth, looking forward to progress on the 'mutant' :)

Posted By: andrae
Date Posted: 23 August 2014 at 4:20am
Here's my WIP.


Also somewhat Mucha inspired.

@Mandrill, Thanks

Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 23 August 2014 at 4:27am
Originally posted by LameCakes







@ska, this follows the trans rule?
Its in the queue but I did not add as I was unsure.


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Posted By: Mandrill
Date Posted: 23 August 2014 at 4:01pm
Originally posted by andrae

Here's my WIP.



Absolutely gorgeous! 

Posted By: Evidence
Date Posted: 23 August 2014 at 6:01pm
My entry !


http://postimage.org/">

Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 23 August 2014 at 6:29pm
Originally posted by Evidence

My entry !


http://postimage.org/">


Re-read the rules. There is a transparency requirement.


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