AA'ing, shading and texturing
Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: Pixel Art
Forum Name: WIP (Work In Progress)
Forum Discription: Get crits and comments on your pixel WIPs and other art too!
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25080
Printed Date: 14 September 2025 at 4:23am
Topic: AA'ing, shading and texturing
Posted By: lauz17
Subject: AA'ing, shading and texturing
Date Posted: 18 April 2016 at 1:44pm
Hello there, first time posting 
I made this piece withing 5 hours of work and it's my first piece with that amount of work in it. In my opinion, the outline looks really rough and needs some aa'ing but I can't figure out how to do it correctly. Shading isn't optimal either. Especially the tongue gave me headaches, so I let it out. Additionally I need some ideas for texturing the hat. Right now it looks like plastic and I tried to fix it but it looked too noisy. Every help is appreciated! 
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Replies:
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 18 April 2016 at 2:50pm
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Originally posted by lauz17
...In my opinion, the outline looks really rough and needs some aa'ing but I can't figure out how to do it correctly... Well its great that you see the problem. This is a great sign. I am unable to make an edit right now but check out the 'lines' post in the noobtorial thread which you can find in the sticky reads link in my sig. Check out cure's pixelart thread while there too :) ------------- |
Posted By: Limes
Date Posted: 19 April 2016 at 12:44pm
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This has potential, and as you've pointed out yourself. The lines need cleaning and the shading needs cleaning.
Heres a edit of a small portion see how much nicer things look after cleaning!! all you have to do is smooth things out and take it to the basics, try doing small parts at a time doing massive works all at once can get mundane, take breaks. 
Also a side note... I am very bad at AAing so I avoid it unless its needed. The hat looks fine as is just do the cleaning then worry about the textures and look of it. It is very easy to make further adjustments once its all cleaned up just start with that. ------------- |
Posted By: White Rabbit
Date Posted: 19 April 2016 at 3:35pm
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Maybe I can help a bit with basic theory for rendering. Pretty much every 2D artist will tell you that a good piece of art is 90% planning, so before anything else let's start planning: First off, when you try to render stuff, always think about the forms. This is important because it determines how light and shadow appear, right? That's why even complex things, like human heads, are constructed of simple forms first, that resemble the head's shape. Now, let's say your character's body is - more or less, the shape of a cylinder and a sphere put together. And let's also say, the light source is positioned slightly in front/ upper right of the objects. This already sets the core of your character's shape and you quickly archieve a better understanding of your own design. Now, slowly start forming something more complex, by adding or cutting off more basic forms - like for example cones as arms and legs, eventually sculpting it into the creature it is supposed to become. When doing so, always keep in mind, that everything interacts - aka things cast shadows or reflect their own color onto near surfaces, etc. This however is already a whole more complex, and probably not so important in this case, since you're not aiming for super-realism. Finally, once this is set, consider it as a sketch and work with it when creating the final piece. I hope this isn't too confusing, I just thought it might help to understand forms and shading a bit more. I've also included a picture that could be helpful aswell.  |