Print Page | Close Window

CHALLENGE 5/9/2016: Merpeople

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=25122
Printed Date: 24 October 2025 at 2:35pm


Topic: CHALLENGE 5/9/2016: Merpeople
Posted By: administrator
Subject: CHALLENGE 5/9/2016: Merpeople
Date Posted: 09 May 2016 at 12:01am

CHALLENGE: Merpeople

Challenge winner http://pixeljoint.com/p/1455.htm - Mirre wants you to create an image with the theme of merpeople (mermaids, mermen, sirens, and so on), using one of the two palettes she created for the 11 Color Palette Comp:

1.

2.

Canvas size - Unrestricted.
Colours - Max 12 = the 11 colours of either palette (no mixing the palettes) + transparency.
Transparency - Optional.
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=1501' name='vote' target='_blank'>Vote now for your favorite pixelart in this week's challenge!

CHALLENGE AWARDS

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

/pixelart/104618.htm' target='_blank' class='winner1'>Jellygirl by /p/21045.htm' target='_blank'>a3um
/pixelart/104653.htm' target='_blank' class='winner2'>Explorer of the Depths by /p/35277.htm' target='_blank'>philippejugnet
/pixelart/104735.htm' target='_blank' class='winner3'>My Backyard by /p/48030.htm' target='_blank'>Lakelezz


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

/pixelart/104719.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Wide Lovely Eyes by /p/29441.htm' target='_blank'>GameBoy
/pixelart/104663.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Fishgal by /p/84523.htm' target='_blank'>TZero
/pixelart/104595.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Confused mermaid by /p/72335.htm' target='_blank'>bonquishalacrosse
/pixelart/104592.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Warcraft naga by /p/35540.htm' target='_blank'>sjhwi1a
/pixelart/104694.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>strong mermaid by /p/36754.htm' target='_blank'>aeveis
/pixelart/104583.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>The Siren's Call by /p/67868.htm' target='_blank'>Macaroni and Cheese
/pixelart/104664.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mermaid Man by /p/41268.htm' target='_blank'>Eggy
/pixelart/104582.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Reverse Merman by /p/65091.htm' target='_blank'>s0mbrero
/pixelart/104658.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Golden Siren by /p/86707.htm' target='_blank'>Consalvo
/pixelart/104687.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>wait just a flippin second by /p/53344.htm' target='_blank'>scriblroid
/pixelart/104717.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Murmaid by /p/96899.htm' target='_blank'>Vespertellino
/pixelart/104657.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Sirena by /p/85325.htm' target='_blank'>ArtArcade
/pixelart/104648.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Enjoying The Sunset by /p/91967.htm' target='_blank'>soul_requiem
/pixelart/104710.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Merman Catfish by /p/48254.htm' target='_blank'>Ubisavis
/pixelart/104608.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Domineer Goldfist by /p/39184.htm' target='_blank'>Pheno
/pixelart/104729.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Under the sea by /p/58598.htm' target='_blank'>Veksell
/pixelart/104728.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Ondin by /p/91709.htm' target='_blank'>Papou008
/pixelart/104737.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Wakasagihime by /p/34902.htm' target='_blank'>king_bobston
/pixelart/104733.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Eurgh! by /p/67611.htm' target='_blank'>mwambi
/pixelart/104715.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mrrrmaid by /p/97892.htm' target='_blank'>Axolotl
/pixelart/104713.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>merpeople by /p/86678.htm' target='_blank'>Jgingerbread
/pixelart/104680.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>The king is dead, long live the king! by /p/83681.htm' target='_blank'>vazovski
/pixelart/104714.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Merpeople challenge by /p/91962.htm' target='_blank'>BertMi
/pixelart/104692.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>A silly mermaid by /p/46540.htm' target='_blank'>B3aker
/pixelart/104725.htm' target='_blank' class='winnerx'>Mermaid by /p/22334.htm' target='_blank'>zch



Replies:
Posted By: Eggy
Date Posted: 09 May 2016 at 4:29am
Do inverted mermaids (fishes with legs) count?
EDIT: Here's a WIP portrait I may or may not finish... The background color may or may not become an actual background.



Posted By: Mirre
Date Posted: 09 May 2016 at 12:39pm
Well it's your interpretation of merpeople. As long as it's part human (or humanoid), and would live in water it's fine by me anyways. :)

You've got a really nice start there! It's so much fun to see my palette being used too.


Posted By: philippejugnet
Date Posted: 09 May 2016 at 3:22pm



Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 09 May 2016 at 4:59pm
some kind of lake, no mermaids yet



-------------




Posted By: Lucas-
Date Posted: 09 May 2016 at 8:35pm
The first pallete is awesome!


Posted By: a3um
Date Posted: 09 May 2016 at 10:01pm
no-blue-ftw



a little progress with jellyfish-siren-girl



Posted By: Eggy
Date Posted: 10 May 2016 at 3:49am
I made progress. I changed my mind on the overall coloring of the merperson, though.


Posted By: Siikikala
Date Posted: 10 May 2016 at 5:16am

Doodle, feels really boring so any advice is welcome.


Posted By: ArtArcade
Date Posted: 10 May 2016 at 8:36am

I love the color purple :D


Posted By: philippejugnet
Date Posted: 10 May 2016 at 2:06pm
Little update.
Nice entries everyone, quite good work a3um and siikikala! :)


Hey siikikala!
Small edit, I think it could help a little :p ( to look less boring as you say ).


Posted By: Eggy
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 8:55am
More progress:

It's going well so far. But I need some tips on the head fin...
I've tried something, but I'm not sure if I should keep going with the line texture thing. Help?


Posted By: philippejugnet
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 10:37am
Well, first off I don't like that super rendered textures on his head, it's kinda confusing.
You don't have to be that much scared and restricted when drawing/sketching, just go and throw stuff up in the canvas like you don't care.
I think you could just render by adding cracks in his skin. like the small crack below his right eye.
I also didn't liked his head shape.
but I liked the idea of a collar and I really loved the way you rendered the eye.
keep it up!


Posted By: ArtArcade
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 10:39am
upd.


Posted By: Eggy
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 11:08am
I ask for help with the head fin texture, and I get advice on everything BUT the head fin texture XD But it still helps a lot since I'm not very good at drawing anything even remotely humanoid
Anyhow, thanks! I actually did block out some shapes first, but I really wanted to make it look polished by rendering scales. I have no idea how else to go about it.


Posted By: Siikikala
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 1:01pm

here's an idea Eggy, hope it's for some help.


Posted By: Siikikala
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 6:10pm

alright, second try. Liking this a lot more.


Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 6:13pm
Originally posted by Siikikala


alright, second try. Liking this a lot more.

I like it better too cept she's very tight and vertical. Can she be more curvy in line not shape?

-------------
http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9378&FID=6&PR=3 - PJs FAQ <•> http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=6 - Sticky Reads


Posted By: Siikikala
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 6:22pm
hmm, i don't have any ideas how to make her curvy in that scene. She "stands" and looks into the horizon, i was thinking she'd be a bit upright then.


Posted By: a3um
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 8:34pm
Hi Eggy. Sorry if I went too far with the edit but here it is



For your question - you can do with the fin anything you feel looks good - if you google bat wings, lizard, dragon or fish fins you can find a lot of options.

But don't go too far with contrast/colors. Concentrate on the shape of clusters, bc this is what makes any texture look good and somewhat realistic in my opinion. Overtexturing with low color count is one of the worse things you can do.

So here are the steps for improving your piece which I tried to apply in the head edit:

1) fix your light source.
2) fix head shape
3) flatten the scale texture and add some breaks. This one is optional and depends of what you're trying to achieve. Personally I find evenly textured head to look somewhat boring and lacking readability. Sometimes it needs just a little bit of texture here and there to make the whole shape look textured.

Hope that helps. Eyes are really well done!


Posted By: Eggy
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 10:35pm
No problem, every edit and suggestion helps :) Thanks!
I‘ll try all suggestions as soon as I‘m able to.


Posted By: delicatone
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 11:00pm
Instead of "standing" she could be perched onto something, giving her body a line not parallel to the frame, dynamic body line, and by propping herself up the arms are given something to do, tail can still be curved and what not.

Just a thought, this iconic image immediately comes to mind.



Posted By: B3aker
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 11:03pm
a wip. wanted to do a 16 bit adventure with fun portraits. just started on the tileset




Posted By: Mandrill
Date Posted: 12 May 2016 at 7:08am
I'm blown away by the quality of all these wips and entries. Amazing stuff.


Posted By: Eggy
Date Posted: 12 May 2016 at 10:51am
Tried out the suggestions I was given, and now I have this:

I actually like it way better like this :) I also removed the partially visible eye because it kinda felt unneeded.
I hope I'll finish it by the deadline. But for now, any thoughts and tips?
EDIT:

More progress, and I'm currently test driving the dorsal fin texture I thought I could try out...


Posted By: TZero
Date Posted: 12 May 2016 at 11:49am


Wow lots of incredible work!

Mine is a far simpler approach, Im working on adding gills, some shading to the top and fixing the legs. But im fairly happy with it so far.


Posted By: Consalvo
Date Posted: 12 May 2016 at 1:15pm


Here my progress, i don't like the sky and make for it dithering maybe it will make to much noise.


Posted By: Consalvo
Date Posted: 12 May 2016 at 5:42pm

What you think? Still thinking is too much noise.


Posted By: B3aker
Date Posted: 12 May 2016 at 8:26pm
having some trouble with the waterfall and color depth there; looks too busy and not the effect i want

will keep working on it tomorrow



Posted By: philippejugnet
Date Posted: 12 May 2016 at 9:09pm

http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/104653.htm - Finished and posted. :)


Posted By: Vespertellino
Date Posted: 13 May 2016 at 12:03am
Animation is allowed, right?
Here is my babe right now:


Posted By: Eggy
Date Posted: 13 May 2016 at 1:18am
It says "Animation - Optional"
That means animation is allowed, but not required.


Posted By: Vespertellino
Date Posted: 13 May 2016 at 3:04am
Originally posted by Eggy

It says "Animation - Optional"
That means animation is allowed, but not required.

Yey, didn't notice, thx :3


Posted By: kolkurtz
Date Posted: 13 May 2016 at 4:29am
Work in progress from me too:



Posted By: Eggy
Date Posted: 13 May 2016 at 7:45am

Pretty satisfied with it so far. Now I guess I could add a background or something (and do a little more tweaking to the merman). I really like how it turned out!
Any thoughts?
EDIT: ...I changed my mind on the background idea, so now it's just a portrait. I've done a few more tweaks and submitted my piece


Posted By: delicatone
Date Posted: 13 May 2016 at 6:54pm
Finally had some free time to start on this weekly, hopefully I can get it done over the weekend in time for the contest.

A play on the the gender role reversals in the seahorse reproductive process.



Posted By: Derelict
Date Posted: 14 May 2016 at 10:40am
This is so cool that you guys do these challenge things. Everyone brings their own style to the table

heres my go at it so far






The old starbucks logo came to mind when I read merpeople.



Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 14 May 2016 at 3:14pm
Originally posted by Derelict

This is so cool that you guys do these challenge things. Everyone brings their own style to the table...


Your art is still in WIP stage and not yet pixelart.
This is the reason it was sent back.
Review the pinned threads in the sticky read link on my sig

-------------
http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9378&FID=6&PR=3 - PJs FAQ <•> http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=6 - Sticky Reads


Posted By: Jgingerbread
Date Posted: 15 May 2016 at 10:03am



Print Page | Close Window