WIP - Monster cards for RPG
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=26142
Printed Date: 12 September 2025 at 11:45am
Topic: WIP - Monster cards for RPG
Posted By: Jin9310
Subject: WIP - Monster cards for RPG
Date Posted: 08 February 2018 at 5:31am
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Greetings,
while practicing my pixel-art, I have decided to help my friend with some graphics to his RPG game project. My goal now, is to create cards of the 'Monsters' you can encounter. I have some list of monsters he would like to have in game, but I have quite free hands. Below are some drafts I have made so far and I would love to get some opinion and CC.      
The Idea is, first to have a static image and once the player click on the detail of the monster, he will get all the stats of the enemy(this will be outside of the card) and the picture will turn in some basic animation. So animation will be the second step (for example slowly walking zombie, flying wings, etc...) I would really appreciate any comment or help what I could do better. I would also love to take the opportunity here and share my progress/adjustments here. Thanks a lot! |
Replies:
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 08 February 2018 at 6:30am
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There are two major problems in all of them: 1. They need some pixel-level polish as they're very sketchy and jagged. This makes them look unfinished, and in some cases detracts from the shapes you seem to be trying to convey. Smooth curves in pixel art require some effort, as any inconsistency is very obvious. Here's a https://rhys-jaxson.deviantart.com/art/Pixel-Art-Tutorial-2-Curves-402041492 - tutorial on smooth lines in pixel art , the same ideas apply to edges of solid shapes as well. 2. They look rather flat, like cardboard cut-outs, but I'm guessing they're not meant to. The reason for this is you have very faint shading (low contrast, try using darker shadows), and that shading seems overly focused on details instead of conveying the larger forms. For example on the zombie, you've shaded all the folds and on top of its head, but there's no indication of where the light is coming from, which limbs are further away than other limbs, whether the body is round, blocky, or flat, whether the limbs are round or ribbons... A good way to approach shading is to completely ignore detail at first, and only shade the overall forms. Then, add only the most important details (the ones you need to clearly convey what you're depicting, such as tears in a torn shirt, layers in a poop swirl, etc), and only where they would not obscure the overall form.  Here's an edit of the zombie showing your original, plus the two "steps" I described, so that you can get a better idea of what I mean. Notice how some parts of the "Forms + details" edit are identical to the "Forms only" one - there wasn't enough room there for details without sacrificing the forms, but forms are too important to sacrifice. For this edit, I chose a light source coming from the upper right, slightly in front. You must have a light source in mind in order to add shadows consistently, but you can choose a different one than I did. Lastly, in some of these, you're using a lot of single pixels and similarly small shapes. In pixel art, such tiny details have a tendency to not read the way you intend, so you should be very careful with them. Use them when they're unambiguous, such as eyes on a face, rivets on a ship, that sort of thing. Try to draw other details with multiple pixels, so that the shape of each detail is clearly defined and unambiguous. This means eliminating some small details and exaggerating the bigger ones, which can feel "unrealistic", but it results in a clearer read for your audience, and a cleaner artwork overall. The "less is more" philosophy is very important in pixel art because it can be so ambiguous. |
Posted By: Jin9310
Date Posted: 08 February 2018 at 8:07am
| Thanks a lot! Really appreciate your help, will jump on that ;) |
Posted By: Jin9310
Date Posted: 12 February 2018 at 5:16am
Here is my progress. I didn't have much time lately, so I have started with building of the 'depth' of some characters. There is still lot to do, but I hope It is getting better :)
   
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Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 12 February 2018 at 7:43am
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Definitely getting better! Don't forget to also clean up the jaggies and noise though. Mr. Present is especially unfinished-looking. The wedding dress on the Zombie Bride is difficult to discern from the background. I think if you darken the shadow colours, it'll be clearer. |
Posted By: Jin9310
Date Posted: 21 February 2018 at 6:10am
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Thank you for advice again, I thing the darker shadow on the dress, works quite well.
I Finally had some time, so I have started with cleaning of some jaggies. Hope I'm on the right path :)   
Not really sure how to compose the mouth of the snail, might have to re-do that completely. To be continued... |