Why wasn't my submission accepted?
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=26237
Printed Date: 11 September 2025 at 9:27am
Topic: Why wasn't my submission accepted?
Posted By: Blackmambuh
Subject: Why wasn't my submission accepted?
Date Posted: 24 April 2018 at 4:13pm
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Hello all,
Last night I made my first submission to PixelJoint! Unfortunately it wasn't accepted and I received a pretty generic message saying revision needed. I'm confused as to what needs to be revised as the system message I received doesn't give any detail and just isn't really helpful at all. Can a Mod please tell me why my artwork was rejected from the gallery? Art in question: 
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Replies:
Posted By: Hapiel
Date Posted: 25 April 2018 at 12:24am
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Hi Blackmambuh, welcome to PJ! Sorry, I was in a rush when I sent this back and didn't leave you a message, I should have... As the revision message said, this is currently not up to our quality standard. This is for two reasons: At first, this artwork is very minimal. Yes it is a correct representation of meat wad, but also a bit boring in that it doesn't show him in a new way, at a very small scale, no fancy details. As a member recently put it consider: "would people care to spend more than a couple of seconds looking at this?"" At second, your attempt at AA shows little understanding of the concept and actually makes some of the edges rougher rather than smoother now. That's something we very much like to help you with here! I've made a quick example. 1 is yours. 2 highlights the unnecessary AA, 3 has it removed, and 4 is my take on making it as smooth as possible. Although actually at this size you might not need AA at all, and doesn't meatwad have a rough edge?  |
Posted By: Blackmambuh
Date Posted: 25 April 2018 at 7:04am
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Hello Hapiel,
Thank you for your response and the animated gif you put together showing your suggested changes, it is very helpful! I guess my understanding of AA isn't fully there yet, I thought I was applying the technique correctly... whoops! And you are totally correct, Meatwad does have a rough outline. (I think I wanted to display an understanding of AA, but I can see a piece this small doesn't need any/minimal) Would you recommend that I try pixeling Meatwad on a larger canvas to create a more detailed picture? Maybe I could try 64x64 although bigger is intimidating! Lol. |
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 25 April 2018 at 8:06am
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You don't have to make it bigger to make it more interesting. Working larger brings its own challenges. A few ideas for improving the existing one: - A less perfectly round outline. It's made of meat, it's probably lumpy. - A more interesting light source. Light from the front doesn't allow much shadow, which makes the object flat. - Volume for the facial features. They currently just look drawn on, they don't cast any shadows or anything. Eyes aren't flat on the face, neither are mouths. You can add more visual interest by making the face look more 3D. - Texture. A combination of the three things above, really - don't just make the outline lumpy, make the interior lumpy too. You don't need to draw/shade very little lump, but adding texture to the edges between light/shadow and little bits of shadow here and there can add a lot of texture without being distracting. - Weight. The wad would probably squish a bit under its own weight, and you already implemented this by making the bottom flatter than the top, but you could make it stand out even more. Have a larger flat area, and have the squished meat push outwards, giving the meatwad a less spherical shape. - Additional details, like marbling. If you add these, keep them very subtle. Since the piece is so small, details are very likely to overpower the important parts like the facial features unless you keep them very subtle. - Animation. This one's a tall order, but it's a powerful way to add visual interest. You could do something as simple as blinking, something more advanced like having the wad shift its weight, or something complex like having it jump or interact with an environment. Here's a quick edit that moves the light source slightly, adds more lumpiness and droopiness, and gives the face more volume:  |
Posted By: Blackmambuh
Date Posted: 25 April 2018 at 9:37am
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Hello Eishiya,
You're absolutely right! Meatwad is made out of meat and he should be lumpy. I actually tried to make him more lumpy my first try, although I didn't do it properly and I didn't like how it came out so I kept him mostly round. I think you did a fantastic job of showing his lumpiness and I will definitely take notes! I like your suggestion for his body being squished outwards a bit by the weight of his meat-self. I will try to implement that on my next go. I love how you implemented the light source from the side too. I will keep in mind experimenting with different light sources in the future, although the reason for my flat lighting is I was trying to keep him true to character. If you've never seen the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force he is rather flat-looking and is usually lit from the front with a little shading towards the bottom edges to show that he is somewhat spherical. I do admit the light source you chose probably makes for a more interesting pixel piece! Thank You for your suggestions! Edit: As for animation, I am entirely new to pixel art and I want to try to get my basics down first. Although I do own Aseprite which I've heard is fantastic for animation and it's something I'd like to try in the future! |
Posted By: Hapiel
Date Posted: 25 April 2018 at 3:56pm
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Originally posted by Blackmambuh If you've never seen the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force he is rather flat-looking and is usually lit from the front with a little shading towards the bottom edges to show that he is somewhat spherical. Ha! But there is where your artistic vision comes in! Copying how he is usually portrait is easy and doesn't make looking at your pixel art any more interesting than looking at any image from the tv series.. This is your chance to make a unique rendition of him! |
Posted By: Blackmambuh
Date Posted: 08 January 2020 at 11:23am
| Sorry to bother, can a mod please delete this post? Thanks |