Two people standing on a cliff
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=7450
Printed Date: 06 September 2025 at 8:57pm
Topic: Two people standing on a cliff
Posted By: skeddles
Subject: Two people standing on a cliff
Date Posted: 29 November 2008 at 1:14pm
 So, what do you think? Right now I've just done a basic plan, and worked on clouds. Last two people on earth. Any ideas for what I should do with the background? I am probably going to put a city on fire in the background, but I dunno what to do for the foreground, other than just the cliff. The people will probably be wearing white masks, with dark clothes, possible blood stained. Maybe I should have a fire below them? To give it a cool atmosphere lighting thing. I really just need some creativity ideas here. Please suggest anything, and feel free to scribble over it if you want.Crits comments suggestions anything please post. ------------- |
Replies:
Posted By: greenraven
Date Posted: 29 November 2008 at 2:30pm
As soon as I heard "last two people on earth" I suddenly got a pervy moment. Make one of them a babe. 
-------------  "pwnage comes with patience, practice and planning." ~ Jalonso 
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Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 29 November 2008 at 2:52pm
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Maybe not last two, but you know... lots of dead people and destruction... fun stuff. Plus if I did people may start to suspect things.... Maybe genderless... not sure how to that though... unless they're just silhouettes. ------------- |
Posted By: greenraven
Date Posted: 29 November 2008 at 3:15pm
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I still stand by my previous statement. What better way to show the woman you love just how much you love her by helping her slaughter the entire population of earth? But if you want to go the genderless route, I've got three words for you: Robes. With. Hoods. ------------- "pwnage comes with patience, practice and planning." ~ Jalonso
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Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 29 November 2008 at 3:59pm
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Are they holding tablet pens
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Posted By: Damian
Date Posted: 30 November 2008 at 5:48am
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Huh, make one called Adam and the other called Eve :P
How ironic would that be :) I'd like to see more :) but it is a bit iffy at the moment. ------------- |
Posted By: ellie-is
Date Posted: 30 November 2008 at 7:31am
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Clouds are pretty cool so far. Also, if you want them genderless, keep them as sillhouette-ish. Use dark colors and stuff. But I think making a couple would be better. I mean, otherwise, humans would be pretty screwed. :P |
Posted By: Damian
Date Posted: 30 November 2008 at 9:47am
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they could be gay :P ------------- |
Posted By: ellie-is
Date Posted: 30 November 2008 at 11:13am
| They wouldnt have kids, even if they were gay. |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 06 December 2008 at 1:39pm
 I did more on the clouds, and played with the people.I gotta decide what I'm doing in the rest of the piece. Destroyed city in the background prolly. Dunno what to de below the people. Just a hill sounds kinda boring. ------------- |
Posted By: tuaarita
Date Posted: 06 December 2008 at 2:06pm
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Originally posted by skeddles
Dunno what to de below the people. Just a hill sounds kinda boring. Nothing, gives a great atmosphere but maybe blend the horizon to the sky. And what are they standing on? Pile of dirt? :P Make it a mountain cliff or something. Edit: oh below, not above  Oh well whatever. ------------- I'm running in the desert, running in to the sun, running out of blood and I'm going numb. |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 06 December 2008 at 2:39pm
 Here's anew one.I started working on the background, and outlined the foreground. I just need something to put in all that blank space. ------------- |
Posted By: greenraven
Date Posted: 06 December 2008 at 3:31pm
Looking awesomer and awesomer. 
------------- "pwnage comes with patience, practice and planning." ~ Jalonso
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Posted By: tuaarita
Date Posted: 06 December 2008 at 4:41pm
just a thought ------------- I'm running in the desert, running in to the sun, running out of blood and I'm going numb. |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 06 December 2008 at 8:24pm
 I
don't really want to because that will make the other person seem like
they're facing the wrong way. Heres the new one. Which is pretty much
my original Idea but only on one side.Maybe the shorter one should be on the side without the cliff? ------------- |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 12 December 2008 at 5:29pm
 -Finished clouds-Finished half of city Still need something below the city, and maybe something between the clouds and city. It seems like kind of a lot of colors, but I suck at reducing. ------------- |
Posted By: geminoid
Date Posted: 12 December 2008 at 5:51pm
| man, those clouds are stellar. |
Posted By: ellie-is
Date Posted: 13 December 2008 at 6:34am
| Ditto on gem. The finished half of the sh*tty is pretty awesome too. Maybe addd some fire below the city, and give the city itself some warm colors? I dunno. |
Posted By: Elk
Date Posted: 14 December 2008 at 2:51pm
| A bit late but can you make the clouds a little more dramatic :-)? |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 17 December 2008 at 2:27pm
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Originally posted by Elk A bit late but can you make the clouds a little more dramatic :-)? I could but I really don't want to do them over. Plus I don't know what you mean by dramatic. But if you want to explain I'll be grateful ^^ I use clouds a lot. I might. We'll see. ------------- |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 19 December 2008 at 9:47pm
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Elk makes a great observation on your clouds. You always draw opaque/dense clouds. I will assume he mean, since I agree, that since clouds are vapor/gas-sy it is ok for light to emit from within in areas. Best analogy I can make is your clouds are made of cotton and not dense smoke. No need to redraw, just try to bring them to life a bit. ------------- |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 20 December 2008 at 9:16pm
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Originally posted by jalonso Elk makes a great observation on your clouds. You always draw opaque/dense clouds. I will assume he mean, since I agree, that since clouds are vapor/gas-sy it is ok for light to emit from within in areas. Best analogy I can make is your clouds are made of cotton and not dense smoke. No need to redraw, just try to bring them to life a bit. Like this: http://skeddles.com/pa.asp?f=114 ? Kinda? I don't really know how I could fix it, and ideas? Please? I don't want this to look bad. But I don't want to forget about because it seems like too much work. I did it again. I did just parts of a piece and now it sucks. Why? I don't know. sdfgsdfgsdfgd.fgs.dfg.sdfg.sdf.g.dgds. ------------- |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 20 December 2008 at 9:32pm
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I think its more about color choices than anything. Heres something??? http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/29627.htm You know how when we make palettes we control the ramps so that there is a flow?.... well, with clouds you need exaggeration of color switches to add drama. ------------- |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 20 December 2008 at 10:57pm
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You mean Like change it to a unusual color? Or do something crazy? http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/3562/48861861us3.png ? ------------- |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 21 December 2008 at 7:47pm
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hmmmm, don't know what to say really. If as you work on the rest of the picture perhaps one or two of the buildings in the background could have enough lights on that it reflects on a section of the cloud mass from below. Maybe its just time to work on everything but the clouds and see what's needed at the end to make the clouds do it job? E: Found this :/ Notice it has atmosphere to it and lots of variation. Then see how yours is of even coloring.  This is a color selection from this pic if you like  ------------- |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 07 January 2009 at 10:08pm
 Just thought I'd post an update. Started working on the cliff, worked more on the other side of the city, and finished the people.
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Posted By: Souly
Date Posted: 07 January 2009 at 11:49pm
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It's so dark the detail on their hoodies, and the rocks are un-seen. At least on my monitor it is ._. ------------- 
I am the jesus of PJ. |
Posted By: skamocore
Date Posted: 08 January 2009 at 12:08am
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Agreed, that's my biggest problem with this piece. brightness adjustment:  Even if you did something like this, it would still come across as being a dark scene, but at the same time...it would actually be visible on people's monitors... D: ------------- |
Posted By: Saboteur
Date Posted: 08 January 2009 at 1:29pm
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Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Raise the contrast yes. Raise the brightness no. Image code  ------------- "I was minding my own business and walking across a pebbled path, and a Duck started giving me the business." |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 10 January 2009 at 5:23pm
 I altered the colors on the clouds and rocks. My friend still says it's too dark, But it looks good on my screen.I also worked on the rocks a lot more. Clearly. ------------- |
Posted By: Metaru
Date Posted: 10 January 2009 at 9:34pm
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its darks, but in my hyper dark monitor is virtually a grayish cloud and nothing else.
------------- I ate leel's babies |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 10 January 2009 at 11:30pm
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Originally posted by Metaru its darks, but in my hyper dark monitor is virtually a grayish cloud and nothing else. I have no clue what you just said. ------------- |
Posted By: Metaru
Date Posted: 11 January 2009 at 3:47am
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the first and probably only element one notices in your image are the clouds. the rest is too dark to be noticed. just because its suposed to have a dark feeling it doesnt mean it has to be "black" ------------- I ate leel's babies |
Posted By: Hapiel
Date Posted: 11 January 2009 at 4:51am
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Study saboteurs edit some more, its awesome, clearly visible, dark, and awesome!
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Posted By: Platnium
Date Posted: 11 January 2009 at 8:55am
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Have some more contrast on the peoples clothes. ------------- 
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Posted By: Emtch
Date Posted: 12 January 2009 at 11:38am
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This is great. The buildings, clouds and cliff look amazing.
About the brightness: Since it's your work, you decide how dark it will be because it's more of a stylistic choice. If you want it this dark, go for it. It' perfectly readable on both my monitors (one of which is 9 years old.)
Don't overdo it with the contrast if you want to keep it smooth looking, because the edits are much more harsh than this latest version.
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Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 16 January 2009 at 7:02pm
 Update. Gave it more contrast, and worked on the rocks.
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Posted By: Hapiel
Date Posted: 17 January 2009 at 2:20am
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I really do NOT see the difference. I guess you will have to up the contrast way more, because at this darkness I can't even find the things you have changed on the rocks! I can hardly see rocks! ------------- |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 17 January 2009 at 11:17am
 Okay, I put even more contrast on the rocks/clouds, but I'm starting to not like it. It's supposed to be a night scene with no lights, not a rave party.
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Posted By: AdamF
Date Posted: 17 January 2009 at 11:42am
| I think the lighter the rocks get, the messier they get. I'd keep it darker, but that's just me. Lookin' great though! |
Posted By: Hapiel
Date Posted: 17 January 2009 at 1:09pm
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I have just viewed it on a huge black bg, and then it looks sorta ok, also the darker versions. I suggest you put a thick black border around the final version for those who use a bright theme (like me). Your newest version is readable, but I still like saboteurs version more... EDIT:
At the moment I am at school, with plasma screens. Here I do see, and like your versions, and they are surely not too dark. But if you want those with the old thick screens to see your stuff....
I need a new screen. ------------- |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 19 January 2009 at 1:15pm
Haha, I agree, it does look better on a black bg. And a non-crt. I think the rocks are done. Tell me if I'm wrong. Gotta finish that city now. I think I'll just do silhouettes of tree's for that empty space on the left. ------------- |
Posted By: greenraven
Date Posted: 19 January 2009 at 1:22pm
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Is it me or is it a bit too dark?
------------- "pwnage comes with patience, practice and planning." ~ Jalonso
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Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 19 January 2009 at 1:29pm
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Originally posted by greenraven Is it me or is it a bit too dark? ? ------------- |
Posted By: greenraven
Date Posted: 19 January 2009 at 1:48pm
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Pretty much what ska said right there: Originally posted by skamocore Agreed, that's my biggest problem with this piece. brightness adjustment: Even if you did something like this, it would still come across as being a dark scene, but at the same time...it would actually be visible on people's monitors... D: Seem a bit too dark (at least for me). ------------- "pwnage comes with patience, practice and planning." ~ Jalonso
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Posted By: NotlikeTheOther
Date Posted: 19 January 2009 at 3:24pm
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First of all, let me say I LOVE THIS!
Question, what happened to their swords? It looked cool that they were back to back swords drawn... maybe an enemy of some type is surrounding them and they must fight to the death?
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Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 19 January 2009 at 6:03pm
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Originally posted by NotlikeTheOther First of all, let me say I LOVE THIS! Question, what happened to their swords? It looked cool that they were back to back swords drawn... maybe an enemy of some type is surrounding them and they must fight to the death? Haha, thanks. Yeah, I dropped the swords because i thought it looked kinda dorky, plus I thought it was a bit too suggesting of a theme, and i wanted the piece to be more open to interpretation. @Greenie: Yeah, I know, I've been making it lighter and lighter, but I kinda like where it is now. I actually even undid the last lightening, I dunno If i should redo it again or not. Tell me what you guys think. Even though I'm getting completely mixed signals. I'll try to finish the city tonight or tomorrow.Thanks for sticking with me guys. ------------- |
Posted By: skamocore
Date Posted: 19 January 2009 at 6:29pm
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Have a look at how these pieces portray a dark/nighttime feel: http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/15266.htm - http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/15266.htm http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/14917.htm - http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/14917.htm http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/18818.htm - http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/18818.htm http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/17123.htm - http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/17123.htm http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/2365.htm - http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/2365.htm http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/10195.htm - http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/10195.htm ------------- |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 22 January 2009 at 3:22pm
 Finished city. What now? Trees in between? If it looks to uncontrasty, try this, if still, tell me about it. http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/1016/standbgzu1.png ------------- |
Posted By: 006
Date Posted: 22 January 2009 at 6:45pm
| This is an awesome piece, can't wait till its done. What about adding more mountains before the city. |
Posted By: Saboteur
Date Posted: 22 January 2009 at 8:09pm
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I thiiiiiiink you're putting quote unquote "realism" over composition here, and that isn't helping you. My edit way above doesn't make any sense, in terms of realism. "Wtf?" You say "Are there beams of light shooting down from the heavens that only hit those specific rocks?" Yes, I say. For the sake of composition, there is! "Why?" You ask. Well! Triangulation and grouping and eye direction. People like threes. Things in threes are good. If you've got a composition with things in threes, people will naturally pick out the threes and form triangles that'll bounce their eyes around the composition and show them what they're supposed to be looking at. Take a look at your piece, currently, and follow where you're looking. For me, my eyes start at the bottom-left corner and follow the edge of the canvas clockwise to the bottom-right corner, then reverse. My eyes don't stop on your central figures for some reason, and I practically never look at your wall of rocks. This, as far as I can understand, is because everything is grouped into one group, so I'm getting a "These are rocks, these are people, this is city" kinda feeling that isn't so good to have around. "K, wtf are groups?" asks someone. Groups are objects of similar visual values that register mentally as one object depending on a variety of conditions. To name a few: proximity, texture, size, colour, value, shape, etc etc. If something looks LIKE something else and is nearby, they'll mentally be "grouped" and be the same object. Case and point, your rocks currently are exactly that, a bunch of rocks. They're grouped, no individual rock stands out, it's just one big triangular area of rocks. In my edit, I've got one small rock and one big cluster of rocks. The implication of a mountain made of rocks is still there without drawing every single rock, AND the viewer now has an idea of which rocks to look at. Not only that, also triangulation and HEY! THREE THINGS TO LOOK AT  ping-ping-ping go my eyes, bouncing between those three things like a pinball machine drowning in coffee. It does this because the rocks and the shape made by the holes in their hoodies are very very close, and people like to look at similar shapes. I forgot if I had any more points to make! Oh yeah. Eye direction. Having your focal point (the two people) as part of one or many triangles is grand. You've also done a fantastic job already of making them stand out, what with the clear silhouettes and the clouds and mountain practically pointing to them. YEH! Experiment with triangulation and grouping things by similar shapes and stoof. See what happens. Fantastical work already, though. I digs, plx carry on. ------------- "I was minding my own business and walking across a pebbled path, and a Duck started giving me the business." |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 25 January 2009 at 7:15pm
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First off Sab, thanks a lot for your post ^^ So basically what you're saying, is less is more? And triangles are good. So I suppose I should have a couple things stick out more. I don't want to just like, erase rocks. What If I made a couple rocks stick out a tad. Or what If I added something on a couple rocks, such as a tree growing out the side, or just a vine or something. Is a pinball machine drowning in coffee good? Please post back ^^; ------------- |
Posted By: Saboteur
Date Posted: 23 February 2009 at 8:08pm
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Originally posted by skeddles First off Sab, thanks a lot for your post ^^ So basically what you're saying, is less is more? And triangles are good. So I suppose I should have a couple things stick out more. I don't want to just like, erase rocks. What If I made a couple rocks stick out a tad. Or what If I added something on a couple rocks, such as a tree growing out the side, or just a vine or something. Is a pinball machine drowning in coffee good? Please post back ^^; Not less is more, but purpose is better than noise. If something is there just for the sake of being there then it shouldn`t be there. In this case showing a few rocks is enough to suggest that the entire cliffs are rocks, so most of the rocks you have so far are just noise, and don`t serve a function. Also, as I said, if you have all the rocks like you currently do, your mind will group them as one object, one `bunch of rocks`so if you`re determined to keep them, do something to break it up from one group of rocks to... iono, a couple rocks with grass on them and a mountain lion hiding amongst them or something. Tree sticking out the side or vines or something all qualify as ungrouping the rocks, so experiment some with those and see what happens! Pinball is good, coffee is good, a pinball machine drowning in coffee is a popular attraction in heaven, I hear :) Given permission, I`m willing to perform extensive edits to the tune of making the piece the damn best I can. ------------- "I was minding my own business and walking across a pebbled path, and a Duck started giving me the business." |
Posted By: Elk
Date Posted: 25 February 2009 at 1:36pm
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Yea,sorry for no reply for that long...jalonso sorta got it right ^^ just a random idea, reason for yellow lightning is the overused blue lightning in general... and a lightsource makes the characters/environment stick out a bit more and you can keep going with dark colors like you did, if you want to use such a dark-themed picture, the whitebalance just requires to use lighter colors aswell so theres harmony within the piece (hope you get what i mean) Here some quick edit  PLX LET IT RAIN! Sabs post about the triangle seems nice but i would use the light differently a light gradient from light to dark from bottom to top, to add more depth and perspective |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 22 April 2009 at 12:22pm
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Hey guys, thanks for replying. I really want to just get this piece out of the way. I dunno about the rain/lightning, it does look good, but I would in now be able to get it to look as good as yours, even though it's just a sketch lol. I'm better at just pixeling than actual art, I guess that's why I like to fill in the whole thing with details. I attempted a tree, but it looks horrible so far. I guess it just doesn't stick out enough. I'm gonna try lightening up the whole piece. The grass looks ok I guess. Oh, and I added trees in the background.  Thanks ------------- |
Posted By: Peach
Date Posted: 22 April 2009 at 1:05pm
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I agree on lighting the whole thing up, it needs more contrast, at least to put more evidence on the two guys, rocks are -imho- good, but I'd see some more light on the hoods given by clouds. they can't be that dark, only if you push down the sky to make them in full contrast as if they were backlightened, sort of silhuette lighting I hope I wrote enough correctly to made it understandable.  |
Posted By: Elk
Date Posted: 23 April 2009 at 11:36pm
| skeddles you need to allow yourself to make dramatic changes to your own pieces :p else it will stay dark forever! |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 24 April 2009 at 7:02pm
 Haha, I honestly thought the only thing that needed lightening was the rocks xDI moved the clouds down, it got rid of a lot of useless space, plus makes seeing the people easier. My reasoning for the black colors being dark is that the people are supposed to be hard to make out. Maybe I should do the lighting thing, and maybe a fire in the town too. It just seems kinda bland right now, I kinda want the feeling of chaos, aside from the people. Which means the rocks need more... Do you guys really think I should redo the clouds? And what about lightening the rocks up? I said that before because when you look at it first its really dark and you cant see much, but after you stare at it it kinda pops out more. Buy maybe some bright exciting things would bring you in at first. What about burning trees? Gah, sorry for such a long post, I'm just kinda thinking out loud, but please share your thoughts. ------------- |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 24 April 2009 at 10:46pm
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Fine and all but if the viewer cannot see and read the picture it loses its power. I only adjusted colors, but did add some browns from the rocks as highlights to the figures. E:I know you want dark and moody and will hate my edit but some light is needed :|  ------------- |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 25 April 2009 at 1:36pm
  Now it appears that the people need some AA... Maybe more detail on the side grass? (also gotta finish that little bit down there) Gotta do something above those trees too.. dunno how to make it look good though... ------------- |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 25 April 2009 at 9:28pm
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Yes, I noticed the need for AA on th figures too. About that middle plane, maybe you can make another layer of buildings with less 'boxy/lined' buildings and more organic like the trees are. Like 50/50 linework/organic lines. Could work especially if you throw in 1 or 2 of those rock pyramids in there to blend it all in... :\ ------------- |
Posted By: AdamF
Date Posted: 26 April 2009 at 5:10pm
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The rocks are looking much better, but I'll have to say, the clouds looked MUCH better dark. Now the dithering is lighter and harsher- the clouds look less smooth than they did previously.
This is still coming along pretty well, though. I'll keep watch. |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 27 April 2009 at 6:45pm
 Updateplayed around with the rocks a little more, AAed the people. I actually really like the new clouds color. I do agree that they look less neat/smooth, same with the rocks, which I don't really like, but I like the contrast/colors of them both a lot more. I might still try to add grass or things into the rocks.. but it's rather hard. Post your thoughts. ------------- |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 27 April 2009 at 8:18pm
That's because I evened out the levels of all the colors to near perfection 
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Posted By: Peach
Date Posted: 29 April 2009 at 4:25am
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Originally posted by skeddles played around with the rocks a little more, AAed the people. I actually really like the new clouds color. I do agree that they look less neat/smooth, same with the rocks, which I don't really like, but I like the contrast/colors of them both a lot more. I might still try to add grass or things into the rocks.. but it's rather hard. Post your thoughts. that's really better about the background: I think the city/buildings should be less detailed as they are now, same as I told you before, highlight them use colors just to show light on surfaces, not the structure of the building, I think you can gain a lot more details with it. about the rocks: I do see a skull somewhere a nice idea. left side of the rocks are too much straight and perfect, I would add some more rocks on the left on the bottom part. More on the rocks: I would use a darker tone for the bottom part, like "fading out" my 2 cents |
Posted By: skeddles
Date Posted: 03 May 2009 at 2:29pm
 Newer version.I worked on teh left side, moved some things around, added some new rocks. I don't know about the building being less detailed, I think they look really cool. What do you mean I can gain a lot more details with it? I tried moving the trees up. It makes sence since you're at a lower level, that the trees should be higher. It also solves the problem of the space. Though now theres a bunch of black space. I dunno, feedback me. ------------- |
Posted By: ellie-is
Date Posted: 03 May 2009 at 2:33pm
| It looks cool, but I still think the people need more contrast. Not too much, but the way its now you can barely tell that they are people. |