Pixel Joint Forum: [Beginner] My Too flat Clockwork sprite

Message

   Hi, I am just starting out in pixel art and here's a little 32x32 clockwork icon I did:

As you can see, it looks really flat and not really clocky at all, and I don't know how to make it look more convincing. How can I make it more realistic? 

Is it my colors? Do I have too little detail? But how can I add more detail in this limited space? How can I get it looking more metallic?

Any advice would be great. Thank you!

Author	Message
watermark Seaman Joined: 11 February 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4	Topic: [Beginner] My Too flat Clockwork sprite Posted: 12 February 2014 at 1:14am
	Hi, I am just starting out in pixel art and here's a little 32x32 clockwork icon I did: As you can see, it looks really flat and not really clocky at all, and I don't know how to make it look more convincing. How can I make it more realistic? Is it my colors? Do I have too little detail? But how can I add more detail in this limited space? How can I get it looking more metallic? Any advice would be great. Thank you!
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CELS Commander Joined: 23 September 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 758	Posted: 12 February 2014 at 2:42am
	The problem isn't that it lacks detail. You've decided to draw something extremely complex with a very tiny canvas. It's like trying to paint the Mona Lisa on small coin as your first painting exercise. You could definitely use more contrast to help separate the shapes and use colors better to avoid pillow shading. But if you're starting out learning how to paint, it's generally not a good idea to cram as much detail on as small a surface as possible. If you want to do complex clockwork, then at least start with 100x100 pixels. If you want to pixel something that is only 32 x 32 pixels, try to pixel something easier untill you're more experienced, like a car, a toaster or an elephant. If you want to persist with this exercise of tiny clockwork, you would have to simplify the shape tremendously.
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watermark Seaman Joined: 11 February 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4	Posted: 13 February 2014 at 3:56am
	Thanks for the advice! I think I will take out some gears and make the rest bigger, and then see how I can increase the contrast. Maybe the color ramp I'm using isn't differentiated enough.
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lunarhiro Midshipman Joined: 19 June 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 10	Posted: 14 February 2014 at 10:10pm
	I like the toaster idea... XD
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