I've never seen anything about it. (not that i'm a mod, or a rules expert.



well, i'm not sure where to begin. are you working from a specific reference? if not, try looking at some cat pictures for anatomy. if you're looking for a specific style, such as a cartoon, or super creepy, or whatever, post a reference of that as well.

as for the cat itself, there are a lot of anatomy issues, not enough contrast. and is it supposed to have back legs? because i don't see any.

for the face, its hard to read the red 'lights' as eyes, they almost seem like pikachu cheeks, while it has 3 '6' shaped eyes.

cheers!

it might be best to get some references. and shading skills are the most very basic skills you should have as an artist. so my advice would be to get back to the sketchpad and practice the basics with pencil before jumping headlong into pixelart, which is a more difficult medium to learn the basics in.

but if you choose not to get back to the basics, then I'd advise getting reference pictures (references are pretty essential at most any skill level), and also thinking about the image in terms of form rather than just line- think about the three dimensional structures that compose the image and you'll have an idea of how it should be shaded.

You don't see the shading? I already shaded it.... Anyways i tried to make the shading more visible. I also made the tail longer and tried to make it look like it's covering the back feet. Last edit i made to the picture was that I erased the back a bit cuz it looked a little fat.



Not much changes but... i don't know what to do about the eyes because the red doesn't stand out as much. (Meaning, i need some suggestions.)

Also the ears look a little.... weird.

Lastly, I am using MSpaint... is it a good tool to use or is there a better one for pixel art that i am not aware of?

For the references... i can't find any cat pictures the lays down in the exact position. Well, not exactly but almost. What I'm trying to say is that is there any cat pictures that almost (or at least partially) look like mine?

EDIT: Also, Tarenken, for your avatar, how did u know what kind of shade you needed to use? Like you used a purpilish kind of colour to shade the shadows on your avatar.


Edited by zero57 - 18 June 2010 at 1:12pm

The light source is coming from top right... And i didn't use gradients... i just did a complete click click click sequence to colour it in. I also have no skill in shading lawl.. so i pretty much fail at the part where the light is hitting to. (I was thinking that since it's pretty much 'flat' then it'll most likely come from the side and lower the value as it goes down further to the bottom.

Is there a pixel art tool that is noob friendly?

I'll check once more for the cat pictures.

EDIT: I also don't want to go back to the basics. I want to just learn pixel art and start it the hard way.


Edited by zero57 - 18 June 2010 at 1:29pm

why do you think a cat is almost flat? and yes, that is a gradient. it starts at point x as a light shade, then gradually becomes darker as it draws closer to point y. gradients flatten whatever you draw because they show no respect to form.
the basics are called the basics for a reason. you can go no further until you've learned them. it's just a matter of whether you'd like to learn them in a slow and tedious way using a slow and tedious medium, or a quicker and more flexible medium like drawing.

I'm at work so please pardon the sudden loss of outline--been so long since I've used MSPaint I've forgotten how to keep that from happening.

TINC's is better, ignore mine D: I'm at work in a hurry plus I'm more used to doing cute shiny things than realistic awesome things.

1 word. AMAZING! I have A LOT to learn to be decent. You're just... Wow!

1. The colour was suppose to kind of outline around the ears (while it is still in the ear).

2. I have no idea what your saying. And i would appreciate a tutorial on the hue shifting and saturation shifting. I also now get the point that the darks should be darker and lights should be lighter. Thanks to your great edit!

3. I know cats aren't flat just that i see that when i pixelate; it makes it look like 2D. So i think it's 'flat'. Even in your hasty edit, it's still great. And thanks for the idea of the round bits into a sack. I know it's going to help me in the later future.

I didn't focus on shadows so it is obviously terrible. But even if i tried, it won't be as good as yours. Also when i try to add light, or like highlights, it just ends up looking like plastic. So i just threw highlights/lighting out the window. For now, until i learn more about pixelating.

The art you posted just made me want to learn the basics! Since it was so good. I wanted to be good as you. But i don't know any tutorials to help me with the basics..

The back leg 'illusion', is really awesome because a few pixels here and there will make it look like it has a back leg without even trying to draw the leg!

The front leg you mentioned, it was suppose to be claws. Also, i'm terrible at making 4 toes or whatever. All i can do is a maximum of 3.

I was thinking of a cool way of making sixes so i made it look like that. I might try to refine it a bit once i learned the basics.

Out of all, i guess i really do need to learn the basics. So anybody knows where to start?

EDIT: Okay wow, I didn't even realize all the posts that was made while i was typing. xD

@TINC Yours is awesome. The green eyes do make it look creepy. And the shading is great. Everything there is exactly what i needed. But I don't want to copyright so i'll just have to learn to make my own and compete with it.

@StepDragon I see the logical-ness between all that. The slanted ears and everything makes it look like a real cat. And the hind leg gives me a good example of what a cat should have.

It really amazes me how people could easily do this even though they aren't really trying or whatever.

BTW While searching on the internet i came across a tool called Graphics Gale... It was said that it is designed for pixel art. What i want to know is should i get Graphics Gale? It seems a little too overwhelming.


Edited by zero57 - 18 June 2010 at 3:55pm

Graphics Gale is a great program, its really easy to use too. the biggest difference from paint is that you can select colors by right clicking, and the line tool links line to line until you right click.

also it supports layers, which is really good for making edits.

feel free to ask about GG on here (just also make it part of your thread, ie satin cat, so we don't get off topic. you can always make a new thread, but i'm not sure where it would fit in. either way, as long as its your thread it should be fine...

(once again i'm no rules expert, so don't hold me to it if i'm wrong)

You'll get the hang of it.

the shading  alot better, but i think the tail needs to be thinner and longer and lie flat on the floor more.

i've made an edit to show you the problem with "jaggies"- that is, jagged lines. yours is on the right, i've used bright green to illustrate a few of the problem areas I adjusted in my edit. I also colored an area blue because i can't tell what it is. if it's his right paw, then he's quite the contortionist to be able to bend it so far toward the viewer. I'd also recommend looking up more cat references, especially for the head and face.

Hi, I haven't done much with the cat but i think it's ready. Heres the finished work.

The difference is, is that i did some colour outlining while keeping some of the original outline.



Here is the Pixel Art with the same thing, but just with black outline.



And finally, here is an animation of each change i made. (9 frames in total)



Should i submit my finished work? Or should I still improve my piece?