OK, so I'm fairly new to pixel art and I'm making a video game about a unicorn. (lol dis intro)

Anyways, I would like some advice on what kind of step I should take to improve it. The average static tutorial would be to just "Add shadows/highlights then add more details". But umm, I'm at a standstill on how I would do that to this here flat sign.

The sign is supposed to show legible text in the center with something like "SCHOOL" as it'll be at the entrance to where the unicorn will be going to (oh this is a platformer game by the way). So atm, my game has this pretty flat, straight on camera view.

To show my current art style of game, here's a pic of it:


I really hope you can help me! Thanks!

First off, the sign is the least of your problems. Everything consists of shabby unrefined outlines with varying pixel sizes (ie the bed/unicorn is 2x everything else). Before you start doing texture work on general shading and lines. The wood exterior blends terribly with the earth, the colors in some areas are not too attractive (how do you fix this? Use other peoples' color pallets or pay more attention to saturation and hue shifting.) See here http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10946
The tree's outline is rather unrefined. The tree is also rather unrealistic (no shading, stump is way too thick), read this thread: http://www.wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=15027.msg138860#msg138860
(and also use references)

As for the tiles, the grass isn't reading well as grass. This could be due to the dark green outline on top of it, or the last of contrast, or unappealing colors.
The bricky lumber tiles are probably the best part of this screenshot/mockup. But the physics behind floating tiles and no doors could be improoved (just image what a house interior should look like.) I also think you could ditch the vertical black lines in between each tile. And make legitimate stairwells, don't just reuse your old tiles.

The BG is boring and a terrible color. Use the satuarion for it and bring it a little closer to blue on the hue meter.

Anyway, I hope I helped, even though its not what you are looking for. But frankly don't worry about texture, and worry about the big picture. As for the sign, just use references, and proper shading techniques.
Good luck on this game/graphics.

Edited by crozier - 23 February 2013 at 10:38am

Bump. C'mon guys, my original question hasn't been answered yet. Ok so from a reference, how would one get down a texture? The pictures have a much higher resolution, so how would I get that?

Any help is appreciated.

The original question is not what is most important, as crozier said there are more fundamental issues here.

For instance, you want to draw a tree. But you're not creating a very convincing tree, you're creating a very flat symbol of a tree. This is because you lack training in the fundamentals of art. If you want to draw a tree trunk and foliage, you must first know how to shade basic geometric forms like cylinders and spheres. Practice doing that. You should also draw from reference, preferably from life since I assume there are trees where you live. Go outside. Draw a tree. Draw 50 trees. Then you will have a better understanding of how the branches grow out from the trunk, and how the foliage relates to the branches, and how areas of light and dark are unevenly dispersed through the foliage (instead of having a random uniform texture on top of a bunch of overlapping circles).

I do not understand your questions about working from a reference. Resolution is irrelevant, you're just trying to mimic the texture. But to use a reference you must know how to deconstruct a reference, which takes practice practice practice and not bumping bumping bumping.

Your main problem is related to depth (which is related to shading and shapes). Your tree should look like a real tree, with volume, not a drawing.

Here's the way I learned to draw trees. It's actually really helpful, and is pretty eye-opening as to what actually goes into drawing a tree (versus seeing a tree in real life). Click Here