I can't figure out how to make the tree look like it's being ruffled by the wind. As you can see I have kinda tried to do it but it looks wierd :/
Any help will be greatly appreciated




One thing I want to mention is that I drew the line art on paper and then scanned it. I'm not sure if this is considered against the rules though.

Edited by ADrawingMan - 18 May 2013 at 10:21am

ah, yeah I had this problem too and I'm trying to fix it. ;_;.

This is a great looking image and nicely laid out.

I think it's as Jalonso said: Resize the pic to make it smaller. This big requires way much more details, and rustling leaves are tricky business. If the entire image is smaller, you'll be able to get away with adding less detail.

This is far too personal. You have to find your own way and see what works for you and is most comfortable.

I would however consider starting with the rocks underneath the island and the trunk of tree as they are the harder surfaces to create and will make or break the whole scene. There are lots of great refs in the gallery if you need to study these textures. While you may worry about the wind in the tree canopy that is actually not that tough to convey so don't tie yourself down.

I would go even smaller than that so that you can ficus on technique.

Here's my newest version so far, not much but it is a start. I resized it a bit (I could possibly make it smaller) and did simple colouring in


I was thinking of making gears coming out of the island, thats what those wierd things at the bottom are :L.
@CraftyPixel
Whoa, extremely beautiful!

kk, here's my newest WIP with me not being restricted to black lines (looks kind of similar to CraftyPixel, )





I'm kind of excited :).

edit: Added gears

Edited by ADrawingMan - 15 May 2013 at 7:15pm

Of course it does not matter but for new pixel pushers reducing the canvas allows for more dedicated pixelling and the ability to still see the 'whole' when working zoomed in.
Your example is a rather poor example because it takes advanced dedication and perseverance to make a piece like that and as Elk states in the description, "Overall the total span was half a year, 410~ pure work hours."
New pixelpushers would most likely get bored, lose interest or simply get frustrated following that route. It makes far more sense to work as small as possible and grow the canvas as the experience grows. I've come to this by seeing so many new members join, begin to pixel, aim far too high then fall on their ass.

I was working on the towers today...

But is this really considered too big? I mean it is quite smaller when compared to the original.

Most of my island up to this point have been considerably smaller than this one which is why I'm doing one at this size.
I wouldn't really mind resizing it more but what would be a good size for someone of my skill level?

I think I'm gonna go with the smaller one and as you said next year a bigger version. My skill level right now actually may in a way ruin the bigger version.

Your first image was 637 × 877 = 558649 pixels, which is insane xD!

Anyway, your piece looks awesome and will still look awesome even if it's way smaller.

Edited by AtskaHeart - 17 May 2013 at 1:02pm

OT:
Whenever I begin any pixel the way I determine what the canvas size will be is to determine what is the smallest item in the pixel that I want to read clearly and then base everything off that. When I reduced your image I can see that even the mushrooms will read clearly at that size so thats about the size I would go with. If, for example, you wanted to place a figure in the window and have the character have some expression then I would go much bigger and begin pixelling the character to make sure it will all work. If I wanted an angry worm in the root of the tree then I would go with your original size.

Lesson #1 - Planning - 

Looking good and I like the square canvas too. This gives it a more airy and floaty setting.

I think you should at this point rough in your major lighting too. The light is generally coming right to left which is cool and you generally have everything in its place. However, the turret with the cannon should be casting its shadow into the foliage more that that so that its set in depth. The front tower will cast some shadow too but less than the far back one. The lower mushrooms and gears will need to follow this too but you don't have to worry about that now because your palette is not yet established.

Start pixelling and detailing the rocks and tree trunk using the colors you now have (these can and will be tweaked later) and use as many as you can in both to conserve colors but have at least one shade in each area that will give the illusion that each have their own unique ramp. For example use a purplish shade to shadow the rocks (the sky being blue casts its color on this surface). Then perhaps use a grey/neutral for the trunk. These 2 'unique' shades are the right hue/shade when they serve as the basis of the ramp for the cannon and even the gears which you can build after the base of the rocks and trunk are set.
If you don't understand something just ask, k.


Edited by jalonso - 17 May 2013 at 8:55pm

Left for me, but I would also add a small light on the left face of the island. It would be nice to see a three point lighting on this illustration:
http://bit.ly/10BZWHN
http://bit.ly/12jTtiO

It's not only nicer but more natural :p.

I was thinking about what you said and there's something that I've run across.


Wouldn't it look kinda funny with 2 light sources?Everything that's dark on the right of the island would suddenly become light... maybe I'm not thinking about it properly.

@Jalonso
I'm working on a wood texture, am I doing it right?

Erm, I organized my dropbox and that in turn changed the paths of all the files... so all the pics above this will not be seen :/

Edited by ADrawingMan - 18 May 2013 at 10:22am

A fast example about what I was talking about:

The second light source is a small one, with a blueish color. Imo, it adds some depth that may look better if it's applied to textures :p. I love the wood btw!!

Edited by AtskaHeart - 18 May 2013 at 2:05pm

Sure, go ahead! :p But you should also apply the back light on the trunk and towers.

I'm gonna crop it when I'm done, don't worry :P.
I'm gonna try to fix up the top of my tower, the cannon and the clouds.

I wasn't planning to really work on all the clouds, I think that I just got a tad bit carried away when I started on them ;). But you're right, cropping now makes more sense.

I also wanna mention that the colors that you used for the clouds in your edit are the colors that I'm using for my clouds.

Edited by ADrawingMan - 19 May 2013 at 1:21pm

Its ok and gallery worthy and all that stuff, but...

I think you should continue to work on the highlights and shadows on the top of the tower. They are messy, unrealistic, and should be displaying the curve of the cone. http://www.sketchwiki.com/shading/shading-cone.php
The shading on the cylinder on the towers is also distracting.
The leftmost part of the floating island is kind of funky, also. Not a huge fan of (what I think is) the cog/gears, and mushroom (jetting out of the side).
The greens in this could also have a little more contrast and texture. The lightest green is especially off-putting. Also put some texture in the grass. You mine as well, and the grass could use some work.(its kinda jagged)
The highlight on the brickish tower could also be upped, slightly in size and contrast.
The second lightsource (or whatever is effecting the leftmost side of the tree and land is unnessessary. I would ditch it completely, as it is only adding colors, that you don't need.