Pixel Joint Forum: Dragon Hatchling

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Trying something bigger this time.  I have no idea what to do with the background.

Still a WIP, of course. :P

Latest:

Edited by KiraCatgirl - 02 February 2008 at 11:52am

Author	Message
Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Topic: Dragon Hatchling Posted: 14 January 2008 at 12:45pm
	Trying something bigger this time. I have no idea what to do with the background. Still a WIP, of course. :P Latest: Edited by KiraCatgirl - 02 February 2008 at 11:52am
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BlackDragon Commander Joined: 13 May 2014 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 729	Posted: 14 January 2008 at 1:10pm
	Agreed. Well anyway what are you hoping to accomplish with this? What mood, what type of coloring, what style? We could crit better and more accurately the more we know.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 14 January 2008 at 10:14pm
	Thanks, both of you! :D I have no clear idea of what mood I want the image to have, to be honest. Coloring, warm, I'm aiming for it to look lit by a pale yellow light when I'm done. I'm not totally happy with it as it is, but it's good enough to work with for now. Style... Semi-realistic, I guess? Anyway, here's an update, not a whole lot of changes. Mostly the outlines, some shading additions and changes. I'm focusing on the dragon's body for the moment, and the current shading just doesn't look finished. I can't figure out what I could do to it, however. I've tried adding another color with poor results, and I made an attempt at dithering to see how that would look and failed utterly. Any ideas or suggestions?
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leel Commander Joined: 29 June 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3001	Posted: 15 January 2008 at 7:51am
	He needs texture! There's lots of dragons in the pj gallery you could study. A for background.. hmm cave? but the lighting wouldn't fit a cave I guess.. you could have it set in a house (surprise kid, your bird is a dragon!) that could be kind of funny. Hm yeah that's all I got at the moment, just woke up. This is looking really nice, keep it up ;)
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 15 January 2008 at 9:34am
	Textured the dragon's body, and it looks a lot better. :D
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Metaru Commander Joined: 03 February 2020 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3305	Posted: 15 January 2008 at 11:30am
	perhaps a bit more contrast on those scales?
	I ate leel's babies
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 15 January 2008 at 1:00pm
	Thanks Metaru, increasing the contrast looks a lot better. :) I'm going to attack that front eggshell next, it keeps looking horrible and I want to get it over with.
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leel Commander Joined: 29 June 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3001	Posted: 15 January 2008 at 3:29pm
	some stylized dithering would look awesome on the eggs, imho. Speckled eggs are SO cute! XD Great job on the skin texture :) Edited by leel - 15 January 2008 at 3:32pm
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 15 January 2008 at 4:17pm
	To be honest, I have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to dithering. Tell me if I did anything absolutely horrible to this egg before I try it on the others. :P
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BlackDragon Commander Joined: 13 May 2014 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 729	Posted: 15 January 2008 at 4:24pm
	Hm, try making the dithering more like speckles: http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/4593.htm or more like this: http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/21485.htm
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leel Commander Joined: 29 June 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3001	Posted: 15 January 2008 at 4:41pm
	Yeah I meant more like BD's examples there. I'm sure you'll find plenty more in the gallery, I wanted to post some but nothing just came to mind at the time. I did some dithering like that too in this piece but it's not very good, so.. do some searchin in the gallery haha Yeah right now the shell it's just a tad plain.
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pixelblink Commander Joined: 19 February 2023 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2865	Posted: 15 January 2008 at 8:11pm
	I like the looks of where this is going. I'd like to suggest a few things though, if I may. The piece would benefit from contrast warm and cool colours, specifically between the background and foreground. I also suggest not dithering on the eggs. Dithering generally implies texture and eggs (for the most part) have a nice smooth surface. I would like to see some more contrast in general as well as some darker shades where the light doesn't hit. Also, the tail doesn't look like it's coming from his rear but, rather, like it's coming from his.. umm... you know. Anyways, a few things to think about. Hope it helps :)
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leel Commander Joined: 29 June 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3001	Posted: 15 January 2008 at 8:27pm
	I think there's ways to dither that doesn't necessarily create a rough texture. I'll search for some examples, if it doesn't work out, then you could always just make it celshaded and add regular speckles for interest.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 15 January 2008 at 10:37pm
	Hmm. I like that bunny egg style, I'm going to try something like that (in the morning, that is). I thought the tail was fine. :P The line of the tail generally follows the curve of the eggshell the hatchling is sitting in, so I'll see what I can do to make that more visually obvious. Probably a steeper curve down to behind the shell.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 16 January 2008 at 10:18am
	I guess it's more spotted than speckled, but I like the way it looks!
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jalonso Admiral Joined: 29 November 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13537	Posted: 16 January 2008 at 11:35am
	I am enjoying the development of this pixel. *munching popcorn
	PJs FAQ <•> Sticky Reads
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 16 January 2008 at 1:22pm
	Mmm, popcorn. Did the second egg, messed with the colors a little more. The wings aren't finished, but they can wait until after I do the background. Edited by KiraCatgirl - 16 January 2008 at 1:22pm
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Serendor Midshipman Joined: 27 February 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 79	Posted: 16 January 2008 at 4:22pm
	I kinda liked your version with dithering... it gave the egg a special rough surface that suited the egg I think.... I think you should do something inbetween your dithering and this speckles... very nice though... //Albin
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leel Commander Joined: 29 June 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3001	Posted: 16 January 2008 at 5:13pm
	lose the biggest speckles, they're too much. I agree with Serendor. try to work with a similar dithering style as Black Gragon's second example.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 16 January 2008 at 6:05pm
	Aw, I kind of like the big spots. Are they too distracting? I'll try working some sort of dithering into it and see how that looks.
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leel Commander Joined: 29 June 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3001	Posted: 16 January 2008 at 6:23pm
	Well we're not forcing you to do anything hehe, if you like it - go ahead and keep it. I think it might be too much, you could try to just get rid of some of them, and keep a few. Just play around, see what works best :)
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Hatch Admiral Joined: 05 August 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1387	Posted: 16 January 2008 at 8:11pm
	Having the dots as perfect circles all over makes no sense. They should be distorted into ellipses by the shape of the egg and our perspective.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 16 January 2008 at 8:54pm
	Heh, a friend of mine complained about all the circular spots too, although for an entirely different reason. :P Circularity has been strategically modified. (You'll probably notice I took the house idea ;) ) I'm pretty happy with the way the eggs are right now, actually, although I'll probably mess with the colors some more. Edited by KiraCatgirl - 16 January 2008 at 9:00pm
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leel Commander Joined: 29 June 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3001	Posted: 17 January 2008 at 7:23am
	better :) now make slimey things hang down from the wings! XD tehe
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absinthelord Midshipman Joined: 12 February 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 76	Posted: 17 January 2008 at 7:11pm
	This looks fantastic.... and for someone who says they are new to dithering you sure pull it off well. I love the textures!
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 17 January 2008 at 8:52pm
	Thanks absinthe! :D I have to say I'm somewhat pleasantly surprised about how the eggs came out. Anywho, latest shot. I'm working on populating those shelves in the back right now, and it's slow going. I'm used to filliing a bookcase with books, but that's visually boring, so I'm digging for other ideas. Ignore the background colors, they're nowhere near what they're going to end up.
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AtomicMushroom Midshipman Joined: 27 September 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 75	Posted: 17 January 2008 at 9:23pm
	Hey there's geodude!
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 18 January 2008 at 4:25pm
	And the background is pretty much done (I hope). I guess I'll finish the wings next, and then the box and the sand.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 19 January 2008 at 2:43pm
	Doi. Well I learned one thing: larger pixels are very time consuming. xD I'm going to take a break from this for a few days and focus on my other project, then come back with a fresh view to finish it up. Feel free to offer up any critiques etc. of what I've got done so far in the meantime, if you feel like it.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 27 January 2008 at 1:41am
	Break over! Yay it looks like sand now! I like the idea of having some sort of slimy membrane oozy thing on the wings, but that's going to be haaard. It's on the to-try list for when I'm happy with the sand and the box. Edited by KiraCatgirl - 27 January 2008 at 1:42am
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Blu Commander Joined: 23 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 208	Posted: 27 January 2008 at 8:44am
	If you do do the slime, remember that where there's more it will probably be more of the color, assuming it's translucent. If that makes sense. Headdesk I'd heighten the contrast a bit with the background. It's kind of hard to see the books. But they look great. :D Must have taken a while. XD
	Gremlins rule the world; you just don't know it yet.
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leel Commander Joined: 29 June 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3001	Posted: 27 January 2008 at 9:31am
	Actually the slime might be a bit of a blessing for you - wing texture is always a bitch, and just regular dithering, very very very rarely actually looks good. But having "strands" of oozing dripping goo stretching between the joints, would make the space look a lot cooler. Then the remaining bits of the wings you might just plain dither, but it would actually help the look, instead of being boring. So good luck to you! Take a look at fool's gallery for inspiration - he's got a slimy snail and a really bitchin dragon whose wings you might wanna look at. Can't wait for an update, this is really turning out nice.
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xeroxz2k7 Midshipman Joined: 26 February 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 37	Posted: 27 January 2008 at 3:20pm
	Lovely. I especially like the background. ^^,
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Blu Commander Joined: 23 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 208	Posted: 27 January 2008 at 3:24pm
	If you want, especially since the dragon is just hatched, you could have veins showing through the membrane (FUN! XD). Which would be hard to pixel and get down right. >.> But a good idea, imo. ;p
	Gremlins rule the world; you just don't know it yet.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 30 January 2008 at 12:26am
	Well, the egg membrane idea isn't working out well at all, so I scrapped it. Fool did like a vein thing for the one I went to look at, which seems like a good idea, so that's what I'm shooting for right now. I also boosted the background contrast a teensy bit. Why do I always seem to end up working on this picture long after I should've gone to sleep? xD Edited by KiraCatgirl - 30 January 2008 at 12:27am
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Blu Commander Joined: 23 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 208	Posted: 30 January 2008 at 12:16pm
	Huzzah! ^^ You can see the books a little better/they're more noticable on first glance, so you do tend to look closer. So, yay. ^^ I think it's probably because you get so into it? Or because "I'll just finish..." and either you keep going or it takes longer than you'd think. Er, at least that's how it is for me. =P And the veins look good, I think. XD I'd maybe make them a bit more sparce, though...more spread out. Edited by BluWriter - 30 January 2008 at 12:16pm
	Gremlins rule the world; you just don't know it yet.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 02 February 2008 at 12:50am
	Been busy this week. :( Did some more work on the wing. I haven't quite decided if I like it or not, yet...
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Blu Commander Joined: 23 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 208	Posted: 02 February 2008 at 7:14am
	The veins on the lightest part look too light, compared to the veins on the darkest part, I think... =(
	Gremlins rule the world; you just don't know it yet.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 02 February 2008 at 7:32am
	That's a good point. I'm not sure if it'd look too dense if I made it darker, though. I'll have to see.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 02 February 2008 at 9:55am
	Man, I'm working on the back wing too and I'm almost tempted to just make it all dark and forget about any veinwork on it. >:( The colors just don't work, and I don't reeeally want to add another color just for the veins. I guess I could do that. I tried out three options with my current colors though for comparison's sake.
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spartan_117 Commander Joined: 14 June 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 478	Posted: 02 February 2008 at 9:57am
	well you could make holes in the wings if u dont want veins else you have to add some blue too your palette.Things dont always go as planned, do they. Edited by spartan_117 - 02 February 2008 at 9:57am
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 02 February 2008 at 10:01am
	Blue...? What would I need blue for? I was thinking a shade between a couple that I have now, since the veins in the back wing are contrasting too much with the wing membrane, either by shade or hue. Holes in wings make me go ouch. :(
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spartan_117 Commander Joined: 14 June 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 478	Posted: 02 February 2008 at 10:03am
	to tell you the truth you just overkilled the veins. try just a few but make them long.
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Inventrix Midshipman Joined: 01 January 2008 Online Status: Offline Posts: 77	Posted: 02 February 2008 at 11:52am
	I decided to go one better and switch from using the basic concept of patterning that Fool used and went and looked at bat wings instead. Added another color anyway but I think it looks better. Still not totally happy with the contrast levels, and I think I might make the back wing darker, not sure. *EDIT* Actually, I went and had lunch and then came back, and I think I'm done with this. Finally! xD Just need to do some cleanup and anti-aliasing and then submit it, yay~ Edited by KiraCatgirl - 02 February 2008 at 12:57pm
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spartan_117 Commander Joined: 14 June 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 478	Posted: 02 February 2008 at 6:42pm
	this is much better than the other veins.good job, ill definitely fave this one.
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WIP (Work In Progress)
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