Sprite help, what to do next
Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: Pixel Art
Forum Name: WIP (Work In Progress)
Forum Discription: Get crits and comments on your pixel WIPs and other art too!
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10721
Printed Date: 10 June 2026 at 7:57am
Topic: Sprite help, what to do next
Posted By: Kone
Subject: Sprite help, what to do next
Date Posted: 28 July 2010 at 12:43pm
Ok so I only made my account today and from the looks of a lot of the art ive seen you guys seem to know what youre doing. I didnt want to start to big so I made somthing simple but now I dont know what to do next :(
...anyone got any tips on improving this? |
Replies:
Posted By: StepDragon
Date Posted: 29 July 2010 at 3:32am
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try imagining what you want to draw. if possible draw it on paper first. (its simpler, and you can make it look good, without worrying about pixels.)
Next on your paper, write a color name next to each 'piece' of the picture, (the stem, the leaves, the head, so on) go into your image editor, and choose a brush tool, blotch in rough blobs simmilar to the shapes you want (and color code them to distinguish them.) this is a great way to both make really good looking pieces, and is a great way to learn about mass and structure and anatomy (yes i know its a pirhana flower) reading http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10416 - this post should give you a good idea. now, i'll make a quick sketch up for you to see, but i'm gonna post this now, and come back with an edit. Cheers! (oh, ps. This is NOT the only way of doing things, its just a suggestion. i find it makes good looking things, and is much easier) EDIT: sorry i gave up on drawing it, i'm too tired (havent gone to bed yet, and its 7 am here.) but i hope my post helps. |
Posted By: Kone
Date Posted: 29 July 2010 at 7:02am
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Yeah thanks for the help man, much appreciated :)
*edit* is that thread dead? I read the whole thing it was really interesting, I'd like to see the finished product :( |
Posted By: PixelSnader
Date Posted: 29 July 2010 at 9:46am
Pictures say more than words, so....
Yours Your original image Step 1 -Cleaning up the linework -Laying down basecolors (yours weren't bad, just felt like throwing my own colors on it) Step 2 -Added color ramps -Simple shading -Some more detail on the teeth -Removed black lines on the inside for a better feel of the shape Step 3 -Dithering to smooth out the shading. You can see 2 types (lines and checkerboard) -Tweaked shading Step 4 -Changed palette -Shaded teeth, added specular highlights to the plant, curved the pot shadow -Softened the outlines (SelOut - Selective Outlines) The biggest two things you need to work on are Shading and Neatness. The lines you currently have are a bit messy and rough, justsmoothing them out would make it look a lot better. The shading you have is not really doing anything, looking more like layered paper than 3D shapes. You don't have to go through all 4 steps, in fact for now it's probably better if you focused on 1 and 2. Around step 2 is plenty enough to go into a game (except maybe that the tube isn't nicely rounded yet). ------------- ▄▄█ ▄▄█ ▄█▄ ▄█▄ |
Posted By: StepDragon
Date Posted: 29 July 2010 at 10:07am
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Kone, What snader is showing you is another way of doing things. I just wanted to make the distiction. and as you can see it can also produce great work.
Snader is a great artist (one of many on this website, whom make good examples for both you and me). and i must say that edit is top notch. For the record, i usually use snader's method more often, but the first method i posted, is usually easier (in my opinion) Have fun pixeling! |
Posted By: Kone
Date Posted: 29 July 2010 at 10:15am
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Originally posted by snader
Pictures say more than words, so....
Yours Your original image Step 1 -Cleaning up the linework -Laying down basecolors (yours weren't bad, just felt like throwing my own colors on it) Step 2 -Added color ramps -Simple shading -Some more detail on the teeth -Removed black lines on the inside for a better feel of the shape Step 3 -Dithering to smooth out the shading. You can see 2 types (lines and checkerboard) -Tweaked shading Step 4 -Changed palette -Shaded teeth, added specular highlights to the plant, curved the pot shadow -Softened the outlines (SelOut - Selective Outlines) Holy S**t!! Thank you so much for the tips guys, I cant thank you enough. This is definitely going to help me improve :) |
Posted By: PixelSnader
Date Posted: 29 July 2010 at 10:42am
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Originally posted by StepDragon
Kone, What snader is showing you is another way of doing things. I just wanted to make the distiction. and as you can see it can also produce great work. Snader is a great artist (one of many on this website, whom make good examples for both you and me). and i must say that edit is top notch. For the record, i usually use snader's method more often, but the first method i posted, is usually easier (in my opinion) Have fun pixeling! You make a good point about different techniques for getting the base images (using skeleton/stickfigure, paintblobbing, create lineart and fill it up). I don't want this technique to come off as the 'only' or 'best' one. Personally I often use blobs of paint but for edits I tend to work off of the original piece's lineart. But whatever technique you use, make sure that the important parts (smooth lines, good shading, nice colors, sharp detail, etc) are there. It's the end result that matters. ------------- ▄▄█ ▄▄█ ▄█▄ ▄█▄ |