Nikitak (alien)
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=13238
Printed Date: 11 September 2025 at 3:56am
Topic: Nikitak (alien)
Posted By: xxmantisxx
Subject: Nikitak (alien)
Date Posted: 23 October 2011 at 3:28pm
I pixeled this cute little guy a while ago: And was wondering if anyone has any advice to give me. |
Replies:
Posted By: Zeratanus
Date Posted: 23 October 2011 at 7:10pm
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Black outline is really dull, and while its not pillow shaded, the shading is boring. Speaking of the shading, use dull blues or some such to shade whites. Grey is so bland and lifeless. Cute though :P |
Posted By: xxmantisxx
Date Posted: 23 October 2011 at 9:04pm
Thanks, it's really good to know about dull blues, though the outline is grey... Maybe I should make the outlines a dull color as well, maybe purple or something? |
Posted By: xxmantisxx
Date Posted: 29 October 2011 at 11:20am
Better? |
Posted By: cure
Date Posted: 29 October 2011 at 11:32am
I'd say lose the outer-aa, that only restricts the range of backgrounds you can display the piece on.the face looks a bit high and the eyes a bit wide for me, might just be personal taste. the torso looked a little thin too. I think the second bluish color could be a bit darker. not sure what the things are between the elbows and feet. dunno that the bright red is necessary. |
Posted By: xxmantisxx
Date Posted: 29 October 2011 at 6:31pm
Thanks for the advice, Cure! I think it looks better, but it's still missing something... |
Posted By: Friend
Date Posted: 29 October 2011 at 7:17pm
I don't know about you, but I find the black outline to be too harsh, it kind of takes away from the softness of it. I think I like it better with a softer outline 
|
Posted By: feyincognito
Date Posted: 29 October 2011 at 8:57pm
You could also try the outline with your two shading colors, changing according to the light source. I did an edit of the head:
Edit: Made image transparent. ------------- "Can you build websites with firefox?" "Can you build cars with roads?" |
Posted By: Partack
Date Posted: 29 October 2011 at 11:06pm
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This last edit by Feyincognito is the only one that makes sense to me. The other edits seem a trifle unnecessary.
Black outlines are not necessarily bad. They distinguish a piece with a pop-out kind of look. It is especially necessary when put on a harsh or contrasting background. Considering your little dude has a transparent back, it looks perfect for an avatar or web graphic. Outline shading is OPTIONAL for this kind of use in my opinion. however giving the outline shading as Fey illustrated did make the whites look and feel more 'fluffy' so it's a matter of preference and what the graphic is to be used for. If it was to be part of an art style or theme then the fluffy outline shading may be more appropriate. I will say that Zeratenus is correct about the shading though, try to use light blues for shading white. IT always looks a lot better ^__^ just a rule of thumb, really. purples for blacks/dark places. Cute li'l dude. =) Nothing wrong with it as far as I can see. Maybe an accessory like a hat or a scarf might help the li'l dude's character? and maybe bring a little bit of colour to the piece (Although it's quite fine already with its whites and hint of red) but apart from that... |
Posted By: xxmantisxx
Date Posted: 30 October 2011 at 7:20pm
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I have no idea why you people keep calling it a black outline, it's really really not black. As for the design, I'm sorry to disappoint, but it's based off of the design by not-fun here: http://not-fun.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d45jj6y - http://not-fun.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d45jj6y As for a hat... I just might add this little number shown here: http://inhuman-comic.com/kojiflat.png - http://inhuman-comic.com/kojiflat.png Anyway, I gave another edit a try.  |
Posted By: feyincognito
Date Posted: 30 October 2011 at 7:38pm
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Dark gray... black... it all looks like the same thing. If it looks like black then that is most likely what people will call it. I think the point wasn't that it was a true black, but that it seemed a little too dark for some tastes.
Per your plushy ref, the blobs in the middle of the body are arms as well. Maybe you could add pink pads on those like you did on the feet (like in the ref picture). That might make it easier for people unfamiliar with your reference to tell what they are. As for the hat, apparently inhuman-comic does not like you direct linking their picture, so you might have to upload that reference to a photo-sharing site and link it from there. And how dare you say "you people." ;D ------------- "Can you build websites with firefox?" "Can you build cars with roads?" |
Posted By: xxmantisxx
Date Posted: 30 October 2011 at 7:52pm
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I'm sorry, you mortals... Better? The link works fine for me... well try this then: http://static.4shared.com/images/icons/24x24/rotateRight.gif - http://static.4shared.com/images/icons/24x24/rotateRight.gif Here's yet another edit, better?  |
Posted By: feyincognito
Date Posted: 30 October 2011 at 8:03pm
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That links to a picture of a circle with an arrow head on it, kind of like a still of what my browser does when it is loading.
And yes, your edit is SUPER adorable. And now I can tell it has another set of paws. ------------- "Can you build websites with firefox?" "Can you build cars with roads?" |
Posted By: xxmantisxx
Date Posted: 30 October 2011 at 8:12pm
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Holy... The reason that happened was because I clicked the picture button instead of the link button, and it must've copied that odd image to my clipboard... Why is this so hard? http://dc246.4shared.com/img/ZpIncBsJ/s3/kojiflat.png |
Posted By: feyincognito
Date Posted: 30 October 2011 at 8:29pm
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It finally worked! And that hat is great! ------------- "Can you build websites with firefox?" "Can you build cars with roads?" |
Posted By: xxmantisxx
Date Posted: 30 October 2011 at 9:32pm
Check it. |
Posted By: feyincognito
Date Posted: 30 October 2011 at 9:53pm
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Hahaha! Cute, but now it looks angry... ------------- "Can you build websites with firefox?" "Can you build cars with roads?" |
Posted By: xxmantisxx
Date Posted: 30 October 2011 at 9:57pm
| Hm... I don't get that vibe... |
Posted By: feyincognito
Date Posted: 31 October 2011 at 8:53am
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The bottom part of the hat comes down on top of his eyes and they look like angry eyebrows. At least to me. ------------- "Can you build websites with firefox?" "Can you build cars with roads?" |
Posted By: Friend
Date Posted: 31 October 2011 at 8:56am
| hahaha he does look really grumpy now. In a cute sarcastic way. I'd imagine something more like a halo for instead of a hat, but that's just me |
Posted By: feyincognito
Date Posted: 31 October 2011 at 8:59am
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He's thinking, "You just had to go and put a hat on me, didn't you?" :P ------------- "Can you build websites with firefox?" "Can you build cars with roads?" |
Posted By: xxmantisxx
Date Posted: 31 October 2011 at 10:29am
Haha, okay okay, how about this? |
Posted By: feyincognito
Date Posted: 31 October 2011 at 10:37am
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Good! Now I will get to work making a plushie... ;)
Seriously, it's so huggable. ------------- "Can you build websites with firefox?" "Can you build cars with roads?" |
Posted By: xxmantisxx
Date Posted: 31 October 2011 at 10:41am
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Way ahead of you. http://www.etsy.com/listing/83139600/nikitak-plush?ref=pr_shop - http://www.etsy.com/listing/83139600/nikitak-plush?ref=pr_shop |
Posted By: mase0ne
Date Posted: 31 October 2011 at 12:12pm
| I didn't realize that it had 6 legs until now. The middle pair seem like an afterthought - I suggest you lengthen the torso so that you can show how they're connected, and maybe have them hanging downward. |