[Beginner] My Too flat Clockwork sprite
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=18172
Printed Date: 15 June 2026 at 6:57am
Topic: [Beginner] My Too flat Clockwork sprite
Posted By: watermark
Subject: [Beginner] My Too flat Clockwork sprite
Date Posted: 12 February 2014 at 1:14am
Hi, I am just starting out in pixel art and here's a little 32x32 clockwork icon I did:
As you can see, it looks really flat and not really clocky at all, and I don't know how to make it look more convincing. How can I make it more realistic? Is it my colors? Do I have too little detail? But how can I add more detail in this limited space? How can I get it looking more metallic? Any advice would be great. Thank you! |
Replies:
Posted By: CELS
Date Posted: 12 February 2014 at 2:42am
|
The problem isn't that it lacks detail. You've decided to draw something extremely complex with a very tiny canvas. It's like trying to paint the Mona Lisa on small coin as your first painting exercise.
You could definitely use more contrast to help separate the shapes and use colors better to avoid pillow shading. But if you're starting out learning how to paint, it's generally not a good idea to cram as much detail on as small a surface as possible. If you want to do complex clockwork, then at least start with 100x100 pixels. If you want to pixel something that is only 32 x 32 pixels, try to pixel something easier untill you're more experienced, like a car, a toaster or an elephant. If you want to persist with this exercise of tiny clockwork, you would have to simplify the shape tremendously. |
Posted By: watermark
Date Posted: 13 February 2014 at 3:56am
| Thanks for the advice! I think I will take out some gears and make the rest bigger, and then see how I can increase the contrast. Maybe the color ramp I'm using isn't differentiated enough. |
Posted By: lunarhiro
Date Posted: 14 February 2014 at 10:10pm
| I like the toaster idea... XD |