GR#116 - Dinosaur Head - Anatomy / Shading / Palette

[Ymedron]

This is an attempt to utilize and learn the basics of pixeling - visually pleasing lines, antialias and color palette.
I also tried to avoid sel-out while refining the outline, though Im not 100% certain what constitutes to sel-out and what does not. (Do dark pixels at the outer edge of a horizontal portion in the outline lead to sel-out? What about a dark pixel on the inner edge?)



EDIT: Most recent picture:

[PixelPiledriver]

Yo Ymedron
Welcome to the forums!

Nice start.
Here's some suggestions:




Re use your colors more.
Group the colors into different combinations.
You've created the large surfaces well, also create small surfaces.
A body would give you more chances to spread the colors.
Mess around and have fun.

[Ymedron]

Thank you for the crit! I'll try to do something along those lines..!

Could you elaborate on what you mean by grouping into different combinations? I thought it might have had to do with the yellow stripes on the back you tried out but then discarded, but Im not sure.

Edit:
Tried to deal with the points raised as soon as I could, and decided not to wait for the clarification.
I hope it's not too messy, now... I didn't deliberate as much on the individual pixels, but might be that the picture did require some wildness to make it more interesting.


I'll try to do something about a body, maybe draw a new dragon for that.

[PixelPiledriver]

Take the colors you have, combine them into groups of 2, 3, 4 or whatever.
Re use colors in the combinations many times.
Use the combinations creatively to draw form, surfaces, details etc.
Don't be afraid of weird combinations, try to make them work.





You can do this ahead of time or just on the fly.
But it can be helpful to see what you already have in a simplified form.

Yup you've got it.
Looks a lot better already! 

[Ymedron]

I never thought to do that. Seems quite helpful!

Going back to the full-body thing you suggested - I drew a new drakeling. I used the same palette since it worked quite nicely before. Though I have a feeling there might not be enough antialias..?

The biggest trouble with this one was coming up with detail to add to the hindquarters, especially the feet and arms.

[Peace]

Yo Ymedron
Welcome to the forums!

Nice start.
Here's some suggestions:




Re use your colors more.
Group the colors into different combinations.
You've created the large surfaces well, also create small surfaces.
A body would give you more chances to spread the colors.
Mess around and have fun.

Original Post: 10:15am
PixelPiledriver's Post with multiple Edits: 11:45am.

HOW do you guys work so fast?? It amazes me. To Ymedron: It's looking great! Keep it up. To the experts: I'm enjoying the feedback on this one. Very insightful!

Peace

[blumunkee]

HOW do you guys work so fast?? It amazes me.

They can draw. Take a look at their websites. Being able to draw quickly and confidently is a boon to pixel art, or any art for that matter.

I also tried to avoid sel-out while refining the outline, though Im not 100% certain what constitutes to sel-out and what does not. (Do dark pixels at the outer edge of a horizontal portion in the outline lead to sel-out? What about a dark pixel on the inner edge?)

sel-out? That's a weird term. Well, whatever this sel-out thing is, it definitely sounds like you should avoid it!

Here's a quick and sloppy edit:



I removed most of the sel-out - those broken lines around the silhouette.

I also roughly filled in the feet some. They don't look nearly fleshy enough.

Hey! This is looking really nice for your early attempts at pixel art. You obviously have lots of inherit artistic talent!

I think your skills are already mature that you should start reading the Ramblethread, especially the part about clusters. If you do a sweep removing some of the bad clusters, this sprite will look that much better.

[Ymedron]

Thank you for removing the sloppy outer edges! I actually did kinda feel like I was out of control with those parts, since I felt like I was supposed to put in bounced light. So sel-out is actually just that - selectively including the inner color into the outline (aka making it disappear.)

I see you also removed my attempts at claws on the legs. What do you think I should do with them? I don't want to add an extra color just for them, but they didn't feel right with the yellowish color I was using (and looking at them now, the attempt at shiny "black" isn't that good either.)

I'll read through the ramblethread again, but Im having a slightly hard time understanding some of the text. I'll pay more attention this time!

Edit: Well...
I still can't really understand the first few posts, since they are all really philosophical and theoretical sounding. This might be where the language barrier finally bites me in the behind.
However, I kinda understood that single pixels = bad for the picture, and tried to do my best with removing some of them.

Also fixed the outlines a bit.

[Friend]

It's always a good idea to refine the silhouette or the line art of pixel art before you add color, detail texture and shading.  Your line art can definitely be improved.  The neck is really jaggy, the back to the tail could be much cleaner, and overall the lineart could be refined

[Ymedron]

Indeed... Should I antialias into the background? I was wondering if its ok to do that, or if the sprite should be able to stand on its own.
I'll try to refine it a bit more.

Edit:

Added an extra color to antialias the sprite into the background. Im not sure if thats what you meant, but...

[Ymedron]

Was reminded of this, so applied some of the pixel-learning gained from the pumpkin. Hope it's better?

[PypeBros]

it could use slightly more speculars, esp. on shoulders and tights. I do admit that the former one had specular that mostly defined an artificial line, so it needs moderate effect. I did like a lot the "scales clusters" you had before, but imho you clearly improved the realism of the belly part.

[Ymedron]

Hm, I tried to frankenstein some parts from the old sprite (the back, some parts of the frontlimbs) and tweaked around a lot. The problem is, I somehow forgot how I even did the scale texture so...


Not very sure whether I like it better or not.

[PypeBros]

micro-edit on the speculars:
<- you - vs - me ->

Imho, you needn't to use the highest colour on every highlight. It'd work bettern if you use the lightest shade only for very specific area and have some highlights that only use the intermediate tint.
(I'm not an expert at this, but it reduces the "chicken spot" effect, imvho)

[Ymedron]

Hm, made some edits based on that -

Better?

[Quake]

Really good progress, but it seems that the arms and legs are seen from a different angle.



Changed where the shoulder starts, and no idea what is happening on his chest (I think you added some lines just for the sake, no offence).

[Mr. Fahrenheit]

I think the october version was better then the newer version. I think his lower body is too covered in like ridges or ripples or whatever they are. The version before had a nice texture on his underbelly and now he just seems to be smooth and covered in oil or something.

[Ymedron]

Ah, the chest... It was more a reference to the wing muscle style stuff that some dragons do (where the muscleridge goes over the arm) but since it doesn't have wings, I guess it looks weird.
I have issues with the chest since Im not sure how the arms would join the neck on a dragon/dinosaur/lizard.

Fahrenheit: The main reason for the change was a lack of focus - the leg was commanding too much attention, and changed the belly too because to me it felt really unfinished and it was inconsistent with the tail's texture.
Im not sure what to do with that either, don't really mind the oilyness. Its easy to rationalize either texture, oily smooth or rough pebbly.

[Shrike]

Very nice looking. Crunchy, delicious texture happening, of which I'm a huge fan. Before you get too lost in details- What's going on with his feet? Does he have talons? Also, take another look at your back leg. make sure it doesn't get neglected. It doesn't appear to match the front one, anatomically, and looks flat. Sculpt it a bit more, and match up the joints on both legs.

I would also examine the silhouette of his tail, too. Seems a little sectioned off, like the victim of overzealous line tool. Fantastic work. Pallet is appealing too.