AuthorTopic: Please explain to me this Pixel Art technique  (Read 10121 times)

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: Please explain to me this Pixel Art technique

Reply #10 on: February 26, 2017, 03:41:18 pm
Aye, I was a bit late to respond because I had to sleep, but copying is one of many tools you should be using! It's a VERY underrated tool (for good reason unfortunately, places like DeviantArt have some pretty shifty reputations for misuse of the technique), but it is by far not the only one you should rely on lest it becomes a crutch. This is true of anything!
Also, don't copy from pixel art , copy from life! Good stylization for me always came in three big steps:

-learn anatomy and basics like shading complex shapes
-study how other people stylize and twist out from that base of understanding
-tear off bits and pieces of those styles to create my own frankensteinian hodgepodge of my own, because nothing is actually original and everyone is inspired by something

The former is the MOST important to learn, in my opinion, since it drills into you a sense of consistency and understanding of 3 dimensional space. Construction is also a big thing you pick up.

Again, start with traditional and practice exercises. There's a whole world of artistry information out there, do what I did and start bingeing on art technique guides scattered through the internet! Your process may vary wildly from my own, and I encourage you to explore that since that's simply the way it goes!

Just don't be too afraid to jut out of that comfort zone! if you start getting frustrated with your art that's a sign you're able to see the old flaws better now, meaning you're on your way to fixing them.
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline wanderer123

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Re: Please explain to me this Pixel Art technique

Reply #11 on: February 26, 2017, 07:31:03 pm
So I've watched this Proko light & shadow video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3WmrWUEIJo and I have looked at the hairs of the characters I've originally posted here. I still can't seem to "get" why those colors/highlights are at those places and why there are darker colors are different places. What is the logic behind putting those pixels there? I think the darker ones are hair strands though. At different hairs what should the shape(s) of the highlight should be? Please help me out.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2017, 07:45:47 pm by wanderer123 »

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: Please explain to me this Pixel Art technique

Reply #12 on: February 26, 2017, 08:56:04 pm
Ok, the important part to remember is that hair is glossy, uneven, and stringy.  This means some bits come out towards the light (those are the strands that get highlighted) while others delve under those forward hairs. The reason these bits of lighting are there is to establish a texture to the hair, like ridges or folds. In the sprites linked it's not really used very well, but how you use those can create different effects. On the guy with the tall hair it gives his hair a sort of stiff, noodly appearance, like his hair is just shooting STRAIGHT OUT OF HIS SKULL. On the kid to the left of him, it creates direction for his hair spikes, showing off that his hair spikes towards the camera and guiding the eye a bit.

There's a lot of cheating there, realistically the highlight would be more spread out, but it's a part of stylization. Figuring out how to break rules best!
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
MAJOR BORK TALLY: |

Offline wanderer123

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Re: Please explain to me this Pixel Art technique

Reply #13 on: February 26, 2017, 09:57:43 pm
Okay it seems there's a lot for me to learn about hair highlights. How can I go about doing that?

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: Please explain to me this Pixel Art technique

Reply #14 on: February 26, 2017, 10:00:47 pm
Generally, google is your friend! I kind of grasped mine as an extension of texture and shading concepts, but there's plenty of material out there! If it's not something you can figure out yet, don't stress too much over it and focus on something else like anatomy to clear your head out before coming back to it again.
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline wanderer123

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Re: Please explain to me this Pixel Art technique

Reply #15 on: February 26, 2017, 10:25:18 pm
So then if I were to google search this, what key terms should I input? I am thinking (without quotes) "hair pixel art", "texture" but I don't think those are good enough.

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: Please explain to me this Pixel Art technique

Reply #16 on: February 26, 2017, 10:33:14 pm
oh, no no! Try the terms for the concepts instead, like "highlight guide art" or "how to shading guide hair"

PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline Ai

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Re: Please explain to me this Pixel Art technique

Reply #17 on: February 27, 2017, 02:35:10 am
So I've watched this Proko light & shadow video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3WmrWUEIJo and I have looked at the hairs of the characters I've originally posted here. I still can't seem to "get" why those colors/highlights are at those places and why there are darker colors are different places.
That's because those people have considered their memories and references of real life hair and decided to place those highlights there because of how they understood hair.  Then they probably changed it many times until it looked 'right' (as they compared it with their references)

Looking at finished art or viewing tutorials cannot teach you to see. You can understand what those people are doing it by doing it yourself, starting at the start ('What is hair really? How is it structured? How does light work? Where do highlights appear?'). Then you draw hair --as pixel art, as a painting, as a pencil drawing.. doesn't matter, if you understand hair you will be able to draw it in any medium. You have to break things down. 


If you insist on being pessimistic about your own abilities, consider also being pessimistic about the accuracy of that pessimistic judgement.

Offline wanderer123

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Re: Please explain to me this Pixel Art technique

Reply #18 on: February 27, 2017, 03:02:50 am
MysteryMeat- I've googled your terms or something similar and just couldn't find anything relative. Do I need to learn Pixel Art specifically or just any hairs? I've looked at video tutorials on Youtube and the google articles using your terms and I just couldn't find anything relative.

Ai- How do I start to learn how hair shading works? I don't get it.

Everyone, I have contacted a professional pixel artist to make me a video of him doing hair. He hasn't responded to this proposal. Can he truly help me in any way?

Offline yaomon17

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Re: Please explain to me this Pixel Art technique

Reply #19 on: February 27, 2017, 06:29:14 am
Get a light and some objects and shine the light on the objects from different angles and next to different materials and write/draw down what you see. Then make connections/patterns from your observations and see if you can recreate an image from what you wrote/drew down.