Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: jelayer on April 03, 2009, 06:39:52 pm
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This is part of my challenge entry over at Pixel Joint. I'm trying to emulate Fool's style in this scene. I've been staring at it for way to long. There is something that I really don't like about it, but I can't put my finger on it... so I really need some other opinions.
(http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/791881/aprilfoolswip.gif)
This is just the background. There will be some people and stuff in the foreground where the dirt circle is.
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Looking good so far, but Fool doesn't really use dithering much in his pieces. I think that's what separates this the most from his style at the moment, in addition to the lack of anti-aliasing. Looking forward to seeing the foreground elements. :)
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You know I think that's what is bugging me... the two main mushrooms especially are too jagged. I'll try some AA and see if that helps. Thanks so much for the comment. :P
I should be updating soon with some changes and some of the foreground elements.
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A quick edit on the left mushroom because I have to go. Just about all AA issues is all I can touch on right now, very nice though. The shapes are a bit odd though, as it creates very jagged, harsh edges where I'd be expecting smooth and clean silhouettes -- AA can help those, but it can't completely fix the effect they have.
(http://i39.tinypic.com/2rnijwi.png)
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I was going for jagged when it came to the actual shape of the mushrooms.
Here is a quick update: I did some rough AA on the the background. Hopefully I'll be able to refine it a bit before the challenge ends, but since I am on a time crunch I want to at least get the other crucial elements in. There is still about three foreground elements I need to put in. Oh and of course finish the fence. :D
(http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/791881/aprilfoolswip2.gif)
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I like it but the only thing that bothers me about the guys is that there's a little dot on the top of his nose and it kinda makes it look like a wart but maybe that's what you want. Othere htan that really finish the fence.
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The new figure looks way too messy due to the dithering. Fool also tends to use more realistic proportions, so I'd shrink the head or enlarge the body.
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Compare your AA to Dusty's. Yours is somewhat ineffective, the value you chose is too light. Also, there is banding going on, look at the rightmost vertical AA on the left mushroom. Straight lines needn't be AAd, they are already as smooth as it gets.
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Fool also tends to use more realistic proportions, so I'd shrink the head or enlarge the body.
Plenty of Fool's pieces have characters with oversized heads (usually kids, but sometimes he draws adults this way too) so I think it fits.
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K... thanks so much for the impute, everyone.
Currently working on redoing the AA... then I'm going to do the fence and then I'll try to to eliminate quite a bit of dithering.
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I think you need to work on the dithering as Arachne's already said. Just for comparison I've placed your image next to one of Fool's images to compare the use of dithering:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/tumble_weed/fooldithering-1.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/tumble_weed/aprilfooldithering-1.png)
Fool seems to use dithering very sparingly and when he does use it he uses it subtly. Compare your character with the two children in Fool's piece. He doesn't use any dithering on them at all.
He uses a lot of Yellows/Oranges/Reds and I see you've tried to incorporate a lot of those hues in your piece, but I think your image is much too saturated. Fool also tends to use some wild hue shifting at times. Also, at least on my monitor, the clouds seem to lack contrast against the sky as do the two shades on the caps of the closest mushrooms.
I've made a, hopefully, more Foolish colour edit of your piece (I haven't changed anything else besides the colours):
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/tumble_weed/aprilfoolEDIT-2-1.png)
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I see you're trying to replicate one of Fool's more colorful sceneries, and one thing Fool does well is balance his darks and lights, giving nice contrast on the scene.
http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/36838.htm
http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/34404.htm
http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/37552.htm
http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/28342.htm
All range from saturated, warm colors to dark cold colors. Most importantly is how much of a range from dark to lights he has. Your piece lacks the darkness and contrast.
I think one thing you have down well is the colors.