Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: lilwing on July 13, 2007, 06:46:48 pm
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hey guys, i am fairly new to this forum and graphic art. i have done photo manipulations and am just getting into this cartoony stuff.
today is friday and i have been slacking off at work (i am a web designer) by drawing a dinosaur in photoshop. i've drawn an outline of a dinosaur. i am not sure how to shade it in and i would like some pointers, advice, and links to tutorials.
all help appreciated. :)
(http://www.anachronismus.com/images/cg/dino.jpg)
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just getting into this cartoony stuff.
So pixel art is just "cartoony stuff?" I hope that's not what you meant.
Anyway, first off never save pixel art as jpegs. It ruins the quality. Use PNG of GIF. Secondly, I think you're better off starting with something much simpler.
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http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=3467 Here are some tutorials, make sure you read this one: http://www.bigbluebubble.com/pixeltutorial/
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thanks bengoshia :)
zero, i apologize, what i mean to say was pixel art. my original language is not english.
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Also before you begin shading, you should clean up the lines:
http://derekyu.com/extras/pixel03.html (http://derekyu.com/extras/pixel03.html)
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Also before you begin shading, you should clean up the lines:
http://derekyu.com/extras/pixel03.html (http://derekyu.com/extras/pixel03.html)
thanks :) i agree that my lines are sloppy. interesting tutorial
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wow, it really turned out a lot better than i thought. what do you guys think?
(http://www.anachronismus.com/images/cg/dino.gif)
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lightsource isnt consistent, shading has not enough contrast and all in all it seems like it has almost no volume :/
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just because you used the pencil tool on ms paint doesnt make it "pixel art"
and pixel art is not "cartoony"....
pixels mean very much, they have great power.
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just because you used the pencil tool on ms paint doesnt make it "pixel art"
and pixel art is not "cartoony"....
pixels mean very much, they have great power.
could you be any more rude?
first of all, i hate to be the one to tell this to you, but pixel art is any art generated by pixels. so yes, just using the pencil tool on ms paint does make pixel art. and i didn't use ms paint, nor do i use windows. you didn't even read my first post, did you?
most pixel art i have seen is 'cartoony' and that is how i describe it. i have seen some realistic, but not majority. any ways, i already apologized for this, my original language is not english. have you ever tried to get help from a foreign online community?
last of all, pshh. your last comment sounded nearly as a desperate attempt to be wise. your post has in no way helped my art or my skills in any way, which is why this thread is created.
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just because you used the pencil tool on ms paint doesnt make it "pixel art"
and pixel art is not "cartoony"....
pixels mean very much, they have great power.
Pencil tool doesn't mean it's pixel art.
Pixel art can be cartoony if it feels like it.
Pixels do mean very much and they do have great power.
Pixel art is the careful placement of pixels, sometimes in pixel art an entire eye is just one pixel. Careful placement of that pixel is required other wise the eye can be too high or too low.
Pixel art is cartoony, it's also not cartoony. It can be as realistic as life or as unrealistic as Popeye.
Pixel art is a pretty awesome and powerful thing. You can do this:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/SariK/4d273ae4.gif)
or this:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/SariK/f485ab62.gif)
I didn't touch your work at all, I merely played with the palette.
That aside, philliptr is right. Your light source is very inconsistent. I thought it was from the top but then she has a shadow on her back. You might want to go back to the line art and fix the anatomy and then goof around with it.
EDIT:
Here's an ugly ugly guide:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/SariK/9aa3f152.jpg)
I shouldn't have used photoshop but I did. Lighting is pretty accurate. ignore the hands, they're goof.
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(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13/tocky/nathan_dino.png)
-colour everything flat, decide where your light is, put bands of bright/dark colour depending on which bits are facing the light. Once you've got it looking roughtly like a 3d object, then you can think about hatching/dithering.
-i've switched out you black stripes with blue ones because (I think?) blue is a rough compliment for orange. You have to shade the stripes, as well.
-don't do so much outlining - it generally makes stuff less appealing.
-he still looks a bit off, because you've sometimes used straight lines where you should be using more organic curves. An obvious example is his spine, which is wicked straight. It should have a bit of a 's' shape.
Everyone: "cartoony" is a style. Pixel art is a medium. If he says he's doing this cartooney stuff for the first time, that's not an insult. This stuff, this picture in particular, is cartooney. Don't go out of your way to be offended. Don't be dicks to people, especially when you first meet them.
pixel art is any art generated by pixels. so yes, just using the pencil tool on ms paint does make pixel art.
You're confusing pixel art with raster graphics. Digital photos, anything that comes out of photoshop, all of that stuff is raster graphics. If you zoom in on it, it's made up of pixels. Pixel art is raster graphics with specific restrictions, usually restrictions like those you'd have on an old computer, like "can't use more than 2^n colours" and "must be no bigger than X by Y, where both X and Y are freaking tiny numbers". There's a whole bunch of skillsets that developed under those restrictions, and understanding them will make you a better pixeller, but anything that fits counts. He's right, anyway. This is pixel art.
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Tocky, you're rather intelligent post as in the shadow of that edit, which completely fails at correcting the main problem: The conflicting lightsources.
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Point. Here's a properly-lit-but-extremely rough edit.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y13/tocky/nathan_dino-1.png)
He, uh, seems to have lost his elbows in the photoshoppery process. In any case, I think the basic idea is down.
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Before even worrying about colors, the dinosaur itself just needs to look more menacing, its pose is rather dull. Try something like this: http://www.androidworld.com/trex.jpg Where he has his mouth open, all ready to eat something. The lines themselves still need alot of clean up.
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thanks guys, i see my mistakes now x_X
i start on a new pose, because i think also the pose looks silly.
tocky, you are right, blue does look better for the stripes. i don't know much about color, but i really appreciate your pointing that out.
tocky and jonathanofdrain, i am thankful for your posts and the extra effort you put in to teach me that.
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One thing that you should think of while shading something is, does this surface face the lightsource, or does it not.
Since even tockys new edit has the same problem I made a small picture to show what I mean:
(http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/2802/untitled1xt1.jpg)
I added the normals to some surfaces that are highlighted in red and added the lightsource that is suggested by the shading with a bright line. The problem is, that the lightsource is so big. At daylight you have light from all around but the important thing about it is that the brightness is different from different angles.
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okay i started a new image, and before i do any more work on it, i'd like some input on it.
(http://www.anachronismus.com/images/cg/dino2.png)
i think that the contrast could be a little better... but how are the other things? is the pose cool? does it look correct in perspective? what about the neck? etc.
oh and i drew a little sun if my lighting technique confuses you :D
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Scratch the dithering, you should focus on getting the shapes right, both in line and lighting.
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Definitely better. But still, up the contrast (I know you mentioned this but I'm saying it anyway. Contrast is your friend :D) Also, get rid of the outlines. Anatomy-wise, some of it is a bit strange, but I suppose you get a bit of creative license when drawing a creature that doesn't exist. :P It might still help though to find some ref pics of dragons.
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I'm a bit late, but to clear up the "pencil tool =?= pixel art" disaggreement:
What exactly is Pixel Art?
Pixel Art is a discipline by which images are created with pixel-level intent or precision. It is more than an end product - It is a methodology focusing on techniques such as hand drawn dithering, anti-aliasing, shading, animation, geometry, and some color theory. Here on this forum, people develop these skills and in turn teach them to others.
When you post work that focuses on these methods, you will receive useful feedback that will help you to improve. While there's no static law that says something IS or IS NOT Pixel Art, some works can certainly be more in line with what is discussed here. For example, Oekaki, a web based drawing phenomenon, does not consistently represent the methods. Also, just because a game uses a sprite, that does not immediately qualify it as pixel art since some games have been known to convert 3D rendered models into sprite stills. Posting works like this is not encouraged.
Members at this forum are interested in many subjects and artistic mediums, and we do offer places on the forum more appropriate for the posting of non-pixel work. If you're posting reference images for pixel work, this is an exceptional case. Blatant disregard for the purposes of the forum will not be tolerated.
Also, if you haven't already, I recommend reading the FAQ (http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=4265.0) and the general rules (http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=2002.0) to avoid further disaggreements ;)
This piece has made considerable progress; I look forward to seeing more. :y:
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another update :D
notes:
i didn't get all the crappy dithering off, but i did do some work on the shading. the blue bands are not accurate, i have not done much work on those.
black outline removed
horns colored and the shape was a little more defined. also has a tongue now.
(http://www.anachronismus.com/images/cg/dino3.gif)
it is really starting to look better to me. i would like to eventually include this dinosaur on my website's banner. i am working on a background for it (not included in gif)
i would like to see pictures of folds in the neck that i can use to make this dino thingy look more realistic. also am working on scaly txture :D
note to self: horns are out of perspective making head look messed up.