AuthorTopic: Adding more detail to a sprite?  (Read 1619 times)

Offline HenryJeff

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Adding more detail to a sprite?

on: August 15, 2016, 05:36:48 pm
Hello Guys, I'm kinda new to pixel art and i just finished with another one of my characters (Thanks to Dreadnaught on this forum) and while I am happy with his proportions and posture, I feel as if the colors are kinda dull and I generally there is not a lot of detail. I'm just looking for ways to improve on it in the color and detail aspect and any help or tips on doing this would be very nice! Thanks a ton!!!

Offline Dreadnaught

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Re: Adding more detail to a sprite?

Reply #1 on: August 15, 2016, 06:50:15 pm
Just a heads up: It is more useful too keep on project in a single thread that way everyone can follow the progress easily and avoid clutter in forums.

Here is a quick paint-over I did.

I used the same number of colors you did in your original, but I changed them. You had 3 nearly identical blacks and 2 very similar whites. When colors are that similar at this scale, they aren't helping you to add any information at this scale.

I adjusted some shapes, such as the pauldrons to be more interesting. I shifted the pauldrons forward because the left most arm (his right arm) appeared to be dislocated so far from the body.

 I also shifted the vertical line in the visor forward one pixel to make it appear he is not facing straight at us.

I made the pose slightly more interesting by moving one hand forward onto the hilt of the sword.

I extended the tabard downward to give it more presence and to delineate all the grey.

 Some of the places where you used black I used brown.

If you look at your pallete, you will see it is mostly blacks and whites. While it seems sensible to use lots of greys for steel, steel actually reflects a lot of the colors around it. For this reason, I used very de-saturated blues instead.

I also added a scabard to hint at the sword the knight would be resting his hand on.



Oh, also a shadow! :)

I hope this was helpful.

Offline HenryJeff

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Re: Adding more detail to a sprite?

Reply #2 on: August 15, 2016, 08:03:00 pm
This was INCREDIBLY HELPFUL.

Thanks again Dreadnaught for opening my eyes up to see the full picture. Ever since the beginning of me creating this character which was a few weeks ago I had stuck to the same general feel. Now seeing what it could become and turn into is awesome and I'm so glad someone like you was able to add some input and ideas I never would have thought of, along with teaching me some pretty critical things that helped me more than I thought they would when building off your ideas.

Anyway I took the knight you recolored for me and I adjusted it a bit. I changed the pallet more to my liking, touched up various shadows, highlights and colors and I changed the feet size back to a skinny ankle because I really liked how that looked. As for a few other things I deleted a pixel on his helmet to add a bit of depth to his head and face and added a few more defined shadows to increase the contrast of him over all!

I'm very happy with how this came out and super glad you were able to help me again. Now I gotta do a walking animation, and If I have any more questions I'l keep it in this thread I guess. Thanks so much Dreadnaught!!!

Offline Dreadnaught

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Re: Adding more detail to a sprite?

Reply #3 on: August 15, 2016, 08:17:30 pm
That is very much improved.