First pixel art--need some feedback

[jefequeso]

First, understand that I'm not... particularly gifted, let's say, when it comes to visual art.  My family even has a running joke about how inept I am when it comes to visuals.  So I don't have a lot of nitty gritty talent or inate artistic sense to fall back on.  Hence, I need some people who are more skilled than I to give me some constructive criticism about my first attempts at pixel art.  I'm kind of fascinated by the minimalism of pixel art, and I'm having fun experimenting with doing things at low resolutions with a minimum of colors.  These are my very first attempts, so please go easy

[Polioliolio]

These look good to me.  Good job!

I new to pixel art too.. I haven't shared anything here yet, really either..   

But if I may, I might suggest shading the clouds in your first pic a bit differently. Something about them seems a little off. And I know you're trying to keep it as minimal as possible, so I'm not sure what I'd suggest doing.


The only image I have a little trouble imagining is the second to last one.  It doesn't strike me as an apparent scene, like all the others.   Anyway, great job. Have you done any more, or made any adjustments since you posted this?

[PypeBros]

Welcome aboard. I note that you already gathered nice knowledge of the medium. However, you tend to overuse dithering. Dithering induce the feeling of a granular texture. That works perfectly for shading tree trunks, road and possibly mountains, but it's definitely not the technique to use for a gradient in the sky.

There's also something bugging me in the AA of the moon of

-- edit -->

The red-ish-star color seemed the best to fix it in your palette.

[jefequeso]

Welcome aboard. I note that you already gathered nice knowledge of the medium. However, you tend to overuse dithering. Dithering induce the feeling of a granular texture. That works perfectly for shading tree trunks, road and possibly mountains, but it's definitely not the technique to use for a gradient in the sky.

There's also something bugging me in the AA of the moon of

-- edit -->

The red-ish-star color seemed the best to fix it in your palette.

Is there a better way to create the sky gradient I have without using dithering?  Should I just add more colors, or is there a different kind of dithering I could use?

[Larwick]

Is there a better way to create the sky gradient I have without using dithering?  Should I just add more colors, or is there a different kind of dithering I could use?

You could make wisps of cloud and haze. When trying to make a smooth gradient with a few colors, usually the best option is to think whether you can fill that area with forms and shapes that will hide the transition while also adding interest.

[Decroded]

You could make wisps of cloud and haze. When trying to make a smooth gradient with a few colors, usually the best option is to think whether you can fill that area with forms and shapes that will hide the transition while also adding interest.

Here's a small example off the top of my head - http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=15777.msg144118#msg144118
Its only the start but it gives you the general idea.
There is still dithering used but its not linear.