Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: keely aimee on March 09, 2011, 03:29:31 am

Title: o(__|-.-|Tree|-.-|__)o
Post by: keely aimee on March 09, 2011, 03:29:31 am
(http://i52.tinypic.com/106bo29.gif)

I'm going for a fantasy, green, mossy, enchanted, tree. A little unsure in which direction I should be going at the moment, but fleshing it out nonetheless
Title: Re: o(__|-.-|Tree|-.-|__)o
Post by: Jim16 on March 09, 2011, 09:18:24 pm
Thats quiet the first post. It looks really good so far, it actually reminds me of the tree of life from avatar. Not in looks, just what I'd expect, bid arse and cool looking. I'm going to be honest and say I cant see much to nit pick on, it looks well fleshed out, now to flesh it out more and more until. Keep it up.
Title: Re: o(__|-.-|Tree|-.-|__)o
Post by: keely aimee on March 09, 2011, 11:16:45 pm
Thanks, although I haven't seen Avatar, continued to flesh it out and slight refinements.
(http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/2047/image3q.gif)
Title: Re: o(__|-.-|Tree|-.-|__)o
Post by: spawn on March 10, 2011, 12:42:41 am
Really awesome, but you might want to correct the perspective on the front root, which you have done the most work to. It appears to be going down instead of laying flat in my opinion, if that wasn't your intention I would try to correct it by adjusting the 2 sections of the root closest to the bottom, by showing more of the front side, then the top and the backside. Again awesome piece, can't wait to see how it turns out! ;D
Title: Re: o(__|-.-|Tree|-.-|__)o
Post by: keely aimee on March 10, 2011, 02:34:58 am
I'm trying to go for a less severe angle of a top down view, hopefully with what I have fleshed out now and when I get to the other roots and changed their angles also, that it might be proper. If not I can always fix the front root it's just I want to wait til I attend to my other roots then let my eyes judge whether or not to.


(http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/7782/image3l.gif)
Title: Re: o(__|-.-|Tree|-.-|__)o
Post by: Geti on March 10, 2011, 11:06:08 am
Flip the image more while working on it, your eyes will pick up a lot more that way.
Title: Re: o(__|-.-|Tree|-.-|__)o
Post by: Mathias on March 10, 2011, 08:07:37 pm
Very neat. Looks like an LTTP tree on realism crack. (that's a good thing)

The thing jumps out at me most about this is that it's quite large, yet the detailing you're doing is very monotonous and repetitive. I suggest some little detail gimmicks here and there to break it up. It has to do with a certain design principle - you ought to give the eye little things to jump around on, rather than allow the tendency to pass over repeated detail to cause your viewer's eyes to not spend more time taking it all in, so much work can go to waste. To illustrate - think of a big field of black and white checkerboard squares - the very second you see it, your eye realizes what it is and that there's nothing but a repeated pattern. Therefore, the eye does not look at every individual square does it? No. The eye passes it over, on account of a lack of 'visual interest'. - An extreme example but it proves the point. Well, I think you have a lesser example of that happening here, so far.

The thick vertical trunk looks like strictly upright textured cylinders butted up to one another, arrayed in a circle. Why not take that bark texture and swirl it around a little into more interesting patterns. It's verticalness is a little plastic.

Also, this is huge. From what I've seen: almost everyone that embarks on a huge pixel project like this does NOT finish it. Just a reality check. Do you really want to proceed? The ROI may not be there for you.

Curious to see how you'll style the foliage at the top. Always my favorite part of a pixelled tree. But I do love gnarled roots. So fun to draw, too.

What's the context? Is this a crop of a larger image? Is the tree to be the focal point of the final outcome?




Title: Re: o(__|-.-|Tree|-.-|__)o
Post by: keely aimee on March 11, 2011, 02:34:41 am
I have never stopped to think about it, but I don't think I would be able to finish this tree. I have actually been working on this for the past 2 months, the first image is actually dated a couple weeks before the lastest image. I've just get so sidetracked by video games, friends, and work, and when I get a chance to sit down and work on it, I just stare at it and only think about what to do with it, instead of actually doing it. I would wind up stumble uponing my way through the internet, losing track of what time I already lacked for this tree's creation. So I'm just going to end it here and spare myself the wasted time on an unfinished piece. This thread can be locked now.
Title: Re: o(__|-.-|Tree|-.-|__)o
Post by: Demon11777 on March 11, 2011, 02:53:35 am
Aw man I know the feeling same thing happens to me But this hurts to read! this piece has such amazing potential. Was really looking forward to seeing the end result. It is a pretty huge piece so perhaps working on a considerably smaller piece would be much more manageable for you. I hope to see more of your work  :)
Title: Re: o(__|-.-|Tree|-.-|__)o
Post by: Mathias on March 11, 2011, 03:40:39 am
Yep, ok. I think that's wise. I'm constantly amazed at just how much work pixel art is (good pixel art, that is). Something of this grandeur is extremely difficult to complete.

Post your next pixel project here. Dial down the grandiosity next time, though! hehe
Title: Re: o(__|-.-|Tree|-.-|__)o
Post by: big brother on March 11, 2011, 06:49:20 am
For bigger scenes like this, I'd recommend blocking it out in basic colors first. Don't worry about the details or AA. Just focus on the composition first, then colors and basic lighting. Once you're happy with all of this, you can start polishing. Sketching out the scene helps prevent running into composition related problems later on and having to redo details. Additionally, if you start drawing at pixel-level detail, it can be discouraging because 99% of your piece is blank space.

Sometimes it helps motivate me if I polish my favorite part of the scene first, because if it comes out looking good I want to buckle down and finish the rest of it.