Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Semont on January 19, 2013, 09:11:13 am
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(http://sadpanda.us/images/1357215-0MUTTZV.png)
I didn't get much response from my pixeljoint thread so I thought I'd post here to get a wider audience.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm still a newbie in pixel art and I'm always looking for ways to improve.
Atm I'm not good at picking colours (this one took me far too long to settle, I changed the colours many times over already), shading and shading according to light sources.
I also need more practice with drawing in general since I completely lack speed. I've been working on this since mid november sort of on and off.
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Your pixeling technique looks okay, with nice curves/steps, AA, outline colors, etc. I think the problem with this figure lies more at the construction stage (stick limbs, trunky torso and flattened pose), and with the amount of work which you have put into the pixel placements it's almost to late to change.
There are also some problems with her suit design, not rhyming well with the human form at some places. Strange vent shapes cutting into the upper breasts, suggesting a sort of weird plane there. The calf armour gets thinner where the muscle usually dents out (and I expect a muscle form because of the flesh tone above), making me feel uneasy. The feet have almost no points of articulation suggested, which sort of works on stumpy designs like Aegis, Bubblegum Crisis, Zone of Enders or Drossel Charming, but it looks strange here where there's an actual foot and wheel. I'd reference some of the foot-wheel designs which are out there:
http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?gcode=TOY-RBT-1236
http://www.joysf.com/board_pic/files/attach/images/2705510/2784591/05_Heavy_Gear_Hunter.JPG
The pod feet which you have suggested can be mixed in too: http://www.gamesetwatch.com/steel_battalion_quasar1.jpg
Another thing to consider is your shape theme. Is it bevels, rounded forms? Irregularities? Order? Ribs? Dots?
Another source of inspiration can be the recent Phantasy Star Online CAST designs.
~tootooot
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Thanks for the reply, I don't have much time to type since I have work soon but about the foot,
(http://sadpanda.us/images/1358053-86TH2EZ.png)
The front "toe" and the back "heel" can be pivoted up and down while the center wheel is allowed to descend, there's also a small wheel on the front (might add one on the back heel as well) toe that can descend to act as a stabilizer. The heel can be gradually lowered to act like a inline skate brake. Also, the black tips of the heel and toe are made of hardened rubber which can be replaced.
The foot doesn't allow for torsional movement since there is no ankle but since the point of contact from the toe and the heel is like that of a bicycle, it stays upright on it's own by utilizing the same principle. Only problem is that the legs can't stay too close to each other (which is what ironically happens in this pose).
I'm aware of the popular placement of wheels on the back of the foot but for me that only causes the possibility of the entire mech flipping forwards unless there are wheels embedded on the underside of the foot.
I know the chest and lower abdomen conflict with each other and the rest of the armour itself but it might be too late for the changes. The "ribs" are slats of reactive armour placed at where the lower abdomen would tilt from side to side.
Thanks for the comment about the calf though, no one ever said anything about that and it's not something too late to change since it's just a bucketfilled outline atm.
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I would agree with Arne about curves. Very nice work on many places in that sense.
I would suggest a more dynamic pose. There's just something too wooden about it. What are you trying to convey with it? Perhaps you should dry to redesign the legs, with them slightly bent. Something like this: http://onlyhdwallpapers.com/wallpaper/optimus_prime_attack_pose_desktop_5040x3600_wallpaper-234158.jpg
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It looks flat because the torso is flat.
The head, bent arm, and legs turn toward the side a bit. The center chest plate aims towards the camera. The belly also seems to turn towards the side, maybe, like it can't make up its mind. Which would mean a twisty spine. There is nothing to suggest volume where the rib cage should be.
Similarly, the legs and curve from waist to hips suggest the hips should be tilted, or that she is leaning over, but the hip plates are perfectly level. They are also almost directly facing the camera, but the legs are turned strongly to the side.
The volumetric style present on the robot parts (arms and legs) is altogether missing on the organic parts.
Tourist
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Thanks for the responses, I'll try harder and see what I can produce one week from now.
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(http://sadpanda.us/images/1531653-Z5V0W50.png)
Here's an update. This has been very on and off and it's been hard to keep focused on it.
I'm going to be redrawing it's left hand and tilt it downward a little.
Eventually.
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I really like that design. ;D
As for coloring though, sometimes bad coloring can be revealed if you were to turn it grayscale. Ideally, you should be able to distinguish your forms and your shapes apart very easily even if you turn an image grayscale.
(http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/2394/colorcrit.png)
Good colors schemes tend to have colors that have a clear value contrast. Good color schemes that have a small value contrast tend to use just light colors and focuses on hue contrasts instead. I made the skin lighter than the hair, hair lighter than the gray, and the gray lighter than the blue. I also made the gray more cyan since I felt that color looked out of place somehow. That's what I did with the first round of edits.
Areas with stronger value contrasts also tends to be good at bringing attention to themselves. I fiddled with how your color scheme was used since it really tosses the focus of your character design all over the place. Now, most of our value contrasts should be mostly found where the skin is.
EDIT: Was a bit careless with my edit, but hopefully anything else I'll notice about my edit shouldn't bother me now.
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Yeah the colour scheme I must admit is truely awful. I started the piece with poor understanding of how to really pick colours.
Personally, I think it might be too late to change the colours without drastically recolouring the whatever I've worked on unless I spend hours and hours on it. Ideally, I just need to move on and work on the next piece with whatever experience I've learned while working on this piece.
The contrast you created in your edit is a nice wake up call, I definitely need to choose my colours more wisely and create a better contrast between different elements.
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Hours and hours? Here's a tip to make things faster: work with a smaller canvas size. ;)
350x566 has more or less 198100 pixels in it. If you work at 64x64, there are only 4096 pixels.
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I really don't want to make avatar sized images. I don't really get a sense of accomplishment xD
And the reason why the canvas is this big is just so that if I ever want to add anything, I have the option for it. After I'm done, I'll change the dimensions to fit.
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You could just use paintbucket and give the sections new colors, and then either use the right-click eraser on paint or turn of connected in photoshop and get rid of the antialias or give them a new color too. If you don't work on either program, I'm sure there are similar shortcuts in the program you -do- work in. Not knowing the proper shortcuts is not the best excuse to avoid fixing your mistakes. :u
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I like a lot about this. The construction of the calves is very solid. I also like the shoulder pads, and just the general theme.
But, things sort of fall apart around the torso area. Maybe it could use a but of a redesign, and a redraw. Overall I'd say it's the weakest link in the piece. Meaning, the perspective looks great at the legs but then you kinda look up at the hips/torso and it just falls flat. :\
sloppy example:
(http://i.imgur.com/9yiI5d6.gif)
Others have talked about things like the coloring, but I think a bigger problem is that the posing looks very awkward. Personally I think I would have stopped after finishing the linework and given it another try until I got a better pose, but it looks like you're kinda invested now.
One question though, what is she supposed to be doing in the picture? I'd try to help think of a pose but I'm not sure what's supposed to be going on. It almost looks like she's correcting someone with the way she's gesturing her hand, or maybe just pointing upwards.
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@CrazyMLC
My god I never realized just how bad the perspective was. Thanks a lot for making that edit, I'll definitely have to do something about it.
If you don't mind can I adjust the positioning of the body by using your edit as reference? I'll throw in your name to credit if you want as well.
And it's true, the torso was just sloppily thrown in there because truthfully, I didn't know how to design it. I'll probably see what I can do about it.
Oh, and the pose? It's some stupid endearing thing just to make it look cute or stand out, that kinda thing.
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Do what you like, and a spot in any credits or anything like that is completely unnecessary. I'm just glad you found my critique helpful. Best of luck.
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(http://sadpanda.us/images/1558148-UXV92BK.png)
Alright so I did some positioning adjustments.
I decided to keep the torso for what it was because
1. I couldn't come up with anything better.
2. Neither could other artists it seems when it came to mecha girls
The hip needs a bit more adjustment, I guess I'll post again when I feel like I've done enough work to warrant an update.
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(http://sadpanda.us/images/1583289-YU4UR7A.png)
-Changed the colour palette but there's still a ways to go
-Right now, the dark red is completely removed but I may reintroduce another red used to outline the flesh areas
-It's right forearm and hand pretty much done
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(http://sadpanda.us/images/1584446-6CBRUTJ.png)
Just some minor edits.
Note: I refer to the colours from left to right.
-Darkened blue2 and blue3, lightened blue4
-Lightened peach3
-removed the dark shading next to the neck, reduced shading on neck
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I think that this would be better as classic digital illustration. For me it looks more like pixelated regular drawing instead of pixel art. As Pix3M said, this is to big. Idea and drawing are good, and I see your effort to add shading to it, but even when you finish all AA it will still look more like blurry drawing then pixel art. Try to make the same character, but in resolution of 150x150px or 100x100px. It will be harder but 10 times better, I'm sure. :)
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Sorry but I have no intention of stopping this.
(http://sadpanda.us/images/1584684-21AR0H5.png)
-Redid Blue1-4 and Gray1-4 so that they scale properly with the lighting (basically looks normal in grayscale now)
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Another thing I think would help your image immensely is more noticeable shading. Right now it looks fairly flat and bleh. (also increasing contrast and desaturating the shadows might do something.)
I did a photoshop edit because it's faster than pixeling.
(http://i615.photobucket.com/albums/tt235/Ymedron/editedmecha_zps6627d947.png)
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Thank you, that edit looks really helpful.
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(http://sadpanda.us/images/1604824-CKV0GPR.png)
Alright, here's another update!
-Left breast and left forearm done.
-Did some shading on parts that were already AA'd
Next up is probably redrawing the left hand.
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(http://sadpanda.us/images/1621854-QHHSJEE.png)
Anyways. After a couple days break from this, I redrew the hand and posed it in a more relaxed manner.