Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: ndchristie on August 14, 2006, 09:35:50 pm
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Total time: 1:47 (i.e. very fast for me)
Size: 64x64
the finished portrait, debating a background change:
*updated the nose region with lighter shadows
(http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/681/faceral1.gif) or (http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/1016/facervp3.gif)
the question is, if a game were made with faces like these, would people enjoy the look? what changes should be made? ive included almost the entire process for examination
(http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9370/faceser6.gif)
crits and concerns?
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First of all, the blue looks way better as the background than the red does. Second, this is sexy.
Now for some critiquing:
My maing concern is the grungy kinda look it has, there's too much going on for the size of the portrait, primarily around the mouth area. It might just be me, but that grey colour is really bothering me, and seems to be causing the most grief to my eyes.
Smoother is moreso what I always picture for portraits in a game setting. I mean, you can have a grungy look, but there's ways of doing so without really cluttering up the face.
I'd say great portrait, although the technique used would be better suited for a larger sized portrait.
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Have to disagree with Quark about the bg...Red looks hawt... ;D
Enough about that though...
I do have to agree about the grey/green though...While I'll grant you that you have a far better grasp of color theory than I ever have, I think a more simplified, semi-linear palette would work best in this situation as it would present cleaner...But I do really dig the line work... :)
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just realized that im off by 1 pixel, its not 64x64 >.<
but thats easy enough to fix
Quark: i realise that the typical is to do a very smooth portrait when faced with small areas, thats pretty much the main reason for this experiment. i suppose im getting a no from you then in terms of the darker, grittier look? one question i have is that you say shooth and cluttered, but these arent really opposites. i wasnt trying for smooth, so i dont mind not being smooth, but cluttered is definately bad. any suggestions on solving this without making it more of the smoother, standard style?
eghost: you arent digging the gray or green either? hmm.... i can try taking it out but it might be difficult to work around the facial hair (which must at least appear gray), and the green helps separate the facial hair, give more excitement to the face in general by brining in the compliment, and removing the 'artificial tan' look he has going on otherwise....perhaps too much in too small a space though? ill try and figure a way around this though and update if i reach a solution
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That's some pixel beauty there. A few cents if I may. Here are somethings that are important for doing portraits. Make sure you anti-alias the face features. Use selouts for portraits, black outlines make them look jaggy and messy. I'd say the blue background works best. Your portrait's kinda messy, clean everything up. That's all.
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he question is, if a game were made with faces like these, would people enjoy the look?
Depends on the target resolution. These look fine in 1x zoom, but go any closer and there's the usual problems. Colors not cohesive enough (the blue in this case) I think, pixel art not clean enough, the last extra hand of polish is missing. I'd enjoy a game in this style. But I'd have critique for it.
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any suggestions on solving this without making it more of the smoother, standard style?
The few suggestions I would make would be to tweak the grey so that it is less obvious and off-putting, and maybe around the mouth, lose some of the grey altogether, that's really the biggest problem area for me right now. If it's supposed to look like stubble, it's not fully working. Work with that if it is. And just one minor change I'd suggest is getting rid of the harsh dark streak just to the right of his eye, and the one below that. They kinda stick out like a sore thumb to me.
Upon looking a second time I would take back the part about making it smoother. Just colour tweaking and those few key areas should make this perfect in my opinion.
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well i tried smoothing because i got such a varied response to the palette, maybe now its a little less stand-outy. Also adjusted the eye, he no longer looks like he has mascara on. i think i may have gone down the wrong path though with the dithering, but this could just be my natural dislike for the technique. what do you guys think, am i on the right track, or still way way off?
(http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/681/faceral1.gif)<- old vs new ->(http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/8964/untitledrw5.gif)
(http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/1016/facervp3.gif)<- old vs new ->(http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/1703/untitledyp5.gif)
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I think this looks much, much more solid in terms of technique. Good job.
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The AA makes this so great. I preferred the blue bg btw.
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Significant improvement... ;D
The piece presents much clearer now and i think the dithering works well as you have it...
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Looks great now Adarias, that's exactly the kinda improvement I was envisioning. Very solid and unified now. The dithering is very good as well. No more crits from me, this makes my eyes smile.
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I love how you add blue's to your characters, a great improvement from the firsts..
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I find it hilarious that you've managed to make him look so much like fat-boy-gone-rad J. Allard.. :D NSFW IMAGE (http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40910000/jpg/_40910251_xboxtwo-microsoft203.jpg)
Nice pixeling as always though, lovely colors.
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That update fixes everything it needed to for me. Having good, detailed portraits for RPG's are important, especially something such as this, which has far more character than any flat shaded anime face could (although i love anime... heheh). I also like both backgrounds, in the way that you made them look like MORE than just a general pattern, but i think i'm leaning more towards the blue =D Awesome work Adarias.
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woo major improvement.