Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: schnischna12 on March 20, 2016, 10:20:16 pm
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Hi all.
I'm just starting new with pixelart and did some first steps with a character.
(http://i.imgur.com/zugCVX5.png)
Actually I'm not yet satisfied with all the parts of it, but would like to get a first feedback.
I'm quite confident with the head, the rest is still very raw.
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Hello and strait to the critic:
The image size is a bit big for beginners I think.
Also you shouldn't use different pixel sizes (like you used on your hands) because it looks bad most of the times.
And your colors don't have enough contrast ( for example the trousers).
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Hi Pusty
Thanks very much for your feedback, which is always welcome!
Indeed the pic is quite big to start with. I tried to incorporate your feedback and uploaded a second version of the picture:
(http://i.imgur.com/kFJOc6e.png)
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Anatomically speaking, those arms are quite off. Either he has his elbows at about 2/3rds down his arms, or he's suffering from some nasty fractures in his lower arms.
He seems to have no left wrist (our right), as his lower arm goes straight to the hand without noticeable thinning. The higher part of his lower left (again, our right) arm also happens to be thicker than the part of his upper arm just above the elbow.
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Try this method:
Step 1, find a reference. Shrink it down and reduce the number of colours to around 14.
(http://i.imgur.com/3lUaRxR.png)
Step 2, copy the reference, taking only small liberties to add your own design (this one uses 9 colours):
(http://i.imgur.com/at6uKkO.gif)
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Thanks for all your help!
I will give the reference method a try, looks definitely better than my first version of the character.
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hmm, is this a self-portrait? I agree that it would be helpful if you used a reference. But also post your reference here for us as well. If it is a self-portrait don't be shy about posting your face. We are a pretty motley crew already.
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Sorry for my late reply, was off for some days. It's acually not a self portrait but there are some overlaps ;-)
I took a second approach and created a new version by using the following reference:
(http://i.imgur.com/xto2tLW.png)
This is the result:
(http://i.imgur.com/lRnTEA1.png)
What do you think?
Again thanks very much for your help!
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way better!
You might wanna remove the noise (single pixels) tho'
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lol... that improvement. A+. Kudos for following my instructions to the dot. Agree with removing some of the noise, it looks as though you used some parts of the reference image like the shoes. Not the end of the world lol, but yeah redoing the shoes with a similar shape and shading the bottom of the pants sharper could give it more of a hand painted look. You might want to add another shade to the skin, or darken the nose shade and use that for shading the inside of the arms, instead of the blue. It looks ok zoomed out, but zoomed in its a bit strange. There are also a few white pixels around the outside of the body of the whole shape which are annoying me. I'd say mostly it's a cleanup job now. I think you've learned something about anatomy doing this :) you could probably squeeze even more learning out of it if you now recreate the entire thing from scratch, trying not to pick colours or values off the original or pasting parts of the image, but just trying to freehand copy it. It will teach you about proportions and form.
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Again I am very thankful for all your feedback and responses, I already learned a lot and now will need to practice this more.
Actually, also in regards of the big image size for a beginner, I would like to switch my game resolution to about 320 x 200 which of course will lead to a "smaller" character.
What do you think of the 35 x 50 version of Simon?
I'm having big trouble to add the red glasses to a head of this size.
(http://i.imgur.com/dEh8WFk.png)
I used the same reference and am actually satisfied with the base colors, which is I didn't change those.
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Using stock images and resizing+indexing them is a questionable method to create art. Is it really yours at that point? Even if you just use it as a reference, you're still missing out on key places where you could stylize gesture and identity. None of the faces or bodies in this thread have identities, and your character's design changed dramatically the moment you used a lifeless stock photo as a base. The only consistent trait is the C# shirt, which makes me think this wasn't by intention.
Find ways to represent a face's likeness through lighting and shading - having dots as features in a style like this will only get you so far.
As for your original sprite, there are a few things I think you should keep in mind. You have a mixture of resolutions going on - his arms are in one resolution, and the shirt and everything else are of a larger one. You have his pockets constructed as if they were his back pockets; front pockets start on the side seam of the pants and curve upwards, to where a belt would be.