Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Helm on October 18, 2006, 04:25:24 pm

Title: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Helm on October 18, 2006, 04:25:24 pm: (http://www.locustleaves.com/dawnrazor_3.png)

Multicolor mode, made in one hour timed and filmed. The film isn't very interesting or good so it won't be released, but at least I'm left with another picture. I've returned to this theme a few times in my pixel art, those that don't know what it's about, google Fields of the Nephilim, I guess. Although it's underworked, I enjoy the mood in this a lot. I could dither-noise the sky for extra detail, but somehow I feel this works great on its own.

(http://www.locustleaves.com/land8checked.gif)

This is in the triangle hi-res series. I think it works, more or less, though not as good as when I first envisioned it. Ended up at twelfth place in this year's graphics compo at X. Ptoing ranked at 7 with a wonderful picture, I'm sure he'll post, eventually. Ptoing also has critt'ed the most important error in this piece, that the layers of land go from colder to warmer, though they should be in reverse. When he brought this to my attention, I agreed. Still I decided to go with the 'wrong' way because sometimes you have to stick with your first impression, even if it's incorrect stylistically.

(http://www.locustleaves.com/whale_good_palette.png)

This is an edit of a really old c64 piece of mine (http://www.locustleaves.com/c643.png), which I found again lately and decided to make it better. This is also my first FLI piece and probably will be my last. This is a self-portrait, both in the figure and in the background.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Scotteh on October 18, 2006, 05:25:55 pm: awsome, i like the second on the best. Mainly because of the simplicity of it yet it looks so good! ;)
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Feron on October 18, 2006, 05:30:08 pm: nah i think the self portrait is amazing. Can you post the first version for us to compare?

It looks a lot like you... im not so keen on the background though. one crit - it looks like it was made by "helx" in stead of 'helm' due to those scanlines.

I agree about the coldness on number 2 - but i don't really think it matters overall. That has great style. I don't really like the 2x1 lines on the cloud - i think 2x1's all over would look better.

Number 1 is awesome - i like the atmosphere. I think the purple should be dithered into the black a bit more on the facee though. I don't think a background is needed - its a solid piece on its own.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Helm on October 18, 2006, 06:00:03 pm: Thanks for the kind words. Feron, there's a link to the first version if you read the text. I don't mind the 'Helx' thing. I don't understand what you mean about the 2x1 lines on the cloud, could you explain?
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: ptoing on October 18, 2006, 06:48:12 pm: Grah now i have to post mine as well 8D.
Anyway you know what I think about those.
Oh, and Sander said you need to think up something new apart from triangles and he also agreed on the warm-cold thing.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Filax_666 on October 18, 2006, 08:07:49 pm: I've been eagerly waiting for these since you told me some c64 pieces were on the works. It was worth waiting :)

I laughed when I read the description of the first, because, a few days ago, Ensellitis came up the idea the he should make timed pieces and I said "please, don't mention that to helm and ptoing, soon they'll be doing it" :hehe: So, it was kinda funny to see that you have already done one :lol:
Either way, it's mood is amazing, it sort of remminded me of 'V for Vendetta' (and your KOS sprite as well :lol:) but better and a bit more spooky. Compositionally, I find the sky part (beneath his face, where the moon is) the worst bit of the picture. The moon and the ?clouds? look great, but it really makes the picture unbalanced, in my opinion. I would have probably done some more dark trees, like on the opposite side.

To be honest...I found the second one extremely uninteresting.The clouds are weird (but that's probably part of the style), there's the thing ptoing mentioned and, seriously, all I can make out of it is a bunch of odd structures and a focal point (the dark zone in the middle) with nothing of interest. Defenitely not one of your best pieces.

The last one stunned me. It's :y: :y: :y: I've never seen a picture of you so I can't tell if it looks like you, but it's technically amazing and has tons of character. Now, I'm not familiar with that FLI ?mode?...could you please give a (small) description of it, please?
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Evil-Ville on October 18, 2006, 08:20:40 pm: I love the first one, the mood of it is amazing. For some reason I really like the pine tree on the background. The second one is great too but I'd really like to see some more 'advanced' hi-res stuff. With dithering and other stuff you'd normally use.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Tremulant on October 18, 2006, 08:30:11 pm: The first and last ones are simply fantastic, but I agree with filax about the second piece. I find it to be a bit hard to read overall, and in some places, the rapid colour changes give the appearance of, well... a mess, more than anything in my eyes. Honestly, my oppinion is pretty irrelevant here, never having worked within the boundaries of c64 restrictions, and admittedly being no where near your level in terms of artistic understanding or ability, but I sees what I sees. I'm pretty sure that, on the whole, the 'messiness' is probably a result of the restrictions, but it doesn't change how it looks, in the end. That said, I appreciate it from a stylistic/restriction-riddled point of view, and I do like the triangle stuff generally...

As for the others, well... like I said, they amaze me plain and simple. I love the limited use of the (already limited) palette in the first piece, and the last one is both technically and visually beautiful, far as I'm concerned (can't comment on likeness as I've never seen your for-real-face, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. :P). As it usually happens when you or ptoing or any of the local powerhouses put out any c64 stuff, I'm inspired to try my hand at it. Maybe I actually will this time... ::)

Overall, I really like 'em.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Helm on October 18, 2006, 08:48:49 pm: Quote
Oh, and Sander said you need to think up something new apart from triangles and he also agreed on the warm-cold thing.

I'm not doing this because it's a novelty. I don't give a shit about innovation. I am doing this because it's a good way to bring CA qualities to a piece. I don't think it's fair to demand 'more tricks' from this horse. It's like telling Chuck Close 'hey old dude, find a new trick, lol!'. I don't need a new trick. I'll do what triangle stuff I feel are left to do and then I'll stop making those pieces. There's always traditional modes of work otherwise. I am not interested in pushing the envelope just for the sake of it. I'm not good enough to do that, not enough talent or ambition. I'm just doing art that I find potent, that is all.

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?clouds?

Was going for breathing puff. Guess I failed there.

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To be honest...I found the second one extremely uninteresting.The clouds are weird (but that's probably part of the style), there's the thing ptoing mentioned and, seriously, all I can make out of it is a bunch of odd structures and a focal point (the dark zone in the middle) with nothing of interest. Defenitely not one of your best pieces.

I can see how this is, though I disagree. Don't consider it any masterpiece, but if you don't like this, you'll like the next series of Triangle pieces even less. Things are only going to become less... less clear.

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could you please give a (small) description of it, please?

Neat hack. 3+1 colors like mcol, but for every 8x1 line. It's basically a pussy-ass easy mode that is almost unlimited. Seriously, pixel almost anything, then put it in timanthes and turn it to FLI, and you'll get so few errors it's not even funny. Severily weak, but I'm excused, having done the mcol grind for a good while.

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see some more 'advanced' hi-res stuff. With dithering and other stuff you'd normally use.

I'll be doing a MUFLI piece with all that stuff soon enough. So yes.

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the 'messiness' is probably a result of the restrictions

Not really. Prepare for even worse messes.

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I love the limited use of the (already limited) palette in the first piece

Good eye. There's no buffering with gray here, which was the point of the excersise. Just comic-art simple ramp stuff.

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can't comment on likeness

(http://www.locustleaves.com/helmgeneric.jpg)
Thanks for the comments, everybody.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Mirre on October 18, 2006, 08:56:27 pm: This is some hot stuff Helm! :o I really like the first one especially much. The mood is great and the face looks so good (I also really like the pine tree for some reason), but the moon and clouds really annoy me. All the attention is drawn to them but I don't think they look that good. If the moon would be bigger it would go better with the rest of the picture in my opinion. Or just add some more pinetrees? ^-^

Don't know what to say about the second one though. I don't really like triangle-stuff (just my personal preference) and I can't really make out what anything is in the piece except for the clouds.

The third one is really awesome though. I like everything about it. It's so well done! I like the eyes especially and the background as well. But I can't make out any of the text except for "Helx". ~~Now you just have to post a photo of yourself so that we can compare it to the portrait, hehe. :P~~ You already did that while I was posting so... yep. The portrait definitely looks like you. Great job on that!
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Helm on October 18, 2006, 08:58:34 pm: I went back in time just for you.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Feron on October 18, 2006, 11:35:33 pm: Quote from: Helm on October 18, 2006, 06:00:03 pm
Thanks for the kind words. Feron, there's a link to the first version if you read the text. I don't mind the 'Helx' thing. I don't understand what you mean about the 2x1 lines on the cloud, could you explain?

well there not all 2x1's - its hard to see with safari blurring on zoom. anyways what i meant was - the rest of the piece is done using diagonal lines. 1 up, 1 across. However on the clouds you have some 1 up, 2/3/4 acrosses. It just looks weird thats all.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Helm on October 26, 2006, 01:11:57 am: (http://www.locustleaves.com/DoAA.png)

Ptoing had a picture that errored out on a real c64 creating random garbage outputs, I chose one and worked over it.

"As is commonly percieved, the relationship between a human operator and a machine is such that the machine is a tool, an instrument of the composers desires. Implicit in this, and generally unquestioned until recently, is the sovereignty of the composer. What is now becoming clear is that the composer is as much a tool as the tool itself, or even a tool for the machine to manifest its desires. I do not mean this in the sense that machines are in possesion of a mind capable of subtly directing human behaviour, but in the sense that the attributes of the machine are just as prominent an influence in the resulting artefact as the user is; through his work, a human operator brings as much about the machine to light as he does about himself." - Tom Jenkinson

This explains the theoretical framework of what was attempted. This isn't any sort of abstract art.

Best viewed thusly:

(http://www.ptoing.net/tv_doaa.jpg)
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Alex on October 26, 2006, 02:41:34 am: it looks like a ridiculous puzzle platformer.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Ryumaru on October 26, 2006, 03:10:25 am: (http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/2056/lol3pk2.png)
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Helm on October 26, 2006, 03:19:14 am: hehe but the black areas are the no-wall areas, not the gray ones!
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: younit on October 26, 2006, 05:05:43 am: Amazing work helm, as always. its interesting to see your approach to c-64 pixels mixed down with your very own style/techniques, really good stuff. The first one is my favorite.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Sol on October 26, 2006, 05:20:22 am: Thats pretty awesome Helm. Great work, as per usual. I wish you would go ahead and make a dojin in that style or something. XD
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Xion on October 26, 2006, 05:11:55 pm: Gar! I wish I could get my C64 Emulator to work so I could play Exile, which that abstract "Platformer" glitch/whatever instantly reminded me of. :( Nice smileys.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Helm on October 26, 2006, 05:18:18 pm: Good eye on Exile. What's stopping you from emulating it? Loveable game. Wish Arne made that remake he's got a page about.
Title: Re: Recent c64 work.
Post by: Godslayer on October 26, 2006, 06:19:15 pm: I saw a futuristic cityscape when I looked at it, with an ancient skyscraper dwarfed by behemoth buildings who are decaying in their own way.