Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: pixelsforhire on February 26, 2007, 06:47:51 pm
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Well, I decided, for some unknown reason, to pixel my best friend as a witch. Hopefully she doesn't read to much into the meaning. Anyway, This is just the first edit. I threw this down in one sitting and will come back and fix it up later. Any ideas of what to do about that eye? She's not squinty-eyed, as the pixels may lead you to believe
(http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3296/witchdu7.png)
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A single pixel of white in the darkest area of her eyes would help. Where is your lightsource exactly? It's inconsistant. Maybe this is what you were going for?
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y292/SharmClucas/witch.gif)
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Duh! I'm a moron. That eye is much better, but I think I see one more thing to help the face out. I made an extra dark pixel on the far eye to make it look more like she's winking. Did it work? I also did little changes here and there and tried to salvage the lighting a bit. I'm planning on a cresent moon or some sparkely star trail or something in the bg to spice it up. I'm thinking maybe widen the picture out so that I can have the trail coming from behind the broom and meandering into the background and a moon over her farshoulder. I still need to think about it, though. Any suggestions on a good background?
(http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/2973/witchcu2.png)
Hmmm, in hindsight, I seem to have over-cel-out-ed parts of her dress (butt.) What are you talking about? Of course "over-cel-out-ed" is a word...
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If you mean to ask what is making the lightsource inconsistent, yes, the selective outlining is part of it. Having it on only one side of an item gives a definite direction to the light. If you look at the mid part of her dress, it looks like the light is coming from the front, but if you look at her feet, arm and face, it looks like its coming from the top right. Maybe you should put the moon in first, as it will determine the light source for you.
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If I were you, I'd ditch the "selout" completely and increase the contrast. Also, the aliasing stands out especially on the face. Aliasing restricts the application of colour to one pixel or the next, and on something this small, 1 pixel is the equivalent to 1 centimetre. This makes the lineart on the face look very thick and features such as the mouth seem too large and out of place. I'll try and make an edit soon to show what I mean.
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This is what I would have done, I know you have problems with pallet choice. You also used a lot of colors in this piece, when they had enough contrast they looked almost pillowshaded, especially on her dress. I edited her face some to give it more clarity.
(http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/1328/witcheditax2.png)
Hope that helps.
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Me: "Hello, my name is Matt and I'm a pillow-shader"
Room: "Hi, Matt."
Yeah, you've got me. I don't really know anything about propper dithering... or color selection... wait, why am I even doing pixel art!? Anyway, what are some good resources for complete dither newbs?
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I don't know of any good tutorials, but look at this, it's by helm.
(http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/6964/ditherspk6.gif)
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I wouldn't have thought a piece this small needed any dithering. What gave you that idea, pixelsforhire?
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You also used a lot of colors in this piece, when they had enough contrast they looked almost pillowshaded, especially on her dress.
That's where I got that idea. Maybe I misunderstood the comment. I'm saving Helm's dither samples and I know a guy who is a good bit better at dithering that might help me out with my ineptitude. Come to think of it, I don't think I've shown him this forum yet...
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Here's a little edit:
(http://imagehost.ensellitis.com/imagesv2/3247066987witch.gif)
(I guess dithering can be applied in this case)
Firstly, I've made a few anatomical adjustments, such as shortening the torso, shortening & unbending the arm (you'll have to excuse the feet I made, they are terrible). I didn't put in any outlines, I don't think they're needed at all. Notice how the side of her head which is turned away from us is in darkness as dictated by the lightsource. I've used a lot of antialiasing especially on the head and, this way, more detail is emulated. I messed around with the colours too, bringing the count down to 16. Hope that helps.