Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: khorin on November 24, 2009, 06:17:56 am
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Hello everyone!
Boy, it's been awhile since I posted a pixels for critique (there weren't much to begin with). I recently picked up pixel art again because it's just so cool and I want to do it for sure - for fun! :D
What better way than to take part in a challenge - the 8 Color Music challenge (http://pixeljoint.com/2009/11/23/2981/Pixel_Art_Challenge-_8_Color_Music.htm) to be exact. The theme of this piece is belly dance music. I love it and belly dancing itself. When I'm not walking, I'm belly dancing. :P
So, here's a rough draft. The lines in the background need to be cleaned up:
(http://images.shizucor.com/coris_stuff/pixel-art/music-phase1.gif)
Reference for the pose: Shadow Dance by Matt Abraxas (http://www.mattabraxas.com/images/figures/pics/Shadow-Dance_Matt-Abraxas.jpg)
I'd really like tips on color. That's one of the elements I struggle with in pixel art. However, any insight is very much appreciated!
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No crits? Oh well! I'll keep posting updates regardless:
(http://images.shizucor.com/coris_stuff/pixel-art/music-phase2.gif)
Decided to try a new palette and add simple shading. Not quite sure if I like what I did with the background, though.
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A girl asking for help drawing a belly dancer and no crits! That is strange.
Must've been a good episode of Star Trek on last night.
I think the top one is better. Here is an edit with a smaller body:
(http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx86/DrunkenPixelMaster/dance.png)
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I think the top one is better. Here is an edit with a smaller body:
I disagree. The round spotlight on the second pic works very well, helps bring the composition together. Also, the shadow on her back on the second pic is definitely an improvement, although the exact source and dierction of the light is a bit unclear.
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I believe the spot light is ok, as long as there stays high contrast between the BG and the curls.
But do watch the girl in TheOnes version, that is a big improvement!
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I think you're right about the spotlight helping composition. However khorin should be careful not to lose the hand gesture in a mess.
(http://i744.photobucket.com/albums/xx86/DrunkenPixelMaster/dance2.png)
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Thanks for the comments JJ Naas & llolige.
TheOne - Excellent edits! She looks a lot slimmer. I like the addition of a darker purple along with the original palette. Thanks so much!
(http://images.shizucor.com/coris_stuff/pixel-art/music-phase3.gif)
I'm not quite sure what to do with the background. I think I should add some dithering but it may make the background too busy. It couldn't hurt to try. I've still get plenty of time.
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This is a nice piece.
I think there is a minor problem that the designs on the right are somewhat disconnected from the dancer on the left. The designs were a good backdrop in the original but the spotlight/window kind of breaks them apart. Not a major problem, but maybe something to brainstorm on.
I think the lighting on the extended arm isn't consistent with the lighting from elsewhere, but you might get away with it. Showing that this is an arm is more important than perfect lighting.
I did a quick edit.
1) I adjusted the left line of the torso to give her a waist and hips.
2) I tweaked the hair to give it a little texture. Not a great edit but I hope it gets the idea across. I think the hair could something like this. Maybe you can connect the hair (by style or directly extending it) to the designs on the right?
(http://www.ixdrive.co.uk/img/1f95375f71f27bd06b863a48ebce1296.png)
Hope this helps,
Tourist
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I'm much better at show than tell, so here you go.
(http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k42/crazyMLC/BellyDanceredit2.png)
I made the spotlight brighter, and changed the hair a bit. Its a little sloppy, but I think you get the idea.
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Update! Thanks Tourist & CrazyMLC for the suggestions.
Here's my take:
(http://images.shizucor.com/coris_stuff/pixel-art/music-phase4.gif)
I loved the fullness of the girls hair in Crazy's edit but took Tourist's advice about incorporating the flourishes from the right side. I also love the addition of the hips. I edited the background a little but I may revert to the original. I do like the flourishes coming from the hand.
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It's a very nice process you've here. I like the composition and the simpleness :)
Personally, I tend to get confused with the last one. Although stylistically it's a better choice, it gets somewhat unreadable for such a small piece. Long hair also helps determine the position/orientation of the head (and since it lags behind the body's movement, it hints at what kind of movement the person was performing moments ago), which is something you might or might not want to suggest to the viewer. Also, the highlight in the background could recede a bit more like Tourist's edit, methinks.
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Update! Thanks Tourist & CrazyMLC for the suggestions.
Here's my take:
(http://images.shizucor.com/coris_stuff/pixel-art/music-phase4.gif)
I loved the fullness of the girls hair in Crazy's edit but took Tourist's advice about incorporating the flourishes from the right side. I also love the addition of the hips. I edited the background a little but I may revert to the original. I do like the flourishes coming from the hand.
I like how you used a pattern for the hair in order to look similar to the one on the wall, but keep in mind this makes the hair look a bit flat. So try to disguise the pattern a bit , I say. Like if you had to focus on the image for a bit until noticing the similarity. Perhaps adding some highlights and making it look a bit more "hairy"
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Hi khorin, nice piece you've got going.
You started with a really strong, flowing gesture, which was really good. However, you've started to break this by moving the hair out of line with it. Think of the figure as a few strong lines of motion that the eye follows. All aspects of the figure should pull together to communicate these lines. So even though it might not make so much physical sense for the hair to curve (well, she could be twisting, it makes sense to me), you should have the hair follow the line of the gesture.
(http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z212/gastrop0d/edits/music-phase4_ed.png)
The shading needs tightening, I believe. The black you have in your palette is really a waste of a very precious slot in your colours. I replaced with a pink that can buffer between the higher parts of the palette, and be used for shading the skin more. Lightened the second darkest blue, too.
The other issue I think is composition. You need to balance it more, give more room for the eye to relax. Negative space, in other words. I dulled the bottom-left corner to add interest and to stop the eye leaving the image there, and also to balance an emphasised top-right corner. The swirls in the right of the image need less dominance and more of a selected accentuation in order to make them work within the composition.
The idea for the swirls in the hair is really great. Emphasis it both with the hair's silhouette, and with the shading. I only did it a little here, but you could really incorporate the patterns of swirls into the shapes of the shadows and highlights.
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Nice edit EyeCraft :y: I like the hair texture idea.
I think the edit by TheOne had more convincing posture. Yours looks more like slow-dancing then belly-dancing. Still nice though.
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O_O
Wow, Eyecraft, what a wonderful edit! Man oh man, I wish I had seen this before I submitted. Seeing your edit opened up possibilities. Thankfully, the deadline is in pacific time so I'll take this opportunity to make changes. Thanks so much!
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Done...for now...maybe. :lol:
(http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/bellydancer_final.gif)
I have to thank all of you who gave suggestions and posted edits. I really appreciate it! I've learned a lot about color usage with this piece.