Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: silverpurple on January 13, 2010, 02:19:46 am

Title: how about this creepy tree
Post by: silverpurple on January 13, 2010, 02:19:46 am
can you tell me what i don't get in my creepy tree?
(http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/8922/creepytree.png)
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: rustEdge on January 13, 2010, 03:47:29 am
Trees that have facial features look creepy because faces aren't supposed to be on things like that. Fiirst should draw just the tree, add in detail like bark and shading. After that, start chipping away at the bark until you get something that looks like a mangled face. Then you could add glows inside the eyes, or a few more details like a crow or a dead leaf.
A little note on shading too. Don't be afraid to shade along the direction of the grain. It'll add more dimension to your piece. ;D
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: Jad on January 13, 2010, 01:51:22 pm
see, it's only an outline with a gradient in it, with which I mean that the entire left side is brighter than the right one. Shadows don't work that way. Hold out your hand and look at your fingers. Notice how each finger have their own highlights and shadows. This is what you should be doing with your tree. Get it?
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: silverpurple on January 13, 2010, 04:08:30 pm
no i dont get it..can you give me more example??
dont use finger..im very weak in shading
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: Jorund on January 13, 2010, 04:23:17 pm
dont use finger
Don't use finger? Τσ

Any object would do, but a finger is handy :P
What he is just trying to say is, shadows aren't perfect gradients.  You wouldn't draw a finger like this:
(http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/2262/78162459.png)

You need to look more trees images or any kind of imge, just to learn how shadow works.
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: Elk on January 13, 2010, 04:28:45 pm
Jad I think his eyes arnt trained enough to see the highlights or notice them, his head tells him that its all skin-tone colored
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: JJ Naas on January 13, 2010, 09:53:18 pm
There's stuff going on in the trunk of a tree.
- The texture of the bark and the twists and turns and all of that. The photo example is actually quite uneventful as tree barks go. An old tree like yours wouldn't be as smooth as the one in the photo.
- The inevitable hue shift, here from light gray to dark brown but it always depends on the light sources. There's no such thing as a default lighting condition.

(http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss178/jjnaas/bark2.png)

1. Tree bark
2. Hue shift gray-brown ---> dark brown
3. Chipping away pieces of bark as rustEdge suggested
4. The kind of a hue shift you've used, just different shades of the same brown = unnatural
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: r4c7 on January 14, 2010, 01:50:36 am
(http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/2789/treestump.png)
Quick example in MS-paint, using default colors.
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: silverpurple on January 14, 2010, 08:59:34 am
Jad I think his eyes arnt trained enough to see the highlights or notice them, his head tells him that its all skin-tone colored
yes youre right..my eyes arent trained enough.
(http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/8922/creepytree.png)
i change like this and maybe its same..haha
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: Zweckform on January 14, 2010, 10:16:34 am
Hello,

now there is improvement in your recent version. Now your tree got a visible structure.  :y:

What is missing now is shadows and light that define more on the piece. Also the colours should be adjusted to have more contrast. Does your programm have a choice to sort the palette by brightness ? Its a fast way to see if colours are too close in colour or brightness and can be left out or must be reworked.

I did a quick edit, i hope it makes things clear.

(http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9739/creepytreezwfedit.png)
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: TomF on January 14, 2010, 12:08:11 pm
I think also what Jad was getting at is that each branch of the tree should have its own shadow/highlight in the same way that each finger has its own. As of now it still feels very flat because of the left/right gradient over the whole piece. Try giving each branch and root its own individual shadow and highlight, that alone should help quite a bit.  :y:
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: silverpurple on January 14, 2010, 12:41:05 pm
Hello,

now there is improvement in your recent version. Now your tree got a visible structure.  :y:

What is missing now is shadows and light that define more on the piece. Also the colours should be adjusted to have more contrast. Does your programm have a choice to sort the palette by brightness ? Its a fast way to see if colours are too close in colour or brightness and can be left out or must be reworked.

I did a quick edit, i hope it makes things clear.

(http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9739/creepytreezwfedit.png)
thanks to you give me the quick edit..
and i try to make edit with your quick edit as a example and this is the result
(http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8922/creepytree.png)
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: Jorund on January 14, 2010, 01:01:05 pm
There are a lot of things to work on.
* Palette: the last tree you posted has 20 colours (if i'm counting right). But they don't feel like that.
* Shape: the are a lot of things to work on the shape of the tree, look more references.
* Shading/Highlight: light and shadows are not just: if light comes from the right, i got shadow on the left. The give away the texture of the object and the volume. Your tree is still very flat.

Here's an edit I made:
(http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/2971/creepytreeedit.png)
I started making the edit before you posted again, then you had a smaller palette, but even then it wasn't very right. You had some colours that were TOO similar.

Hope it helps :)
Title: Re: how about this creepy tree
Post by: silverpurple on January 14, 2010, 01:19:53 pm
There are a lot of things to work on.
* Palette: the last tree you posted has 20 colours (if i'm counting right). But they don't feel like that.
* Shape: the are a lot of things to work on the shape of the tree, look more references.
* Shading/Highlight: light and shadows are not just: if light comes from the right, i got shadow on the left. The give away the texture of the object and the volume. Your tree is still very flat.

Here's an edit I made:
(http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/2971/creepytreeedit.png)
I started making the edit before you posted again, then you had a smaller palette, but even then it wasn't very right. You had some colours that were TOO similar.

Hope it helps :)
waw....thats awesome!!i should do more and more practice to become like you and the others..
thank you for your info and critique..i learn many from this