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Messages - TJNihil
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Pixel Art / Re: [wip] - building
« on: December 16, 2014, 12:53:51 am »
  • Your lighting is all over the place.
  • The angle makes it difficult to really show a cylinder; shifting it just enough to allow you to curve the top and bottom of the shape will do a lot for you.
  • Heighten your contrast. The shadows are very close to the base color. Don't be afraid to alter the hue; shadows often look better using cooler colors, especially in outdoor settings with natural light, so consider some cool greens or browns to shade the yellow with.
  • The pipes and the glass dome need highlights.
  • The openings of those pipes up top are very flat looking.
  • The horizontal pipe on the right side has some weird geometry going on.
  • The cliff's edge looks unnatural and too curved in places. Study real cliff faces and simplify them to be used here. The body of it also needs to be broken up with rock shapes. Again, study real cliffs for this.
  • I'd recommend darker water colors towards the bottom. Purples if the water's clear, but if that green leaky is pipe is any indication, you might want some dirtier colors.
  • The scenery is rather inconsistent in design; parts of the buildings show signs of wear, but other parts like the glass dome and fence posts look maintained. Unless there's a story to it, it might be be best to keep them uniform.
  • I'd suggest  wrapping the water around the cliff. It's hard to tell what's actually going on with the geography here.
I've done a quick and very light edit to demonstrate some of what I'm talking about, particularly those parts I thought might be confusing.



Hope this helps. Keep at it and good luck with your pixel work.

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Pixel Art / Re: [WIP][CC][NEWBIE]
« on: December 15, 2014, 04:39:43 am »
The addition of straps immediately stands out in my mind to make it more backpack-like.

Are you going to be adding more detail to the background? I also feel like some ears or something would help more clearly define what kind of animal we're dealing with here.

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Pixel Art / Re: My first serious attempt at pixel art :)
« on: December 15, 2014, 04:28:39 am »
Well the blocky style you've got here makes it a great place to start learning.



Source: http://gas13.ru/v3/tutorials/isometric_pixelart_tutorial_the_two_types.php

  • Start by drawing up a cube like above; even for more rounded designs, the cube is a good clean way to begin to understand form (shape in 3 dimensions).
  • Be aware of your line thickness and keep it uniform; most sprites use 1 pixel thickness for outlines, which is a good, simple way to start.
  • Once you've got your cube, add the facial features and line them up using the diagonal edges of your cube as a guide.
Keep in mind, this will achieve a very simple isometric view that serves as a starting point on the long, thorny, winding path of pixel art. The head seems to be a big focus on this part so I figured it'd be best to start you off there. If you can get the 3/4 view down using the above guidelines, I'd suggest continuing and seeing if you can fill the rest in yourself.

And post your work! Even if it's terrible, it's much easier to give directed advice if we see what you see. It also informs everyone here as to how you might be working and if there are any more fundamental issues to help you out with.

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Pixel Art / Re: My first serious attempt at pixel art :)
« on: December 14, 2014, 02:59:26 pm »
As Decroded said, there seems to be some fundamental issues with the way you're creating this; irregular line thickness suggests you're using tools in ways that take away from the preciseness necessary for pixel art. This should be corrected before you proceed, but I will leave you with some other points to consider:

  • Profiles/side views are very awkward. A 3/4 angle or dynamic pose will look better in general. Zombies are almost by definition rigid, but I think you can manage something.
  • Keep in mind that not every part needs to be outlined completely, or sometimes even at all. Eyes often look better without an outline on the lower portion. A completely outlined eye starts to look a bit like glasses.
  • Horizontal and vertical lines should be kept to a minimum, if not outright eliminated. You want to break up straight lines or at least make them diagonal. Because zombies are generally stiff, it might make sense to use stiff lines, but I think you'll have more success if you shift the angle your zombie is positioned at and use diagonals. Even if you're going for a blocky style, the effect is better achieved using some diagonals.
  • This ties into the last point but I'd suggest breaking up the silhouette more; again, too many straight lines; even if they were diagonal it might look too stiff, even for a zombie.
  • The ear is formless. It's probably not even necessary to render it, but if you want to, you should define its shape more clearly.
Keep at it! PIXEL YOUR WAY TO THE HEAVENS AND TEAR THEM APART!

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