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Topics - Ashbad
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1
Pixel Art / [wip] The Emperor of Oaks
« on: June 02, 2014, 09:52:57 pm »
Working on something a bit different

movement 1:
 

movement 2:
 

To be complimented by music I'm writing:

https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/the-emperor-of-oaks-movement-1

https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/wip-the-emperor-of-oaks-movement-2

Planning on seven movements, with the last one being a huge mixup of the previous six with added instrumentation, done in a psychedelic manner

Anyways, it is work in progress.  I'm trying to work on making it as chaotic and disrupting to the eyes as possible while lacking any real structure at a macro level (but with strong homogeneity at a micro scale, kind of like taking a small 10x10 or less area and colors/stripe directions kind of make sense and compliment/clash with each other somewhat intelligently.)  Trying to stick away from non-super saturated colors to make it more of an assault on the eyes.  As for why it's titled the "emperor of oaks", I'm looking to make it represent the chaotic nature of the forest, with many different fauna/movement/etc.  And I need some help with drawing the viewer's attention AWAY from any single point, or at least keep them from looking at only a single point, while making each part of the thing interesting in its own right.  I like the idea of repetition hence why in a few small areas I copy/pasted/stretched/rotated a few areas to make them slightly different but still in the same spirit.

Anyways I'm not the best pixel artist or visual artist in general, but I thought it would be a cool thing to try nonetheless.

2
Pixel Art / Trio [Zelda-like retro art, music, etc.]
« on: January 12, 2014, 03:35:50 am »
Hey, I'm not dead

Finally got over a long slump of non-motivation, and started working on a game project.  Similar to looks with post-NES zelda games.  Gameplay is a bit more complex.  Music/etc. is similar in style but a bit more orchestrated.

Of course, looking for critique as I complete more and more tiles/sprites.  Right now they are sparse, but I'm starting to pump them out fast.

Also, sorry in advance that almost everything is 2x magnification; in future posts they won't be (not on a device that can cleanly make them 1x size again.)  They were 2x since the actual game will have everything scaled 2x nearest-neighbor.

WIP of the main title screen (just text at the point; still working on improving the clouds, they're just rough at this point)




Some tiles / sprites








Also, not art related, but my soundcloud, has some music for the game on it (first two near the top are completed songs):

https://soundcloud.com/theashbad/

(I feel it's important to also post music, since without music+art together, you can't get an actual idea of the intended atmosphere)


Anyways, would love some pointers where they could be given; for now, probably mostly on that main title screen with the clouds.  I'm planning on making less flat cloud forms, and maybe slightly anti-aliasing the main title text (so far I've messed up AA pretty bad in my attempts.)  Could specifically use any resources anyone might have on cloud formations, and how they're composed in 3D space; right now I'm going on the assumption of spheres of varying sizes that are meshed together at different distances from the main viewing plane.

TIA

3
General Discussion / Would like to get back into art of any sort... help?
« on: October 20, 2013, 11:03:09 pm »
Most of you have forgotten about me, but I'm back from hiatus!  I'm most of the way through college applications and once they're all in, senior year should be a breeze.  I've done some heavy Music Theory studying, but I would love to get back into visual artistry, perhaps with a good amount of fun pixeling on the side, now that I have nearly a year before I have to worry about classes in college.

That being said, I was a shitty artist before (not the worst in the world, but among the bottom quartile here), and I'm pretty sure that I've lost most of the skill I had gained so quickly before.  I don't have much time to study or practice these days, but I would like to spend some time getting back up to speed, and hopefully gain some completely new skills.  What's the best way to ease back into things?  Should I just ignore pixeling at first and just get back the basics on traditional media?  Should I have a regimented schedule, or just cram in time whenever possible/when I feel like it?  What are the best things to study first (given that I used to have some problems with things like perspective and human anatomy)?  TIA!

EDIT: It might be worth saying that I can spend only an hour a day practicing; I'm just asking to see what things I should make sure to fit into that time period and what things are a little less essential.

4
General Discussion / Sprite to Prizm C .h file Conversion Plugin for GrafX2
« on: December 02, 2012, 09:47:04 pm »


This utility is a plugin for the pixel-pushing program GrafX2, that easily converts sprites and pictures into RGB 565 values and dumps them into a .h file that can be immediately used for Casio fxCG-10/20 Prizm development.  This allows for practical use of GrafX2 as a spriting/drawing tool for Prizm development.

I made this small script this morning in realization that it would be rather practical to give GrafX2 Prizm-compatible sprite exporting capabilities.  For those who use GrafX2, this script should make managing the exported data from your sprites more autonomous and easier to handle; for those who don't use it, stop missing out.

DOWNLOAD LINK:  http://www.cemetech.net/programs/index.php?mode=file&id=819

I realize that there probably aren't many (understatement of the year) Prizm developers here, but I thought that I'd might as well share this here, since it is somewhat related to pixel art / a popular pixel-pushing program and a device with archaic specs.  Plus, with slight modification, this can be used to export pictures/sprites with any bit/channel depths, or programming language (when it is impractical to store sprites in a resource file.)

5
Pixel Art / [WIP] Twily and the Firefly
« on: July 01, 2012, 03:22:20 pm »
Well, I've been playing around in Grafx2 for many hours now, and I'm already moving faster than with MSP, especially because of the super simple keystrokes (using 'u' for undo and 'shift-u' for redo are a *lot* easier to use than C-z and C-y) and the awesome palette menu.  Even the spline tools are a lot more precise and easy to use than the ones in MSPaint.  Kind of unrelated, but I spent the past hour/two playing around with it and came out with this:



Might be something I want to continue working on -- I'd really appreciate no critique on it yet, as I have a lot more I want to do with it, I'm just posting it more as a testament of how fast I was able to get something drafted in Grafx2 compared to MSPaint.  Once it gets to a point where I feel I've done everything in my ability to make it look polished (which will require at least 6-7 more hours of work with what my idea is) I'll open it up to suggestions and make a thread about it. 

Still on the trackpad, but hoping to get that tablet really soon.

As for the Scootaloo pixel, I'm not willing to post it quite yet, as it's kind of in limbo with the edits I'm making on it.  The AA is mostly fixed now, and the colors are way off since I'm playing with more of a pink sky/clouds and a brighter ocean glare.  The only access to internet I have this weekend is at starbucks due to power lines and verizon's phone/internet lines down where I live, so I won't be able to post the edited version until tomorrow.

6
Pixel Art / [WIP] Adult Scootaloo + Cloudy Scene
« on: June 05, 2012, 01:13:04 am »
I've been working on this for hours now, and at least 45 minutes of that time was spent on a certain area of the pony:



I've attempted tons of other ways to shade it, yet it won't work (what I'm showing is the best case so far, and even then it doesn't look natural at all)  The light source is coming from the right, and the leg itself is kind of cylindrical in shape.  I honestly don't know what I'm missing.  Any ideas on what I'm missing?

And of course, other C+C is welcome like always, but honestly I know this is still maybe a 50% done WIP so I'm still working with it and have hours ahead of me to complete it ^_^  So, trust me, I know there are tons of other problems.

Thanks in advance for what I'm sure will be wonderful insight (like always).

7
Pixel Art / Twilight Sparkle is Amused
« on: May 28, 2012, 04:37:31 pm »


Took me a few hours to make. The original pose in my concept sketch of this (that I did during standardized testing on a sticky note) was a plot shot (bronies will know what I mean  :lol: ), but I played with the pose a lot and it ended up like this.  Used 32 colors on this one, and since I know a few people here probably are more into larger restrictions than that, I kept a 16 color version from about an hour ago before I started Anti-aliasing and selouting.

8
Pixel Art / Rainbow Dash -- the Art of Being Awesome
« on: May 22, 2012, 03:39:17 am »
After many hours of experimentations/improvements, I finally made this:



I did a decent amount of anti-aliasing (perhaps a bit too much; but I think it looked better than without), and finally learned what banding is and how to fix it (after reading an excellent tutorial on the matter by our own admin, Helm) through this revision process.  The color count is pretty high, my estimate is somewhere around 40 colors.  Early revisions had 24, then moved to 14, but then I decided to stop worrying about keeping a super small palette, and see what I could get out of what I had available.

As for what the revision process entailed:

http://img.removedfromgame.com/imgs/7-Rainbow_wow_fa_sho.png

C+C would be most welcome. :)

9
General Discussion / Exercises to improve with Pixel Art?
« on: May 07, 2012, 01:29:31 pm »
I've recently gone and tried to get back into pixel art again after a hiatus of about a year; I think that after that hiatus I was able to get from where I was before in ability (Advanced Beginner) to a higher level (Somewhere in the beginning to middle Intermediate level) in pixel art drawing.  I really want to get a lot better, and I know there's only two things that I can get better from (now that I know basically how all the techniques work) -- Practice, and looking at tons of examples.

So, I've decided to put away my programming in my free time for the next few months and replace it with 2 hours a day of practicing pixel art drawing and looking at examples.

I was wondering if the amazing pixel artists here could set me on a course for where I could start with my skill honing/learning?  For example, what should I start with making first to learn new styles and improve my skills?  Could you give me a few small to medium sized tasks for me to try and draw, so I could see how well I can do a dry run of making them, then get help here on what I can do to improve them (and then improve them on my own)?  I'm willing to take harsh criticism and take up any task! (within reason)

TIA for the lessons/tasks/help,

Ashbad

10
Pixel Art / Would like some advice -- Drawing a tree
« on: May 06, 2012, 05:13:13 pm »
Here's the tree so far:



The person I drew it for said they liked it, but I think it needs some sprucing; something about it makes it seem flat.  I tried giving it an outline, but it was worse than before.  I suck at drawing non-isometric trees that are large.. any ideas on how to improve this?  I don't have a reference for this, I kind of just went by a picture in my head of what a tree with no leaves would look like.

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