221
Archived Activities / Re: The Official Secret Santa 2007 Sign up
« on: December 03, 2007, 01:39:48 pm »
But Helm, that's like sooooo NPA! 
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222
Pixel Art / Re: Test (suggestions and constructive critics) with IMAGES =P
« on: December 02, 2007, 07:43:59 pm »
Presumably.
Most probably from the Employment thread
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?board=6.0
Most probably from the Employment thread
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?board=6.0
223
Archived Activities / Re: The Official Secret Santa 2007 Sign up
« on: December 01, 2007, 08:23:37 pm »
Thanks.
I'm not really a forums person. In fact, I've been actively avoiding forums like my life depended on it, so I hope you'll excuse my occasional noobness.
And, by the way, the aforementioned gift from AdamAtomic to Indigo is a dead link.
I'm not really a forums person. In fact, I've been actively avoiding forums like my life depended on it, so I hope you'll excuse my occasional noobness.
And, by the way, the aforementioned gift from AdamAtomic to Indigo is a dead link.
224
Archived Activities / Re: The Official Secret Santa 2007 Sign up
« on: December 01, 2007, 08:10:17 pm »
Shite! I hope I'm the one who gets your gift, Adam 
Btw, is there a place to see the last year's gifts? I'd love to see where those hours went
Btw, is there a place to see the last year's gifts? I'd love to see where those hours went
225
Pixel Art / Re: Test (suggestions and constructive critics) with IMAGES =P
« on: December 01, 2007, 11:17:30 am »
Exactly. Just cut it at the waist and move tthe upper part a couple of pixels to the left.
226
Pixel Art / Re: Test (suggestions and constructive critics) with IMAGES =P
« on: November 30, 2007, 10:17:02 pm »
Your little guys seem to be leaning to the right, as if about to fall. You should rebalance them a bit.
Also there are lots of dark patches so the sprites may be a bit unreadable. You better focus on the drawing than the shading, I believe.
Also there are lots of dark patches so the sprites may be a bit unreadable. You better focus on the drawing than the shading, I believe.
227
Pixel Art / Re: pixeljoint challenge - vista MSpaint default colours
« on: November 30, 2007, 09:16:47 am »
These are all nice. Personally, I'd go for the last one, but replace only the rightmost pinks with the blues. It not only looks nice, but also makes sense.
Also, if I understood correctly that you want the figure in the back to be HUGE, then you better place it much further back. Like, on top of the horizon, or even partially BEHIND the horizon, and surround it with buildings, or otherwise make it interact with stuff that we know are large-scale.
Also, if I understood correctly that you want the figure in the back to be HUGE, then you better place it much further back. Like, on top of the horizon, or even partially BEHIND the horizon, and surround it with buildings, or otherwise make it interact with stuff that we know are large-scale.
228
Pixel Art / Re: Hi folks, help me flesh out an avatar?
« on: November 29, 2007, 10:39:35 pm »
Erm.
I don't think this is pixel art at all. It's just a smooth-scaled image. If you really wanna try pixel, then turn on that pencil mode in Photoshop or boot-up (shudder) m$-paint.
I don't think this is pixel art at all. It's just a smooth-scaled image. If you really wanna try pixel, then turn on that pencil mode in Photoshop or boot-up (shudder) m$-paint.
229
Pixel Art / Re: pixeljoint challenge - vista MSpaint default colours
« on: November 29, 2007, 09:16:46 pm »
Terley, sometimes I too rush certain steps, and there's a very nice method to avoid that.
I find that once you start enjoying every stage of pixeling, you simply don't rush anything anymore.
Maybe you should build a larger part of your image while in laying-out mode. Experiment a lot with which colors fit best, and scribble every highlight and detail, don't leave it to 16x zoom hardcore pixel stage. Laying out is much more fun if you're making a palette at the same time, but oh well.
Easier said than done, tho.
Seeing how I hadn't laid a pixel in a while, I desperately wanted to pixel something simple and lighthearted, something I would enjoy without any difficult lighting situations or tough decisions. I made this avatar, started an iso-city house, almost finished a larger picture, and made that palette-challenge mobster, and I just keep finding myself too involved and challenged whatever I do. No challenge probably means no value, but I keep on trying to do the wrong thing.
And it shows. Take a look at that mobster guy. When looking at other entries, I thought 'hey, this should be fun'. Once I finished designing the face, and 'solved' several critical lighting bits, I just rushed the cigar smoke and glow and hair and whatnot. The end result is rather dull. Now at least I have a good example of a bad thing
As a more concrete advice, try to stick a grey or blue on the left side of the face (our left), next to the hariline on the big patch of mid-fleshy color, as a sort of secondary light. It would freshen the pic considerably. Maybe there's a better color for the job, I'm just speaking off the top of my head.
I find that once you start enjoying every stage of pixeling, you simply don't rush anything anymore.
Maybe you should build a larger part of your image while in laying-out mode. Experiment a lot with which colors fit best, and scribble every highlight and detail, don't leave it to 16x zoom hardcore pixel stage. Laying out is much more fun if you're making a palette at the same time, but oh well.
Easier said than done, tho.
Seeing how I hadn't laid a pixel in a while, I desperately wanted to pixel something simple and lighthearted, something I would enjoy without any difficult lighting situations or tough decisions. I made this avatar, started an iso-city house, almost finished a larger picture, and made that palette-challenge mobster, and I just keep finding myself too involved and challenged whatever I do. No challenge probably means no value, but I keep on trying to do the wrong thing.
And it shows. Take a look at that mobster guy. When looking at other entries, I thought 'hey, this should be fun'. Once I finished designing the face, and 'solved' several critical lighting bits, I just rushed the cigar smoke and glow and hair and whatnot. The end result is rather dull. Now at least I have a good example of a bad thing
As a more concrete advice, try to stick a grey or blue on the left side of the face (our left), next to the hariline on the big patch of mid-fleshy color, as a sort of secondary light. It would freshen the pic considerably. Maybe there's a better color for the job, I'm just speaking off the top of my head.
230
Pixel Art / Re: RPG character design... sort of
« on: November 29, 2007, 03:29:09 pm »
Time to earn my bread.
Drawing a superdeformed muscle doll is not really the easiest thing to do, and you did a pretty good job at it, but there's a lot to squeeze into a very little space, and that's prolly the hardest thing there is to pixeling.
First, and you'll hear this from almost anyone here on Pixelation, think about the volumes. Imagine that whatever you are pixeling is made of simple and well defined shapes, then try to define those shapes well. Each of those should be clearly distinguishable.
Keep it simple, and dont get into any detail until you think the shapes are exactly what they should be. For example, you don't want the chest to look too round, like a woman's breast. They should look at least a bit angular and chiseled.
When you decide that your light is coming from, say, above, you should think about which surfaces catch that light, and which are in the shadow. Doing a 'glossy' shading with focused specular highlights is deceiving in this aspect. You may think that you got away cheap, but in the end you only fool yourself from seeing the mistakes. It's much better to do simple shading and define materials by adjusting the brightness and hue of their colors, instead of doing speculars, dither, etc.
Also, think about pixeling as painting, not as drawing. For instance, when defining abdomen, you did it by drawing darker lines and then placing almost-arbitrary highlights. Instead use light AND dark to get a much better result. Trust me, it's worth the sweat. If you get stuck, feel free to look how others solved similar problems. It's best to look at ppl with a very clear style, than those who work a lot on a sub-pixel level. For example it's easier to look at how kenneth solved something, than to look at how Helm solved the same thing. The latter style is more 'advanced' and much harder to read, so to speak.
Since a picture is worth more than a thousand words, here goes:
I didn't want to change your design too much, and it IS a rather half-assed attempt, but I tried to show you how much definition you can get out of those pixels. Pay attention to ears, hands, and other very small bits to see how they differ from your original work.
Also you will notice how much i exaggerated certain features. This is almost a must when working on tiny sprites and such.
Last but not least take a look at how I changed the colors. The changes are very subtle, but if you load your colors to my image, you'll see the big difference.
Drawing a superdeformed muscle doll is not really the easiest thing to do, and you did a pretty good job at it, but there's a lot to squeeze into a very little space, and that's prolly the hardest thing there is to pixeling.
First, and you'll hear this from almost anyone here on Pixelation, think about the volumes. Imagine that whatever you are pixeling is made of simple and well defined shapes, then try to define those shapes well. Each of those should be clearly distinguishable.
Keep it simple, and dont get into any detail until you think the shapes are exactly what they should be. For example, you don't want the chest to look too round, like a woman's breast. They should look at least a bit angular and chiseled.
When you decide that your light is coming from, say, above, you should think about which surfaces catch that light, and which are in the shadow. Doing a 'glossy' shading with focused specular highlights is deceiving in this aspect. You may think that you got away cheap, but in the end you only fool yourself from seeing the mistakes. It's much better to do simple shading and define materials by adjusting the brightness and hue of their colors, instead of doing speculars, dither, etc.
Also, think about pixeling as painting, not as drawing. For instance, when defining abdomen, you did it by drawing darker lines and then placing almost-arbitrary highlights. Instead use light AND dark to get a much better result. Trust me, it's worth the sweat. If you get stuck, feel free to look how others solved similar problems. It's best to look at ppl with a very clear style, than those who work a lot on a sub-pixel level. For example it's easier to look at how kenneth solved something, than to look at how Helm solved the same thing. The latter style is more 'advanced' and much harder to read, so to speak.
Since a picture is worth more than a thousand words, here goes:
I didn't want to change your design too much, and it IS a rather half-assed attempt, but I tried to show you how much definition you can get out of those pixels. Pay attention to ears, hands, and other very small bits to see how they differ from your original work.
Also you will notice how much i exaggerated certain features. This is almost a must when working on tiny sprites and such.
Last but not least take a look at how I changed the colors. The changes are very subtle, but if you load your colors to my image, you'll see the big difference.