Here's a really quick sketch of what I would have in mind when spriting a tree along some notes:

- Use reference
- Always establish a clear direction of the lightsource.
- Avoid outlining inside the sprite.
- Group shapes, you don't want to draw every single leaf, just draw some big shapes that resemble a cluster of leafs.
- Add some variation to the tree trunk by adding more interest to it, a little texture, some branches, some roots, a hole, etc.
- Maybe it's better to add a small patch of grass on the bottom of the tree to ground it a bit, interactions between stuff is a strong point to sell believability.

(By the way, this forum has a built in zoom function, so always post your sprites at 100%, if you need to zoom some image just click on it)



You can also check some tutorials by Saint11 ( https://saint11.org/blog/pixel-art-tutorials/ ) that are great for beginners, here's one on trees:

Ohhhhh, I thought that was some kind of poisonous fog! But now that you mention those are clouds I even see a zeppelin that I missed before!

- You are 100% right about that far highlights, there's no way they could exist, my bad.

- You did a great job with the clouds that I misread as dense, poisonous clouds, thing is, I do suck doing clouds, that's why they look like mountains 

- I think your character looks great with the details, to be honest the main and maybe only reason why I took so many details out of your character is because I suck at drawing folds and drapery. Merging shapes is just a resource that I find interesting because it makes the spectator complete shapes in it's head and as a bonus it's a good justification for my laziness.

- Disclaimer, this is a non paid promotion and no one is pointing a gun at my head I swear, anyway, I would highly recommend aseprite for pixelart, is cheap, is great, has animation features and looks like a software made for a 3 year old (So everything is easy to learn)

- Keep the great work and hopefully lets keep this forum alive.

The style is perfect, I think the animation is on point too, loved the one of the little guy shooting with a gun on each hand.

I think the saturation and values of the palette can be improved, specially the values, we as humans crave contrast for a reason beyond my understanding.

The other thing that can be improved are the tilesets, they lack the definition of the character and some shadows are so shallow that ended up looking like an outline. Maybe referencing some artist that are good at environment could help.

I hope this helps somehow, sadly I'm not great at explaining 

Hi,

Feel free to check my portfolio here: https://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=22821

If you want to see more examples of my work feel free to send me a message through PM/E-mail/Discord. I do have a lot more works that I can show you but not post online due NDAs.

Regards,

SeinRuhe

Hi Garwan

First of all, I need to say that I totally agree with Eishiya, reality is not boring at all, literally all the amazing stuff in fiction is a product of reality.

I suggested you to analize other artists, try to see how and why they do the stuff they do like they do. Inspiration (at least for me) always comes from within.

I'll read every tutorial, slowly but surely, tbh I'm a little depressed lately, and I wanted to do some art to express myself, but I lack the skill to do that, in the same way you need to learn a language before speaking, if that make sense.

Believe me, I get the example but you have to remember that even before the first word of a baby there are a lot of others way they use to communicate themselves: Cry, babble, scream, yawn, just to name a few. With art is the same thing, you may lack the expertise to talk fluently or in a eloquent manner, but you can surely cry, babble, scream or yawn and still express yourself and communicate in an effective way.

Lastly, I don't know your age, background, life experience, etc. but if you feel you are deppresed and/or lack self confidence, talk to your relatives and go see a profesional, a psychologist may help, or if they identify the issue is more chemical they could refer you to a psychiatrist. Thing is, I don't know why but this state has become quite common in the world we live in, I've seen so many people I love and care for get sunk on depression, the more you wait to treat it, the harder it becomes to overcome it.

I really hope this helps.

Regards,

SeinRuhe