AuthorTopic: New "artist" here.  (Read 3298 times)

Offline poisonarms

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New "artist" here.

on: October 10, 2010, 07:20:09 pm
Hey everyone. Just made my first sprite. How can I make it  better? Where can I find some tips and tricks to pixel art? I need help :(



Thanks guys.

Offline Lukkas

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Re: New "artist" here.

Reply #1 on: October 10, 2010, 10:42:05 pm
Not to be rude, but, it's supposed to be a spaceship, right?

It'd help to have more information about what you're trying to achieve and what the sprite is supposed to be for, and maybe what there is about the sprite that you're unhappy with.

I think that you need to make the purple shade darker, to better contrast the light blue, which I am interpreting as glass, for a cockpit and windows.

You seem to be using a lot of pillow-shading in your sprite. You should try to find a lightsource, and stick with that. You'll come up with a better defined shape if you do that. This is a really good tutorial on how to shade when doing pixel art. That might help you some. :)

Another tutorial, which relates less directly to your current piece, but is pretty much required reading for any new pixel artists, is this.

I really hope I'm not coming across harshly. I'm not trying to make you feel bad about your artwork or anything. For your first foray into pixel art, this is really not bad at all. You should see the first sprite I made. Uck. Keep at it, and you'll get good, I promise. :)

Offline Red_Mist

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Re: New "artist" here.

Reply #2 on: October 10, 2010, 10:53:14 pm
Well, You've come to the right place, but we don't do magic tricks here. By that I mean were not going to just take your first sprite and transform it into piece of "omg drool candy" for you. This site is basically the wiki of pixel art. You can find help with just about every aspect of pixel art.

I guess we should ask what your aiming for? What is it your trying to pixel? my guess would be a space shuttle. If that is what your trying to convey, congrats you've done it. Now if its a fish or a boot or whatever, then I guess my next question is, Do you have a reference or sketch? Or is it it a freehand boot? Are you going for photo realistic or cartoony? Did you want to stand out as pixel art or do you want the lines and edges to be smooth and seamless?

Maybe if your unsure visit www.pixeljoint.com to get an idea of how you want your pixel pieces to look. after that visit our general section and take a looks at various post that explain A.A., Selout, PillowShading, Dithering, etc.

in any case welcome to the boards and have fun pixeling!
<Xion> I can't see it why can't I see it

Offline poisonarms

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Re: New "artist" here.

Reply #3 on: October 10, 2010, 10:58:47 pm
It's supposed to be a space ship for a side scrolling shooter. For my first attempt, I think it looks alright, but it's lacking in detail and the amateurishness shows for sure. Thanks for your input and the links. I'll definitely take a look.

Offline poisonarms

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Re: New "artist" here.

Reply #4 on: October 10, 2010, 11:08:26 pm
I do have another question...When you all make pixel art, do you click and drag or do you go pixel by pixel? I guess what is the most efficient way of pixel arting?

Offline Red_Mist

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Re: New "artist" here.

Reply #5 on: October 10, 2010, 11:22:21 pm
Thats a good question.

I think its different for everybody. and it can depend on the art program your using.

Some people start with line art and then color it in.
Some people do basic shapes then do the shading and then add details later.
Some people place pixels down dot by dot and some I guess would use the line tool now and again.

So I guess the answer to that question is: It depends..
As for your pic, the questions you are asking would probably be more suited to our general thread or perhaps the intro thread.
Try to keep the question specific to the piece your working on while in the pixel art thread ;)
<Xion> I can't see it why can't I see it