[C&C] Trees (Need some guidelines)

[Maki]

Hi guys,

I've just encountered a slight problem of drawing the trees for this lil dudes. I did not intend to have the trees too cartoony such as here: http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/1/14230/2165317-forestplanet_1.png

They seem too much like oekaki rather than pixelart. Now getting the actual leaves that look good has been causing me some problems in the past. Just to feel the shape I've used the technique Slym recommended somewhere on his tuts. Here's a picture with his leaves. I didn't go on as it just didn't seem right to me. Could I kindly ask you where have I made a mistake. Any other techniques are welcome to be recommended and I'll try them out.


My current tree shape.

[Lux]

What you have isn't too bad- I'd say one thing that's throwing it off is the composition and balance of the trees. They're all fairly symmetrical, and the trunks might be a little too tall and thin. Try a shorter, thicker trunk and more irregular foliage silhouettes, and you should probably refrain from adding too many individual hanging leaves, as it doesn't read well with the overall shape of the tree.

[Decroded]

[Maki]

That's some great work Decroded, although I would like to know the process of getting the leaves done. They ain't totally polished as it seems, although I like where it's going. Could you explain your technique with this?

[Decroded]

its just rough painting using between 6 and 4 pixel brush.
i just blocked in shadow colour then kept adding the lighter leaves towards the light source.
nothing exciting really i just thought it might give u some ideas since its not too cartoony.




i guess one point i'd like to make is don't focus too much on a tree, then focus too much on a rock, then focus on something else, or u run the danger of lots of things that look good by themselves but out of place when put next to each other in game world.
my scene is random and uninspired (boring), so i'd advise get some interesting references, plan your composition, start roughing it in, and work across the scene as you build up detail so everything looks consistent.

[Maki]

Thanks again Decroded.

What I forgot to tell and it's kinda important to know. It's for a game and my map will be generated with tiles. Therefore I can't afford sceneries such as these, neither I can draw things all together. However, I guess you've solved my tree problem. I'll update this as soon as I'm done. Or rather start a new thread with a better title, I'd like to have some cc with more samples, not just the tree.