AuthorTopic: Sega Megadrive box art  (Read 2190 times)

Offline Lazy Brain Games

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Sega Megadrive box art

on: December 03, 2014, 06:31:19 am
Hi all! I thought I would make some box art for this Megadrive port, but doing it in pixel art has proven tough! Its lit weird and the perspective is odd but it has some charm to it I suppose. There are still a few things to do, but I figured it was far enough along to get an idea of what the finished thing would look like. The way the palm trees are rendered is way off, but it took quite some time to do!

Let me know what you think of the palette, and what kind of fixes might elevate it from passing to maybe "okay". I think part of my problem is that I don't have a tablet or anything, so the original drawing was just drawn on paper and scanned in. This resolution (640x906) is pretty daunting the way I'm doing it currently. I'm not sure if it's too off topic but could anyone recommend a good cheap tablet?

Anyways thanks to all who reply!

Offline Manupix

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Re: Sega Megadrive box art

Reply #1 on: December 03, 2014, 01:03:34 pm
Good start, I like the dynamism here =)

The main problem is the size, which makes it unmanageable and also will deprive the final work from most of the pixel-art feel. I'd recommend something closer to 200x300.

The perspective might benefit from a 'fish-eye'-like view, with a curved bg, it would help read the 'folded' ground plane.
I don't know why the palm trees are aligned, if no reason there should be some in the bg (which will pose its own perspective challenge).
The lower right bug shouldn't be cut, it's not well seen at first; the triangle made by the two bugs + hunter is the main composition element and should be carefully thought out.

Shading is weird, there's an almost pillowshading-like technique of concentric, equidistant tone bands regardless of light source and shape.
See for instance a typical cylinder shading, compared to your palm trees:

The highlight area is wider than the next shaded areas.

The light source on the lower right bug is from below left, from front left on the hunter's belly, and from above left elsewhere.
The way the trees shading progresses from left to right would imply a very close source, like a candle.

The palette looks like it suffers the classic mistake of independent color ramps, with little or no hue- and saturation-shift.
It's hard to study though because of the NPA title area which messes with color count tools. Can you post a pixel-only version?
More about palette building here and there.

Any cheap tablet is good enough for pixels, I think. But if you do other kinds of digital art, a good tablet is worth it. Small tablets (A6) are good for any kind of work except large life-like drawing gestures.