My first tries of a simple tree trunk

[flotschie]

Hello Forum! My first post here, I am looking forward to your suggestions and hints! I am a absolute beginner in terms of creativity, drawing, and especially pixel art. I started drawing my first pixel images some weeks ago and rarely have time to practise. I am using Pyxel Edit.

However, today I started practicing drawing a simple tree trunk in low resolution (128x128). I want to show you the process with this 3 images, these are my first, second and third try. I like the third the most but I know there is a lot to improve:





First one is sh.., second one is completely ugly due to the colors but I like the texture/details (?)
The third one seems to go to the direction I want it to be.

So what do you guys think? Where should I start working / practicing?

[AlexHW]

Maybe work on your shapes/forms a bit.
The impression I get from your trees are that the details are too uniform.
I did this example very quickly in about a minute focusing more on the shape/form rather than the details.

It has more striking structure to it compared to yours because the light side and dark side have more movement happening between each other. Yours feels too balanced/linear, not enough movement/body, etc..

[flotschie]

Yep.. I know exactly what you mean. It is strange, sometimes you simply does not see what is missing...and when another person tells you that, it suddenly becomes more clear Many thanks for your feedback, I will work on that and come up with a new version.

[flotschie]

Here is my next try. I find it really hard to give structure to things which for me are plains..



Maybe I am also using too less colors. In Pyxel Edit, I only use the "Shading" Colors which there are 7, and I only use like 5 most of the time.
Maybe I should use also Lightness and Saturiation Colors? But how?

[IrresponsibleFreelancer]

First that latest tree totally looks like a tree ent its pretty cool to be honest and a bit spooky.

Too few colours should never be a problem in a medium like pixel art.  I think the way you could improve is to start out with a larger brush and carveout the greater forms then add the little details.  Get the lighting right first (take into consideration the awesome colour choices of AlexHW when doing so) then add the minute details of the barks and whatnot.  I also find that you are adding what seems to be speculars on the tree which doesnt make too much sense because tree bark is rough not shiny so it shoulnt have a strong light reflection.

Other than that great work so far especially since its your first try.

[Decroded]

Here is my next try. I find it really hard to give structure to things which for me are plains..



Maybe I am also using too less colors. In Pyxel Edit, I only use the "Shading" Colors which there are 7, and I only use like 5 most of the time.
Maybe I should use also Lightness and Saturiation Colors? But how?

did u mean to make this look like a tree monster?
because u could develop it too look like a cool one it has eyes nose, mouth and hands 

is ur tree going to have a canopy?
because this is going to affect the shading.
u could have no leaves tho or just a few clumps of leaves here and there.

i don't find pyxeledit great for producing sexy graphics its more of a tiling tool with basic drawing tools.
have u got photoshop? otherwise try gimp too.
those programs that let u "paint" better since they let u do stuff like hide the selection mask.

gotta run sry i cant help more

[flotschie]

Hey Guys, many thanks for the compliments! Honestly I did not have exactly this look in mind when started drawing. I started with a simple shape and then I began to see the ent in this shape

Canopy: actually yes, I did not think much about that yet It will for sure affect the shading.
Thanks for the hint with photoshop or gimp, will check them out, at least gimp for now.

@IrresponsibleFreelancer: Thanks also for you hints. I will try my next tree like you said, shaping the forms first. Then the lighting, but at this point I am not sure how to do that. I always start with the main color in Pyxel Edit, then I use the shading colors. AlexHW gave me a general idea what is missing in my pictures also with his color choises, but I have no idea how to do that. Pyxel Edit proposes some "Lighning" Colors, maybe I should use them? What I also think I could do  - to improve the lighning/shadow relation - is to be brave and use a wider range of lighness in my color choice. With the last tree, I always took the next color in the shading suggestions of Pyxel Edit. Maybe I should use the color after the next one...I was afraid until now that this could look to artificial, well I have to try it out, right?

This tree to the right taken from another post here on Pixelation is the kind of style I like (trunk part):



What I have to add:  I want to use my tree(s) for a background in my side scrolling game. It should look like a dark forest, so not much day light, more like torches, fires, candles...you know?

[flotschie]

Next try:



I replaced the lighter and darker colors with the adjacent color. I have the feeling the structures are clearer visible now.

[flotschie]

I took the advice of IrresponsibleFreelancer and draw a tree the way he suggested: Starting with bigger brush for the shapes, then I did the details.

I also changed the palette to the one which is used by the tree of this post here (right one).





I have the feeling it is not toooo bad,  but,  for example, the roots are terrible. I try to get the shapes from a photograph, but well. Not really good.