Ello everyone. I could use some crit, please.

[Crit Nasty]

Ello everyone. My name is Nasty, Crit Nasty. I've been pixeling for almost two weeks now and it's been a fun journey so far. I really don't have any artistic background, besides the coloring I do with my 7 year old daughter in her coloring books. I find pixel art very intriguing and have discovered that this could possibly be a very creative hobby for myself. I'm very new to the art and am sticking to 16x16px canvases to learn and master the basics of this skill.

I normally have very little artistic aspiration and creativity, but I was up kinda late last night working on this ring. I had littlereference, besides what my mental capacity could achieve by perceiving it's angle, shape, and lighting. I'll most likely use it as a graphic for a game I'll create in the near future. I would love some constructive criticism, for I've browsed some earlier posts, to get an idea of what kind of community Pixelation had to offer, and have seen many of you offer wonderful advice. So I look forward to your responses; BTW, if you don't have anything constructive to say, go troll another post. I get enough trolling from my girlfriend, who thought my very first pixel rendition, ever, of the Hylian Shield, looked like a silver baboon with massive red lips:



So, without further ado, my Ring:


Let the critting begin!

[Crit Nasty]

I don't understad why my photobucket links aren't working with the image tags...

Edit: Nvm, figured it out.

[DracoDragon42]

First off, if you only have been working for two weeks, that is pretty good. What I would suggest is to look up a bunch of tutorials and time-lapses for pixel art. There is a lot you need to learn, so tutorials will help.Links:
-www.youtube.com/user/FrankieSmileShow
-https://www.youtube.com/user/uheartbeast
-https://www.youtube.com/user/unseven
(some channels with timelapses)
-https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pixel-logic-a-visual-pixelart-guide#/  (a good tutorial, it costs though...)

If you dont want to use tutorials, go to http://pixeljoint.com/ and study the pixel art there.

Personal criticism:
Shield:
-use more contrast and less colors
-it looks great, I don't see the bamboo...

Ring:
-more contrast, less colors
-make a more defined light source
-put some highlights where there is a dark shade to give it a metallic look

In conclusion, it looks great, especially for 16x16. As you get better, I would start to make bigger images (i.e., go from 16x16 to 32x32). Good job

[Crit Nasty]

@ Draco: Hah. I had a slight mistype. The "bamboo" part should have said, "baboon." My lady wants me to ask if you see the baboon now. Haha.

I respect your compliments and criticism and I appreciate you taking the time to review them. I will most definitely study the resources you've sent. Thank you.

So, when you say less colors and more contrast, what is it exactly that you're referring to?

[Crit Nasty]

Here's an update of the ring. Thank you for the advice Draco. It definitely looks more realistic with the metallic highlights.

[Decroded]

please dont upscale ur art just post it at 1:1 scale.
btw www.imgur.com is a better host than photobucket.

[Crit Nasty]

Okay, thank you for the pointer. I checked out Imgur as you suggested,. It is definitely superior to  photobucket; PB has gone down hill since the last time I've used it. I will be reposting the images through imgur, in a 1:1 scale, later today due to it  currently being 1am here. If this thread needs to be deleted until then, I understand.

Edit: Hosting images through imgur now. Thanks for the advice again Draco, and thanks for sharing imgur.com Decroded!

[DracoDragon42]

I can kind of see the baboon, but it wasn't my first guess.

[dpixel]

So, when you say less colors and more contrast, what is it exactly that you're referring to?

I counted 99 colors...far too many for this.   As far as contrast:  Lighter lights and darker darks. 

Edit with 10 colors(including transparency) and more contrast:

[Crit Nasty]

@ dpixel:

I agree about the original's palette. IDK why my first attempt at the ring, with PhotoShop, accured that many colors. I literally only used 10 colors, myself. It appears with every other click I made, the colors were changing by very minute amounts, leading to such a large palette. IDK 

I really dig your rendition of the ring! I feel as if, though, the shadows and shading are quite dramatic? What was the direction of your light source? I had my source projecting from the top-left.
When I redid the ring the second time, using Draco's advice, I made sure my colors wern't changing randomly. Here's my ring with the palette next to it:

[dpixel]

What was the direction of your light source? I had my source projecting from the top-left.

It was top left as well.  Note the specular highlight in the gem.

I feel as if, though, the shadows and shading are quite dramatic?

That's what high contrast will do.  Maybe I took it a bit far with this one,  but generally pixel art looks better with high contrast.

[Crit Nasty]

@ dpixel: My apologies, I was so focused on your method of contrast that I didn't notice your light source; it's definitely the top-left haha.

Is there a standard to the size of palette one should normally use with a 16x16 tile? IS this why you chose 10 (including transperancy)?

[dpixel]

Is there a standard to the size of palette one should normally use with a 16x16 tile? IS this why you chose 10 (including transperancy)?

I don't think there's any standard color count.  Although it seems like 16 colors is popular to pixel just about anything at any size.  For a 16x16 a lot less is needed. 
Low color count in pixel art is generally for your benefit.  It's just easier to keep track of especially when animating.  A lot of times adding extra colors that are close in value makes no difference because the eye can't really see them. 
For me and a lot of others, colors are one of the hardest things to get right...or be satisfied with, etc.   Usually new people use to much saturation and too low contrast.

Have a look at this:  http://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10695
And this:  http://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299

if you haven't already.
 

[BatElite]

The problem seems to be that you're saving as .jpg, which introduces a lot of colours during compression. In the future use .png instead.

As for the ring itself, last update is certainly an improvement.
I'm not fond of the darker pixel on the outer edge. I assume they're there to make the edge stand out against the white background. I suggest working on a grey canvas.
Also, you should make the large gem either darker or brighter, as it blends in with the rest of the ring right now.

[Crit Nasty]

@ dpixel: I've reviewed both and they were extremely infomative. Thank you for sharing those resouces! I suppose I will try to limit my palette while attempting these 16x16s for good measure and practice. I could use a really good lesson or tutorial in animation if you know of any 

@ BatElite: Yes, thank you. while reading through the resources dpixel shared, there was a topic as to why to not save in .jpg and to save in either .gif or .png, as you mentioned. I appreciate your compliment and crinticism! And now that you mention it... I'm going to try to rework the edges to see if I can find a better value (is value the correct terminology?) for the AA.

Thank you two for your responses!