[WIP] Janitor

[BadMoodTaylor]

What are your first impressions?



Been trying to make some people for a comedic game.  Just started learning pixel art.  Any feedback appreciated.

Using GIMP.  Not sure what else to say . . .

[Roach]

He's too gradient.

[BadMoodTaylor]

He's too gradient.

Too many colors?  Or too much contrast between the colors?  Thanks.

[eishiya]

I agree with the gradient comment.
There are too many colours for what you're trying to do, and the shadows are too smooth and soft. By being so soft, the shadows can't convey much meaningful information about the form of the object (the character, in this case).

Think about where your light is coming from, and place highlights and shadows according to that light source. The head is pillow-shaded (the shadows hug the "edge" of the head and don't convey the head's form), and the shadows on the torso don't make much sense, aside from the highlights on the shoulders.

[BadMoodTaylor]

I agree with the gradient comment.
There are too many colours for what you're trying to do, and the shadows are too smooth and soft. By being so soft, the shadows can't convey much meaningful information about the form of the object (the character, in this case).

Think about where your light is coming from, and place highlights and shadows according to that light source. The head is pillow-shaded (the shadows hug the "edge" of the head and don't convey the head's form), and the shadows on the torso don't make much sense, aside from the highlights on the shoulders.

Thank your for the specific comments.  The light source is straight from viewpoint/viewer.  I have looked pixel art in games I like and it seems a lot do it that way.  I know it doesn't make much sense in a still frame but if character is indoors and moving around it doesn't make much sense for the angle of light to stay the same.

I was actually trying to redo a little while you posted:

Original Post:
Attempt to make "less gradient":


In my opinion it depends on the zoom level on which one I prefer.  I want to keep some shading.

I see what you mean about the face not having any form though and will work on it.  Thanks

[eishiya]

Most games use top-front lighting, not actual front lighting. Having the light source to the left or right can cause problems, but having it be above works in almost every environment. When the light source is above the character, it can create cast shadows that help define the form even if the light is otherwise in the centre, whereas front lighting flattens everything and kills the readability of the form.

Your two transitional skin colours are barely noticeable. It's fine to use more colours, just make sure they're distinct and actually contribute to the piece at the intended zoom level. You have similar problems with the colours on almost everything else, too (hair, clothing...). Put those colours to work!

[Roach]

You are thinking too much on your shading by adding too many colors, instead of trying to use it for perspective.
Your color choice is also very soft values which makes your shading look soft. In your attempt to make it less gradient, you just removed shading, rather than actually fixing it.

Your shading is very cell shaded, there is no obvious light source. which makes the image look rather unrealistic.

This is my version of a janitor, I would recommend starting off smaller. Your sprite is rather giant. why make it harder on yourself?
Look at my colors of choice, mainly on the jumpsuit. Think selectively about your colors, ask yourself, do I really need this color in the piece, or do I really want the color? If you answer yes to these questions then probably keep them, otherwise you'd probably be safe, and better off not including them.

[BadMoodTaylor]

I felt stuck with trying to improve on him so I messed around with animating him:


The walking straight down I don't feel so bad about but when changing the angle I realized I need much more practice and the too many colors started to haunt me.

Good advice:

... Your sprite is rather giant. why make it harder on yourself? ....

So I started over with a smaller canvas:






Please note these are for practice—not planning on using them—as I would have to give credit do Earthbound (SNES) as I like their art and started by redrawing that for practice (another advice I heard recently was to redraw pixel art I was fond of):


Despite that said I would still love any feedback or advice on these as at many times I feel lost and am just trying things out.

Thanks.

[BadMoodTaylor]

Enlarged it again-I'm finding the small canvas really difficult.

I like it more than the last but on some areas I am just trying things out - like the light on the top of his head.

[rocifier]

He's very geometric. People don't have sharp edges...

[BadMoodTaylor]

He's very geometric. People don't have sharp edges...

What sharp edge?  Can you point out a sharp edge?

[trough]

He's very geometric. People don't have sharp edges...

What sharp edge?  Can you point out a sharp edge?

Enlarged it again-I'm finding the small canvas really difficult.

Really? I think the smallest is your best:

[BadMoodTaylor]

He's very geometric. People don't have sharp edges...

What sharp edge?  Can you point out a sharp edge?

Enlarged it again-I'm finding the small canvas really difficult.

Really? I think the smallest is your best:

Thank you!  I see what you are saying, that helps a lot.

That is, if this fixes it:


Maybe I'll try to go find some more tutorials or learn some more before bothering you all anymore, ha.

And not sure whether to say thanks on the comment on the small one as I directly copied that from Earthbound (for practice) and then just changed the face:


But still, that's the best?  No shading or anything?  I still have a lot to learn about evaluating pixel art . . .

[BadMoodTaylor]

I made a sprite sheet of him just for practice and curious what to see he would look animated:


Not sure how I like it.  I like a cartoony vibe I get from it but at the same time I think it looks like a baby in pajamas. A friend told me it looks like a monkey.  Also, don't feel like the profile face captures what he looks like from the front.

Should I just go back to small canvas?    I redid the very first one quickly and got this:



Which one seems to have more potential?

Any feedback appreciated!  I am still very new to this.

Also, I know this forum isn't for this but if you want to see the sprite sheet in action you can see here:
http://www.loubagel.com/janitortest/index.html
Just ignore some of the hideous tiles I was practicing making and misc other stuff   

[lpflicke]

I personally think you should use the smaller canvases.
I made edits of your smallest and the one you just uploaded for practice.Most of it is just colour changes- darker areas are more red while lighter areas are more yellow.  I also changed the skin to be a more like your higher res-one, dont know if the yellow was a stylistic choice but I just went with the skin colour because I prefered it.

[Dessa]

Enlarged it again-I'm finding the small canvas really difficult.

Smaller sizes make for more difficult challenges, and a greater need for cleverness and compromise, but being able to handle small spaces will make you much better. Even when you go back to big canvases, you'll appreciate the ability to add small details to larger things. This is a skill worth some struggle to develop.

[BadMoodTaylor]

Smaller sizes make for more difficult challenges, and a greater need for cleverness and compromise, but being able to handle small spaces will make you much better. Even when you go back to big canvases, you'll appreciate the ability to add small details to larger things. This is a skill worth some struggle to develop.

True.  I've realized that in my struggles, ha.  I want to improve so will work with smaller canvases.  Thanks for the tip!

I personally think you should use the smaller canvases.
I made edits of your smallest and the one you just uploaded for practice.Most of it is just colour changes- darker areas are more red while lighter areas are more yellow.  I also changed the skin to be a more like your higher res-one, dont know if the yellow was a stylistic choice but I just went with the skin colour because I prefered it.

(referring to the bigger one:)
Wow, I am blown away! I love him now . . . but now what can I change? He is your piece of art now, ha.

I was planning on trying out different colors—I am horrible on picking colors and have no method—but was just focusing on which pixel should be what first. I didn't realize it would be night and day like that!

I do notice all the pixels of shading you have changed so thanks for that as that is very helpful.  I knew some parts didn't look right but ran out of ideas to try.

I think it is crazy how only the colors and shading on the face was changed, not the mouth to make him smile or anything, but yours looks like a happy guy and mine looks a little unstable! Haha.

I'm still not so crazy on the little one, I mean I can definitely see the improvements you made and will learn from it so thank you and I appreciate you taking your time to do it, but I just think the face looks odd.  I guess I should challenge myself to make it into something I like . . . or just make the canvas 2 or 3 pixels bigger 

[lpflicke]

I think yours looked less happy was because 1.The colours were quite desaturated and 2.The shading on the face such as under the eyes makes it look like he hasn't slept while the thicker shading on the side of the face makes his face look a bit bony. As for colours you havent done much hue changing though I'm not great with colour choice either.It can depend on style so you need to find the colours that suit your need.

These are some general references for color:



as a general rule dark areas use colder colours eg.Blue or Purple while light areas use warmer colours like Yellow.

[BadMoodTaylor]

Thanks @lpflicke for those tips.  I looked up some tutorials on color theory and how to make good ramps for pixel art.  Don't know why I waited so long to do so . . .

I have been creating some other characters off of his frame.  Not even a first draft but just trying out anything that comes to mind, for fun and ideas, so a lot may look similar (as won't use them all) and I'm sure there are pixels here and there to fix.



Any feedback definitely still appreciated though.  Especially since I haven't started working on other animations so a tip now could save a lot of reworking later.

[BadMoodTaylor]

Some random updates: