Yet another newbies first time.

[PikSel]

Hi guys!

After a few weeks watching/reading tutorials I finally managed to get some time to give it a go.

My aim with this piece was to test out different techniques and methods commonly used. Obviously a lot more can be done with the canvas, thought I'd pause for the moment and get some feedback/advice before continuing.



Thank you in advance!

[CFKaligula]

your shading goes from dark to light and doesn't look like it really wraps around the tree. It looks a lot more natural if you make it also have shading on the right side.

Secondly Hue-shifting, this is about colours. When you are making different shades, you want darker shades to be a darker hue. If you just google for hue-shifting or some pixel art colour tutorials you can find more informatino about this.

Here is an example of hue-shifting with the tree, I also made a lighter version so you can see the difference better. (I also did the shading like I said)

[PikSel]

I agree, just couldn't really figure out how to shade it. Do you think the left hand, darker side is still a bit flat?

Also how did you pick the colours for the hue-shift?

[PikSel]

I tried re-doing some of the shading..but I can't put my finger on it. Something just doesn't feel right..

[Jehannum]

I'm too new to shading to suggest anything for the green section, but I would say the trunk is too straight especially considering everything else in the scene has been worked on so it doesn't look unnatural.

I like the rocks too though you could consider making the "tile" pattern less repetitive. One of the artists that used to run this community has a handy site with some tips about this. Some of it is from 2007 but the information is useful nonetheless and he provides screenshots from games that really highlight it very well.

it's in section 2 : Obliterating the grid
http://www.yarrninja.com/pixeltutorial/

[dotodrymo]

I think this piece would look a lot better if the light source was consistent. Currently, the tree is lit directly from the right, the ground has ambient lighting/no light source, and the black background suggests a night scene, which none of the other assets reflect. I think that just filling in the background with a light blue would help you visualize the lighting and mood of the scene. If you ARE doing a night scene, the colors should reflect that, with a bluer palette and less detail in areas the light doesn't hit.

Speaking of the palette, it might help to unify your piece if you reduced the color count and re-used colors where possible. The grass and the tree could comfortably use the same palette, for example. Jehannum is also correct about the shape of the tree. Try looking at photos of trees to get a sense for how they're constructed!

A quick paintover to demonstrate some of these points:

[PikSel]

Thanks for that Jehannum, will definitely have a read!

Dotodrymo, yeah I know the piece is quite mixed in regards to lighting and the mood I'm trying to set. Like I mentioned earlier I'm just testing out and getting a feel for things.

As for the tree being straight, I was trying to recreate a style I saw from one of my old nintendo games haha


I like the dithering style used. Speaking of which, after some googling I found a poster showing different styles you can use to achieve certain textures so I gave that shot and took your advice with the lighting. Although I'm still having trouble with the back (darker end of the tree) just can't seem to visualize how the shadows would wrap around.. once I get the technique down I'll fix up the colour palette.

Let me know what you think of this revision:


Thanks again guys, appreciate all the help!

[rocifier]

I'm a little confused.. your tree was originally in a night scene, but now you seem to have half switched it to daytime. However, the brightness and contrast of the tree needs adjusting a lot. Especially if you compare it with Asterix. What about using a palette from the other image at least? (not that the NES palette is particularly interesting IMO)