AuthorTopic: Link in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening  (Read 2375 times)

Offline lharoon

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 8
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Link in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

on: May 02, 2017, 07:07:01 pm
Hi,

I'm new to the forums, and pixel art in general. I'd like to start with smaller sprites to get my feet wet, so am beginning to study earlier, more hardware restricted games.

Perhaps it's obvious, but I'm having a hard time figuring out the rationale behind some of the colouring in the Link sprite below—namely, why the colour for Link's tunic encroaches upon the bottom of his face and part of his ear; also, why his skin colour appears in parts of his tunic (e.g. the hat).



Regards,

Luth

Offline CosmosCentric

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 12
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Link in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Reply #1 on: May 02, 2017, 08:19:04 pm
Hello there, Luth, I'm Alex  :)
I don't know too much about how pixel art was made back in the day, but I know that they were limited by the technology. I would guess that they could only use three or four colors for each sprite. I think they used his tunic color on his face to give some sense of shading in spite of those limits.

Another explanation could be hue shifting. A lot of pixel artists today use this particular technique to add interest to what would be an otherwise bland color palette. Someone showed me this palette generator awhile ago. I haven't used it, but playing with the sliders helped me understand what hue shifting is. http://www.pixelfor.me/crc/80000032


Offline PixelPiledriver

  • 0011
  • **
  • Posts: 997
  • Karma: +6/-0
  • Yo!
    • View Profile
    • My Blog

Re: Link in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Reply #2 on: May 02, 2017, 08:19:22 pm
Welcome to Pixelation!

When working with a palette restriction, its artistically helpful to re use colors based on their brightness rather than hue.

You're right, the colors on Link have a material identification.
Green = clothes
Peach = skin
Black = edges + forms

But they also have an order of brightness.
Bright --> Peach -> Green -> Black --> Dark

Light is what allows you to visually understand what an object is.
So adding strategic hints of light and shadow using the available colors, even if re used or pre indentified, adds clarity and volume to the image.

Even when not using a palette restriction, you will find that relative brightness overrides hue in art.
Same with real life.
Your friend Steve is still Steve under a blue light.
Play around and use it to your advantage.

Lastly, its fine to study what pleases you, but just start pixeling now.
Enjoy your time here and happy arting.  :y:
And knowing that it is, we seek what it is... ~ Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, Chapter 1

Offline lharoon

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 8
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Link in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Reply #3 on: May 03, 2017, 07:50:16 am
Thanks for the warm welcome :). That does make a lot of sense. I hadn't thought of using the same palette for depicting features as well as light/shadow. And since this game was originally for the brick Gameboy (one with the four-colour, pea-green palette), it makes double sense. (I haven't looked at the original sprite, but I wonder if they did something like a find and replace when porting to the Gameboy Colour, at least in part).

Will get on with pixelling then. :)