pixel Shrimp ;)

[ndrake]

Well this is my first pixelart
It was actually done in Photoshop
wanted to use it as Avatar but it looks strange somehow.

anyways here it is

[MoD]

This looks suspiciously like a color reduction or photoshopped piece. The shadow has a huge number of colors and the "pixelled" part has 91. Even if you did this by hand, it needs work, especially in color conservation. If one pastes one image over the other, the outline of the shrimp deviates in only a few areas and several of the details are identical in shape. If you didn't reduce the image's colors, you traced over the outlines, a practice not smiled upon. You gain no skill from putting pixels right where they already are, and it won't get you very far in this community. Additionally, don't use tools to draw shadows or anything else.

I think the best thing to do in your position would be to redeem your reputation with some pure-pixel works or a progress animation that shows how you made this, using pixel-perfect tools (pencil, fill bucket, line tool, no auto antialiasing or gradients). Hopefully this is all a misunderstanding.

[Blick]

This looks suspiciously like a color reduction or photoshopped piece.

It was actually done in Photoshop

It just needs more manual cleanup, and I'd personally get rid of the drop shadow and change the background color. A lot of the shrimp is white, so it's not the greatest idea to put him onto a white background. Especially when he's got suggested lines, where there are openings in the line of the tail and head, so it really blends with the background too much. There are also a lot of random pixels scattered around that could use fixing.

[ndrake]

ok here's a little update
as I said this is my first pixelart
removed the shadow now and polished it a little.

somehow looks like a dolphin now

[ndrake]

made another one, but the area unter the antennules looks horrible

[LoTekK]

That's even more obvious of a color-reduction job than the first one...

[Helm]

You either have misunderstood what pixel art is, or you're doing this on purpose.

[uridicy]

  I think he thinks of pixel art as something that is small.  I mean this IS his first one.  It's not that surprising, I went to an interview the other day at a game company and they told me they were doing isometric pixel art.  However, it was just shrunk down drawings that were cut out in photoshop and used like pixel art pieces.  They used square tiles too(not the normal isometric definition for sure). -And these people were making console games!

[dragonrc]

If a company makes graphics like that it doesn't mean it is pixel art, because if they do it like the way you said, then it is not pixel art.

[miascugh]

What exactly is Pixel Art?

Pixel Art is a discipline by which images are created with pixel-level intent or precision. It is more than an end product - It is a methodology focusing on techniques such as hand drawn dithering, anti-aliasing, shading, animation, geometry, and some color theory. Here on this forum, people develop these skills and in turn teach them to others.

When you post work that focuses on these methods, you will receive useful feedback that will help you to improve. While there's no static law that says something IS or IS NOT Pixel Art, some works can certainly be more in line with what is discussed here. For example, Oekaki, a web based drawing phenomenon, does not consistently represent the methods. Also, just because a game uses a sprite, that does not immediately qualify it as pixel art since some games have been known to convert 3D rendered models into sprite stills. Posting works like this is not encouraged.

Members at this forum are interested in many subjects and artistic mediums, and we do offer places on the forum more appropriate for the posting of non-pixel work. If you're posting reference images for pixel work, this is an exceptional case. Blatant disregard for the purposes of the forum will not be tolerated.

And if this does not help you clear things up, have a look around and at some tutorials. If you continue to post non-pixel art this thread will be locked. Further violation of the rules will result in unspeakable barbarity.

[Terley]

I feel a lot of companies are confused by the concept of 'pixel-art', people just think 3D is the way to go and have no grasp of how computer games originally were.. I recently applied for a games-design course at a nearby university, went to their open evening and queried to the head of the course how the course would further my skills in pixel art. She didn't have a clue what pixel art was, she narrowed it down to mobile games such as 'snake'. Looking at what the last years graduates produced its put me off that particular course, Im doing Animation and illustration now  .

[Arne]

This vaguely reminds me of the "Is this loli?" discussions on certain boards 

At any rate, what are you trying to do here ndrake? And what is your concept? What do you want to show? When you do stuff really small, you might need to think about starting to remove some information, and exaggerate other. Make each pixel do the work of two, or three!


The face of the dolphin is interesting. If you're just fooling around, maybe try scrapping the seel body and give the head a cute little humanoid body? It could be a chibi Yeti with a snout!

[Arne]

I could not refrain

[ptoing]

Ahahahahahah, OMG. I lol'ed. Sorry. *wipes a tear*

[ndrake]

Shot at 2007-07-14

[bengo]

That looks photo-manipulated, if not, why does it have random red spots everywhere and it could use some shading.

[ndrake]

Sorry that I didnt answer the messages guys but I had lots of things to do. The little Yeti Thing looks beautiful . Yes really it does. I like it a lot.
But i wanted to pixelate a shrimp ( not a dolphin or something ). Finally it got legs and looks more like a Shrimp.

That looks photo-manipulated, if not, why does it have random red spots everywhere and it could use some shading.

look at the very first photo I posted then you will see why it has random red spots. ^^
It is a Crystal red Shrimp from Japan

Here a little picture:

[philipptr]

still it looks pretty random and is really missing shading O_o also you could add some antialiasing to the red areas, but first of all add some shading!

[ndrake]

Shot at 2007-07-16

This is my first time shading. The Body Should be white but it isn't, because I used the palette of a pokemonsprite. lol.
It's so hard to chose the colors in paint by your own

[lilwing]

i think it looks better brown, but that's just me. now it's time to add highlights.

and add some antialiasing to the antennae and the eye

[djork]

Would you mind posting the reference photo you used (if you did).  If you didn't... outstanding job on the anatomy.

[ndrake]

Tried to antialias the eye a little and added highlights ( wrong positions I suppose )



Reference Photo:

Shot at 2007-07-16

[chigsam]

yes yes much better, looks a lot better then the first one. 

[lilwing]

it's really starting to come together! darken the legs.

[ndrake]

I'm rally having problems with creating an own palette with colors that match together.
SO I dont really like how the colors turned out this time.
Anyways heres an update:

Shot at 2007-07-16

[ndrake]

did an outline
and tried to dither a little.

[ndrake]

Shot at 2007-07-17

updated again

[Xion]

Woo, yeah!  some pixel progress!
Lookin' good so far, but I think the shades of red need more contrast (and maybe a little more on the white/tan parts, too). Its first two legs nearest to the viewer seem to be sprouting from the same spot, you see? Like, right where the joint of the second leg should be, it looks like it's fused together or something. Great progress!

[bengo]

Did a few tweaks here and there, added more contrast, added some selout, changed some of the colors and cleaned up the lines a little.

[ndrake]

Wooow thanks Xion and bengoshia for your reply! You really make me happy! Really nice edit. benogoisha. Especially the head area looks 1000 times better now.
I will see what I can make out of your critics. Because like I said its hard for me to make my own palette with matching colors. Dont know how to explain. I will make
a picture to explain a little later when I got time.
Thank you very much guys !!!!!!!!!!!

[ndrake]

[smiker]

i'd try removing that black outline
nicer edit so far

[Crow]

i'd try removing that black outline
nicer edit so far

There is no black outline...

[junkboy]

For whatever reason I find this thread to be one of the most endearing on the entire forum. One man's enigmatic quest for a pixel-perfect shrimp! Anyway, I think you've got something there with your latest update. Three things though: 1) The red thing is nicely shaded, but the glossiness makes it look like a different material than the rest of the shrimp's body. It's also very straight. Try giving it a rounder shape (like in the previous versions) and tone down the shiny bits and it should be good to go. 2) The lighting from below on the "tail" makes it look very flat. Skip that, or add it in a consistent and more realistic manner all over the piece. And finally 3) the outline is a bit choppy (and his antennas are cut off, which looks strange).

[ndrake]

Hello !
thank you for the critics.
I will try to put it into action later.
I was dissatisfied with his face so I tried to change it a little.

tell me how you like it please 

thanks a lot!!!!

[bengo]

Your piece has gotten alot better since the start of it, I'm still finding a few problems though. The antennas could use some more work, same with the tail and the shadow could be a bit more detailed. Good luck on your quest nDrake, take this sword and shield, you will need it for the rough and hard journey ahead to create the greatest pixel shrimp piece ever!

[ndrake]

new update
close to finish now

[ndrake]

Maybe something like this would be great !?


the podium is an icon from Mac OSx Server. It was color reduced with photoshop.
Btw does anyone know a good application to reduce colors ?

[fil_razorback]

Btw does anyone know a good application to reduce colors ?

Cmon...this is a pixel art board.
You're asking for good bullets for hunting on a WWF board.

[Jad]

Or maybe he's not, maybe he wants to play it cheap and just be open about it. :\

[Rydin]

I'm not really here to discuss if it's ethical to color reduce, but in the history of pixellation, color reductions have been shunned. Even questionable color reduction threads often get locked:

http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=1809.0
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=5076.0
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=5193.0
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=1890.0
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=1598.0
http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=487.0

Rule 3: Post only pixel art.

Now this is a bit of a controversial subject, but it hopefully can be cleared out at least so we can go on with our business here: Pixel Art, is art where there's specific attention paid to the fine manipulation of picture elements. It deals with the informative quality of specific, single pixels. If the art you're about to post has not been pixel-pushed on that level, don't bother. Automatic AA, soft brushes, filters, smudge tools, all are indicative of index-painting, or at least dirty-tooling, but do not always mean your art will not benefit from pixel-level critique. If you've made something using some of these tools and then you're able to reign the piece in by optimizing the palette into using the best possible amount of colors, went in and pushed single pixels until everything is right, then it's probable we'll be able to talk about your art and how it can be made better. Always be clear of how you made things, only post concept art when it's relative to a pixel-art piece you've made and never never try to decieve us. As above, workstages and process animations are optional, but always welcome.

It's refreshing that you're open about it...but you should really try to refrain.
I suggest hand pixelling the podium.    And if not for this piece, other pieces in the future.  Keep in mind that the only way to get better is to practice.

On to c+c:
The red patches are destroying the unity of the rest of the shrimp; the face and body are lit and shaded by dithering and smooth shades, while the red patches are lit with random splotches of pixels (something characteristic of color reductions  )  So I'd say maybe use a more uniform style of dithering
on the red patches than what you've got.


The outline on the legs is very poor. You might want to clean that up.  Also, the rendering of the legs in general is very confusing, and isn't really saying much...try to be more distinct on showing from where light is coming from and where it is dark.


And again, the antennas still need some work...don't forget that they are effected by light, too.
(perhaps an overly dramatic edit...but it brings up the next point)

The colors are very...mediocre right at the moment, and you are using too much...you can get a lot more out of each color if you pick them better.



Good luck.