[WIP]Rose

[skoby]

Hey, this project is quite special to me, its going to be a small present for my gf on our anniversary (dont worry im not tight enough to just give a pixel) but Im at a bit of a loss with the background, Ive done it purple as its her favourite colour but its only very rough atm... Ideally I would like it to resemble a night sky... but purpler (if that makes sence)  Also any CC on the main feature would be appreciated.  I cant take full credit for it as I traced a photo and used it for a reference with shading, but my previous attempt looked more like a scrunched up bit of paper than a rose



Thanks in advance
iron

[Helm]

why not dither?

frame 1 : make a good mixed pattern between your colors

frame 2: 50% dither between them

frame 3: mix the dither with a bit of placed pixels and 25% dither parts

[skoby]

Yea that looks good just wondering what is the best way to dither is it literally by hand pixel by pixel or perhaps as Ive just got Gale I see theres an option of different dithering patterns on the pallette, but that didnt look good when I tried it... 

Thanks for the annimation tho, Glad I joined this forum, everyone really helpful and knows their stuff.  On other forums Ive asked for help and got very vague feedback.  Whereas that annimation not only shows me something to aim for but also should help me dither (not got a lot of experience with it)

[Fool]

Also you missing a shape of rosebud, check your ref.=)
It migh reads something like that :

[Helm]

Thanks for the kind words for the forum. That's why pixelation will never leave the internet as long as people want to learn pixel art and help each other. 'Cause we're not an asspat forum, not a gallery of art.

About dithering: I use Cosmigo Pro Motion, which has an extensively workable dither brush. I only use 50% though, and do the rest of the mixing by hand. When I used PSP6-7 I had made my own dither pattern brushes and used those. I don't remember what I did when I was using GGale.

[skoby]

OK well here's my first real try at dithering, Im thinking it needs a bit more contrast between the colours tho.  Also made the rose bud more like my reference pic.



I am thinking about perhaps adding some stars, if I was on my other pc I would have a perfect brush on Photoshop :p but not really sure how to pixel them, will keep trying tho

[AdamAtomic]

this seems like a big step forward for you, so congrats!  I'd check out the anatomy changes that Fool recommended, they really help the shape (at least to my eyes).  Also, something that was hard for me to learn but that I think you could really start practicing is to not be afraid of using larger pixel brushes than just the 1 pixel.  It's hard to say for sure without seeing a WIP but it looks like you did some line art, and just started doing the high detail shading pass with a 1px brush right away.  Take the extra time to grab a larger brush (on a pic this size, at least a 4x4 px brush) and paint in all your main values - roughly define your shape using only light and shadow.  When it feels like a blossom without the hard edges and fine highlights then you know you have it right, then shrink down and start working in the finer details!  This will help save you a lot of time, because things like Fool's anatomy changes will not require massive repaints; you'll be able to catch them when the piece is simpler.

Re: the dithering, you've done mainly a 50-50 pillowshaded dither, which doesn't read particularly well on the small, thin shapes you're using.  It's making your surface look a little dirty or wormy.  Notice that Helm started from a different base; some small shapes and some very large shapes, and the dithering is not used to soften the shapes but to join and smooth them into a single surface.  For me at least it helps a lot to consider the end-goal of dithering, not just accomplishing it for the sake of dithering period.  Helm's example provides a painterly, abstract background, not just a 'blur effect'.  Think about how you want your background to look, and then think about how dithering might help you to accomplish that!