** Mock-up screen needs critic! / [watercolour+pixel combination] **

[Raindrop Memory]

 Hello, Pixelation
I've just made the mock-up screen of game I've design(Rpg or maybe Adventure, I don't decide yet)
It'll be the combination of hand-drawn graphic, kind of watercolour and the pixel character. So I need some advice for my pixel character. Feel free to comment! Thanks~!

[Delgneith]

Ok well first things first welcome to Pixelation. I hope you can find this place to be helpful in your development.

Generally (always) you don't want to post jpegs for pixel related stuff. You want a format that doesn't introduce new colors and keeps the pixels perfectly intact. These formats would be gif or png generally though bmp will it's not a good idea to post those on the web.

Secondly it would be helpful to see a 1x view of your characters, separate from the background so we can better help you out with critiques and edits if need be.

It seems as though your characters could use with a little more contrast and some darker outlines to boot. They also suffer from stair stepping or whatever you'd like to call it.

Stair > Not

So I took the time to make the characters into a 1x gif (didn't do that big guy cause it's lots of work). It'd be helpful if you posted such of your characters and separated them too, between the knight and the girl.

[Rydin]

I really like this idea--been toying with something similar lately...but, I think the way you tackled it could use some work. 
At the moment, the piece has a very surreal...dreamy....almost fairytale look to it, which is actually pretty cool.  The problem is, for this nice dreamy atmosphere, the actual pixel-art sprites suffer.  I think probably the best thing you could do right now is get rid of the grey outlines--either make them black, or a much darker grey....maybe toy with some non-outline stuff if you want--either way though, the sprites blend into the background, which is never good in a game--water color background or not.  So, readability I guess, is the biggest issue.  You could also probably add some contrast like Delgneith said....I'd actually suggest you do so, because the sprites look very flat as it is.  And again, like Delgneith said, you're lines are pretty sloppy still...try some AA or at least clean them up a bit.

Good luck, and props for going a creative diretion with your art! 

[Raindrop Memory]

Thanks for your advice! I try to make the pixel have "retro" feeling, to make contrast of the background, that's why they're very flat and have very large pixel, but maybe this idea doesn't work!! ( or it maybe work .....as very distinguish style?)
Whatever will be, I think my sprite still need some brush up! and I've come with the more clean-up(except the big guy) sprite. here:



Notice that the big guy is somewhat Bigger than he used to be in the mock-up screen. It's just because I don't how to reduce him!!! I use the image size in Photoshop to reduce him to 30%(because I made him x3 bigger, and forget to save the original small one!! ) And his pixel begin to out of the line!! (cannot explained, just see the pic below) I think there is no way to reduce him again, and I must work on new one, is that so?


Thanks for all!

[Delgneith]

You want to reduce them to 33.33% because that is 1/3rd. Also use "Nearest Neighbor" as your interpelation method instead of Bicubic or whatever. Though it seems you already knew that last part.

[Redshrike]

He's at 2x, not 3x.