Shiba Inu and stuff

[Panda]

So, uhm new pixels in a long while.



Inspired by ukiyo-e and sumi-e.
It uses 8 colors (7 for the dog and 1 for the bg).
Feel free to drop your thoughts if you have any.


[Edit]

[miscdude]

wow...
this is remarkably smooth(with the exception of the outermost hind leg, i think you could smooth that out a little)
and it reads very well...
color selection is great...but the chest...stomach...part, to the right of its fore-legs(our right) looks odd to me...great job ^^
oh wait
one more thing
his outermost fore-leg has a bit of odd aaing...im not sure if thats the knee or what..but it looks off.

[ndchristie]

looks fantastic, the only issues have been caught.

would love to see this as part of a full scene.......*nudge*

[Panda]

Thanks for the comments.

I fixed the leg that needed the AA, but the chest/legs part will stay the way it is as it was intended to be like that.
Also fixed some AA here and there.




...and today's pixels:



Ittanmomen, a Japanese monster/Youkai scarf that strangles people.

[Agent green]

Show me the steps of doing it <3 them

[Larwick]

I think the top right (our right) hand side of the Ittanomen is a bit too straight and clean when compared with the rest of the outline. Perhaps the AA could be drawn out from the lower corner there, as it seems to end a bit short to me.

Really lovely work, i especially like how you drew the scarf monster thing.

Are these gunna be used for anything?

[ndchristie]

scarf does not feel like it is a curving plane, but that it varies in thickness.  otherwise though still ace stuff

[Sherman Gill]

The tail is the only part of my edit worth grain a' salt.
Pretty much an illustrated idea for Adarias' critique.

[Rokuji]

Interesting graphical style - doenst look pixelated at all. Great use of AA for stylisitic purposes

[Rydin]

These are two awesome pixels, man.
The dog:

I like this, it really has a color woodblock print feel to it, especially from color choice and line use.  I just kind of circled where I though you could maybe smooth out a bit--the front leg, I guess is debatable, whether you are trying to show muscle there or not--but the back leg feels much to straight and harsh...the lines kind of lose their flow there.  I also want to say good job getting a fur texture without over doing it. 

The scarf:

Your subtle use of vertical lines makes this piece really fucking cool--I'm not sure if you did so on purpose or subconsciously, but it gives it a rhythm for the curvy lines to contrast...a feature that a lot of Japanese color woodblock prints actually have (though it's more a background-foreground thing, but still).  So, the blue lines are there to show that, not to shun it .  The red circles are where it looks blurry, almost AAed for the sake of AAing, not so much the top circle, but the bottom one for sure.  The greenish circle is where I think you could make look a little more curved....I donno, just feels way too straight, or AAed wrong at the moment.
As far as colors go on this one; I almost think the shade color is too light..but I guess this lightness gives it its ethereal, elegant feel.

I really like these--I especially love the scarf...I saved it like 10 times .  Great work man. Can't wait to see more from you! 

[Panda]

Again, thanks for the comments and criticism.
Here are the latest versions of both shiba inu and ittanmomen. I've edited a few things after reading some of the critique, but I think they will stay the way they are right now unless I find something that needs to be really changed.



@ Agent green: Uhm, right now the saved steps I have jump a lot from one to another and doesn't show much, so uhm, next time I'll save more often (without saving over).
@ Larwick: The shiba inu was meant to be my avatar but ended up being too big. As for the monster, I have in mind making some sort of bestiary with youkai and stuff.

And another one:



A karakasa, an old umbrella that turned into a monster after being discarded and/or misused.

[chigsam]

Very nice i like them, very good style. Is the umbrella any chance from the kirby games or at least used in them? I just noticed that!

[ptoing]

The umbrella thing is a classical Japanese monster. It's in LOADS of games, like Parodius or Mystical Ninja for example.

[madPXL]

very very nice, nothing to say, oh, maybe about one question :

just to know how you made your characters? coming from a paper draw with this kind of lineart? or it's directly pixel with a basic line art?

and the best for me : the scarf, love the line art and  the style !!!

[Panda]

Nah, I don't trace from paper, too much work.
I start doing a fast sketch (on the canvas) and keep changing parts until I'm satisfied. Then I block the base colors I'm going to use, and from there I start cleaning everything, adding details, shading, AA etc, until I'm done.

And yeah, ptoing is right. The karakasa is one of the most used monsters in games, manga, cartoons etc.
It's one of the stereotypes of the bunch I'd say.

[Panda]

Nurikabe, a wall youkai that stops your way, and the only go through it is by knocking the lower part, which might sound familiar to anyone that has played Okami.
Also it might look familiar to any who has played a supermario game, as they got inspired by them when making Whomp.
Anyway:



and the steps:

[baccaman21]

I've been watching these for a while now... and I have to say, tis a beaut style... so nicely rendered.

Something I'd like to point out to others that may have gone unnoticed is the way line weight changes these pieces. The way it changes and becomes heavier in places and lighter in others is a really nice touch and something that makes these appear so yummy.

Tell me Panda, just out of curiosity, what is the thinking behind your decisions for your line weights - is it something you're doing conciously or do you chop and change as you see fit on an ad hoc notion based purely on the asthetics of the piece?

(I suspect the latter?) 

Charming work...

[WhiteNoise]

Is the dog part of the same character universe? He looks really out of place next to the other 3 creations

Otherwise, cleanest pixelwork ever

[Helm]

very pretty renders. I'm not sure the grasping arms on the last one are done in as pleasing way as possible. Perhaps a hand study and then a simplification, instead of working straight from stylised memory there would help?

[Panda]

@ baccaman21: The line weight was half planned, half put up as I carried on pixelling.
I mainly put line weight on the places I wanted the focus to be on (close to the faces), but also added a bit here and there to balance the picture (so it wouldn't be like, Heavy lines on the right, light ones on the left) and for aesthetic purposes.

@WhiteNoise: The dog is not part of the youkai bestiary. It was going to be my avatar but ended up being too big.

@Helm: Yeah I should edit those hands, I should add the joints, and angle and lower the last two fingers (pinky and ring finger?... or whatever they are when they only have 4 fingers in the hand). But yeah, I will definitely play with them, thanks for pointing out.

[Crow]

It was going to be my avatar but ended up being too big.

If you cut down the image and remove most of the background, the dog is exactly 128 pixels in width. I guess it wouldnt look that good anymore though. Maybe you could change it to the forum background color and recolor the AA?

Anyways, I really love those. Thats an awesome style you got there. I didnt even notice its mostly the line weight which is making them look so beatiful until baccaman mentioned it

[Rydin]

The Nurikabe is good.  The pixel skill is there...and besides the hands and what's been said, I think it's some good pixel art.   
The only thing that really concerns me, is that this new one sticks out from the previous three.  It just seems to lack charm or something...and I think a reason is the angle--the current angle doesn't show any depth really...it doesn't even have to be drastic, just SOME depth will help it fit in with the others.  Just a thought.
Other wise, I think the blandness might be in the feet--the original feet seemed to help capture a dynamic, flowing sense...I mean, even the way the body curved a bit helped it out some.
You probably wouldn't want to do such an overall after all the aa and other rendering you've done, but either way, it feels like it's out of place.  I donno, it's just one guy's opinion...

[madafacka]

Whoa, its damn smooth, Mr panda. I really love em' all, your AA/Color skills are just TOP.

[Panda]

I've been a tad ill the last few days and haven't edited the nurikabe yet, but instead I made myself a new avatar:



It uses a few more colors than I intended at first, but ah well.
Oh and before anyone mentions it: no, it isn't meant to fit the youkai.

[baccaman21]

that said it could do panda...?

Tis loverly.

[Jad]

Oh and before anyone mentions it: no, it isn't meant to fit the youkai.

BUT IT NOT A MONSTAR!! =(