AuthorTopic: [WIP] the shack  (Read 6538 times)

Offline mobichan

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[WIP] the shack

on: February 01, 2008, 02:33:03 am

256x128  34 colors (so far)

Wanting to try my hand at illustrating with pixel art, so I made a shack... on a mountain side... above the clouds... in the early morning...

I am always struggling with color and contrast, so any C&C would be appreciated.

yosh64

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Re: [WIP] the shack

Reply #1 on: February 01, 2008, 09:03:35 am
hey

Impressive, the only thing is that I think it can be brighten'd up a bit :), as I think it looks a bit dull. Although I think it has a rather relaxing illustration feel to it.

Hmm, one other little thing is that I think maybe the highlight of the lower part of mountain in the background to the right looks a bit bright, as I think it should be darker as the clouds are above it.

Anyhows you probably should wait and see what others say, as I'm no expert on things.

cya

Offline MikeG

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Re: [WIP] the shack

Reply #2 on: February 01, 2008, 03:59:29 pm
that looks awesome! i agree it could be brightened up a bit, though. Perhaps just the central mountain + house could use a little brightening + contrast, since their the focus of the piece.

The clouds in the very lower left look a bit like a floor to me as well, since they haven't got the blue shading / specular lighting (if thats what its called) like the other clouds.


Awesome grass + rocks tho! Although i'm not sure grass can actually grow on a surface that high or that steep, since the clouds can't actually rain on it ;)

Offline mobichan

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Re: [WIP] the shack

Reply #3 on: February 05, 2008, 02:40:27 am


Thanks for the feedback so far.  I realized (after some color experimenting) that the sky was too light to express dawn or dusk.  I hope this feels a little more like the correct lighting for this time of day.

Offline Salvage

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Re: [WIP] the shack

Reply #4 on: February 05, 2008, 03:01:41 am
That edit helped a lot I think. It looks like you have committed to placing the light source (rising sun) behind us, the viewers. It would also seem to be coming from the lower left. With this in mind, reconsider the shading on the large, cube-like rock in the foreground. It is receiving light on its top surface, but should be shaded more like the rectangular rock above it.

Offline TomF

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Re: [WIP] the shack

Reply #5 on: February 05, 2008, 09:31:52 am
Nice work, very relaxing mood. I think there is a bit of an issue with the contrast, I did a veeeeeery quick edit to show my point.



Hope this helps.

Edit: Although now the highlights on the grass will need to be changed, since they're now darker than the grass in my image.
« Last Edit: February 05, 2008, 09:35:29 am by TomF »

Offline TrevoriuS

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Re: [WIP] the shack

Reply #6 on: February 05, 2008, 11:55:47 am
What is also possible is that you make the clouds and rest of the bg alot brighter, like the clouds reflecting alot sunlight and perhaps some myst towards the horizon, just so that the shack and the center mountain stand out more.

Offline TomF

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Re: [WIP] the shack

Reply #7 on: February 05, 2008, 12:03:08 pm
Yeah good point. I was gonna try and and do that but many of the cloud colours are used in the shack and mountain, would've taken a bit longer to change that.

So another possibility is to have separate palettes for the clouds and shack/mountain.

Offline mobichan

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Re: [WIP] the shack

Reply #8 on: February 05, 2008, 04:41:58 pm
Hmmm....  thanks for the suggestions.  I am a little hesitant to make the contrast that stark (although I know that is a quickie paint job) since I tend to see early morning as having more subtle light.  I keep seeing the light (in my head) as peeking over the clouds, so only a few things in the foreground get hit directly.  But I like how you've darkened the shadows down, so I think I am going to try pushing the darks first before pushing the light to be really bright.

Also, i'm not sure if you noticed, but the colors used in the clouds actually do not share colors in the mountains or grass.  Origianlly, the clouds were much lighter, so they had unique CLUT entries.

More progress to come.

Offline mobichan

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Re: [WIP] the shack

Reply #9 on: February 05, 2008, 10:11:01 pm
   
<--OLD  NEW-->

Worked darker tones into the shadow areas and reduced the overall brightness to make it more night time lighting.  I'm really trying to keep the lighting soft and I think it is getting there.  Next I want to work on the shack itself.  Anyone have any suggestions?  Or is the lighting still off?