AuthorTopic: WIP Motorcycle and Junkyard  (Read 3556 times)

Offline adcrusher524

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WIP Motorcycle and Junkyard

on: July 05, 2008, 12:49:01 pm
Hey i'm new and i'm eleven years old . I 've been working on drawing  and pixel art lately, and this is one of my best. I wanted to post this here to see how I can make it better. 

Offline adcrusher524

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Re: WIP Motorcycle and Junkyard

Reply #1 on: July 28, 2008, 02:23:07 pm
I've just finished this mock-up of a swamp. It took me a couple hours to do. Please reply on how to improve

« Last Edit: July 29, 2008, 02:38:49 am by AdamAtomic »

Offline Evan

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Re: WIP Motorcycle and Junkyard

Reply #2 on: July 28, 2008, 04:55:39 pm
The pieces are both good for a first, or near-first attempt, but there are a few issues.

In regards to the first one, the background (the blue sky) is far too bright. It makes it hard to make out the details in the foreground, which is really what you're trying to do. The background shouldn't stand out that much.

Second, the shading in a lot of areas (in both pieces) seems somewhat random. Although it's hard to tell for me because of the stupid Firefox 3 smoothing pixels zoom thing, the round areas in your first piece (i.e. the helmet, the wrecking ball, the wheels) are shaded to some extent, but using a strange speckling effect. I think the easiest way to get down the concept of shading is to draw simple objects, like spheres and cones, and shade them.

 Also, the chain-link fence in the first one is distracting, and hurts my eyes. I understand that that's how chain link fences look, but it's hard to get that effect in pixels. Try making the fence have larger holes, or something.

I guess the biggest issue here is that the subjects of the pieces are hard to identify. In the first one, the motorcycles do not stand out enough from the background, and the wolf-type thing in the second one is also somewhat small and dull.

I'd be interested to see if there was any line art for either of these. If there is, please post it, it'd help resolve some basic issues.

Welcome to the forum :)

-Evan

Offline AdamAtomic

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Re: WIP Motorcycle and Junkyard

Reply #3 on: July 29, 2008, 02:59:32 am
Hey, welcome to the forums!  These are really excellent given your age.  There are a few concepts that I think you are definitely ready to start thinking about:

1 - Priority/Composition - Evan brought this up already, but right now most of the elements of your images have the same level of visual priority.  That is, when you look at the piece, it doesn't direct your eye anywhere - the foregrounds, characters, and backgrounds all have the same amount of color and contrast and detail.  This can be confusing and unpleasant for the viewer!  I think you're ready to start thinking about focus in your work - in the first image, one assumes that the motorcycles are the main subjects of the piece.  It would follow that the bikes would have more contrast and more vibrant colors, compared to the fence and crane, for example.  This is not an easy concept to grapple with, as it requires knowledge of color theory, comparative hues, bla de bla de bla.  But it's very important, and definitely worth the trouble and practice.

2 - Care/Polish - There is a very sketchy feel to these pieces - jagged lines, rough shading, etc.  They would benefit a lot from a second pass; the crux of pixel art is the idea that every pixel matters, and matters A LOT.  Pixels need to convey as much information as possible, because they represent a lot of space in the image.  For example, you have maybe a dozen or at most a couple dozen pixels to portray a motorcycle rider's entire hand!  Each pixel needs to be placed with care, and you are ready to start thinking about subpixels and subpixel space.  So imagine you are trying to pixel something very thin, like the chainlink fence right?  In your piece, you have each pixel filled in completely black, because a pixel is as thin as it gets right?   ...Not really :)  If you try making the fence dark blue, instead of black, you'll find that it looks thinner against the blue sky!  Like #1 this isn't exactly a simple concept, it overlaps with anti-aliasing and some other things, but definitely something to start playing with.  There are lots of good tutorials about stuff like this in the guides area of the general forums here.

3 - Like everyone else here, you'll benefit a lot from studying the subjects you're rendering, in this case people, environments, and motorcycles.  Observation and recreation is the only way to really learn how things are actually shaped!  More authentic representations of your subjects will be a good place to go from here.

Finally, as I said before, great start, and we look forward to seeing more work from you!

Offline adcrusher524

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Re: WIP Motorcycle and Junkyard

Reply #4 on: July 29, 2008, 04:50:10 pm
ok i just finished the swamp i but more contrast on the foreground and the wolf type thing.I also added some fog. It's kinda hard to tel. Is this any better?
                                           

Please use the edit button next time, thanks!

Thanks for the help so far!
« Last Edit: July 30, 2008, 04:28:15 pm by adcrusher524 »