AuthorTopic: Tiny tree  (Read 3951 times)

Offline dpixel

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Tiny tree

on: December 29, 2008, 01:53:21 pm
Hello everyone.  I'm new here.  After browsing around here for a while, I got re-inspired.  I'm a programmer who has always struggled with graphics.  It looks like there are a lot of people who create some great stuff. 

Here's a little tree I created.  I worked on shading and a light source.  Any suggestions for improvement would be welcomed.

Offline Titan

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Re: Tiny tree

Reply #1 on: December 29, 2008, 08:55:56 pm
Well you definitely need to reduce the saturation, i made a quick little edit here, im not that great with trees my self but have a look at the colours:


other than that your doing a great job and its nice to see a programmer doing pixelart ;P

Offline dpixel

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Re: Tiny tree

Reply #2 on: December 29, 2008, 10:30:26 pm
That tree looks great.

That's interesting about the saturation.  How is this normally done?  Do you initially choose colors then adjust saturation or just choose the proper colors that you want from the start? 

Also I noticed you used fewer colors than mine...with a nice effect.  I would guess that using too many colors is a n00b thing.

Yeah.  Some programming goes hand in hand with pixel art.  One complements the other.

Offline Jim16

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Re: Tiny tree

Reply #3 on: December 29, 2008, 10:44:31 pm
The art of the pixel is to use as little colours as possible, and get the same or better result than what could be done with more colours. This is not true always,but was a must back in the days of colour selection(old consoles, like gameboy colour and so on had these restrictions), but this  is also a good starting point for beginners as it teaches that person "how" to pick his pallet to get the most of it.

As for selecting colours, I usually put random colours in as a place holder and then change as I go. However this is me, and a few people choose to developer or us a pallet they made or already exists.

If you you go to the "Things of Importance and Interest" part of this site, there are very helpful topics and links to other topics to read up on that will change your understanding within one read, but remember things take time, and you learn by practice.

Now I feel bored. Nice to see programmer here. Sounds like future Indie'ness

Edit:
Reading your post again, here are things you should look up to help your understanding.
Find the definition of "HUE", "SATURATION" and "BRIGHTNESS". As these are very usefull to know when picking colours.
On this site there is also a topic about colour theory(again "Things of Importance and Interest" section), that has helped me and others so much.

There are many more and I hope they help you
« Last Edit: December 29, 2008, 10:48:58 pm by Jim16 »

Offline TrevoriuS

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Re: Tiny tree

Reply #4 on: December 29, 2008, 11:47:15 pm
That tree looks great.

That's interesting about the saturation.  How is this normally done?  Do you initially choose colors then adjust saturation or just choose the proper colors that you want from the start? 

Also I noticed you used fewer colors than mine...with a nice effect.  I would guess that using too many colors is a n00b thing.

Yeah.  Some programming goes hand in hand with pixel art.  One complements the other.
In fact, the shape and form in your tree is much better than that edit. A tree is no shaded sphere, it's a bunch of... well stuff actually >< You can't interpret it any clearer than that. Although your tree looked like a bunch of shaded objects that did not define a global shape, it's better than just having that global shape with no further definition. Colour theory does apply still though.

Offline dpixel

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Re: Tiny tree

Reply #5 on: December 30, 2008, 01:02:06 pm
Quote
In fact, the shape and form in your tree is much better than that edit. A tree is no shaded sphere, it's a bunch of... well stuff actually >< You can't interpret it any clearer than that. Although your tree looked like a bunch of shaded objects that did not define a global shape, it's better than just having that global shape with no further definition.

I would imagine a lot would depend on what you'd be using the tree for.  Some trees are a global shape but most others are not.  I imagined the light coming slightly from the right and mostly over head.  I think my trunk is out of scale.  The edit looks more in proportion.

Quote
The art of the pixel is to use as little colours as possible, and get the same or better result than what could be done with more colours. This is not true always,but was a must back in the days of colour selection(old consoles, like gameboy colour and so on had these restrictions), but this  is also a good starting point for beginners as it teaches that person "how" to pick his pallet to get the most of it.

As for selecting colours, I usually put random colours in as a place holder and then change as I go. However this is me, and a few people choose to developer or us a pallet they made or already exists.

This is great information.  Looks like I should choose a pallet first and work with that.  That makes sense.  Thanks.

Offline Kazuya Mochu

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Re: Tiny tree

Reply #6 on: December 30, 2008, 01:29:34 pm
hi, is that programer art? nice!

well the thing that mostly caught my eye was the number of colors and the amount of isolated pixels you have to the first picture. while sometimes the random pixels might give it a sort of nice noisy feel to it, like leafs are suposed to have, when you dont use it properly it  can just look unjustified. not to say it looks bad, but there just isnt any point on adding collors that you are hardly going to notice

now for the programer art part of that piece of art: the color. there is a huge tendency for not-artists to be very direct and simplistic as to they're color choices. color is easly one of the most demanding things to work with. I've been doing pixel and digital illustration for ages and I still haven't really got confortable with color. but what I mean is when people think of red, they thing of ff0000. when they think of green its 00ff00, get the point? and usually you don't find those colors anywhere in reallife so they can really be awkward to have in an ilustration or pixelated piece, unless you are shading a neon sign!

my sugestion would be to start thinking less saturated colors. this way not only you make it more natural but you also leave room to use a saturated color for a certain elemente or area that you wanna make stand out.

hope this helps

Kaz
« Last Edit: December 30, 2008, 11:08:10 pm by Kazuya Mochu »
Image size doesn't matter! It's what you do with your pixels that counts!

Offline dpixel

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Re: Tiny tree

Reply #7 on: December 30, 2008, 11:03:08 pm
Everything I do is for some sort of program.

I hear you about isolated pixels.  Who would even notice?  Obviously, not me...lol  I will now.
.................

I know a lot of programmers use a rgb(255, 0, 255) as a mask (transparent) color just because it's so harsh.  In the picture below is that color used in the back ground as the mask color.



Quote
my sugestion would be to start thinking less saturated colors. this way not only you make it more natural but you also leave room to use a saturated color for a certain elemente or area that you wanna make stand out.

Also this picture frame would be a good example of what I would want to stand out.  A bright white, yellow, orange and red.