rain in hell kid

[balls01]

hey hey,

im doing a concept of the kid of the album cover: rain in hell, by aiden.

right now its not really anything just very lazy dodgy work, but if there are any crits i will be amazed and thankful.

concept:

reference


one crit ive already picked up on, i cant be bothered reposting, is that the white of the eyes are too small.

[Terley]

What are you hoping to learn from this? If you get this bang on you're still not really achieving much. Why not take it in another direction? Be creative.

[balls01]

yewaaah!

i was actually planning on learning the glow effect, shading with different hue's from the base color. i could also learn howto use minimal AA without the jaggies, becuase i see alot and the laege switch from yellow to blue/black is very hard, also im learning to use graphics gale, so that could also come into it, and in some places following the reference can be hard, and people say i need to look at the reference more, and be less relianr on other people to pick out my faults

which these points have all been covered in this edit.

[32]

I think you should stop drawring referenced humans. Its constricting you and putting you way out of your depth at the same time, it's a well known fact that humans are one of the hardest things to draw, and the only reason your even trying is because you have refernces to base everything off. The best thing to do before starting is think "could I draw this on paper" if the answer is no, don't do it, if you can't draw it without the help of your computer tools (undo) and a reference (of course you should use references but not as heavily) its hopeless trying to draw something so complex, the end result will always be a mash up of techniques and and small fixes, and it probably won't be completed. Instead try drawring small things you could draw on paper (I draw plants), you can learn much faster this way and not be disappointed with the result, and drawring small also lets you try out your new pixel tricks without adjusting hundreds of pixels.

[balls01]

I think you should stop drawring referenced humans. Its constricting you and putting you way out of your depth at the same time, it's a well known fact that humans are one of the hardest things to draw, and the only reason your even trying is because you have refernces to base everything off. The best thing to do before starting is think "could I draw this on paper" if the answer is no, don't do it, if you can't draw it without the help of your computer tools (undo) and a reference (of course you should use references but not as heavily) its hopeless trying to draw something so complex, the end result will always be a mash up of techniques and and small fixes, and it probably won't be completed. Instead try drawring small things you could draw on paper (I draw plants), you can learn much faster this way and not be disappointed with the result, and drawring small also lets you try out your new pixel tricks without adjusting hundreds of pixels.

i actually count every time i do use the undo to see how much i rely on it in each piece, this piece only 5 times so far. as for what to draw, what could i draw instead? i have no idea. and i always try to draw small as possible when it comes to PA, but i wanted a change for this time around.

[32]

It's best to draw anything you feel comfortable with, things you scribble in the margin or a notebook for instance, its more important that its of your own creation than what it actually is. The undo button was an example, the main thing is that pixel art is 100% opaque, which means you can comepletely redraw absolutely anything without it looking like you've tried a million times, it's easy to hide your weaknesses in pixel art, thats partially why its good practice to draw on paper.

[balls01]

im gettin ya... you want me to do something uncreated before.

what do i scribble in my margins? normally i scribble graffiti. maybe ill do abit of that?

[Shrike]

He's right, Balls01.  I know you want to be right here, but before you get all defensive just try it.  Go on, you'll find it worthwhile.  Art classes (For sketching and drawing) have helped loads in my pixel art, and it's really just as fun and actually finishing something is vastly more satisfying on paper (Or on canvas) than in pixels.  I'm not trying to diss pixels, otherwise I'd be dead here.  Just try what 32 suggested.

And being more creative with this would be good, since right now it's not interesting.  Do something crazy, like use only default MSPaint colors, or make an animation where the kid turns super-evil and messes stuff up.  If this is only kind of challenging, do something stupid insane and you'll learn far more than otherwise.  Unless you don't want to learn.

Anyway, you have a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing more from you.  Happy pixels!
Toodles!
Shrike

Aahh, shoot.  You beat me to it.  Well, yeah.  Do something without using a refrence, and make it something hard, like trying to make a realistic human face.  Those can be bitches to do.  Graffiti isn't really interesting (AT least for me) or challenging, but you do your thing.

[32]

im gettin ya... you want me to do something uncreated before.

what do i scribble in my margins? normally i scribble graffiti. maybe ill do abit of that?

If your talking about text graffiti, that good, but you should note that depending on what your drawing you can only practice certain things, text would be good for aa and colour practice, but unless its 3D writing you wont be able to practice volumes. And yes, things that come from your imagination are great, because you don't have to worry if it looks like what someone else has done, which means you won't have to draw anything you feel uncomfortable drawing. And try not to plan it to thoroughly, just go with the flow and see what you come up with, have a direction but dont worry if theres something you cant quite draw, just scrap it and move on (i mean a part of a picture, not the whole thing). Lastly, don't try to make something perfect out of everything you draw, some things are scribbles and thats all they need to be.

[NaCl]

I know little about art, but from what I do know of other subjects, doing things that, "you feel comfortable with" over and over is a terrible way to learn. In fact, it's hardly learning at all. I think Terley's advice was better, because he basically suggested the opposite of yours. He said do something more, and experiment and such, while you said do something less. Staying in your comfort zone is beyond pointless, you're basically dead in the water.