AuthorTopic: [wip] Far Away Trains Passing By (C64) + my tall-pixel experiment (new) :D  (Read 7848 times)

Offline skw

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a composition I've got in mind while finishing Summer Leaves. . ., can't yet decide what mode it's going to be (most certainly Multicolor, since I want to retain it fully colored).

anyway,





I want to capture an overwhelming emotion framed by the sea of clouds, and give it a dynamic sensation of moving forward.

in this thread we'll be going through the creation process which might be a little slow though, I'm lagging behind at work. any suggestions are always warmly welcomed!
« Last Edit: October 11, 2009, 07:27:58 am by johnnyspade »
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Offline EyeCraft

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Re: Far Away Trains Passing By (another C64 pee-ahr-gee)

Reply #1 on: October 07, 2009, 03:26:03 pm
Already looking promising. The brightness of the distant mountains helps a lot in establishing a forward momentum. The aura around the figure silhouette doesn't fit, imo (dunno if its temp or not). I feel like the image is too uniform with its shapes at the moment, maybe have a kind of transition from dark to light in the sky from left to right to further urge the eye to the distance. The moon feels distracting, I feel like it could work better as a subtle and more distant element.

Could perhaps use the dark blue more in the sky to have a stronger cool tone throughout the image, reinforcing the appeal of the warmth of the mountains.

Orrr transition the sky dark to light from top to bottom... a kind of haze on the horizon. That would help establish the silhouette. Maybe seal the left edge with more silhouettes, of foliage, twiggy shrubs or rocks.

I dunno, brain is just exploding with ideas at this point.

Offline skw

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Re: [wip] Far Away Trains Passing By (another C64 pee-ahr-gee)

Reply #2 on: October 07, 2009, 10:33:33 pm
thanks a lot, mate! I'm testing, or has already tested some of your ideas. will try to adopt/expand them, and explain closely what I did when I get further.



hope that helps to provide more information and dispel vagueness some more.

ps: the planet in the background, the central point of the composition, what the observer on the left is looking at, is where the "trains are passing by". I guess this helps to give some subtle connection between micro and macro; plus it's the name of a CD I'm listening atm. ;)
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Offline skw

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Re: [wip] Far Away Trains Passing By (another C64 pee-ahr-gee)

Reply #3 on: October 08, 2009, 10:42:23 pm
our train is going forth. . . yet not enough time to finish it tonight. :(

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Offline Mathias

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Re: [wip] Far Away Trains Passing By (another C64 pee-ahr-gee)

Reply #4 on: October 09, 2009, 02:48:27 am
C64 wide pixels. Hmm, it's morphed quite a bit. I like the odd impressionistic stylin' you got goin' on.  It's different. What software do you use? You must have some nifty brushes (which is not a bad thing [darn pixel purists]).
Your latest version is much more inviting to peer into, though it does lose some energy - the chaotic purple and grey texturing of original was too stark/jarring/repelling. This version's distinction between foreground and background is ambiguous - I'm not sure if the yellow mountains/ground texturing is distant background or closer middle ground. Grey/purple/light blue "cloud" far right is also ambiguous, it doesn't seem to be anything/abstracted. It's behind the apparently distant mountains so it can't be foliage, must just be sky gradient shading.
The way the figure's head sits on his neck, partly obscured by his large collar distracts me, his head looks disembodied, like it's floating, that was my first when I saw it - I wasn't sure if it was his head right off, because of it's disconnection. Actually not a huge issue, only a small touch-up will fix.  The smaller moon lower left of large planet is distracting, perhaps less contrast for it. Nothing else in the scene is shaded like it, it sticks out.
Since you're emphasizing emotion, even greater abstraction could work. I like the wispy grey stuff upper left - it doesn't suck attention and it fills in some space lending something interesting for the eyes to bounce around on.

Offline skw

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Re: [wip] Far Away Trains Passing By (another C64 pee-ahr-gee)

Reply #5 on: October 09, 2009, 06:53:36 am
thank you, Mathias. I pixel in ProMotion (V6) which is not a straight widepixel painting software, so that what occasionally happens is that I work on the normal size pixels then scale them down and up again. I'm using tall brushes mainly, like the ones graffiti is sometimes made with; never considered it a dirty trick. :)

you know, it's one of those pieces you keep doodling in your spare time not really to pixel but to calm down after a tiring day, I guess that's why I'm taking it slow, and change a lot during the process.

I'm glad to hear the new version is much more pleasant to the eye, I wanted to retain some of the lost energy in its composition so that the clouds on the right haven't been left out (which way I also tested, with the planet moved a little to the right).

The floating cranium issue, I hear you; and probably know what to do with it. I guess I will also need to stress/lit up the coat a little bit more. the foreground/background ambiguity can be fixed up by deleting that black stuff to the bottom left, this is another thing I'm going to focus on. I will think of the clouds as well, and try to find a place for the smaller sphere.
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Offline skw

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Re: [wip] Far Away Trains Passing By (another C64 pee-ahr-gee)

Reply #6 on: October 11, 2009, 07:24:48 am
will get back to the main piece soon, as for yesterday I was preoccupied with this:



http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/47122.htm :D
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Offline skw

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perhaps i killed it by adding too many complex lines and shapes, but well. . . you just have to call it quits at some point.


http://stuckinthe90s.eu/pixels/trainz.prg (C64 executable)

once again, thank you guys!

http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/47296.htm
« Last Edit: October 15, 2009, 04:25:58 pm by johnnyspade »
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Offline Helm

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yes I think there's too much going on for its own good. Rough edit:



This is the same issue I've had with a lot of your past works. More details and stuff doesn't make a better picture all the time, and especially with mood pieces I think it usually detracts.

Offline QuickSilva

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I agree with Helm. By removing distracting details the viewer can imagine what would be in the scene instead of having them all forced on them at once. Also, the small added black in the lower right adds some balance to the overall piece.

All in all though, very nice.

Jason.