Here is a practice background i made.
I took me awile but i finally made it ,there is a problem though,the fountain looks rubbish in the pixelated background.do you have any suggestions on how to improve it a bit .
http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/garden_fountain.JPG
Thanks
I think the main problem is the perspective. It's drawn in bird's eye view, but the flowers, the trees and the fountain are not, but they should be to fit in. If you wanna draw all the objects from the sideview, like you did with the flowers and trees, then you have to do the fountain just like that as well. So I'd suggest that you try to draw the fountain either in bird's eye view or in sideview or change the whole background around it. But that would mean quite a lot of work, so better change the fountain ;D
Good luck!
http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/garden_fountain2.JPG
made the hedges side viewed ..how does it look now
better, but why is the fountain bigger then the trees?
Yeah, it looks better now. Just try to indicate the lines that divide the top and the side of the hedges a little more. Perhaps you could try to make your flowers and trees stand up a little. Now, it looks like they are lying flat on the ground. Just make the stalks/trunks a little more covered by the blossom/leaves.
Try adding some shading/shadows ... it works wonders to an image.
I think the biggest problem I have is the repeating nature of it all.Ã, The flowers all look the same (which I could probably ignore) but all the trees look identical which jumps right out at me.Ã, Even graphically beautiful games in this style (Zelda: A Link to the Past) have identical trees and it drives me nuts!!Ã, Try adding some variation ...
Also, this is just some advice, it looks as if you quickly free-hand drew the shape of the fountain.Ã, Try using a circle-type tool (or even doing it by hand) to get a symetrical look.Ã, If you want to add cracks and stuff later that's fine, but the overall shape should be smoother I think.