How to improve and shade this background..

[el1indio]

Hello everyone.

Me and a friend started to make a game, but because of the reason that both of us are beginners in drawing pictures, we decided to ask for help from you experienced guys.

We want to draw with pixel art and for that we use MS Paint and Paint.NET.

The following picture shall take place at night with 2 sources of light(lamp and the number-box above the door), but my attempts of shading went fail, so i just uploaded the unshaded version with no objects. the atmosphere should be dangerous.



i would be thankful, if you guys could give detailed advices about how to start with shading, how to continue - let's say step by step.

and a statement of how you think about the picture would also be nice.

thanks for your help.

P.S.: Sorry for my poor english.

[cat]

There are two things that pop in my eye:

1) The 1up graffiti is out of perspective, the vertical lines should be like the ones from the pipe (however, it's only a painting, so maybe the artist could have wanted a weird strech)

2) Inconsistent outlines. Some objects have black outlines, some have coloured ones, some have none. I'd definitely replace the black outlines by coloured lines.

[Akatosh]

All the diagonal lines in your picture seem to be more or less parallel, which really doesn't work perspective-wise. I suggest you look up on one-point perspective and re-draw parts of the background.

Otherwise, what cat said.

[Matti]

All the diagonal lines in your picture seem to be more or less parallel, which really doesn't work perspective-wise.

If he wants to go isometric, it does. 

[fred]

Yep, what cat said. Also, the lamp post needs shading to show it's a sphere, it looks like a flat yellow sign at first. Another thing is that the water from the drain pipe is so blue it looks like solid blue paint.

[el1indio]

ok, here is the edited version.
thank you all for your hints and comments.



in this version, you can see daylight, but i want to change this into a night-scene.

@cat: 1) lets say for now that this weird graffity was the intention of the artist  :)
          2) I replaced the black lines.

@Akatosh: i changed the perspective to a one-point-perspective.

@ fred: i lightened the water a bit.

thank you all for your help and comments.


i will later edit the water again. now i must shade the picture, but how to do it best?  the lamp and that-thing-with-the-number is giving light. the atmosphere must be dark and dangerous.
the 'how' is a great problem to me, especially as i tried it a few times but wasn't content with it.



el1indio

[Arboris]

Your perspective's vanishing point seems to be above your picture, which makes for a very odd perspective on the building. Personally I would try lowering it.

Here's an example:




And a quicky for a night time scene with added neon sign example:



lessen the brightness
up the contrast a bit
shift the color balance more to blue

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Nice corrections, Arboris!  The only thing I would worry about is if it's a scrolling area you could run into some sharp angles at that horizon level.

[Ali]

Just a quick note. I think the shadow cast by the building is a mistake, technically and aesthetically. It's running at almost exactly the same line as the wall disappearing into the distance which creates an odd symmetry where the lines of the wall and shadow meet. More importantly, in aesthetic terms it gives prominence to the top right corner which doesn't have anything in it. I'd suggest reconsidering where the sunlight is coming from.

[Arboris]

Nice corrections, Arboris!  The only thing I would worry about is if it's a scrolling area you could run into some sharp angles at that horizon level.

Wouldn't you use multiple vanishing points if it's a large scrolling area?
I'm no expert with this myself, in these cases I just draw what looks somewhat alright to me

[Wonkyth]

I'm not too good at art, but I think the water still looks a bit overblue.
Perhaps you could use a grey colour?