Adventure Game Studio

Creative Production => Critics' Lounge => Topic started by: frenzykitty on Mon 09/06/2014 13:27:21

Title: My second ever pixel art character!
Post by: frenzykitty on Mon 09/06/2014 13:27:21
Is a cool cowboy dude holding a page of paper.

Gentle thoughts and feedback would be appreciated :)

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/tfWJe3m.png[/imgzoom]
Title: Re: My second ever pixel art character!
Post by: Cassiebsg on Mon 09/06/2014 15:25:40
He looks nice! :)
I think though, that his head seems a tad too small in relation to everything else.
Title: Re: My second ever pixel art character!
Post by: frenzykitty on Tue 10/06/2014 06:08:24
I think so too. Also - a bigger head would make detailing the face easier :)
Title: Re: My second ever pixel art character!
Post by: Eric on Tue 10/06/2014 06:22:12
I like him. Be aware if you're going to animate him that you've "shot" him from slightly lower than the waist, which means low horizon lines.
Title: Re: My second ever pixel art character!
Post by: frenzykitty on Tue 10/06/2014 07:33:36
At the moment he is just drawing/rotoscoping practice, but you make an excellent point!
Title: Re: My second ever pixel art character!
Post by: Mouth for war on Tue 10/06/2014 12:04:00
Looks good but it could use some shading i think :-)
Title: Re: My second ever pixel art character!
Post by: frenzykitty on Wed 11/06/2014 08:18:38
I agree! Can anyone suggest a tutorial or something I can look at for advice on shading?
Title: Re: My second ever pixel art character!
Post by: .M.M. on Wed 11/06/2014 14:24:47
Try looking at this:
http://finalbossblues.com/form-and-light/
It's a bit different from classical tutorials, but I think it is a really interesting point of view at shading.
EDIT:
But maybe you're looking for something more like this:
http://www.natomic.com/hosted/marks/mpat/shading.html
http://makegames.tumblr.com/post/42648699708/pixel-art-tutorial
Title: Re: My second ever pixel art character!
Post by: Adeel on Wed 11/06/2014 14:28:04
Here are some comprehensive tutorials which can make you get started. If you find them useful, please thank Ghost because he was kind enough to share them with me. :)

Spoiler

http://art-eater.com/2010/07/test-1-darkstalkers/
This is an article about basic animation, using characters from the popular Darkstalkers fighting game as a reference. It's more theory than hands-on spriting but the references are awesome.

http://www.spriters-resource.com/
"The Spriter's Resource" infamous for ripping console sprites and making them available for download. Still, a lot of the stuff there is useful if you want to see how you can create really tiny characters.

https://www.pinterest.com/characterdesigh/
A huge (really huge) collection of character concepts, drawings, sketches, reference pages and whatnot. Should prove useful to anyone!

http://pyxeledit.com/
A program for making sprites. A very good program, I should say, because it is!

http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299
An in-depth article about what makes pixel art.

http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/
... and the matching forums. The people there are really friendly and just from browsing you'll get a sh*tload of cool pictures to learn from.

http://opengameart.org/content/chapter-5-color-palettes
A nice article about picking good colours for low-res art.

http://www.derekyu.com/?page_id=219
Derek Yu, of Spelunky fame, is a great spriter. Here you can find some of his tutorials and general discussion.

http://kitted.deviantart.com/art/DITHERING-TUTORIAL-Basics-69747353
A basic but extensive little tutorial on dithering. Essential.

http://vanmall.deviantart.com/art/How-to-start-with-pixel-art-121520884
First of a series of articles aimed at beginners. I daresay you will not find very many "advanced" things in there, but depending on your skills you may still find some good basic tips.

https://www.google.de/search?q=legend+of+kyrandia+hand+of+fate+screenshotsbm=ischbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=osbVUpLbIqf_ygPWooCQAQ&ved=0CDIQsAQ&biw=1510&bih=934
If there is one game that really excels at low-res art and great palette choice, it's Legend Of Kyrandia II - Hand of Fate. It's also a great game, so if you don't know it, hit abandonia and PLAY it ;-D

http://rpgtoolkit.net/tutorials/graphics/lotuswares-pixel-art-tutorial/
I'm not too fond of RPG MAker tutorials, but this one actually does its job. Basic landscape creation and such. Nice read.

http://gas13.ru/v3/tutorials/sywtbapa_almighty_grass_tile.php
This is a good site featuring many different aspects of low-res art. Just check the entries in the right sidebar- very good stuff there.

http://finalbossblues.com/thinking-in-color/
Another article focussing on colour choices. Another RPG Maker tutorial too, so take it with a pinch of salt, but I think it's still useful.

http://jazisnake.deviantart.com/art/TUTORIAL-Texture-Color-Theory-188959239
A nice little article about creating irregularly textured objects. Good read.
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Title: Re: My second ever pixel art character!
Post by: Ghost on Wed 11/06/2014 15:37:33
Quote from: Adeel S. Ahmed on Wed 11/06/2014 14:28:04
If you find them useful, please thank Ghost because he was kind enough to share them with me. :)

Actually, since I lost TONS OF BOOKMARKS, thanks for posting this! ;)

I do like the cowboy hat! The brim should maybe have a bit more of a curve- since this is low-res, exaggeration is key and these things are hell to sprite anyway...
Title: Re: My second ever pixel art character!
Post by: Adeel on Wed 11/06/2014 17:42:58
That message you sent is quite precious to me, Ghost. I treasure it because it's a chest full of information! :)