random pics

[Indie Boy]

Ive been playin around to see if I can improve in my pixel art. Heres some pics Ive drawn. I just want some crit to see if ive improved and to find areas where I improve.
I made this bg for MAGS but since I signed up for atc ive been busy wasnt able to finish the game.

A bit of fun.

A lion for the MAGS game



ps the word of today is improve

[Ozwalled]

My biggest problem is with the ground of the background. It's just so very empty. Adding in a bit of texture to that area would be a marked improvement. Some patches of roughness, dirt, small rocks, cracks, etc. All would help give it personality. Some depth cues could help too -- like sidewalk lines or a path with lines that converge around the door's sides.

Then there's the metallic part of the wall/ gate. Adding some "sheen" to the metal might help it look a lot better and more interesting.

Finally, since the background isn't exactly super-exciting to look at, it might be worth your while to throw in some sort of forground object, like a lamp post or something.

As for the cloaked guy, heavier shading could make him look a lot better.

And for the lion, while I really do like the cartoony, simplistic feel of him, he is shaped a bit weird, in the way that his torso turns around to face us. That, and his front paws don't really seem to match his back ones very well.

[Damien]

I did a minor paint-over of the bg you posted:



Changes:
-mostly three levels of shading for each object,
-added some gloss to the metal bars, probably overdid it,
-added some floor tiles
-dithered
-moved the cage closer to the camera (few pixels down)

Didn't have the time to repaint the sky & hills in the background, sorry.

Hope that helped you.

[Ozwalled]

While I like most of what Damien did, the section under the door makes it look like it's standing on top of another brick wall, due to the vertical nature in which it's drawn.

What you need here is some sort of perspective cue. This is an example of what I'm talking about.



Notice how all of the bottom area's diagonal lines, if extended, would converge somewhere that's very close to the red dot, giving you a sense of depth by using the brick detail.

A couple more things:

-That keyhole is HUGE. I'm thinking that I could easily fit my hand in there.
-If the cloaked guy is meant to be human, he doesn't much look it. Consider making the lips less red and full (especially if it's a man and not a woman) and using a darkish (but not black!) outline for the nose. The eyes could afford to be a different colour, too -- less blue and more of a very light orangey pink. Also, the character would probably look cooler and more mysterious if the cloak significantly shaded at least the upper portion of the face.

[Indie Boy]

Damien= like what you have done but it has kinda taken away the work I did on the bg
Ozwalled= I like the slabs and the keyhole meant to be that big so that you could click on it.

[HillBilly]

None of your pictures works for me. Not even your avatar. 

[Indie Boy]

ok sorry il hang my head in same

[Damien]

I think HillBilly ment he actually couldn't see your pictures because the 2dadventure.com had few moments of downtime today.