/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

To start, I'd really like feedback on this battle scene I made for my D&D group of a climactic battle we had a couple years ago in our campaign. I haven't added any shadows yet. I am pretty amateur at pixel art so I'd appreciate any feedback you have.

>>4708382
There’s just a whole bunch of empty space. It looks like skifree or something

>>4708410
this anon is right, it looks pretty barren and boring

>>4708382
You couldn't even be assed to do more playful lighting with the torches?

Is it possible to into pixel art while being a shit irl artist

>>4708469
yes

I made this, what do you think? I just started reading the tutorials on Pixeljoint and Studio Miniboss and those have helped me a lot.

>>4708615
It looks pretty good, but I would tighten up the elbow holding the mic, it looks too noodley
As for references, I kinda like Miniboss's tutorials, but I think his games are the definition of pixel shit There was a great reference posted on the art book thread.

https://b-ok.cc/book/3702751/35441c

It is fairly comprehensive.

practice

>>4708462
Like more textured and flickering?

>>4709410
The torches look pasted into the drawing, have the light bounce off objects so it looks like they are part of the scene. The warm contour you did around them can stay but it's too boring by itself.

>>4709649
So more yellow around the edges of the some of the figures closest to them? I feel like shadows will help too but those will be hard to do. I realize I am an idiot for not doing this with layers but fortunately I saved the original room w.out torchlight so I still have all the basic pieces to put it back together without too much trouble.

>>4708812
This is really nice anon, yours?

>>4708379
Tatsumaki. I know that the proportions look weird. I was trying to make her look foreshortened, but it's a bit difficult with pixel art.

>>4711550
wow nice work
what program?

>>4711909
Krita

aiming for pokemon gsc style, it's a bomb lion called Cuboom

>>4713173
It's very cute anon, i think you nailed the gsc artstyle.

>>4708720
I guess I could dump some more helpful resources. https://2dwillneverdie.com/tutorial/
Great site, has a lot of great tips for making spriting easy for characters and some stuff for backgrounds.
You can also dig around on Mugenguild, there is some good stuff there in between the mediocre OCs. I found a thread that broke down the style of CPS3, pretty good stuff.
https://mugenguild.com/forum/topics/character-assembly-line-168418.msg2148742.html#msg2148742
Right now I am digging around on there to see if I can find a comprehensive breakdown of KOF 98's style.

>>4713366

>>4708410
>>4708417
It's a really big room, I don't know how to maintain that sense of scale and add more details. Tilings on the floor? I'd make the room smaller but I want it to fit what the actual size was.

>>4708379
henlo

>>4711916
>>4713173
redpill me on stippling shading instead of colors?

>>4713366
I want to suck your pixelated cock!

>>4713187
ty
>>4713889
Kinda required when you're working with 2 colors + black and white but I like it anyways because of the scratchy and 'dirty' look.

>>4713889
It's the most convenient way to add variety to the piece.

feedback please

As an absolute beginner with no art skill whatsoever, where do I begin to learn this shit?
Any good video lessons/courses?

>>4714529
cute/10
would buy a game with this in it

>>4713889
It's called dithering. Use it with limited palettes and sparingly, otherwise you get stuff like this:
>>4711916
>>4713936
I mean, props to the guy for putting in the work, but these do not look good, and the misuse of dithering is part of the reason why.

>>4713892
Thanks, I am still pretty /beg/ myself, but knowing the right tricks does help without cutting corners.

Best pixel art program?

Best pixel art tuts online?

>>4708379
Did these a while ago, used the fire red sprites as reference but tried to do original poses

>>4714529
little more contrast on the colors unless deliberate going for muted tone, and the single pixels can read as noise otherwise that's pretty much as good as it gets at that resolution

>>4714828
I went backed and ironed out some more kinks I saw and fixed some of the frames too. Overall I had fun with this one.

>>4714829
Best programs? GraphicsGale is what I used to compile the gif I made, but for the drawing, use what suits you, I would not recommend GraphicsGale for drawing complex stuff, but it is fine for simple sprites, it is great for finalizing sprites though. There is also Aesprite which is more beginner friendly with more quality of life features, but I think it costs $10. As for tutorials, just looks at the links I posted.

>>4714529
maybe a bit more variation in color on the back, the yellow is a little monotonous. GOod though.

Alright well I added shadows (sorta). Didn't add them for the bodies, and they conflict a lot with the direction of the lighting. Not sure if it's worth trying to angle them. I probably should have done the lighting last. Might redo the whole thing but every time I tried to add a bit more directional lighting I was just making the edges of the figures yellow. I don't know how else to do lighting besides radial gradients that doesn't seem pointlessly time-consuming for the sake of being more "genuine." I also don't know if this piece has enough potential to be good to be worth the improvement in lighting.

>>4708615
Here's a piece i've been working on in the past day or so to try and get my head around some basic stuff like anti-aliasing. It was harder to make than Ulala but took way less time, curiously.

>>4708720
>>4713366
These were incredibly helpful, thanks a lot! The 'fixing your sprite' articles from https://2dwillneverdie.com/tutorial/ are a goldmine.

>>4715911
It's instantly a more interesting picture anon, crongratulations.

I'd personally cut the the top half of the drawing as there isn't much going on there. The portal also feels too dull for what seems to be a focal point in your DND campaign, add some purple lightning coming out of it and it'll look more alive and dangerous.

>>4711550
i'd fix the cankles

>>4716021
Alright thanks I'll do that. I'll keep the old version but I'll crop it down once I spice up the portal.

>>4708379
Been doing a lot of little animations.

>>4717035
i really like this a lot

>>4716021
Did a bit more lighting to bring out the shadows, added a bit of detail to the portal, lightning coming out doesn't really seem to fit but I'm not sure what else to do to it.

>>4717035
very soulful, wow

I've been messing with pixel art for two days, here's my first attempt at a cohesive piece. It's a bit simple but I like it as a first attempt.

>>4717035
nice job anon

>>4718962
It's a lot better looking now anon. Only thing i'd do now is maybe get some more room in the very bottom of the drawing, i personally don't like the characters so close to the bottom as it looks unbalanced.

>lightning
Sorry for the confusion, i actually meant lightning in my original post. I'm not a native speaker so i often get those two confused.

>>4718983
I like the colors

>>4718983
Don't be afraid of more naturalistic shapes, looks good.

>>4719007
that's fair I will get to work on that.
I read "lightning" you were correct I just couldn't find a good way to implement it.
Thanks for your feedback I really like how much better it looks now.

>>4719010
>>4719085
Thanks anons. I don't really like the trees a whole lot but it was a good first attempt to get the general idea of shading. I feel like I'm learning a ton each time I mess around with the art.

are there any comprehensive guides/books/video courses on pixel art? I hate playing scavenger hunt for guides all over the internet.

>>4708469
why do you think people get into pixel art

>>4719456
Hey, I'm at least high beg

WIP, any critique is appreciated

>>4719624
Good color, but maybe a little too clean? It's a little too symmetrical, go crazy with it.

>>4719825
Thanks for the advice!

persona 3 moon

>>4720131
sup skinnylegs

>>4719222
pls sirs pls I need help pls

>>4714529
feedback please, this is supposed to be a raccoon having a tea party :/

>>4721370
with how large the body is, the head is too small, it also needs more definition in the line art so the front limbs are not blobs, and the face needs fixing because it kinda looks like a pug

>>4720131
new alt, tweaked the colors a bit

>>4721370
The hat is wonderful but I'm really not seeing a raccoon here

>>4721370
The contrast on that grass is just ridiculously high. There's a lot of confused, out of place masses of pixels that make the forms and shapes almost impossible to read. The part where the raccoon's body meets the grass is just a near-incomprehensible mess of pixels. The hat and teacup aren't much better. The whole thing looks like you have a monitor issue or something, consider checking up on that.

This is still very rough. I'm completely stuck on how to do the highlights for the flap thing on top of its head.

>>4720129
changed the colors of the moon a bit

>>4722522

>>4724196
ayy that's nice
I'd expect some movement from the coat

How hard is it to learn to draw like this? Pixel's art is peak soul

>>4725486
did a pretty sloppy job desu

>>4725750
Get a feel for threedimensional forms and you should be able to. I saw an anon recommend sculpting anatomy books if you really want to get that down.

>>4714529
>7 shades just for the fur
Holy fuck anonette, 2 is plenty.
Only add more if you need more
You aren't adding depth, you're adding noise

>>4721370
Completely unreadable.
It could be a mushroom and I'd believe you.

Please use less colors and shape out the forms.

doing the grownup version of a pixel art i did back in 2012

>>4725750
i feel like this is something closer to oekaki than pixel art so to say, though it is very nice.
>>4726153
i can say that sculpting anatomy books like anon said would be a good idea, just generally trying to practice groups of 3d forms with minimal colors while trying to make them defined is good practice

what's the best ipad app for pixel art?

>>4728204
i've never found a good one, so i just do pixel art on my computer

>>4725750
>peak soul
nah anon THIS is peak soul

>>4727988
>>4726153
Thanks for replies. Then I need to keep practicing to develop a feel for shapes and forms.
Oekaki is amateur art with simple tools, right? Maybe that's what gives Pixel's art such charm to me.
I like to play DoodleOrDie, and on Pixilart.com. I guess those will be my simple tools

>>4728924
That's awesome. Maybe there's all kinds of soulful things. Pixel is definitely soulful.

>>4728204
Procreate

Would love feedback on this as well.

>>4729788
make the stuff in the foreground darker. add more contrast esp to the shadows

>>4729788
I don't really like the perspective you used for the platform and the people look like cardboard cutouts. Love the vibe though

>>4708469
I found pixel art harder than standard drawing desu. I used to make emoticons for Symbian OS back then at work. 1 pixel can make a face look like shit so the percent of error is higher. I can't really just draw from a standard size then shrink it to diff. smaller sizes. It didn't work that way.

>>4708469
no. if you’re shit at regular art youll be shit at pixel art.

I love pixel art so much.
And pixel art is the only one i can do because it's something a programmer can do.
Here's something i draw 2 years ago.
What do you think?

i don't know what i drew,
a friendo of mine says it looks like a brazilian folklore creature (the kid with one leg)
it is aesthetically pleasing me.

>>4726416
Are you the druggie anon? Damn, this really should be a reminder for everyone to never do drugs.

New to this, trying to learn.
How is this, and what should I improve/work on to grow skills overall?

>>4730721
I'm >>4730640
But take my advice with a grain of salt.
If it make sense to you, learn from it.
If it doesn't ignore it.

1)
Try to recreate the lines as the reference shown, instead of drawing some random lines that doesn't represent the original picture.

2)
I found it unappealing to have holes in the drawing, as shown in 2a.
drawing like 2b looks nicer to me.
Close the holes unless there IS holes there.

3)
again, don't put random colors placement to replace the shape.
It confuses the person that view it.
I did 3 because i wanted to use the darker color to outline the shape clearly to the viewer.
In my opinion, our brain recognize the shape first, and then fill in the blank with the colors, so it's important to help highlight different shapes in an object to help identify the different parts for viewers.

Pixel art is very forgiving because it leaves most of the works to imagination.
It's your job to leave hints to invoke the imagination.

>>4711550
>anatomy is fucked
>pillow shading
>vomit colors
also stop overusing the checkerboard shit

>>4728924
I do love some good ss13 art. There is a lot of ways one can take pixel art.

I fucking hate animating

>>4725773
Fuck that lil bit makes it so dope

>>4729961
>>4729803
Is this better? I feel almost like I made the shadows TOO dark now. Not sure how to make the figures look less flat, besides a bit of lighting and texturing. Maybe move the feet around?

>>4731500
really nice anon

>>4731529
>too many colors
>not enough contrast where it matters
>pillow shaded mounds
Use references and practice more

>>4711507
It's mostly lifted from an old h-game

>>4731532
Thanks, here's another mockup with unfinished graphics

>>4728924
>>4731353
It's just my personal preference, but i hate "pixel art" like these so much.
It's just normal drawing but with some dithering coloring.
This is not considered pixel art at all.

>>4731302
is close to it as well.
But it get a bare minimum pass.

>>4731874
ngmi

>>4731874
wow thank you for your glowing review. Do you have any work to post or just smooth-brain takes on how pixel art isn't actually pixel art

>>4731887
>>4731973
oh wow.
brain dead pixel brains are so triggered.
And yes i have posted my work in this thread. now your turn.

>>4731986
which ones are yours?

>>4731987
so you can shit on it for no reason aside of hating?
I'm not that dumb, you brainlet.

>>4731986
>>4731989
Those two pixel art you just shat on are the best ones in this thread. Even if you did post your work here, it’s worse than those two. Oh well

>>4731989
Cool, so you're lying. That's what I figured :)

>>4731998
>Draw a good drawing with normal method
>color it with dithering and flat color
>best one
LOL no.
you just have bad taste.
Acknowledge it or your observation skills will never improve.

>>4732007
Just as expected, crabs just wanna shit on me for no reason.
More reasons not to tell you which one's mine.
You are so predictable it's laughable.

>>4732015
Whatever makes you sleep at night.

>>4732024
Hahaha nice try, but the provoke is weak as shit as long as my drawing here didn't get shit on.
Maybe you can try shitting on every single drawings here, that might hurt me, wanna give it a try?
But given your single digit IQ microscopic brain shitposting style, you probably aren't gonna do any damage, don't waste your time.

>>4732030
Did you ever consider that maybe no one bothered commenting on your posts because they simply weren't worth remarking on? Did you ever consider that maybe you're the crab? Everyone else was having a pretty good time before you showed up with your braindead abstract negative shitposting which I'm sure you think counts as criticism

>>4732093
>negative shitposting
LOL why are you schizo fags so good at mental gymnastic??
Look at my post, the very first sentence, i already stated it's "It's just my personal preference".
And look at what the reply are.

>ngmi
Yeah this is not shitposting, this is quality posting by your crab's standard.

>wow thank you for your glowing review. Do you have any work to post or just smooth-brain takes on how pixel art isn't actually pixel art
insult me because i have a different opinion.
Wow, totally quality posting.

And now look at your post.
What does it add to the thread?
Nothing but trying to defend your crab behaviors.
Pathetic.

>>4731545
The forests I know are shit but where should I have more contrast?

drew another character but her torso area feels too empty

>>4713366
>https://2dwillneverdie.com/tutorial/
anybody know if Clip Studio Paint has an index color option like PS and Gimp? I'd love to make SFA3 style sprites on my iPad without having to go into PS on my PC to do this method

>>4714713
>props to the guy for putting in the work
um pretty sure they used a brush, just look at the background of the first image

>>4732382
I have checked and CPS as of right now does not have an indexed mode. I am probably going to get an old version of PS

>>4731874
You can say what your preference is, but that does not change how the picture was made. PC 98 games have some of the best pixel art around. Not all pixel art has to have be low-res. The recent wave of pixel garbage like Celeste has really pushed down people's expectations of what pixel art can be.

>>4732201
add dark purple bttons

>>4731973
ok, here's something i did in 2018.

>>4731986
ok, here's something i did in 2018. which is yours?

How do i efficiently mimick a game's artstyle so i can learn how to do similar pieces? I'm really fond of the Ragnarok character sprites but i never know how to approach their creation.

What do you guys usually do to get better at a particular style?

>>4734045
try drawing a character you're familiar with that's not from the series/an oc in the same style. blowing up the sprites so you can look at them up close and mimic the features is helpful too

what are some good pallets?

i don't want to just use the green gameboy one

still learning btw

Consider the following;
2dwillneverdie.com/tutorial/

>>4726416
Blog?

besides the shoulders how is this?

it's head was supposed to be....cake slice shaped? with some pointy protrusions on the back

Sorry for my shit request, but please can anyone remind me anime twitter artist whose drawings looks like have been made in ms paint? His naive anime works blinks here a few times. Something similar to @kyo_loli but not nsfw. Sorry again, help me

whats a good community to share pixel art with?

this thread's a bit slow

>>4736953
tkmiz

>>4719007
Alright did a bit more recropping, changed the shadow tones around, not sure if I've really improved anything.

>>4736854
looks ok but I wouldn't have body parts move more than one pixel per frame, looks really jumpy. I feel like the head moves down a bit too much for an idle animation

Did some quickies

>>4738433

>>4738436