The VG Resource

For someone who doesn't sprite, that mushroom isn't even half bad, Doc!

Anyway, as for the sprite you made, Epichao, the shading could use some work. To start the changes out, how about using a bit of hue shifting and getting a great deal of contrast into the shadows?

ok, tried to be a little more daring with the colors. I like how that worked out. the new one's on the right.

It's darker, but have you tried hue shifting yet?

Try watching this to get a basic idea on what hue shifting is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRCTL0PA4X0

..There is hue shifting in there. It's fairly subtle, but it's done enough so that it looks good.

Also, the outline on his pants could be darker.

The problem is the lack of contrast. As Trollerskates said, the outlines aren't very visible and a lot of the lines are pretty jaggy.

Like everyone said it's mostly outline and shading.

This is a very rushed edit using colors you've used in your sprite(both the original and your edit). The colors are good, but without the right amount of shading it can look bad.
Try playing around with the shading/lighting.

edit
there are a few jaggies here and there too

I see what you guys are saying about the outline, but I was really going for a subtle outline. I wanted it to be there without screaming for attention. But yea, there are some nasty jaggies throughout the sprite. Definitely gonna fix that.

And thanks for showing me that, Virtuaboy! With only three colors (Practically two) to work with, I should probably spread the light around the upper body a lot more. Otherwise, it looks super flat compared to his legs and face. I'll probably hit the shoes again, too.

the anatomy on the sprite is sorta weird. give naruto some defined elbows. i also think the head way too far to the right, but i guess thats just me

This is definitely coming quite a ways from when I started. Thanks for the help, everyone!

Just trying out some character ideas and flirting with sub-pixeling, if that even is what im doing

pretty sure im doing it wrong

                                     
16x16              32x32                  64x64

My first attempt doing a pixel art! I think I did a great job  Did I?  

It's okay for a first attempt, but there are several things you need to learn. For one thing, avoid jagged outlines as much as possible. To do this, take a closer look at the outline and manually correct it. This images of a corner gives a demonstration on what we're looking for on the left.



Also, please avoid the MS Paint circle tool whenever possible. The circle tool hardly does a good job creating non-jagged circles and you are better off just making them yourself. As for shading, see if you can try to apply some to your next sprites. You just need to keep in mind that just making a color darker isn't all there is to it and you need to play with the other sliders to get the best results.

(11-14-2014, 01:10 PM)E-Man Wrote: [ -> ]It's okay for a first attempt, but there are several things you need to learn. For one thing, avoid jagged outlines as much as possible. To do this, take a closer look at the outline and manually correct it. This images of a corner gives a demonstration on what we're looking for on the left.



Also, please avoid the MS Paint circle tool whenever possible. The circle tool hardly does a good job creating non-jagged circles and you are better off just making them yourself. As for shading, see if you can try to apply some to your next sprites. You just need to keep in mind that just making a color darker isn't all there is to it and you need to play with the other sliders to get the best results.

Thank you for the tutorial! But I didn't use MS Paint! I used Photoshop CC 2014...

I did a quick "edit" of your sprite.



The first thing you have to focus on is your lineart. Try cleaning up your lines until they are smooth, and don't use any standard
photoshop circle tools or line tools. I saw that you had a good amount of anti-aliasing and a large number of colours in your biggest
sprite, so I'm guessing you either used a circle tool or brush?

You also have to make a good palette. In my version I used pretty bright and warm colours, but you shouldn't be afraid to
experiment with hueshift.

(11-14-2014, 02:16 PM)Paladin Wrote: [ -> ]I did a quick "edit" of your sprite.



The first thing you have to focus on is your lineart. Try cleaning up your lines until they are smooth, and don't use any standard
photoshop circle tools or line tools. I saw that you had a good amount of anti-aliasing and a large number of colours in your biggest
sprite, so I'm guessing you either used a circle tool or brush?

You also have to make a good palette. In my version I used pretty bright and warm colours, but you shouldn't be afraid to
experiment with hueshift.

Thank you! By the way, his hair is not brown but I like your pixel art! ^^
And thanks for the tutorial, well... it is hard to draw a circle using mouse!