The VG Resource

Since 2017, I have created a variety of sprites. I figured that I would use this thread to show off the work I have done with them so far while also getting another viewpoint to aid me.

You get to pick the first sprite I want to show off! Select one of the options in the poll, and in about a week I will showcase the sprites with the highest number of votes.

I'm late aaaaaaaaaaa.

But anyway, according to the poll, the first set of sprites that I get to show off are the sprites of Mario that I have been working on since 2017!

Note: These sprites are only the ones that I have completed, the actual sheet is larger and contains stuff from earlier versions of Mario that I never updated or never even finished.

I'm gonna start making weekly posts showing off anything new I made over the week.

Anyway, this week I made some new sprites to go alongside the other Mario sprites.

New Sprites

• Added a new jumping sprite, this one based on the modern Mario games instead of Super Mario World. The original sprite is still in the original spritesheet, but it has been labeled "SMW Jump."
  
• Added a falling sprite to go along with the new jumping sprite.
  
• Added a set of sprites showing Mario standing, jumping, and falling while holding an object, as well as a template.
  

Changes

• I noticed that I made a mistake on the old jumping sprite. Basically, the sprite had been around since the early days of the spritesheet, and, when updating it to reflect later changes I made, I overlooked a portion of Mario's hat, which was still using older colors. Thus, for this revision, I fixed it.
  

Update 2/22/2021:

Unfortunately, I didn't really get to work on the Mario sprites throughout the previous week due to my preoccupation with school and other projects. This means that I only have one new sprite to show off this week.

New Sprites

• A sprite of Mario in profile view, but without arms. That's it. I made this sprite because I was preparing to make a walk cycle, but threw out the original work.
  

Again, I am sorry that I barely have anything to show off this week. Next week I hope to show off some more sprites, but until then, have a good day.

Update 3/1/2021

I wasn't as busy with school last week, so I have a bit more to show off this week, but not by much. This week's showcase mostly consists of my first attempt at a running animation for Mario since when I first made the sprites!

NEW SPRITES

• 3 frames of a running animation, based on New Super Mario Bros.
  

Additionally, I have some extra stuff that I hope you find interesting. While rummaging through my desk drawers, I found a USB stick that contained an early version of the folder I use for custom sprites, which included what I believe to be the earliest version of the Mario sprites, dating back to early 2018! They are indicated by the green area of the image below. It contains early versions of Mario's standing, blinking, crouching, and looking up sprites, as well as a crude frame of Mario walking.

I hope once again to have more stuff to show off next week (My goal for this week is to finish the running animation,) but until then, have a good day.

Personally, I think your choices in color are fine, and that's actually a very redeeming quality for your Mario sprites. but you should be shifting your focus on the anatomy of mario. I kind of feel like his legs are really stiff and some of the frames are also inconsistent with this.

I'm under the impression that this is something you don't do often or haven't practiced alot in, and that's fine. But in the long haul if this is something that you would like to improve on then you may need to fix those and look up a few references to help out with that.

That isn't to say these are awful, because as I said the color choices are fine and from the looks of it I think you have a knack for that as far as the positives for them. What would be nice to know is the process in how you're drawing these before going over them to where they are now because that would give me a better idea of what you could be doing better in your approach.

(03-03-2021, 10:46 PM)DioShiba Wrote: [ -> ]Personally, I think your choices in color are fine, and that's actually a very redeeming quality for your Mario sprites. but you should be shifting your focus on the anatomy of mario. I kind of feel like his legs are really stiff and some of the frames are also inconsistent with this.

I'm under the impression that this is something you don't do often or haven't practiced alot in, and that's fine. But in the long haul if this is something that you would like to improve on then you may need to fix those and look up a few references to help out with that.

That isn't to say these are awful, because as I said the color choices are fine and from the looks of it I think you have a knack for that as far as the positives for them. What would be nice to know is the process in how you're drawing these before going over them to where they are now because that would give me a better idea of what you could be doing better in your approach.

Thank you for your commentary on my work.

To start off with, the colors I use for Mario are taken from his official 3D renders from recent years. This wasn't always the case, though; when I first made these sprites his colors were based around the default colors provided in MS Paint, but sometime in 2018 I overhauled the sprites. You can see the original sprites in the last update.

You are correct in assuming that I don't sprite often. I had taken up spriting in 2017, but wasn't seriously into it as I was focused on other projects. By 2019, I had largely moved away from spriting up until the middle of 2020, when I made a few more sprites. In fact, that's one of the reasons why I began to actually use my TSR account, because I wanted to get back in the swing of things. 

Now, as for the process of these sprites... it's strange, since this sprite sheet reflects over 3 years of on and off work (and it shows). Initially, I made many of my original sprites by basically making the finished product as I went, and then going back to touch it up. For more recent sprites, however, I use the shape tool in MS Paint to either form the basis for the sprites or to give and idea of the proportions of the thing I am spriting. 

In the case of the recent sprites of Mario, however, I would take the base pose for running, which has Mario's head and torso, and draw outlines of Mario's one of his arms or legs, and then color and shade it. I have used references to create the running sprites, specifically using running sprites from New Super Mario Bros, and I think this decision has a role in the anatomy problems that you described, since Mario's sprites in the game are made from a 3D model converted into a 2D sprite, which causes the sprite to have an uneven appearance. This, I feel, leads to anatomy inconsistency with the running sprites, particularly with the third frame. Here, Mario's left arm is very short, and his legs being a bit too wide.

Looking back on these sprites as a whole, I have noticed other anatomy problems with Mario's sprites, namely that the size of his arms is inconsistent, with his arms being very short in his idle sprites and longer in his carrying and holding sprites.

I hope that my rambling has given you an idea on how these sprites are made, and I hope to receive your reply.

(03-04-2021, 05:34 AM)superspongebobbros Wrote: [ -> ]Thank you for your commentary on my work.

To start off with, the colors I use for Mario are taken from his official 3D renders from recent years. This wasn't always the case, though; when I first made these sprites his colors were based around the default colors provided in MS Paint, but sometime in 2018 I overhauled the sprites. You can see the original sprites in the last update.

You are correct in assuming that I don't sprite often. I had taken up spriting in 2017, but wasn't seriously into it as I was focused on other projects. By 2019, I had largely moved away from spriting up until the middle of 2020, when I made a few more sprites. In fact, that's one of the reasons why I began to actually use my TSR account, because I wanted to get back in the swing of things. 

Now, as for the process of these sprites... it's strange, since this sprite sheet reflects over 3 years of on and off work (and it shows). Initially, I made many of my original sprites by basically making the finished product as I went, and then going back to touch it up. For more recent sprites, however, I use the shape tool in MS Paint to either form the basis for the sprites or to give and idea of the proportions of the thing I am spriting. 

In the case of the recent sprites of Mario, however, I would take the base pose for running, which has Mario's head and torso, and draw outlines of Mario's one of his arms or legs, and then color and shade it. I have used references to create the running sprites, specifically using running sprites from New Super Mario Bros, and I think this decision has a role in the anatomy problems that you described, since Mario's sprites in the game are made from a 3D model converted into a 2D sprite, which causes the sprite to have an uneven appearance. This, I feel, leads to anatomy inconsistency with the running sprites, particularly with the third frame. Here, Mario's left arm is very short, and his legs being a bit too wide.

Looking back on these sprites as a whole, I have noticed other anatomy problems with Mario's sprites, namely that the size of his arms is inconsistent, with his arms being very short in his idle sprites and longer in his carrying and holding sprites.

I hope that my rambling has given you an idea on how these sprites are made, and I hope to receive your reply.

Interesting.

Personally, I don't think that the shape tools are going to help you right now in terms of making the line work. While it is entirely possible to do that you still need to take into account to have manual control over the pixels as well as being able to have a rough idea of what you are going for. It also kind of seems like you are saying that you are trying to get a clean outline right off the bat which, while there isn't anything wrong with doing that in of itself it takes years and years of practice to perfect doing it in that manner in the same way a professional artist would.

I don't know if you're using a mouse or a tablet to make these but regardless of that I'm wondering if practicing some of the fundamental things with anatomy may help you be able to put into practice these things and help you get more consistent results. For my approach I typically tend to draw out rough line work on one layer then adding another layer with the clean up work in the same way an animator would do for 2D work, and I can't stress enough how that's helped me.

Look into artists like Andrew Loomis, Stephen Rogers Peck, and Burnes Hogarth. Those three artists actually have books on these and I think understanding those guys and their perspectives may help you in developing anatomy. You should also take into account some things like shape, form, volume, etc.

It's a couple steps back from going right into the pixel art medium, but from experience I can tell you that it's better to study some of the fundamental things since it will help you improve immensely moving toward the finished product and get more consistent results more quickly instead of having to go on and off with what you are doing. And that's coming from someone who used to make some rather shitty things that, for the most part have been lost to time when I first really started doing this around 2008/2009ish before I studied art more seriously.

That's the feedback I would give in terms of the process you are going with. Remember, don't get discouraged by the critiques given here. In the long run you're probably going to make about 100 bad works for every one good work you do and even then, you'll find someone who sees worth in some of the works that you deem are bad. That's some advice I got from a professor quite a long time ago.

I wish you all the best in your project.

(03-04-2021, 10:39 AM)DioShiba Wrote: [ -> ]

(03-04-2021, 05:34 AM)superspongebobbros Wrote: [ -> ]Thank you for your commentary on my work.

To start off with, the colors I use for Mario are taken from his official 3D renders from recent years. This wasn't always the case, though; when I first made these sprites his colors were based around the default colors provided in MS Paint, but sometime in 2018 I overhauled the sprites. You can see the original sprites in the last update.

You are correct in assuming that I don't sprite often. I had taken up spriting in 2017, but wasn't seriously into it as I was focused on other projects. By 2019, I had largely moved away from spriting up until the middle of 2020, when I made a few more sprites. In fact, that's one of the reasons why I began to actually use my TSR account, because I wanted to get back in the swing of things. 

Now, as for the process of these sprites... it's strange, since this sprite sheet reflects over 3 years of on and off work (and it shows). Initially, I made many of my original sprites by basically making the finished product as I went, and then going back to touch it up. For more recent sprites, however, I use the shape tool in MS Paint to either form the basis for the sprites or to give and idea of the proportions of the thing I am spriting. 

In the case of the recent sprites of Mario, however, I would take the base pose for running, which has Mario's head and torso, and draw outlines of Mario's one of his arms or legs, and then color and shade it. I have used references to create the running sprites, specifically using running sprites from New Super Mario Bros, and I think this decision has a role in the anatomy problems that you described, since Mario's sprites in the game are made from a 3D model converted into a 2D sprite, which causes the sprite to have an uneven appearance. This, I feel, leads to anatomy inconsistency with the running sprites, particularly with the third frame. Here, Mario's left arm is very short, and his legs being a bit too wide.

Looking back on these sprites as a whole, I have noticed other anatomy problems with Mario's sprites, namely that the size of his arms is inconsistent, with his arms being very short in his idle sprites and longer in his carrying and holding sprites.

I hope that my rambling has given you an idea on how these sprites are made, and I hope to receive your reply.

Interesting.

Personally, I don't think that the shape tools are going to help you right now in terms of making the line work. While it is entirely possible to do that you still need to take into account to have manual control over the pixels as well as being able to have a rough idea of what you are going for. It also kind of seems like you are saying that you are trying to get a clean outline right off the bat which, while there isn't anything wrong with doing that in of itself it takes years and years of practice to perfect doing it in that manner in the same way a professional artist would.

I don't know if you're using a mouse or a tablet to make these but regardless of that I'm wondering if practicing some of the fundamental things with anatomy may help you be able to put into practice these things and help you get more consistent results. For my approach I typically tend to draw out rough line work on one layer then adding another layer with the clean up work in the same way an animator would do for 2D work, and I can't stress enough how that's helped me.

Look into artists like Andrew Loomis, Stephen Rogers Peck, and Burnes Hogarth. Those three artists actually have books on these and I think understanding those guys and their perspectives may help you in developing anatomy. You should also take into account some things like shape, form, volume, etc.

It's a couple steps back from going right into the pixel art medium, but from experience I can tell you that it's better to study some of the fundamental things since it will help you improve immensely moving toward the finished product and get more consistent results more quickly instead of having to go on and off with what you are doing. And that's coming from someone who used to make some rather shitty things that, for the most part have been lost to time when I first really started doing this around 2008/2009ish before I studied art more seriously.

That's the feedback I would give in terms of the process you are going with. Remember, don't get discouraged by the critiques given here. In the long run you're probably going to make about 100 bad works for every one good work you do and even then, you'll find someone who sees worth in some of the works that you deem are bad. That's some advice I got from a professor quite a long time ago.

I wish you all the best in your project.

You have given me a lot to think about. I think that I will put the Mario project on hold for now until I have honed my skills in this regard.

Update 3/9/2021 (yes I know I didn't post yesterday):

Unfortunately, I have nothing new to show off this week. After going over and thinking about DioShiba's advice, I realized that the work I was making for the Mario project was basically the equivalent to polishing a turd, and it would probably be better for me as a pixel artist to lay the work to rest. Thus, as I said earlier, I have decided to shelve the Mario project for now, until I am able to create a new set of sprites that I am proud of.

In the meantime, I will be posting either a new sprite per week, or another set of sprites from my backlog. The former is of most interest to me, since it finally gives my the chance to experiment with a style that I've been meaning to try out.

Until then, thank you for your support.

Update 3/22/2021:

This week I am going to show off a relatively older sprite: this pixel art version of OneyPlays. I made this during January/February 2020, while I was on vacation.

(NOTE: The last two sprites have been removed. Please check this other post for more details.)

That's all for now.

[attachment=11792]

Update 3/29/2021 (oops I'm late again)

I'm late because the sprites that I were planning to show off this week didn't look quite right, and I wanted some more time to work on them before showing them. Thus, this week's sprite is another old sprite.

This sprite, from sometime in 2018, was my attempt to convert one of the enemies from Mega Man 5 into the style of Mega Man: The Wily Wars. I think I did pretty good on this sprite.

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully next week I'll have something new.

[attachment=11805]

Update 4/5/2021:
I almost forgot about this week's update! Now, the sprites that I initially planned to show off last week are still not done yet, and I don't expect them to be done for another few weeks or so. In the meantime, here's something stupid that I made once: sprites of Mario and Luigi from Super Mario World (technically the All-Stars version), but now they're Ringo Starr and Weegee.

Now, you may be wondering: why are the Mario brothers now a British musician and a dead meme? Well, to tell you the truth... I dunno either, but oh well. These sprites were originally made on January 17th, 2020.

Now, I am also working on a completely different sprite for a major project. It's not entirely complete yet (I need to finish shading it first), but I hope then, when it comes out, y'all will like it.

Until then, thank you.
[attachment=11819]

Update 4/12/2021:

First off, to the relative few people who actually care, I'm sorry for once again being late and posting on Tuesday instead of Monday. I was very tired throughout the day, so I didn't have much energy to do anything beyond my school work.

But, anyway, I hope that the wait was worth it, because now I am about to begin my next major project! (Yes, this is what I was taking about last week)

This sprite is of a character that I have given the creative name of... Weeaboo Man. As such, he has a fedora and a sword that looks like a katana if you're drunk enough. He is the lead character of a fighting game project that, maybe one day, I will actually develop.

Since this is a bit more complex than just "drawing small shapes on Mario to make him run," I'll still show off some of my other sprites, but only on every other week. This gives me enough time to make a fair amount of sprites, as well as plan ahead Weeaboo Man's moveset.

Well, that's all for now. Have a good day.

[attachment=11849]

Update 4/19/2021:

Welp, not only did I not upload on time AGAIN, but I was even later than last time! Sorry about that, I was very preoccupied with my school work.

Remember how my first project was that one set of Mario sprites. Well, they weren't the only ones I did. I also did some for Luigi too!

They were made by editing Mario's base sprites, ensuring that the tradition of calling Luigi "Green Mario" lives on.

Additionally, here's a preview of the next update to Weeaboo Man's sprites: one WIP frame of an idle animation.

That's all for now.

[attachment=11878][attachment=11879]