Pixel Farm

[FarmerM]

Hey. I am new here. I was looking for a place to post and discuss pixel art and sprites.
Feedback is MUCH appreciated.
http://lootfarmer.deviantart.com/

I'm trying to make a decent template. Progress so far from left to right.


Oh and an older sprite.

[FarmerM]

Tried a new method today.
Here are the results.

Saiyaman from DragonBall Z.

[PurplePixel]

Alright! These are some really nice looking sprites!

Per chance, do you have a DeviantArt account with more of these on it? If not, I'd suggest setting one up and linking it here.

[FarmerM]

Thank you but sadly not. I just started again and my old HDD is beyond dead.

[FarmerM]

Super Ninja from Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos.

[FarmerM]

Goku in front of Capsule Corp.

[FarmerM]

Wasn't sure where I was going with this one.

[FarmerM]

[E-Man]

I think these sprites will benefit if they have a little more contrast applied to them.

[FarmerM]

Thanks. I tried to adjust the colors a bit on my new one.

[FarmerM]

So, I assume my stuff is so mediocre that no one can be bothered to comment either way? lol

[E-Man]

I wouldn't say that, really. Most people just review sprite topics, but can't think of anything good to say/add. Just give it time and I'm sure more people will give more critiques.

Speaking of which, these sprites will benefit if you get some hue shifting in there. Messing around with the hue and saturation is a good way to add contrast overall.

By the way, while I can see that you're probably joking about the whole mediocre sprite thing, I only wanted to throw my two cents in just because.

[DragonDePlatino]

So, I assume my stuff is so mediocre that no one can be bothered to comment either way? lol

Yes.

And congratulations! By progressing from the realm of "pixel art lameness" to "pixel art mediocrity", you have been hereby accepted into Mediocre Artists United! Enjoy all of the wonderful benefits that come with membership, including shielding of all posts from replies and complimentary "mehs"! We hope you'll enjoy your membership here at MAU for many years to come.

Sincerely,

DragonDePlatino
President of Mediocre Artists United

[FarmerM]

Oh. Depression.

[DragonDePlatino]

Hey, but don't worry! It takes years of practice to be a great pixel artist like Cyangmou and neither of us are there yet.

Anyways, I think you've got a good start here! I can't say this for everyone, but you're drawing your own designs from scratch and have an immediately-recognizable style! You should be a bit more careful about your color usage, though. Keep in mind that the following example is not the only way to draw good sprites, just how I would do it.



1. To start off I put your sprite into ASEprite and checked the number of colors. Turns out, there's 32, including transparency. 32 is a nice, even number for a sprite's palette, but if you use less colors, it will be quicker to draw a sprite and the final sprite will look much cleaner. I started off by removing colors from the image's palette until I had just enough to not loose the girl's shape. How many colors other artists would remove would be their personal preference.
2. I like your outline-less style, but keep in mind that if you place your sprites over a white or black background, the colors will blend in. An outline would help with that.
3. In the 3rd step, I tweaked the palette to be a lot "softer". If you're using non-black outlines, you need to be sure that your colors have a lot less saturation. I also added some anti-aliasing along the girl's socks and hair. Lastly, I added a bit of dithering to her hair to give it the textured look you were originally going for.