This thread needs to be deleted.

[DioShiba]

I generally don't work on those anyway unless I think I CAN. Also, I am very, very, very, very (That's four veries because four is death) bad at writing introductions because I usually just want to get on with things, introducing how everything will work as fast as I can. I actually did do a 'pixel art comic' as a collaboration, but I don't post that comic here most of the time and I'm not going to plug it, partly because it's on temporary hiatus, but it is one of the few times I managed to get an introduction to work; I suck at writing introductions otherwise.

Also, I use MSPaint, and any image editor where you can't edit the text after you put it in makes writing dialogue incredibly annoying. Another reason I tend to make 'smooth' introductions too fast-paced.

With respect, this is entirely missing the point that I'm trying to get at with my criticism on your web comics.

My critique on the comics have very little to do with the introductions and more to do with making them in general. I'm not saying anything in particular about them besides the fact anyone can make a web comic in the way you are doing it, a lot of people do.

I'm not saying that you can't make them, but if you are serious about pursuing that consider looking at any comic besides a sprite comic and try to study how comics are made in a professional sense and do what you can learn from either web comics like Octopus Pie, or graphic novels like Scott Pilgrim. Or just pick up a Batman comic. Then muster whatever originality you can come up with then you can make your own. You can still use pixel art too to make a comic.

On that latter sentence, an example from pixel joint by user iSTVAN:


I bring this up because, even though this is animated it doesn't break the rules of composition in each panel and page, alot of attention was given to each panel using pixel art as a medium and keeps some illustrative liberties while still being pleasing to the eye. The text is legible even at it's size and the speech bubbles help give a clearer sense of what the dialogue is. Also the writing of the joke here is actually clever in the sense that it doesn't explain everything to the reader (in fact, that brings me to a point that introduction comics always risk going more into exposition, if I'm reading a comic I'm going to hope that the writer knows I'm smart enough to understand certain concepts that I don't need to have someone explain something to me. With that said, and any good writer will tell you this but exposition in general is a no-no.)

Those are qualities in this work that make it not just a successful work of pixel art but a comic as well. It takes a lot of work and practice to get to that point though, and I'm not throwing this here to discourage you by any means what I am saying is that you could work your way up to doing something like this as opposed to doing sprite comics with random sprites put together that literally everyone does.

Editing is actually my forte, and that's not something I would say I share with a lot of people. I actually have a ton of edits, but I usually don't make sheets, and that's why I don't often put sprites on here. I'm probably going to make a full sheet of the R-7 for two reasons:

A: You actually (seem to) like something I do. (Referring to the R-7.) I don't oversell myself so I mostly rely on what others think and whether or not it resonates with me. The fact that you prefer even that one preview of the R-7 over the older thinks higher up resonates with me; I feel I could have done far better. I'll be putting up more edits for now, mostly.

B: Again, I also like the R-7 sprite better, and the R-7 is pretty much my favorite R-craft. I most often make things for my own enjoyment, and share them or show them off for the purpose of spreading that joy to others.


At the very least, thank you for actually coming across something I made. I'm surprised anyone looks at what I make.

Well, the thing is a lot of people can edit or recolor. While I would usually suggest to avoid editing if you really want to get better at making sprites, but here the R-7 sprites are something that I think is more interesting than the sprite comics per say not because I think its a good sprite, but it at least shows that you can put in the work into making something look decent.

I think it would benefit you to make a sheet out of it not because I think it will make you a better spriter necessarily, but I think it's always good to practice organizing things and getting a good sense of where to place things in that sense (I haven't necessarily sheeted many sprites either, in fact it's been some time since I worked with pixel art in animation far as sheeting things go.)

What I will say is that with the sprite in front of the ship with the fireball in the center I'm not sure if I like how the fire is banded, while I can get why it's pillowed I think there are better ways of disguising that at that size you're working with.

To say whether or not the edits will be good however, will depend. I don't really have enough to go on to say whether or not it will be a sheet that's accepted and that comes down to just showing the work on here and getting the feedback you need to get it to a place that you will want it to go or a place where you may not like it and have to throw the piece away.

But moving to another point moving away from editing, this kind of goes into what I say to everyone who does edits or recolors (and I often keep saying this because I think that encouraging people to grow, whether they're spriting for fun or making art professionally the growth mindset is a good thing):

If you want to become better at spriting, then I would tell you from my experiences that now would probably be the time to expand your skillset because it sounds like you really want to achieve more with the work you do. That is good but it's not gonna happen overnight just by editing pre-made sprites alone. Daunting as it may sound, make something from nothing, start from scratch, relax, let a bit of the creative juices flow and do something completely new that no one hasn't seen.

To you specifically, consider looking into getting the software Graphics Gale. It's freeware at this point and while I know that one could argue that the tools don't make the artist, I would recommend this program to you strongly because I think it can give you the proper flexibility without getting overboard with the shit ton of features Photoshop has, and you won't constantly have to be limited to the tools and palettes that microsoft paint has. Also don't just limit yourself to just pixel art, also consider using traditional mediums like pencil or paint and consider picking up on a few art classes.

Skills such as writing can also be honed, but you would have to seek critique on writing elsewhere to get it to where you want it to go because I doubt that you'll find much of it in a pixel art board. I will say though because creative writing is my current minor to go with my animation BFA in art school: consider reading more than just sprite comics and pick up on some books. Practice visualizing what you read.

Also, while there isn't a need to thank me for taking an interest in the thread I'd figure that my insight might actually be of use to you. I know that some of this may sound harsh but it's better to hear some of these things now before your interest in creative land on the visual side dies out later on by not hearing it if you strive on being a better artist/writer/creative. I hope that this post will give you the sense of direction you need to work on stuff that you will be more happy with in the long run because it seems like you want to be doing stuff like this.