Yoshi, Parakarry, Bowser and original unrelated characters

[Corvidophile]

UM, HI. I actually came here rooting around for Pokemon Black and White sprites, but I'm always looking to receive critique on my art, so when I stumbled upon this, I figured I'd put it up here. I mostly do "softer" art, but I like to pixel when I have the time. I use an Oekaki program called PaintBBS.

[LeleleleMAXIMUM]

welcome to the forums!

these lack contrast and saturation shifting (haha, making up new terms is cool),
but for the most part they look good.

just a precaution, but these are all 100% custom? c:

because if they are, i see no reason why you can't make your own Pokemon sprites.

[StarSock64]

Hue shifting would make some of these a lot less boring looking too. The curve on yoshi's mouth has a bit of a bump (yeah nitpicking) and I'm a little iffy on how parakarry's mouth/eyes are arranged

Should oekaki even be in this section? Wouldn't it be more suited towards the creativity section since it uses toning tools and such and doesn't fit entirely with what we usually think of when it comes to pixel art?

The definition's really ambiguous to me so I don't know

[Corvidophile]

I was looking for the B/W sprites merely out of curiosity for the game's content, haha. I understand what you mean by saturation shifting, I tend to shade heading straight towards black, essentially. People have said it's boring, and I agree, but I can't seem to achieve acceptable form without it, and when I try to switch out colours on the established boring shading... I don't like it! I like it on other people's work, but damn if I can't get a feel for it, because whenever I've tried, I end up reverting to dull. Maybe I should try slapping on some crazy colours to define form and then calming them down?

EDIT: Dunno, not gonna object to wherever you stick the thread. I generally don't use the toning tool straight, the biggest use of it is on Bowser and that yellow cat. I use it to sloppily outline different sections of shading, and then dither by hand to blend everything, trying to follow its pattern of, um, I don't know how to call it. Dot spacing?

[CeeY]

Your lineart and dithering patterns are very nice, but the lack of contrast and hue shift makes your pieces look flat.

[LeleleleMAXIMUM]

wup what does this toning tool do?
some members are a bit purist, so anything outside per-pixel editing is frowned upon.

on the hue/sat shifting, just remember that warm light produces cold shadows and cold light produces warm shadows. also consider the texture; as of now everything seems to have the same matte feel. break this up with bowser's spikes and shell, for example. and the parakoopa's leather hat (give it some bumps and scratches, too).

also, on the trees, ALL the leaves are behind the branches. makes 'em look floating, haha.

[StarSock64]

I'm pretty sure the dithering- or matte-looking shading or whatever you wanna call it is the result of a tool, not pixel-by-pixel

[LeleleleMAXIMUM]

as long as it's not a pixellated version of the gradient tool, i'm okay with it (i hope it's not haha)

[Kyleglor]

ITT: what yoshi would look like in Rayman

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

it just looks like low-res digital art to me, and not pixel art so to speak... apart from the two last pieces. their outlines could however be better.
my faves are the rocket mongoose thing and the dragon underneath.
i also have the strong impression that you are afraid of destroying the lineart for your pieces. another impression i have is a strong sense of déjà vu in terms of style and content.
there are a lot inconsistencies in your bowser, especially when it comes to the shell's shape considering the angle at which we see him, and his tail seems a little out of place and the spikes' angle do not follow the tail's shape and angle; there also seems to be an issue with bowser's legs and feet, the angle of the feet and the representation of the fold of the leg... and because of these, despite your good shading, volume is not conveyed effectively.
i'm being a bit more demanding than with others since you seem to draw pretty well :p
you can make colour palettes arbitrary if you like, but hue/ saturation shifting is usually due to conveying the colour of the primary or secondary light sources and its/their repercussion on the material affected through its properties (of the material and the light).

it'd be nice if you presented yourself in the new arrival topic, so that we have a better idea of who you are what you like etc and so that we can welcome you in a more appropriate manner!
oh and i'm moving this into the creativity (creative zone/creativity) subsub forum!

[Corvidophile]

Thanks a bunch for the indepth critique! I had a heck of a time on the tail and eventually settled on a position that looked "right enough," though I wasn't fully satisfied with it. I can't see anything wonky with the angle of his shell though, what looks wrong with it?

On the toning tool, I'm bad with explaining, so I'll compare it to other common digital tools. It's somewhat like a Photoshop texture brush, in that you set the pattern you want it to convey, and it splats it out according to the size of your pen:


And, just like the infamous Photoshop grass tool.. you can use it on its own to "acceptable" standards, but it'll always look repetitive and bandy. I use it essentially to block in shades of colour, and then zoom in and work on detailing and blending it attractively pixel-by-pixel.

[LeleleleMAXIMUM]

fyi: Helm has admitted to using this technique he described just above.

i'd probably use it, sounds like it'll make life better.


also, simple contrast added to head, in photoshop

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

butchered your work, i hope you don't mind

[LeleleleMAXIMUM]

w/c one is the edit?

[Corvidophile]

LOL, I don't mind at all. I see what you mean, though- I curled the shell around his body too tight.

I dunno if I'd take the contrast as high as you suggested, but it certainly does add oomph to the head area, really draws the eye up there. Thanks, guys.