My Fakemon and Other Pokemon Sprite Stuff

[tditdatdwt]

Leevo 2.0
..maybe?

[Gors]

no.

everything's been said in prior posts; sprite isnt about drawing in MS paint. It's about strategically placing each pixel, and you didn't do that, due to the high amount of jaggy lines. Here's an example of how to make pixelart



as you can see, rough unpolished lines are OK in pixelart for making sketches, then you need to neaten them by hand. That's what pixelart is about.

the biggest problem here is that you don't even know how to 'draw' properly. One should know how to make the basic shapes such as spheres, cubes, cylinders etc. to start drawing things (complex objects are actually many simple objects tied together!)

Once you get the hang of drawing such shapes tridimensionally and in every perspective, anatomy gets easy, and if anatomy gets easy, stylization also becomes easy.

It's a long way until you can actually draw decently, but don't give up as we all had to start somewhere.

[E-Man]

the biggest problem here is that you don't even know how to 'draw' properly. One should know how to make the basic shapes such as spheres, cubes, cylinders etc. to start drawing things (complex objects are actually many simple objects tied together!)

Once you get the hang of drawing such shapes tridimensionally and in every perspective, anatomy gets easy, and if anatomy gets easy, stylization also becomes easy.

This actually gives me a good idea for a little exercise for this guy to try. Since a lot of characters and objects are made with simple shapes, what he could do is take an existing character and draw on top of it to see how many shapes he could break it down into. Once he does that, all he needs to do is replicate the shapes (and possibly pose them into a new character pose) and then draw the character outline to encompass the shape.

Here is an example of what I mean.



It doesn't have to be this geometrical in case you're wondering, but I like using geometric shapes over organic shapes because I get a better sense of depth and volume that way.

[Speed-X]

Along with all of the things that Gors, E-Man, Proton, Hoeloe, and Previous have gone over, I have one or two things to add.

Expanding on learning how to draw before you sprite: if it helps, draw out the concept you're going for on paper or on the computer (ideally if you have a drawing tablet), first. If you have the capabilities and it's an image drawn out on paper, then scan it. Shrink it to the appropriate size and worry about pixeling over that. Therefore, you can focus more on the placement of individual pixels and how important it is.

Secondly, I'd work with something a tad larger if I were you. Nothing too large, just bigger than what you have here. Therefore you can focus on balancing out both structure and detail. :>

[tditdatdwt]

thanks.. i'll look into everything before i post something else next year or so..
i know how to draw by the way....

[Gors]

it's easy to say that you know how to draw; everyone knows. But just drawing is one thing, knowing the basics behind it is another. And the basics involve shape, line, volume and character design, to name a few. If you don't have a decent amount of training, then chances are the final product will suck*

So it's advised to polish up on those basic skills and understand why things are like this. Then you can apply it in pixelart, which has the same techniques with some twists.

*DO NOT BE AFRAID TO SUCK. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO SHOW YOUR SUCKY ART. I think this needs to go noticed to everyone, because sucking is not failing. Sucking is part of the fun of learning and if you don't suck, then you won't own at pixelart

as a motivation, here's my pixelart from 2006



it's ok to suck, sucking is not bad, just try and aim to always do your best!

[Speed-X]

I dont intend to sound condescending, but what exactly is your purpose of posting it if you dont plan to post another update again for another year? I understand if youre a busy person with a busy schedule. But nonetheless, if you can take enough time to make something, then why not spend that same amount of time to take advice to heart and get better?

I apologize if this post came off as condescending. In no way did i intend it to sound that way. I am just genuinely wanting to know, is all. :>

[Sketchasaurus]

thanks.. i'll look into everything before i post something else next year or so..
i know how to draw by the way....

We're not trying to say "you suck, you don't know anything" that's not what the purpose of critique is. There's a lot that goes into both spriting and drawing than just "make lines, add colors" I'd like to point out that drawing is often the practice of depicting 3-Dimensional objects on a 2-Dimensional surface.

There's a clear distinction between being able to draw (which everyone is able to do to some degree) and being to draw "properly" or competently, as mentioned earlier by Gors. What is lacking here (and I'm not saying it's a bad thing because everyone has to start somewhere) is an understanding of Form, depth, proportions, lighting and shadow, and color sense. I could go on, but honestly everyone here has done a good job of covering this sort of thing already.

I've seen countless "Fakemon/Fan-Pokémon" that honestly lack any solid design or idea behind them, they're just basically "Unreadable blob with hyper saturated colors and anime eyes slapped on; oh, and it's got a weird sounding name that's element + what-it-is" That isn't what makes a design a Pokémon. at all. really, don't do this. Pokémon are typically more often based on animals in nature, mythical creatures, or even visual puns (example: Eggsectuor is literally an "egg-plant") Usually evolutionary stages are also disticntly differentiated from eachother in some way, either via palette swaps and design modifications: sure, the relationship between stages can usually be inferred based on the design, but they're made different enough so that they may look appealing on their own as a design. I could go on at great lengths explaining the design sensibilities of certain Pokémon and common mistakes are made by the Fakemon community at large, but honestly, I think that it'd be all for naught if you don't want to put forth the effort.

I'm sorry if I'm coming across as "I'm better than you, I know best" but I feel as though you haven't been fully engaged in the discussion. Part of being able to learn is by continuously trying new things, saying "I'll do it later" only hinders growth and defeats the purpose of asking for help. I know it's hard asking for help, but we're here to help everyone improve at Spritecraft, that's why people here are taking time to post critique at all.

[tditdatdwt]

I dont intend to sound condescending, but what exactly is your purpose of posting it if you dont plan to post another update again for another year? I understand if youre a busy person with a busy schedule. But nonetheless, if you can take enough time to make something, then why not spend that same amount of time to take advice to heart and get better?

I apologize if this post came off as condescending. In no way did i intend it to sound that way. I am just genuinely wanting to know, is all. :>

I'm not busy nor do I have a schedule woot. And I said that as a joke since the last time I posted was a year ago..