Pixel Art Thread

I'm trying to work on moving past 8x8 pixel characters. I like the blocky look, but there isn't enough room for detail. I'm working on some concepts for a Steampunk-themed game, but my skills are quite lacking. I'd like some advice on how to keep the blocky design (I'm using 16x32 px, doubled for the final version), but get the shading right. Here's what I have so far:

I like this style! I'm sorry I can't help you out but you'll probably don't get much trouble with blocky design. Do you have any informations about your new game or is it just wip?

some of my pixel art

I'm trying to work on moving past 8x8 pixel characters. I like the blocky look, but there isn't enough room for detail. I'm working on some concepts for a Steampunk-themed game, but my skills are quite lacking. I'd like some advice on how to keep the blocky design (I'm using 16x32 px, doubled for the final version), but get the shading right. Here's what I have so far:

I think when people begin attempting shading the biggest mistake they make is to shade each little part equally and individually, when each part should be shaded differently from each to convey a sense of cohesive depth between the separate parts.

What I mean is: figure out how each part of the object is to be shaded in relation to each other, THEN think about how to shade each individual part. And don't be afraid to have one parts not shaded at all, maybe if it's in the shadows or something.

Here's an example that should make what I mean obvious:
Here's a bumpy sphere.The first image is unshaded. The second is poor shading, like how beginners often shade, because each little section is shaded individually without thought to how it fits with the rest. The third is shaded better, because the shading is mostly concerned with giving it an overall shape, and THEN there are subtle alterations to each section to make it look slightly raised. Obviously it was done quickly and only to make a point so the shading isn't the best, but I think it's good enough to get the idea across.

And here's an example with a character I quickly sprited.Notice how #3 has more logical depth and a more logical shape to it than #2. The light source in number #2 is "consistent" in that it always comes from the right, but it doesn't make sense if you consider the person to be a 3d shape.

This is a concept that I didn't understand well for a long while, so I hope this helps. I think that I made it clear enough, but if I didn't feel free to ask questions.

Thanks, that gives me a lot to think about!

When you're picking a color to shade with, do you select something that looks like what you think it should, or do you eye-dropper the base color and modify it? I've never been good at picking colors that go well together (never ask me to dress my daughter, she will end up looking like a pirate-clown), so I'm having trouble figuring out the best way to select colors for the shading.

If I'm trying to pick a new shade of an existing colour then I modify it, if I'm picky about the picture then I'll usually have to try at least a couple of times to get it right. And I'll often modify all of the colours once I'm done.

In regards to colours I find it's good to come up with a consistent shading style within a picture, such as:
washed-out-in-colour highlights to deeply-coloured shadows
brightly-coloured highlights to blue-tinted shadows
de-saturated highlights and shadows with saturated midtones

If you want to make something really pretty use lots of neutral colours and use saturated colours only sparingly. It's not so much about picking primary and secondary colours that are supposed to go well together, but about the varying amount of saturation and the amounts in which colours are used. If a painter used only the brightest, most garish colours then his work would be ugly regardless of how he combines them.

But these are just my opinions. I like to think that I know what I'm talking about, but I wouldn't consider myself to be a particularly great artist (yet ).

Because I was thinking about it I figured I'd experiment a bit with colouring and pixel art. A quick something:

Wow, nice! Sure doesn't look like a "quick something".

cool

Because I was thinking about it I figured I'd experiment a bit with colouring and pixel art. A quick something:

I see the touch of the artist!

critic tip:the shadow should be down under the tree and not right under.The sun is on the late afternoon, so shadows are mid lenght and not much dark.Foliage and sky are rendered well and low clouds are so realistic that are the same i could see from my window.Keep going!

Minecraft TF2-Themed Skins

Yep. I made TF2 class Minecraft skins. Posting all the copyright and stuff would be bothersome in this thread so have a link to my dA instead. I hope you'll consider trying them out if you have Minecraft and like TF2.

I wanted to make little Final Fantasy Tactics like sprites of knights I drew earlier.

Perhaps my next project after Dangerous Dungeons might be about these fellas.

its a fake mock up of a non-existent game, but I kinda want to make it for real now xD I'm so proud I didn't use any black, which is rare for me. So far people say it looks unfinished, am I missing something??

Looks neat from a stylistic stand-point, but it's much, much too cluttered for a game, and there's not much pixel-refinement going on, which I suspect is what people meant by 'unfinished'.

I see a lot of jaggies, out-of-place AA, and muddy outlines. However, I guess the outlines are intentional. I mean, it looks good, but if you wanted it to be more pixel-oriented I'd try to work at a smaller resolution so that the pixels become more important, and it would also, I imagine, be easier to animate the character's movements and whatnot.

Well, I'm not complaining. However, like Stratesto said, it does look a little cluttered. And I like how you used so little of colors. It's better than mine, anyways. <3

IMO, the tree bark should be tinted blue so that they blend in with the background, because they "pop" just as much as the sprites do which makes it look too cluttered. Usually it's a good idea to keep the background and foreground separate colours so it's really easy to read while playing.

Other than than, it looks really nice! I like the outlines especially. I would also like to see it as a real game.

Looks neat from a stylistic stand-point, but it's much, much too cluttered for a game, and there's not much pixel-refinement going on, which I suspect is what people meant by 'unfinished'.

Oh its the lack of visible pixel refinement that makes it look unfinished!! X)

I see a lot of jaggies, out-of-place AA, and muddy outlines. However, I guess the outlines are intentional. I mean, it looks good, but if you wanted it to be more pixel-oriented I'd try to work at a smaller resolution so that the pixels become more important, and it would also, I imagine, be easier to animate the character's movements and whatnot.

Yes unfortunately all this messy nonsense was intentional as it was just the style I decided to go for and I thought that might make up for the 'unrefined' look of the outlines and out of place AA, which I suppose it hasn't quite managed to do.

Well, I'm not complaining. However, like Stratesto said, it does look a little cluttered. And I like how you used so little of colors. It's better than mine, anyways. <3

Thanks!! Everyone is saying it looks cluttered its really an issue >.<

IMO, the tree bark should be tinted blue so that they blend in with the background, because they "pop" just as much as the sprites do which makes it look too cluttered. Usually it's a good idea to keep the background and foreground separate colours so it's really easy to read while playing.

Other than than, it looks really nice! I like the outlines especially. I would also like to see it as a real game.

A blue tree but look a bit weird haha but I guess the tree is the main contributor to the cluttered look, I just really wanted to draw a tree at the time haha. I also guess if i hadn't been so picky and determined to keep the colour count low the tree could have popped out alot less as well as everything else even. Ah well >.<  Thanks for the critique guys, this is really helpful!!!