The VG Resource

Hello! I'm Havegum( Aka. Gumby)
I'm a NG art forum regular and I've recently done some pixel art stuff.
I heard one can make multiple threads for each piece, but I like to keep things tidy and therefore I wish to make this my personal art (showcase) thread!

Comments and critique are more than welcome! - I especially need help with what colors to choose, and how to do hue shifting properly!

To kick things off, I'll post some stuff I've done!
Here's something I did to showcase myself in case anyone back at NG wanted to collaborate and create a game.


Here's something I did for the pixel poster collab.
I got fontpaged for publicity of the project. (How do I get the satellite dish to look more natural?)



That's it for now. Please tell me how you do things here, I'm not sure what the norms and rules are.

Looking forward to your comments and crits!

in that top one
dont dither
hell don't dither period unless for some strange reason you're required to limit your colors. dithering only exists to add middle tones when color limitations are in place, and to add texture, and neither of those apply to anything going on in that picture


you seem to be pillowshading in that top one a lot (using a lightsource coming directly from the viewer's eyes) which looks really ugly and should never be used. I might see some banding going on with the grass tiles but i'm not really zoomed in all the way so i'm not entirely sure.

also, you dont have this problem in the second picture, but the first one has very little contrast between shades, this in addition with all the """"""technical"""""" problems with the piece make it look really flat and rushed

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hopefully you're not one of those members that posts their stuff here and expects nothing but praise because it looks like you have some potential

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also also


that character in the first piece is really /blah/, nothing about him/her/it stands out at all, and it's really unmemorable. i know you said it was just an example, but that shouldn't be an excuse to make something lazy, the opposite should happen really, because it's an example of what you can do, you should make it look as good as, or even better than what you normally do. you want to impress someone with a preview/portfolio of your work

Simplicity aside, it looks really nice. Extra points for using colors that actually go well together instead of using preset colors.

Thanks both!
I'm glad I came to this forum!

I updated it slightly, and put in two other character designs. Both unfinished/wips, but how do I make my chars more interesting? Use more vibrant colors? Original shapes? Poses?
Also, where do I do pillowshading? and how do I fix it?

And what is banding?

(05-06-2010, 04:11 PM)Havegum Wrote: [ -> ]how do I make my chars more interesting? Use more vibrant colors? Original shapes? Poses?

YEAH AL, I'M GONNA GO WITH 'ALL OF THE ABOVE'
YES THAT'S MY FINAL ANSWER

Quote:Also, where do I do pillowshading? and how do I fix it?

on the bottom of the Giant Dull Looking Blimp, the blueish area is really pillowed
the grass tiles are a little too, mostly in the dirt area though

the banding is going on in the grass and baloon part of the blimp deal

Quote:And what is banding?

this post explains it pretty well(complete with pretentious overtones!): http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/...4#msg92434

the entire thread is actually pretty helpful too if you can get past the part where helm thinks he's God's Gift To Art

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though, to describe banding in a sort of dumbed-down way: it's when you 'stack' pixels on top of eachother and create a sort of stair-steps effect

The thing that bothers me most is that on the top image, the grass needs a LOT more contrast between shades.
There are like 5 shades there, but it only looks like about two or three because they all blend into one.

edit- and the propellors on the back of the blimp are way too jaggy
add some AA to the outlines so they don't stick out from the background so much.

edit again- and the problem with the satellite dish is that you dithered as 1up (SGB) said above, you should never dither unless you have color limits or are trying to add texture. Satellite dishes are usually smooth, so just use a couple of different shades and get rid of the dithering.

also, you're using a shitload of colors, but they're all extremely dull and rather make everything look so dead and plain. it might be the idea to use completely desaturated colors, but at least put some contrast on them so the whole scenery wouldn't look so flat.

this might help because i'mt oo lazy to give a proper explanation

metaru: posting that image in every thread ever since 2009

edit: since 2007.

and it has worked since then

2 years off no big deal u fuc v__________________________________________________________v

oh yes fuck me lets have a pixel baby

wait nevermind you're already with shawn, sorry baby, it wouldn't work :C

Right, pardon my hiatus, but I like experimenting with different styles and stuff (you know, 3D, spriting, drawing, painting)

Anyways, here's a bridge, I'm not entirely sure how I want to do the ground though ...
I think I'm done with the bridge?

Any opinions and/or suggestions are welcomed!

(05-06-2010, 09:15 PM)1UP+ Wrote: [ -> ]oh yes fuck me lets have a pixel baby

wait nevermind you're already with shawn, sorry baby, it wouldn't work :C

Meet the people of my little world (consisting of a bridge, one person, and his helpful robot assistant

Again, any comments are highly appreciated!

Major problem is that person is *really* stiff

have him in a more dynamic pose, or use a reference or something. It'll look much better. if you have a better pose for it.

And I wouldn't go out and include the nose on a face that small unless it's supposed to be huge.



I'm liking the robot, though~

And one last thing: I'm assuming that the hand-guides on that bridge are ropes. Ropes tend to sag, so try to replicate a sagging rather than the gravity-defying ropes you currently have~