The VG Resource

So, my initial thoughts on this forum is that you are all very elitist; in the sense that you hate recolors, fusions, splicing etc.

But that's OK! Spriting is a niche hobby and you guys wanna keep it pure, I can respect that. With that said, I will continue to do fusions (they're really fun to do) however I wont post them here!

Now, based on the feedback I was getting the general consensus was that the best way to get started was by scratching my own sprite, so I did just that, sort of.

So this is my first "real" sprite/pixel art. And yeah, I kind of stole Naruto's color scheme.



Link for those with broken imgurs (like myself  ): http://imgur.com/ZlZp2jX

Thanks!

I don't think you're using the image code right.

Becomes

But right off the bat there's one problem. See that little thing right at the end of the img code? The fact that you saved into .JPG. JPEG's destroy your work and turns sprites into barely readable messes. Save it into a PNG or GIF instead, preferably PNG.

I can still make out some small pixel bunches on there, so I'll comment on what I can, but, yeah, definitely avoid JPEGs. They are the devil.

The face looks OK, though it should be moved a few pixels to the left; as it is, it kinda looks like ET. The legs and one arm are way too straight to look natural, which is made worse by the shading that goes in a straight line over the whole thing. The hands also look kinda big, but that may be a cartoonish choice.

Also, we're not trying to be elitist; we just want you to make something yourself. What you've drawn there shows loads more effort than any fusion or recolor. We're not being snobs; it literally takes about a minute tops to recolor a sprite, even less thanks to Aseprite and Game Maker making it faster, and a fusion is just cutting and pasting.

Might be off topic, but was it really necessary to make a whole new thread? Just saying.

[EDIT]
Your old thread asked for help getting started, so here it is: learn to draw on paper first. I know that sounds unrelated, but trust me, drawing from scratch on the computer is harder. It'll be a lot easier if you sketch it and then trace over with pixels. Please don't misunderstand; you SHOULD NOT trace another sprite, because that won't learn ya nuthin'. Tracing over non-pixel art that's shrunken down will help you understand the shapes better.

Another thing you should try is making color blobs. This is where every piece of the body is a different solid color, no lines, no shading. You can more easily edit and "sculpt" the shapes until you get something you like, then work on the outlines. Best to combine the two and make color blobs over your sketch.

Don't let us stop you from doing fusions and recolours if that is something you just randomly want to try one day. Just don't expect to show them and say "I've improved see".

Technically we can't "force" you to do anything. We are just trying to help you with what we generally consider standard spriting help, based on what we all went through learning to sprite. We want to help you improve quicker.

There are two main parts of spriting you should know about from the start: 1. technique, and 2. realism. Technique is your approach to outlines, colour choice, shading and general sprite "polish". The realism deals with all the "if this was in real life would it work?" sort of thing. For instance if you were drawing a cat you would need to make sure the body proportions and leg joints are accurate. Or if you were trying to draw a building you would need to consider the angle it is facing and how to translate this into the sprite.

(03-17-2015, 07:55 AM)Joxon Wrote: [ -> ]I don't think you're using the image code right.

Code:

[img]http://i.imgur.com/ZlZp2jX.jpg[/img]

Becomes

But right off the bat there's one problem. See that little thing right at the end of the img code? The fact that you saved into .JPG. JPEG's destroy your work and turns sprites into barely readable messes. Save it into a PNG or GIF instead, preferably PNG.

Thanks, I'm just using the insert image button so I don't know whats going on. I will refrain from using jpegs however.

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(03-17-2015, 09:29 AM)Silversea Wrote: [ -> ]Don't let us stop you from doing fusions and recolours if that is something you just randomly want to try one day. Just don't expect to show them and say "I've improved see".

Technically we can't "force" you to do anything. We are just trying to help you with what we generally consider standard spriting help, based on what we all went through learning to sprite. We want to help you improve quicker.

There are two main parts of spriting you should know about from the start: 1. technique, and 2. realism. Technique is your approach to outlines, colour choice, shading and general sprite "polish". The realism deals with all the "if this was in real life would it work?" sort of thing. For instance if you were drawing a cat you would need to make sure the body proportions and leg joints are accurate. Or if you were trying to draw a building you would need to consider the angle it is facing and how to translate this into the sprite.

I don't expect that, like I said, I enjoy doing it so I will, I just wont post them here

I think I have alright technique, as in not bad, but realism is definitely an issue for me, I'll post up some pictures of what I've drawn IRL.
I constantly struggle with proportions and lighting though..

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(03-17-2015, 08:41 AM)Kelvin Wrote: [ -> ]I can still make out some small pixel bunches on there, so I'll comment on what I can, but, yeah, definitely avoid JPEGs. They are the devil.

The face looks OK, though it should be moved a few pixels to the left; as it is, it kinda looks like ET. The legs and one arm are way too straight to look natural, which is made worse by the shading that goes in a straight line over the whole thing. The hands also look kinda big, but that may be a cartoonish choice.

Also, we're not trying to be elitist; we just want you to make something yourself. What you've drawn there shows loads more effort than any fusion or recolor. We're not being snobs; it literally takes about a minute tops to recolor a sprite, even less thanks to Aseprite and Game Maker making it faster, and a fusion is just cutting and pasting.

Might be off topic, but was it really necessary to make a whole new thread? Just saying.

[EDIT]
Your old thread asked for help getting started, so here it is: learn to draw on paper first. I know that sounds unrelated, but trust me, drawing from scratch on the computer is harder. It'll be a lot easier if you sketch it and then trace over with pixels. Please don't misunderstand; you SHOULD NOT trace another sprite, because that won't learn ya nuthin'. Tracing over non-pixel art that's shrunken down will help you understand the shapes better.

Another thing you should try is making color blobs. This is where every piece of the body is a different solid color, no lines, no shading. You can more easily edit and "sculpt" the shapes until you get something you like, then work on the outlines. Best to combine the two and make color blobs over your sketch.

Yeah, I definitely get what you're saying, maybe 'elitist' was the wrong word. Sorry if I insulted you.

Proportions and lighting are something I'm struggling with on my pen and paper drawings as well, I'll post a few later if you don't mind having a look. 

I'll give that color blob thing a try though, sounds like a great idea.

EDIT: I tried deleting the old thread, but it wont let me :/

I know you have already realized this, but calling us elitists is like saying:

"I drew mustaches over already made art, but the other artists say it doesn't take effort. They are elitists"

If you are Marcel Duchamp and strongly follow Dadaism as your artistic (or anti-artistic) current, then I won't argue - however this is not the case at all.

Learning and teaching is not elitism - after all we aren't even forcing you to follow our steps. But artistically, it would be more interesting for your growth.

(03-18-2015, 08:00 AM)Gors Wrote: [ -> ]I know you have already realized this, but calling us elitists is like saying:

"I drew mustaches over already made art, but the other artists say it doesn't take effort. They are elitists"

If you are Marcel Duchamp and strongly follow Dadaism as your artistic (or anti-artistic) current, then I won't argue - however this is not the case at all.

Learning and teaching is not elitism - after all we aren't even forcing you to follow our steps. But artistically, it would be more interesting for your growth.

TBH the replies to the fusion would probably offend some people and turn them off from spriting, it was just a tad offensive. Any time you need to say 'no offence' then you already know it could be offensive.

However, because I wanted to improve I didn't really mind.

When I said 'elitist,' I meant it in the sense that you don't think anyone can learn or create a good fusion 'sprite.' If I enjoy it I will do it, but the general consensus is that doing so is 'bad' and 'inhibits your improvement.' 

Fusions are fun, don't hate on them because they're not overly difficult or original.

EDIT: Either way this whole 'elitist' drama needs to end, I've already apologised to those who it offended. I just want to learn to sprite.

Well, while we don't exactly all hate fusions, we encourage original work made from scratch around here. Most fusions are just copy and pasted parts, which isn't very original. However, perhaps you could take a shot a creating a custom fusion sprite if you like them so much? Without using any parts from previous Pokemon sprites. I'm not sure how this would fare, but you could try it if fusions are something you like that much.

(03-18-2015, 07:24 PM)Minolose Wrote: [ -> ]TBH the replies to the fusion would probably offend some people and turn them off from spriting, it was just a tad offensive. Any time you need to say 'no offence' then you already know it could be offensive.

However, because I wanted to improve I didn't really mind.

When I said 'elitist,' I meant it in the sense that you don't think anyone can learn or create a good fusion 'sprite.' If I enjoy it I will do it, but the general consensus is that doing so is 'bad' and 'inhibits your improvement.' 

Fusions are fun, don't hate on them because they're not overly difficult or original.

EDIT: Either way this whole 'elitist' drama needs to end, I've already apologised to those who it offended. I just want to learn to sprite.

All joking aside, if you want to learn how to sprite you should probably stop getting so defensive when people are giving you criticism.

If you really want to keep on arguing everyone for explaining why they're saying what they're saying, that's just a self defeating attitude when you're seeking help on improving your sprites/pixel art. Bear in mind that we're not trying to attack your artwork by any means, we're giving you suggestions to help you out.

In the end you should try to make a better effort to trust the advice everyone gives you and just try to follow that advice you know. You're just not gonna get anywhere getting all up in arms sitting in front of your computer monitor talking to us.

I know it's tough because I've been tin the same position you are in several times, even with my own artwork in other mediums. But you're taking the right steps and these guys are here to help you out, and they have been spriting for years and they have the best advice they can offer you if you really want to get good at it, you just gotta let go of what you think is good art and be open to learning new things.