Hi there everyone.  I'm very new to pixel art and very new to art in general, actually.  I've always loved looking and admiring pixel art though and have finally decided to jump in and try it myself.

My first try is to create an avatar to use at Pixel Joint.  I've been trying to create a lonely tower with rather soft colours.  Eh, of course I am struggling a bit.

Here is where I am so far:

 

Update (new roof):


Not everything looks right yet.  I will try and reduce the colours to 16 in the finished work.  Also I am not sure whether I should use dithering or not.  Should the contrasts be higher?

I am here for advice and if this picture is terrible then please tell me so.  I am willing to listen and will change where necessary.  Thanks for your time.

*edit*
I've uploaded the final version to my gallery.



Edited by Solitude - 10 July 2008 at 11:51am

Thank you very much Peach.

The only reference I used is for the palette.  I took a painting and selected colours from it as necessary.  I also did a search for all towers on Pixel Joint to see how other people created their towers.

Thank you about the advice for the dithering.  I've written it down in my notes.

I'll be waiting for more advice from everyone before I continue with the work.  Or is it ready to be uploaded to the gallery?  Eh, that's probably wishful thinking though.

Thank you very much M.E.

I removed the link to the image host.  Thanks, I didn't even realize that one could zoom in by clicking on the image.

Thanks about the idea for a reference.  I'll post an update for where I think the lightsource is.  I'll go and try that now.  It'll be great if the cloud, hills and tower can stand out. 

*edit*

Hmmm I'm struggling to find a good reference.  This is definitely something to keep in mind with my next work.  The lightsource for this image is to the left (and a little to the front).  I'll keep looking for a reference image though.


Edited by Solitude - 17 May 2008 at 5:41am

Haha yes, I was in thought when I wrote that... The lightsource is on the right and not the left. 

Thanks for the image.  That will work quite well.  I'm going to search for more pictures of the tower.  I'll work a bit on the avatar and post an update a bit later.

Thank you very much for your help M.E. That's great of you.

Which parts of my image should I really focus on and change?  I'm not quite sure how to make the objects stand out.

Once again, thanks for your time.

There.  I updated the roof.  It's not perfect yet, but I think it looks better.  What do you think?

Now I'll try and do something with the background.  Eh, I'll play around a bit and see what works.

Thank you so much for your help M.E. !  The world needs more people like you.  Without you I would have had no idea how to make the image better.


Edited by Solitude - 18 May 2008 at 5:14am

Thank you very much Metaru.  I'll go try that out.  That's a good reference.

Have a wonderful time!

Edit:

 

I think this roof looks much better.  I'm still busy working on it though.  Will hopefully have a better background tomorrow.

Edit:

Well if I understand correctly then I can only bump this thread after three days.  I've worked a lot on the avatar though and I hope it is good enough.  I'm pretty impressed with myself.  Eh.

Final?:

      or     

Good enough?  What do you guys think?  The second image is just a bit cleaner.  I don't know which one would be considered better.


Edited by Solitude - 20 May 2008 at 8:13am

Don't worry, sometimes such thing is needed, you understand that we might forget about some threads, as we are as busy as you in our own projects and stuff. but lets back OT.

your second one looks cleaner and more polished indeed. so i could say that your piece is technically perfect, but now here comes teh hardest part, and this is to give life and character to your piece. right now reads quite well, but suffers from being extremely boring and generic, so your next goal should be about how making this little piece more unique, or how to give it more dinamism. you could try to experiment with some colors, or adding elements to it, or animating it, etc. just be careful to not to saturate by addind as much as posible. your space is limited, and what you decide to add should be space wise.

good luck~

Hi Solitude,

Nice updates.
If you want to work some more on it I would suggest
to take the reference and play with colors and contrast
to really nail it down as close as possible.
I'm not saying that you haven't made progress but the
piece still looks a bit simple.
Even on a small canvas you can really try to figure out
what a tower is.
At the moment the roof doesn't look like a roof to me.
It is more what a toy roof looks like. Or more like a
chinese hat.
Maybe try to find out what the material is that the
roof is made of. (Stone, grass or whatever)
And try to mimic the structure of that material.

Best regards from

M.E.

It's been a while.  Work has kept me too busy to pixel.  But I am back now. 

Does this look better?