My first attempt at pixeling a sword.

[epicasian]

Comments please?:D
http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/4381/image1hf.png

[hurstshifter]

Looks very nice. Maybe put a little more detail into the hilt. Blade looks very nice.

[epicasian]

Looks very nice. Maybe put a little more detail into the hilt. Blade looks very nice.

Thanks. I want to put more detail in the hilt, I just don't know how I would approach it; ie where to shade.

EpicAsian

[ibly31]

Looks great! Unless your going for a cartoonish approach, you should add irregularities. In the real world, nothing is perfect, theres always little dents and discolorations. I'm not very good at it, but you might have more luck making things more realistic that way.

[X Abstract X]

I really like it except that the shading on the blade looks a little too perfect. The dark line between the left side and center of blade is really distracting.

[epicasian]

I lightened up the blade, (tried) to anti-alias the tip of the blade and redid the hilt. I think that the hilt looks too perfect. Does anyone have a suggestion on how I might add some irregularities to it?

http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/5430/31413458.png

Thanks,
EpicAsian

[dandymcgee]

Does anyone have a suggestion on how I might add some irregularities to it?

Irregularly. Seriously though, if it were a process it wouldn't look natural. IMO, looks really good so far.

[zeid]

Some suggestions on how to improve the piece:
Here's my edit to try and show what I'm doing, admittedly it's not perfect:


*Pay attention to the different 'forms' (the 3 dimensional way you depict your object). Your hilt though lit from the right direction feels flat because of the way you have done the shading. (It is a flat gradient).
*When making pixel art try and use as few colours as possible and get the most out of those colours. This lets you manage each colour a lot more easily giving you more control.
*When choosing colours try and vary the hue as you move from a dark shade to a lighter one. For instance moving towards yellow as you get to lighter areas or moving towards blue towards darker areas. (Look up the values of different colours, look into contrasting colours, etc. colour theory).

Keep up the pixeling and it will pay off. As always I recommend checking out pixeljoint and pixelation for serious feedback (They do constructive critique so don't expect any "good job" comments unless it's for a piece improving dramatically). Also check out the pixel art links I posted up ages ago here.

If you improve your art skills in general your pixel art will improve. So a good thing to do is draw a lot. There are also pixel art techniques some of which you seem to have used (AA), however the truth is when it comes to making good pixel art, the techniques unique to pixel art come second to good artistic understanding and practice.

Keep up the good work.

[xiphirx]

First, you used way too many colors
The hilt (I guess that is what it is called) on your improvement version is gradiented... This is not pixel art if its gradiented. You need to choose a few shades, and take your time to get it just right. I usually work with 5 shades per color.
Like zeid said, you need to take in consideration the fact that it is 3 dimensional, and not a piece of paper. Using a reference is key.

The blade uses way too many colors and is gradiented. The blood is unrealistic. When does blood stay together and form a nice glob? you need to think of what it took to get the blood on there in the first place. I'm pretty sure that's jamming it into someone/thing, so he blood should be splattered. To be honest, your first version is better than the second, you have more depth in it. The colors on the second one are too similar. The handle is also quite short

[epicasian]

Thanks guys for all the constructive criticism and compliments. I'm going to start from the basic outline, and redo the shading. Hopefully, It will look better this time.:D


~EpicAsian

EdiT:I changed the hilt and handle. I tried to make the hilt look like it was pointing at you. What suggestions do you have for improving the blade? Thanks again for the constructive criticism and compliments:D.

[xiphirx]

Thanks guys for all the constructive criticism and compliments. I'm going to start from the basic outline, and redo the shading. Hopefully, It will look better this time.:D


~EpicAsian

EdiT:I changed the hilt and handle. I tried to make the hilt look like it was pointing at you. What suggestions do you have for improving the blade? Thanks again for the constructive criticism and compliments:D.

Much better!

Look at the hilt, and think of a piece of 2x4 metal. The light source is from the top left, so judging from that the hilt should be highlighted at the top half, and the bottom half should be dark. right now, it looks like a pole.

The blade is very dull, its generic. Look at what zeid did, see the curve in? that adds a little flavor and style to it. You should look at some different swords from around the world and come up with a style that you think fits you best.

[xiphirx]

Oh, haha, I forgot that I made an edit. I hope you learn from it, although I think its pretty shitty, so ... don't take this as a perfect example. I totally screwed up the blood, and felt that a bare sword was better haha.

Side-By-Side comparison :D
Mine > Yours > Zeid's

[lotios611]

I like you version. Where is your lighting source? To me it look like it's the upper left.

[xiphirx]

I like you version. Where is your lighting source? To me it look like it's the upper left.

That's correct.

[epicasian]

I tried to improve the hilt, but I don't know what to do about the blade. I want the sword to curve down on the lighter side of the blade, but I don't know how to do curves.



Thanks,
EpicAsian

P.S. Sort of like this type of curve: