I'm going to need some advice and feedback...

[Exiled]

When I tried to make the creases darker, it looked more choppy... I'm not sure how to use the colors I have to still make it appear shaded.

[pritam]

Can we see how it looks?

[Exiled]

Yeah, here it is.

[pritam]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean, if you take a closer look at how I've shaded the shapes I think you'll be able to sort it out.

[Exiled]

Alright, I tried to simulate the type of shading you had in your picture. How's this?

[Ginto8]

Alright, I tried to simulate the type of shading you had in your picture. How's this?

That looks much better than the original

[Exiled]

Haha, thanks :D

[eatcomics]

Looks amazing. Now if you just work on the sword it'll be perfect :D

[k1net1k]

yeah that hair in the latest pic looks much better

[Exiled]

Thanks everybody :D. What can I do to improve it a bit more?

[pritam]

This is comming together nicely, although I see that you're still using way too many colors, it also seems like you're losing track of the colors you use and this I can understand if you're using Paint.

To make pixel edges appear smoother, simply apply a color that makes the transition smooth from one objects edge to its surounding areas but try to keep the shape as is or improve it if possible, the transition color does not have to follow the entire outline of the object, it only needs to smooth the sharper edges.

[Exiled]

Alright, thanks.

[Van-B]

I would tend to draw at double the resolution, so if that is 32x32 pixels, I'd draw it at 64x64, then scale it down in an art package. This gives a nice smooth anti-alias effect like Pritam mentions - you should only do this on transparent images though, otherwise the edges can get really fudged up. Good anti-aliasing techniques can make all the difference, but they can be time consuming - it depends on the look you are going for but either way you should look it up, if just to see what people do with it, how it smooths out jagged lines and helps give the impression of a higher resolution.

I was making a top down GTA clone a while ago, looked a little similar, but one thing I did do was seperate the legs, torso, and head. That way, I offset the pieces depending on movement speed, I could rotate the torso and head independantly from the legs. It gave a really nice effect, and the character seemed to have much lively attitude than with the plain old sprite. Might be worth considering - as it makes it possible to easily swap out images for different characters, armor, heads etc. You might get away with just 8 of each, draw 8 heads, 8 torsos, and 8 sets of legs, and you have a possible 512 different characters. I think it would save you time in the long run, and make your game far more dynamic - because each part can be animated seperately, like you can be running and slashing a sword, or standing still and slashing a sword, or riding a horse and slashing a sword - all with the same sword slashing animation.

[Exiled]

Sorry I've been inactive on this post. I've been worrying more about programming then the art...

Anyway, I recreated my hero yet again for the sake of practice. I made it specifically for dithering practice since I've never done it before. Here's my first dithering attempt. It's on the shoulders.

[superLED]

I am not a pixel artist, what so ever, but maybe this can help you:

(The dude attacking)

When testing out your colors, pick your mid color, and write on that with the dark and light shades. That way, if you are able to read the text, the contrast is OK.

I made this in a short amount of time. How I drew it is not relevant. Just be sure that the colors are not too similar to each other