My somewhat-okay (I hope) Spritework

[Squornshellous Beta]

Yeah, I think I can make somewhat-okay spritestuff. If you'd like me to make one for you, please just ask, and provide an image if appropriate. Also, please don't use them without asking, 'kay?

[SIZE=+1]Pixel-Overs[/SIZE]
A pixel-over is when you take an existing image, resize it to be sprite-sized, and then pixel by pixel draw another image on top of it that imitates its outlines and basically turns out looking like a sprite version of the image. If that was confusing, look at the examples below.

[SIZE=+1]Revamps[/SIZE]
Revamping is taking a sprite from one of the older games and recoloring/shading it to the quality of a post-Advance counterpart.

[SIZE=+1]Fusions[/SIZE]
Fusions are when you splice together parts of two Pokémon sprites.

The fourth is Mike the Foxhog's fakemon, Foglobe and Gargraith.
The fifth is Mawile's fakemon, Umbralias.
The sixth, seventh and eighth are my fakemon, Chibbit, Arcowlf and Icearor.

[SIZE=+1]Recolors[/SIZE]
Recolors are when you change the color of the sprites.

[SIZE=+1]Scratch / Mostly Scratch[/SIZE]
Made entirely from nothing, basically, or with tiny parts of another sprite. I have poor scratching skills, but whatever.

The first eight are Moon-panther's Fakemon. Tiiiiiiiiiny parts of Lucario and Blaziken in the last two but it's literally only a couple of pixels so I think it still qualifies.
The last three are Mike the Foxhog's Fakemon. Little bits of Haunter in the third one.

[SIZE=+1]Menu Sprites[/SIZE]
These things. They are tiny and uh.

The Castform were made before HGSS brought official ones.

[SIZE=+1]Ribbons[/SIZE]
Ribbons. Ribbonnnnnnnnnns.

[SIZE=+1]Other[/SIZE]
Stuff that doesn't fit into any other cateogry.

So yeah, C+C welcome.

 

[BynineB]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

Your pixel overs are extremely, extremely shiny, borderline metallic. You need to use a lot more black in the outline. For example, your Suicune is entirely outlined in colour. It makes it seem eatheral.

Your shading also needs work. The Raikou's paw is really off and drops in brightness sharply, giving it a jagged effect. The same with Suicune's muzzle and belly; the highlight drops too quickly.

 

[Squornshellous Beta]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

I don't really like using black in the outline; real things don't have it, you know? But shading, yeah, I always considered it to be one of my worst things. I do try and mimic the shading on the original art, though.
Also, I don't think they look metallic, but I guess that's a matter of opinion.

EDIT: Oh look, an update.

EDIT (2): Oh look, another update, this time an edit of the Raikou and Suicune.

EDIT (3): Yet Another Update. I have a lot of time 'cause it's Bank Holiday! Yeah, I know the outlines on the left / top are weird - I had to scratch-sprite those and I'm not good at that.

EDIT (4): Aand another one.

EDIT (5): Wow, there're a lot of these today.

 

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Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

Yay! Someone who finally has my style in pixel-overing!!! I follow that "little to no black in the outlines" rule as well. (Link to my thread in my sig, if you're interested)

However, the one main discrepancy I see between yours and mine is that your outline segments are one color through and hrough. You need to have at least one pixel of a darker shade at the end, so it flows better on black. This applies to just about all of them here, but that leafless Burmy (If that's what the black thing is) not so much because it's so dark already.

Second, I see that your pixel-overs (The Castforms and Suicune especially) do have somewhat metallic shading, like BynineB pointed out. On the normal-form Castform, it applies to such a degree that it almost appears to be pillow-shaded, which looks strange. The Burmy isn't bad with this, and neither is the Combee (The best one here IMO; it looks splendid!) but the Castforms and, to a lesser extent, Suicune, have this problem.

That's all I have for C+C, really. These pixel-overs are definitely above average, and (I hope I'm not coming across as conceited, because I'm not trying to be) they actually remind me of my style. Keep up the good work and I can't wait to see what else you make!

 

[Squornshellous Beta]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

Hehe, thanks. Actually, it was visiting your gallery that inspired me to do that, so thanks! But they don't have the same colors; look at this, part of the Spinda one magnified 16x:

As I say, the shading doesn't strike me as metallic; must be a matter of opinion. (I have no idea what pillow-shading is, by the way.) But if it is, then what should I do to fix it? Thanks in advance. I do think that my shading is my worst thing. Outlining from scratch is second.
But thanks for the praise.
Also, yeah, it's a cloakless Burmy. It's a shot from the anime, but if I didn't make that clear, then um.

 

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Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

No; I mean just each line segment has the same colors throughout; whereas each one needs to have a darker pixel at the end to smooth it out on black.

And I'm so glad to have inspired you! Thanks for being a fan, and I know I'm a fan of your work as well. Keep it up, you're doing great!

 

[Squornshellous Beta]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

Oh, okay. Thanks, I'll try that with the Beedrill I'm doing.
Thank you!
And while it's not quite relevant, my favourites of yours are the second Darkrai, the Zoroark, the second Lugia, the Ninetales, the Kingdra, Spiritomb, and all four Deoxys.
(What's pillow shading?)

EDIT: Finished the Beedrill. Yeah, I know its eyes are strange.

 

[Patar]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

Click here to find the evils of pillow shading

Pillow shading is just shading starting with the lightest color in the middle and just darker colors coming out. You want to shade with a light source. You pretend that the sun is hitting on your object and you shade accordingly to the sun's rays. If it sounds confusing, just click the link.

 

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Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

Oh, okay. Thanks, I'll try that with the Beedrill I'm doing.
Thank you!
And while it's not quite relevant, my favourites of yours are the second Darkrai, the Zoroark, the second Lugia, the Ninetales, the Kingdra, Spiritomb, and all four Deoxys.
(What's pillow shading?)

EDIT: Finished the Beedrill. Yeah, I know its eyes are strange.

Beedrill's not that bad. About the only thing I see that I'd like to be different is the fact that the points and stinger aren't really that pointy. Its eyes just look a little off-kilter, like, not aligned with the head right. Still, it's a really good PO, and I especially love the way you anti-aliased the littles lines in the wings. Might I ask where the image is from?

(And thanks for liking my work, but if you want to say stuff like that, it'd look better in my thread XD)

 

[Squornshellous Beta]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

@Patar: Oh, right. Well, I do try and shade more as if the light is coming from the top-left-front, so. Guess it's not that noticable on the light color.

@Ryubane: The points and stinger were that pointy 'till I did that tip of yours, so perhaps it's not meant for points? And I did say I knew the eyes were odd. It's from the japanese 'Phantom's Beedrill' Card, which I found on Bulbapedia.
I suppose it would, but I didn't feel like making a seperate post.

 

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Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

Well, that little to no black in the outlines rule is good for just about everything but points, so black is pretty much the only color that'll make them stand out. That's really the only downside to this outlining style, but it does help with a realistic look.

 

[Squornshellous Beta]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

Noted.
As to updates:

I hope the shading is somewhat improved here.

 

[...]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

In my honest opinion, these aren't as good as your previous ones. Pikachu's outlines and shading are great, but he looks very grey and dull, and his eyes are sort of lackluster. Just one white or light grey pixel near the top left corner of his eyes would make him look much better.

Piplup is great, so no comments worth noting here...

Pichu, on the other hand, is far too small. I can't see any reasonable details on it and he almost has the appearance of a Chao sprite. This style of pixel-overing we share actually looks better on a larger scale, as in, no smaller than the Pikachu you have here. Piplup's an exception, but it's a rare one. I'm not saying you should stop making small ones like this; just keep that in mind.

 

[Squornshellous Beta]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

Actually, the image was this exact size - it didn't shrink at all - and so there's not much I can do for that, but I thought I did put a light grey pixel near the top of the eye. Oh well.

 

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Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

Well, there is a light grey pixel at the top of the eye, but it isn't bright enough to appear shiny. And if an image is that small, it can be very difficult to PO, so now I understand why it looks a little squished. Still, they're good sprites and better than most I've seen, so you should still be proud. :)

 

[Sandstone-Shadow]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

What gives your sprites a pillow-shaded look is that you have shadows above the highlights. Here, look at this picture:

The ones on the left are your originals (the top one magnified obviously) and the ones on the right are the ones I edited a little bit to show you what I mean. See how on the original Pikachu, there are light colors on the arms, head, legs, etc. but then there's a darker shade above it? This shadow is what causes the pillow-shaded look; it makes your sprite look like it has a highlight completely ringed by shadow, which isn't what naturally happens. Don't put any darker shades farther to the top left than the highlights; this is what causes pillow-shaded looks.

Part of the pillow-shading also comes in in that every time you have the lighter shadow color, you have the darker shadow color too. Switch this up a bit; not every shadow has to fade into the darkest shade. Some parts of the body will be more cast in shadows than others, but especially on your Pikachu, all the shadows get as dark as they can possibly be, and it looks less realistic.

Hope that helps =) Other than the pillow-shading, you have some pretty nice sprites; I especially like the Raikou and Suicune. Planning on doing Entei as well?

 

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Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

You make a good point, Sandstone-Shadow. However, The way you've placed it, the arm looks rather angular due to the lack of so-called pillow shading. In my opinion, (Your mileage may vary; it seems that you weren't as impressed as I was with the Pikachu) that one row of shading (On the arm and the top of the head) atop the highlights gave it a more rounded appearance, almost cuddly, like a Pikachu should be. Don't get me wrong, your point is nicely backed up and your images are good, but I think it was that slight pillow shading was what gave it a more realistic look. Please understand. :)

 

[Diz]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

I think a better example of Pillow Shading would have been the Combee. You have placed the highlights of the Combee in the middle of it's faces, where it seems that the light is between the viewer and the subject. The problem with that would be the fact that you also have highlights on the top of the Combee, and also to it's visible side. That makes it seem like the light is in the upper right hand corner of the image, as well as being in between us and the Combee, which is really weird.

Another thing, eyes. I've the eyes on your sprites look rather button-y, like something from a doll. Most eyes have a white, a colorful iris, and then an inner part, the pupil. That is quite a lot of detail to include in something as small as a traditional sprite, so the artists of the game sprites simplified it. They have an outline that is usually dark, the white of the eye, and then the pupil. Now, the game sprites tend to be smaller than your PO's so you can allow for more detail. I know it's a bit harsh to say, but right now your eyes look like demon holes drilled into Pikachu's head

 

[Sandstone-Shadow]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

You make a good point, Sandstone-Shadow. However, The way you've placed it, the arm looks rather angular due to the lack of so-called pillow shading. In my opinion, (Your mileage may vary; it seems that you weren't as impressed as I was with the Pikachu) that one row of shading (On the arm and the top of the head) atop the highlights gave it a more rounded appearance, almost cuddly, like a Pikachu should be. Don't get me wrong, your point is nicely backed up and your images are good, but I think it was that slight pillow shading was what gave it a more realistic look. Please understand. :)

Hmm, this is true. =) I think you could accomplish the same thing without having the shading above the highlights, but that does the trick, too. Maybe that's why it's called "pillow" shading; it does kinda work how you described. I guess I'm not a big fan of it, though.

 

[Squornshellous Beta]

Re: My somewhat-okay (I hope) Pixel Overs

Thanks, guys; I will take this into account, though the reason for it was because I have the light source from the top-left-front, so it seemed like there'd be some light shadows near the top.
And Sandstone, the Suicune / Raikou artwork contained Entei too, but it was far too much of a hassle to do too. Maybe if I find a good image, but yeah.

EDIT: The eyes... never seen the eyes in the anime? They're just like what I'm doing now, or so I like to think.