Don't know what to do with coloring and shading

The Sloth Jesus

Level 0

« on: June 29, 2014, 06:53:01 PM »

I have this enemy here, and I don't know how to shade it. I am not an artist, but by looking at it I am pretty certain I am doing something wrong. Also is there something I can do better with the coloring.


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s-spooky g-g-ghosts

Level 2

Re: Don't know what to do with coloring and shading

« Reply #1 on: June 30, 2014, 02:13:18 PM »

That's because you didn't quite grasp the idea of shading. Your dithering is good, but you just don't understand yet where you're supposed to put shadows/highlights are where you're not. Through the shapes of shadows you either make things round or flat (or anything else). It really comes down to understanding the basics.

Really, that's all.

But of course that's just the impression I got. Perhaps you wanted this thing to be shaped the way it is (I mean the shading, not silhouettes). Perhaps it looks weird because it's a green wasp without legs and wings and that will just look weird by default. Anyway, keep trying. Pixel art is like sports – you don't need to be exceptionally talented to be good at it and the only way to get better is to practice.


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Glyph

Level 10

Relax! It's all a dream! It HAS to be!

Re: Don't know what to do with coloring and shading

« Reply #2 on: June 30, 2014, 03:15:23 PM »

For coloring, make lighter colors fade to yellow and darker colors fade to blue. Just like if you look out on the horizon in the real world, objects further away will get slightly more blue the further away you are. In pixel art, this can be exaggerated for readability. With this in mind, here's a gif of my palette selection process:

The colors were compressed, but you can see generally what I do. I'm no expert but this gives nice results most of the time. So, more towards blue, and I also desaturate the darker colors more. Without touching the pixel work at all, I changed the colors of your sprite:

I'm not great at pixel art by any means, but I hope that will help the sprite stand out more. Also, I'd cut back on the dithering... but don't feel the need to add more colors.


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Allen robert

Level 0

Re: Don't know what to do with coloring and shading

« Reply #3 on: July 28, 2016, 03:34:30 AM »

Shading with colored pencils is easy and fun. When you shade the entire area smoothly in the lightest value, then add more layers as it gets darker and darker shrinking the area of the last layers. Color your way to relaxation and make beautiful art.