THEN vs. NOW [show your improvement]

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

I thought this might be fun! Post an old piece of artwork/sprite you did (it can be anything art related) and then post a new one of the same type to show how you've improved since then! :D I think it would be fun to look back and also show people who might just be starting out that it's possible to improve a lot! Feel free to post more than one. :)

Here are mine:


Avatar:
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Banner:
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(You can check out my first banner shop ever here, if you like, from 2005: http://www.pokemonelite2000.com/foru...ead.php?t=6964)

Drawing:
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This first one was from 2004!

Spriting:
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This was the only old sprite I could find xD Circa 2005

[SassySnivy]

This is a great thread concept! Sadly as of now I only have examples of how I improved in pixel art, but I thought I'd show 'em anyway! Taken from my DA. Brace yourselves: long list ahead!

This is how I used to draw Sonic back in 2005. In 5th grade.
These were a friend's Sonic fancharacters, back in 2008.

2007

Spoiler:

^This is when I would use WAY too many colors. I thought it looked professional. 50 57 Shades of Gray colors used, here. 11 blues, 8 yellows, 23 whites/grays, 1 whitish-orange, 11 oranges. Oh, and look. I'm missing three colors! I have no clue hahahah

^Oh hey, look at these fugly proportions

2008

Spoiler:

[img]

2009

Spoiler:

^Getting better but STILL TOO MANY COLORSSS

2010

Spoiler:

Large file

^Again with the awkward proportions

2011

Spoiler:

2012

Spoiler:

As of recent stuff, my gallery is right around here. x]

This was fun digging up all of my old works.

[Evildraws]

I agree with Speed-X, this is a wonderful thread idea!

There's so many pages and artwork I could post to show my improvement over the years, but I think these two comic pages (the second is a redo of the first) shows my improvement most of all.

THEN - 2012

Spoiler:

NOW - 2014

Spoiler:

[Suicune's Fire]

Wow, everyone's improvements are amazing... xD I love seeing all of them! And Speed, wow. I remember a lot of those old ones. XD



.:Sprites & Art:.


2008

Spoiler:

I sprited with a track pad. o~o

2009

Spoiler:

2010

Spoiler:

2011

Spoiler:

2012

Spoiler:

2013

Spoiler:

2014

Spoiler:

(With the exception of the suicune pixel over and the flygon.)

EDIT: Added pictures!

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Thanks for sharing everyone!

@Speed-X
Honestly, even your oldest stuff there is super amazing. xD Those plush toys are SO CUTE AHHH!

@Evildraws
Wow, it's cool to see how you've improved! You can definitely see it in all the details and the backgrounds. :D

@Suicune's Fire
Wow, you have lots of old sprites saved. I wish I did. xD Mine are scattered all over the place. You can really see the improvement over the years, it's really interesting. I remember the first time I saw this sprite and I don't think I will ever forget it: XD

[PTGigi]

Loving everyone's stuff here! :D Makes me want to get back into pixel art seeing all the cool stuff people have come up with O:

First Mewtwo I ever drew (YES I HAVE THIS SAVED *dies inside*) Don't know the date, but somewhere before 2000 I'm going to guess?

Spoiler:

2011 Mewtwo:

Spoiler:

Early 2012 Mewtwo:

Spoiler:

Late 2012 Mewtwo:

Spoiler:

Early 2013 Mewtwo:

Spoiler:

Late 2013 Mewtwo:

Spoiler:

Sept 2014 Mewtwo:

Spoiler:

Maybe later I'll post non-Mewtwo art but this thread reminded me of that first pic XD

[VeloJello]

The dates are a little loose, but here's some selections from my Photobucket. Open the spoilers at your own risk because I ran long.

2012 - this was baby's first year with her Intuos! I entered my first WAR and got into some Original Character Tournaments. I was still experimenting a lot with PaintTool SAI.

Spoiler:

2013 - more experimentation! I really wanted to master digital painting, and did a lot of it, mostly for URPG and GCeA purposes. I also started on the concepts for my Spark comic project that I'm still working on today.

Spoiler:

2014 - lotta art. This year I was less focused on technique than I was on style; I worked a lot to diversify my characters in terms of everything from race to body type to expressions and I think it's really paid off! The WAR this year, and the Nuzlocke comic I'm planning for, have helped me grow a lot because they forced me to learn a good deal in a timely fashion.

Spoiler:

I'd show you more, but this is the oldest stuff I could dig up. Improvement is an amazing thing. Some of the stuff I've made this year makes me cringe, but that's just a sign of how far I've come. Onward to 2015!

[Scytherwolf]

Here's some of my plushie improvement (I picked only plushies of pokemon I have made at least twice and recently):

Spoiler:

2007 Espeon:




2014 Espeon:





2008 Mini Umbreon:




2014 Mini Umbreons:





2009 Lying Umbreon:




2012 Giant Lying Umbreon:




2014 Giant Lying Umbreon (same pattern but improved + better yellow ring fabric):





2007 Houndoom Plush:




2014 Houndoom Plush:

[SassySnivy]

Felt and that kind of fleecy-looking fabric, I think, are great if you're not so confident with your pattern / are experimenting a little bit since they're pretty cheap. But for your most recent ones (namely the Espeon, Houndooms, and smaller Umbreons), are they made of minky fabric? (By the way is that stuff at all expensive; because it seems like any plush that's made with minky is overpriced?)
There's just so much improvement there I love it! Have you thought about making some money off of doing commissions for plushes? There are just so many people out there, I'm sure, that would want to buy a commission: people tend to like to have physical objects to express themselves, mainly soft, minky-y plushies * 7 *

And that Espeon LOOKS SO CUDDLEABLE o A o

[Scytherwolf]

Felt and that kind of fleecy-looking fabric, I think, are great if you're not so confident with your pattern / are experimenting a little bit since they're pretty cheap. But for your most recent ones (namely the Espeon, Houndooms, and smaller Umbreons), are they made of minky fabric? (By the way is that stuff at all expensive; because it seems like any plush that's made with minky is overpriced?)
There's just so much improvement there I love it! Have you thought about making some money off of doing commissions for plushes? There are just so many people out there, I'm sure, that would want to buy a commission: people tend to like to have physical objects to express themselves, mainly soft, minky-y plushies * 7 *

And that Espeon LOOKS SO CUDDLEABLE o A o

I highly recommend fleece for people who are starting out. It's easy to work with, comes in a huge variety of colors, is soft (not wonderful fluffy soft like minky, but cuddly soft), and is cheap like you said. Plus you can still make awesome looking plushies with fleece once you get enough experience; a lot of people do that. I still keep a lot of fleece around for testing out patterns or making quick plushies that I'm not trying to make 'perfect.' And yes, the recent ones are made of minky, apart from the big umbreon which is made of a black fabric called eyelash minky (still minky, but much longer) and yellow faux fur. And yes, minky can be expensive and it's hard to find certain colors. I get most of mine from a store near where I live that often sells it for cheaper, plus has a lot of variety. The only downside is they change what fabric they have constantly so you never know what colors are there. xD

As for the price of custom plushies, it's not just materials but the time put into it. It takes hours to create a pattern, test it if it's completely new, and then actually create the plush. For really complex ones it takes even longer. If people charged less the effort to make them for other people wouldn't be worth it.

And thanks! And yes, I do commissions here and there and I'm actually going to start working on one soon once the person can pay. It's a shiny version of the big floppy vaporeon I made. Heck, one of these days I should just make a couple more vaporeons since I get so many people asking to buy one. xD Though they take a lot of time, haha.