Piles of Pixels [Selkie's Sprites]

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Yo! Welcome to my gallery~

I've been a spriter for a few years already [only just started getting better] so here are some of the pixels I've made over the years.



Sprite Edits / Fusions
http://i.imgur.com/yr1bpQt.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/XWqASbb.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/L3ah7w5.png
I don't do very much edits of Pokemon sprites but I prefer scratching on stuff. It's so much funner that way XD

Fakemons

https://36.media.tumblr.com/3cf52a4e52287759da3924e05c0351af/tumblr_inline_nnrdbmg12F1s3ul27_540.png
Name: Good god can I just call them Lupins? Lupinmon?
Type: Dark
Habitat: Urban

https://40.media.tumblr.com/8be8ec88468bde302613e984497c3983/tumblr_inline_nni4saL83c1s3ul27_540.png
Name: Pending
Type: Fire / Flying
Habitat: Volcanoes!

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/001/e/c/pataquotl_redux_d_by_willowtruise-d70d8ce.png
Name: Pataquotl
Type: Grass/Ground/Flying
Habitat: Rainforests
Stage: TBD
Description: [...]

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/347/0/f/allstarters_by_willowtruise-d6xuq4m.png
Description: Set of commissions for another dA user.

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/074/9/c/_fakemon__tuxewing_by_willowtruise-d5y5qpd.png
Name: Tuxewing
Type: Normal / Flying
Habitat: Urban areas
Stage: Stand-alone
Description: Tuxewings love to hang out on the roofs of tall buildings in the city. They often squabble over the trimness of their feathers and the unique tuxedo-like patterns. City residents often consider these Pokemons nuisances and will shoo them away when they fly nearby.

http://i.imgur.com/ww5NsVE.png
Name: Blitfin
Type: Electric / Water
Habitat: Ponds
Stage: 1
Description: These small fishes can discharge electricity in small amounts from their antennae in order to stun their prey; typically larvae or other smaller fishes. Blitfins are found in ponds, and are popular starting Pokemon for younger children due to their easy care.

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/180/8/1/81a83560193ec22f7e10f3943612033f-d55dt9w.png
Name: Doll
Type: Varies depending on the doll
Habitat: n/a
Stage: Stand-alone
Description: These Pokemon are dolls that stay with children throughout their childhood, becoming possessed with the desire to stay with their owners over time.

http://i.imgur.com/RNI4GqX.png
Name: Akaname
Type: Dark / Water

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/041/6/a/ayimark_by_willowtruise-d5uhlwh.png
Name: Ayimark
Type: Water / Steel

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/050/c/1/c1d25a185cff331e323c7df2416674a3-d4q2dg2.png
Name: Cleftrenome
Type: Electric / Fighting

http://i.imgur.com/GEHdl.png
Name: Smokarf
Type: Ice / Fire


Tiny Icon Practices
https://41.media.tumblr.com/e688ff579efe8b81975de5fb909a155e/tumblr_inline_nni4qfxPsH1s3ul27_540.png https://41.media.tumblr.com/2764095fcb59a799a3d1fdf4acaee6b7/tumblr_inline_nni4q8R7rl1s3ul27_540.pnghttp://orig06.deviantart.net/5805/f/2015/160/d/8/pirateicon_by_willowtruise-d8wpdyp.gif http://orig05.deviantart.net/982f/f/2015/160/c/0/connacht_by_willowtruise-d8wl0ay.gif http://orig11.deviantart.net/8ccc/f/2015/160/9/b/pig_dog_by_willowtruise-d8wpeag.png

Random Pixel Art
Stuff I'm too lazy to categorize properly~
http://orig04.deviantart.net/8d6b/f/2015/161/4/6/trey_lumens_by_willowtruise-d8wtd5b.png
http://orig15.deviantart.net/c631/f/2015/150/0/8/bat2_by_willowtruise-d8vf05p.png http://orig03.deviantart.net/b046/f/2015/150/1/4/icon___ginko_by_willowtruise-d8ve24u.png http://orig00.deviantart.net/6562/f/2015/150/c/c/icon___shui_by_willowtruise-d8vcovq.gif
https://40.media.tumblr.com/3d83f677fac3aa934da1ed4f54ab7f6e/tumblr_inline_noiwyzEekD1s3ul27_540.png https://33.media.tumblr.com/1bb8cc023cafcd2b2158369da17ee0c6/tumblr_inline_nogh5nIxVe1s3ul27_500.gif https://40.media.tumblr.com/2642279807ae0e090fb7b77123578ceb/tumblr_inline_nointniPJc1s3ul27_540.png http://orig01.deviantart.net/0932/f/2015/137/a/e/a_city_guard_by_willowtruise-d8tl3dn.png
https://38.media.tumblr.com/c6d101be73c6a6115dad65175e4c9594/tumblr_inline_no3ub1gj8G1s3ul27_500.gif https://38.media.tumblr.com/bab95cd70ba9a6cedc1eef6d2c4f514a/tumblr_inline_no3uc7pEEA1s3ul27_500.gif https://31.media.tumblr.com/5a01177d5626b34e11d998c741964da1/tumblr_inline_no3ugeN0pi1s3ul27_500.gif
https://41.media.tumblr.com/21c7ad631e48bea84ebe20a743548894/tumblr_inline_nnldqjt2Sf1s3ul27_540.pnghttps://40.media.tumblr.com/62164d17f36e36a8ed957adcec7fd72e/tumblr_inline_nnldqop36v1s3ul27_540.pnghttps://40.media.tumblr.com/6da6d4e53238e5ac612d4d03c28deead/tumblr_inline_nnldj3FsBb1s3ul27_540.pnghttps://40.media.tumblr.com/7817122bfc6a1b8bdb8f3a0235639a8c/tumblr_inline_nnldl5Kw2c1s3ul27_540.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/21a8009d1421dd6355780771b23d1074/tumblr_inline_n2vgemlozy1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/506cd6532af9c4f30fe0025ae4fc3f02/tumblr_inline_n4p3wcnY3U1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/b0267111bb585de710baf168e77f5b12/tumblr_inline_nasfwtQSIJ1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/29c9bf25b8f444793f332367b8013434/tumblr_inline_nasg1dkbmw1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/b7f4ac36257d02141f576813da94f2bf/tumblr_inline_nasg5dZgG31s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/e071d02494616bb82f249300c54e4d39/tumblr_inline_n128nnfKbs1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/c64012e826b924f5c78ed3f5019f2b02/tumblr_inline_n12fv192fH1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/662efe560625f57301c5a086e2afe218/tumblr_inline_n0rguoVFjm1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/230301c0fb5bf1abdaf5eadceba8db8e/tumblr_inline_n0pqphId6J1s3ul27.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/AbW1iUC.pnghttp://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/362/c/0/icon2014_by_willowtruise-d6zsuaz.gifhttp://i.imgur.com/ILS7x39.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/ZZIp31m.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/XtOFqo5.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/R8IjF30.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/teeVYra.png[/IMG[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/m7dnVXt.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/goBNlXo.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/f3v3fs3.png




General Pixel Art Stuff (Think WIPs and discussions and such)
WIP Wednesdays


#01: 04/29/2015 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?2468-Piles-of-Pixels-Selkie-s-Sprites&p=146643&viewfull=1#post146643)
#02: 05/08/2015 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?2468-Piles-of-Pixels-Selkie-s-Sprites&p=148047&viewfull=1#post148047)
#03: 05/13/2015 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?2468-Piles-of-Pixels-Selkie-s-Sprites&p=149112&viewfull=1#post149112)
#04: 05/20/2015 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?2468-Piles-of-Pixels-Selkie-s-Sprites&p=150993&viewfull=1#post150993)
#05: 05/27/2015 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?2468-Piles-of-Pixels-Selkie-s-Sprites&p=152422&viewfull=1#post152422)
#06: 06/10/2015 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?2468-Piles-of-Pixels-Selkie-s-Sprites&p=154369&viewfull=1#post154369)
#07: 06/17/2015 (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?2468-Piles-of-Pixels-Selkie-s-Sprites&p=155487&viewfull=1#post155487)



Progress of some stuff
[Unfinished Snowboarder AA-style] (http://i.imgur.com/zeAVdoA.png)
[Ayimark] (http://i.imgur.com/VFTNIVU.png)
How I Do Shading (sometimes) (http://i.imgur.com/AAhEKkQ.png)
Colors of two sprites (http://i.imgur.com/LCRCakb.png)

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Your edits/fusions are really impressive. They pretty much look like scratches! The little pixel art house is adorable and those swords are really cool, especially the shading on the first one.

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Thanks! For the fusions I just take the outlines and general shading and then rescratch over it. I'm no good at making fusions that look like Pokemon to be honest so that's why I scratch.

[TheoreticalSelkie]

http://i.imgur.com/AbW1iUC.png

Quick update, random sketch > random sprite.

I'm starting to like the lineless style more than anything else.

[Braixen]

Hey!
I just wanted to post and let you know I really admire your fakemon called "doll" and that your sprite art is amazing in general. Great job! I don't come across a lot of pixel artwork but it's nice to see. I know one person who does it very well and he has made me develop a huge degree of respect for the medium. Keep it up, I hope to see more from you.

[TheoreticalSelkie]

I'm pretty tired, but I finished this more or less.

http://i.imgur.com/kIUHZBJ.png
http://i.imgur.com/youXOQF.png
http://i.imgur.com/FcAU6S4.png

[Suicune's Fire]

Wow, I love the new sprites you've posted. O: They're detailed and look very well done. Cool style, as well. It looks like it's come out of a game. xD Especially the background as well. I can imagine that took you a long time to do. Is it for anything in particular, or just for fun? And yes, I would certainly say that scene is finished. xD

I also love a lot of your other work, namely the swords (especially the first one o.o) and the texture of the wood in the scroll with the Japanese characters on it. The isometric house is also really neat, and perfectly proportioned. Your shading technique is spot-on. Very professional looking. :]

I love the fakemon as well, namely Ayimark. Very awesome. :D You're remarkably talented with pixels!


~SF.

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Hey!
I just wanted to post and let you know I really admire your fakemon called "doll" and that your sprite art is amazing in general. Great job! I don't come across a lot of pixel artwork but it's nice to see. I know one person who does it very well and he has made me develop a huge degree of respect for the medium. Keep it up, I hope to see more from you.

Sorry about the late reply, but thanks! Who is this person you speak of? ;0


Wow, I love the new sprites you've posted. O: They're detailed and look very well done. Cool style, as well. It looks like it's come out of a game. xD Especially the background as well. I can imagine that took you a long time to do. Is it for anything in particular, or just for fun? And yes, I would certainly say that scene is finished. xD

I also love a lot of your other work, namely the swords (especially the first one o.o) and the texture of the wood in the scroll with the Japanese characters on it. The isometric house is also really neat, and perfectly proportioned. Your shading technique is spot-on. Very professional looking. :]

I love the fakemon as well, namely Ayimark. Very awesome. :D You're remarkably talented with pixels!


~SF.

Squeee~ Though I don't like how bad I am with shading, I'm still trying to improve on it. It's a bit tougher when you try to throw in textures, but it's doable. Definitely something that needs practice.

As for that scene, it was for a repixel challenge on tumblr because I thought it wouldn't hurt to get some practice making tiles and stuff. I dunno if I want to extend it any further though.

Anyways for a mini-update, two WIP screenshots of two sprites I'm working on:

Shading
http://i.imgur.com/AAhEKkQ.png

Colors
http://i.imgur.com/LCRCakb.png

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Pardon the double post but here are the finished versions of the sprites I was working on!

https://31.media.tumblr.com/662efe560625f57301c5a086e2afe218/tumblr_inline_n0rguoVFjm1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/230301c0fb5bf1abdaf5eadceba8db8e/tumblr_inline_n0pqphId6J1s3ul27.png

I also have 2x versions down below:

https://31.media.tumblr.com/0568e513ca1c5369377206215f00909e/tumblr_inline_n0rgurnsH01s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/c80d466a6d019cf7d413c185e30fbd6b/tumblr_inline_n0pqpkAjIy1s3ul27.png

[Suicune's Fire]

Wow, those look amazing. O: I love the shaded versions. It looks wonderful! Well done. :D They look even more amazing from afar. Impressive. c:

[TheoreticalSelkie]

New sprites!

https://31.media.tumblr.com/e071d02494616bb82f249300c54e4d39/tumblr_inline_n128nnfKbs1s3ul27.png
https://31.media.tumblr.com/c64012e826b924f5c78ed3f5019f2b02/tumblr_inline_n12fv192fH1s3ul27.png

There are also some backstories on the characters from left to right down below:

Baroness Petra Myr

A one-legged lady of war, she lost her left leg to a devastating plague that left millions dead and many more crippled. Despite the loss of her leg, the Baroness is a staunch politician of her district, lobbying for better housing and equality for her subjects.

Ys’ala di’Marlis

Serpentine and slippery, these are the words that come to mind when people think of Ys’ala’s race. Despite these thoughts, Ys’ala is a practiced guide in the mines near the city of Zaisport [A coastal city rich in trade on the ‘mainland’]. Her slippery nature allows her to wiggle through crevices easily and find veins of precious metal. Not to say that she doesn’t like her job, but her one passion is cooking and while she is off-duty, she often sells pancakes and wraps on the street during the day.

Slyph a’Pedris

A wanderer by nature, Slyph often roams the lands between cities. While many of these lands have been explored, he is rooted in the belief that there are still undiscovered things on the beaten path. Slyph is a very friendly person and frequently converses with travelers while on the road.

Travis Byrsson

A simple city guard, Travis comes down from a long line of protectors and guardians of Zaisport. Even a coastal city with ties to pirates and well-loved by all citizens have a need for protection of the walls, and they look to folks like Travis to do that work. While he is a capable guardian, Travis can’t help but feel that there is something wrong with how the world works. These thoughts have been dismissed easily by many of his friends, and now Travis is a quiet man, only speaking to traders and wanderers as they travel through Zaisport onto further destinations.

Wrote it up on the spot since they seemed so flat without some information xD

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Going to throw this up too:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/6c2a2ee5a2dc9de39b2bd1b091e373d2/tumblr_n1rrzbhpjx1tpia1oo1_250.gif

Was experimenting with two color stuff and someone convinced me to animate it a little. XP

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Just going to dump a few pixels here since I've been doing some things? I think? They're in order of oldest to newest.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/21a8009d1421dd6355780771b23d1074/tumblr_inline_n2vgemlozy1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/1497b52e3feba0210fed7fd8589bdca4/tumblr_inline_n45q2gzfuV1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/506cd6532af9c4f30fe0025ae4fc3f02/tumblr_inline_n4p3wcnY3U1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/b0267111bb585de710baf168e77f5b12/tumblr_inline_nasfwtQSIJ1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/867e7424a3fdd5b040a892ec568148a7/tumblr_inline_nasfypNlGn1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/29c9bf25b8f444793f332367b8013434/tumblr_inline_nasg1dkbmw1s3ul27.pnghttps://31.media.tumblr.com/b7f4ac36257d02141f576813da94f2bf/tumblr_inline_nasg5dZgG31s3ul27.png

And a few WIP thing going on here too:

http://i.imgur.com/cFHodCE.pnghttp://i.imgur.com/dUFhwin.png

The second one is technically done, but I'm trying to figure out animations so that's my test sprite xD

[Nagisa]

Ooh, I love your palettes! The colours all look really nice.

[TheoreticalSelkie]

So instead of dumping my finished sprites like I told Speed I would, instead, I'm starting up Work-In-Progress Wednesday for myself. Don't worry though, I'll post those sprites tomorrow. And here's the post for today!


WIP Wednesdays #1 - 4/29/15
So since I’ve been getting back into doing pixels, I figured I’d start doing these every Wednesday when I can. Basically, I’ll post a screenshot of one of my projects and talk about it. So without further ado:


http://i.imgur.com/5fIPodW.png

So this project is actually from last year, except I’ve been on spriting hiatus for so long I never finished it. Here’s the 2x view of this thing. I’m using only three colors for this for fun since I tend to go towards less colors nowadays and it’s been a lot funner trying to figure out how I can use these three colors to play around with shapes and everything. It’s been a lot of work trying to figure it out especially since it’s really easy for things to blend together with the big boss’s main color being the darkest green and then having to use that same color as the outlines for my heroes.

So a bit of context here, this is actually three dudes taking on a tower. Quite a tall one, and ruled by a monstrous demon lord at that. So right now, the only part I have done is them actually getting through the first floor (heck I don’t think they or I have gotten past the entry hall yet. Always a fun experience, so stay tuned if I ever finish this thing.

[SassySnivy]

Gah I love this. And YEY NINJA UPDATED HER THREAD o w o

I look forward to seeing what the rest of the boss' body looks like. As for the view on the canvas, though...I'm assuming that the bottom image and the top image are just kinda meant to fade into each other, no? It actually isn't indicative of the boss being in an upstairs area? If this weren't the case I would point out how it looks a little odd how there are stairs that don't seem to connect to anything. But looking at it more, it actually looks like there are three "layers" or "sequences" going on, here.

Amazing what can be done with three colors, and this just goes to show that!

[TheoreticalSelkie]

YAAAA I UPDATED HEHE

There isn't going to be much lighting for the boss other than the ones on there right now since there's two torches on the back side of the pillar. I'm leaving the rest of the body unshaded because it's dark down there and I may do an animation thing with it later when I finish the rest of the project. Just some experiments with the lighting when I do that and stuff.

And yep, it's currently three different parts right now. I'm thinking of alternating between scenes and hallways (with variations of course) as I go higher and higher. It seems like I might need to make a bigger distinction between the two types of scenes I'm going with but I'll figure that stuff out later.

Also the part about the stairs seeming like they come out of nowhere... I think I forgot a doorway. Oops. I can probably add a scene between that hallway and the heroes entering the tower so it makes more sense that they're entering the hallway through a doorway... or now that I think about it, it works right now since creepy dark hallway into entrance hall with massive golem boss to take down.

So much thinking I can do heheh.

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Taking this opportunity to dump some recent stuff (by recent like from my last hiatus to now probably).

So first up, two weird icons where I was playing around with two colors. It turned out great... mostly! I might do more of these in the future, since they're really good practice for me to have fun with heheh~ If anyone wants the 2x versions, I can upload those too.

https://41.media.tumblr.com/e688ff579efe8b81975de5fb909a155e/tumblr_inline_nni4qfxPsH1s3ul27_540.png https://41.media.tumblr.com/2764095fcb59a799a3d1fdf4acaee6b7/tumblr_inline_nni4q8R7rl1s3ul27_540.png

Next one is an Eeveelution that used to be a wind evolution and somehow turned into a demonic one. Oops. I think I still have the original sketch for the wind evolution, so I can always try that later in the future. It's weird how my projects end up compared to their original blobs of pixels o_O

https://40.media.tumblr.com/8be8ec88468bde302613e984497c3983/tumblr_inline_nni4saL83c1s3ul27_540.png

The next guy was me playing around with rocky textures. No idea if it was a success, but I can say that the back half is certainly a lot better looking than the front half at least...

https://40.media.tumblr.com/6da6d4e53238e5ac612d4d03c28deead/tumblr_inline_nnldj3FsBb1s3ul27_540.png https://40.media.tumblr.com/7817122bfc6a1b8bdb8f3a0235639a8c/tumblr_inline_nnldl5Kw2c1s3ul27_540.png

And finally, little cute dog-lizard thing. It's green. Was trying out green and orange together. Seems to have worked.

https://41.media.tumblr.com/21c7ad631e48bea84ebe20a743548894/tumblr_inline_nnldqjt2Sf1s3ul27_540.png https://40.media.tumblr.com/62164d17f36e36a8ed957adcec7fd72e/tumblr_inline_nnldqop36v1s3ul27_540.png

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Not a triple post D: But anyways this one is a quickie.

https://36.media.tumblr.com/3cf52a4e52287759da3924e05c0351af/tumblr_inline_nnrdbmg12F1s3ul27_540.png

Lupin the Third-based fakemon! Now with all four jacket colors! Because you can't just pick one, right ;3 (okay in all seriousness, I might be going crazy but I don't care)

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Annnd I just missed WIP Wednesday this week so pretend today's Wednesday.


WIP Wednesday 5/8/2015
https://40.media.tumblr.com/565683db485c2beedec45a07cc39e561/tumblr_inline_no215fpjmr1s3ul27_540.png

So yeah I did show Speed this challenge over here (http://compixellated.tumblr.com/post/118082285850/weekly-challenge-86-may-3-2015) on Tumblr. I plan on trying to animate at least three of those guys (I have one done, two more to go) so stay tuned for them later this weekend hopefully!

So to talk a bit about this kind of style, I've always had a preference for lower colors in pixel art. Not quite sure why, but I have this sense of satisfaction when I do stuff with lower colors because the constraints make me think about how to use one color in unlikely places. Though, if you know me, you can see me lamenting how pink goes so well with blue. I feel like I still have a long way to go with color since there are so many good pixel artists that can do some crazy stuff with colors like here (http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/12082.htm) and here (http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/23563.htm). Perhaps I'm just a color nut, but this is one of the best things about pixel art for me.

I really do need to experiment more with color honestly :P.

[TheoreticalSelkie]

I finished three of those Tamagotchi animations riiiiight below:

https://38.media.tumblr.com/c6d101be73c6a6115dad65175e4c9594/tumblr_inline_no3ub1gj8G1s3ul27_500.gif https://38.media.tumblr.com/bab95cd70ba9a6cedc1eef6d2c4f514a/tumblr_inline_no3uc7pEEA1s3ul27_500.gif https://31.media.tumblr.com/5a01177d5626b34e11d998c741964da1/tumblr_inline_no3ugeN0pi1s3ul27_500.gif

Sorry they're kinda small, I'm too lazy to do them in 40x40 for better viewing. Oh wellllll

[SassySnivy]

I keep looking at these new updates but always forget to post wtf

Your Lupin-mice-creature-things are cute. There's just something bugging me about the mouth area, though, just because it looks so plain in comparison to the rest of it. As if the lines weren't finished / finalized around the mouth. As for the color palettes, they're alright, but there's so much more you could have done with them. :> Remember when I said the other day that 100% perfect color optimization isn't always the most important thing? That's kinda what I mean. You used few colors, yes, but you used the bare minimum...or, at least you didn't get very inventive with your palettes. Using few colors is nothing if you don't try to experiment with said colors in a less...mainstream(?) way.

I love what you've done with your Tamagotchi-styled animations though :D The first one looks a lot better now because it doesn't look like the leaf is getting longer by a pixel in one of the frames. I think that's the big challenge for these Tamagotchi-styled sprites; you have to be careful not to make too big of a change or else it could throw the whole thing off, since you're doing it at SUCH a small scale. Also readability is super-important and difficult to achieve for more complex character designs. I love that little propeller...dolphin-thing, that is adorable xD

[TheoreticalSelkie]

I keep looking at these new updates but always forget to post wtf

Your Lupin-mice-creature-things are cute. There's just something bugging me about the mouth area, though, just because it looks so plain in comparison to the rest of it. As if the lines weren't finished / finalized around the mouth. As for the color palettes, they're alright, but there's so much more you could have done with them. :> Remember when I said the other day that 100% perfect color optimization isn't always the most important thing? That's kinda what I mean. You used few colors, yes, but you used the bare minimum...or, at least you didn't get very inventive with your palettes. Using few colors is nothing if you don't try to experiment with said colors in a less...mainstream(?) way.

I love what you've done with your Tamagotchi-styled animations though :D The first one looks a lot better now because it doesn't look like the leaf is getting longer by a pixel in one of the frames. I think that's the big challenge for these Tamagotchi-styled sprites; you have to be careful not to make too big of a change or else it could throw the whole thing off, since you're doing it at SUCH a small scale. Also readability is super-important and difficult to achieve for more complex character designs. I love that little propeller...dolphin-thing, that is adorable xD

On the Lupin thing, I'm going to go back to them later this week and see if I can fiddle around with shading a bit more. Well so far I have every color indexed so I can always fiddle around with them when I have time, but I suspect my issue may require me to just rehaul parts or all of the whole thing. And that's fine! Trying not to go too crazy yet though.

As for the Tamagotchi, they're adorable >w< I learned a ton with animation too since you can only do so much in that constrained space.


And since it's Wednesday, it's time for another WIP Wednesday! This time...


WIP Wednesday #3: On Work Processes

https://36.media.tumblr.com/bfdc2facb1c86d59f19357e9e45c6d5d/tumblr_inline_nobnsjOkOB1s3ul27_540.png

Yep, it’s a bit of an look into my work process. Which is about as fickle as a devil, but this is generally what I went with for this sprite.

So usually I start with a sketch. Pixel art is one of my favorite medium for this because I can be as scribbly as I want and carve out the details later. So as you can see, it’s pretty messy. But the general shape of the object is there. Inspiration-wise, I don’t think I really had anything to inspire me here other than “I want to draw a smiling cat”.

Middle image is something that’s sorta unusual for me as of late. Nowadays my stuff is more blobbish like this one:

https://41.media.tumblr.com/5ea351b541057eb477cd9283663ec683/tumblr_inline_nobo2gp1Gk1s3ul27_540.png

And I’d be left to figure out what the heck I was thinking while I opened up the file at a later date. Usually I’m really good at figuring this stuff out, but in this sprite, my overarching intention was to make something with just three colors: black, white, and a color of some kind. So this called for an outline so I knew where stuff and details would be going first before I started blacking stuff out for shading.

Stuff happens between the second and third picture – I eventually figure out shadows and how to set details apart. There’s not too much in ways of struggling with color other than making sure it’s not contrasting too much with both ends of the spectrum.

As for the effect itself, I think it’s pretty cool. My friend on Tumblr, theinexplicatorium, told me it does look like something out of an RPG and I have to agree. Perhaps I may make a mock-up or something in the future with this included :P

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Weekend Update:

Been going through my dA and updating it so here's some new sprites:

https://40.media.tumblr.com/3d83f677fac3aa934da1ed4f54ab7f6e/tumblr_inline_noiwyzEekD1s3ul27_540.png https://33.media.tumblr.com/1bb8cc023cafcd2b2158369da17ee0c6/tumblr_inline_nogh5nIxVe1s3ul27_500.gif

And since I've gotten quite a few critiques as well, I edited a few of the existing sprites already in my topic:

https://40.media.tumblr.com/2642279807ae0e090fb7b77123578ceb/tumblr_inline_nointniPJc1s3ul27_540.png http://orig01.deviantart.net/0932/f/2015/137/a/e/a_city_guard_by_willowtruise-d8tl3dn.png

[Suicune's Fire]

https://36.media.tumblr.com/bfdc2facb1c86d59f19357e9e45c6d5d/tumblr_inline_nobnsjOkOB1s3ul27_540.png

I love this. O: Seeing the process is pretty cool. Nicely chosen colours. :3 I think to keep the dithering consistent, you could add some to the head, though. :]


https://40.media.tumblr.com/3d83f677fac3aa934da1ed4f54ab7f6e/tumblr_inline_noiwyzEekD1s3ul27_540.png https://33.media.tumblr.com/1bb8cc023cafcd2b2158369da17ee0c6/tumblr_inline_nogh5nIxVe1s3ul27_500.gif

And since I've gotten quite a few critiques as well, I edited a few of the existing sprites already in my topic:

https://40.media.tumblr.com/2642279807ae0e090fb7b77123578ceb/tumblr_inline_nointniPJc1s3ul27_540.png http://orig01.deviantart.net/0932/f/2015/137/a/e/a_city_guard_by_willowtruise-d8tl3dn.png

I love that stereo Tamogotchi one! Love that little headbanging going on there. xD And the other one is cool too. c: I'm kinda horrible at giving critique, but the bottom ones look pretty cool. c: The second bat thing's extended leg looks a liiiittle too long, but that's only if it's not meant to have the same length legs as the first one. xD I like the coloured dude. :]

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Suicune's Fire, the second bat's legs are longer than the first one. They're supposed to be an evo line, but they don't really look like it xD I can revisit the dithering on the snakecat, though I think there might not be a lot of room on the head for it. I'll have to check first to make sure.

And since it's just before Thursday, time for the fourth week of WIP Wednesday!


WIP Wednesday #4: Layers

It’s like 11:38PM right now where I am! It’s still Wednesday! Trust me! This one will be a bit of an extension over from last week's thing about work processes.

Now for a topic close to my heart: layers. Well, colors is actually much closer, but layers is something I’m still trying to figure out. This is a topic being discussed right now over at r/pixelart so I figured that I would talk about it here because why not. So have a layer breakdown of one of my WIPs here:

http://i.imgur.com/YzWp678.png

Quality might be a bit iffy. But that’s how I tend to work with layers in larger bits of pixel art. Most elements are done on separate layers since it’s easier to manage if I make a mistake with that object.

I am aware that my work process is probably terrible. I don’t name my layers. Need proof? Here:

https://41.media.tumblr.com/4df35dcb146aef3ab8e960b779d0c7c0/tumblr_inline_noomx3jKRq1s3ul27_540.png

I mean, I can figure it out just by hitting the eye and seeing what disappears, but it tends to be pretty bothersome to manage. Especially if you did your pixel art on the layer below the current one, or the background layer. However, this process is used for larger sprites that have multiple components. How do I manage smaller sprites?

Similar to that weird snakecat sprite over here: nanana (https://36.media.tumblr.com/bfdc2facb1c86d59f19357e9e45c6d5d/tumblr_inline_nobnsjOkOB1s3ul27_540.png), my layer breakdown are as follows:

https://40.media.tumblr.com/0cd6c69d9a31e49cb876d66911f5abfd/tumblr_inline_noon72793U1s3ul27_540.png

I just keep on duplicating layers until I get to the final version. Think of it as restore points in a game; I can always go back if I make mistakes.

Though I figure that I’m not using layers efficiently anyways. Most of the time, my stuff can be done on one layer, but it’s nice to have records of what I was doing previously so I can check and compare the early versions to the final versions.

That’s it for today. As a side note, those weird 3-colored sprites aren’t going to be posted until I finish whatever I originally planned with them. So stay tuned!

[SassySnivy]

I totally agree that working in layers is fantastic! However, from my experience it seems that you have to be especially careful that you're pixelling on the correct layer....I use layers mainly when it comes to opacity, but otherwise I haven't broken out of the habit of saving multiple copies of my work as I go along just in case I need to backtrack for what ever reason.

The isometric thing is adorable btw and I hope you do more with it o w o Isometric pixel art can be pretty challenging, especially when you mix non-isometric elements into it.

And I also follow the layer process when it comes to sketching and fleshing out a piece, usually. For anything that's around 50x50 pixels big and lower, though, I tend to just have my refined lines and sketch on the same level.

Keep on making r/pixelart a better place ;D

[TheoreticalSelkie]

I haven't uploaded anything in a while. Like finished things. Oh well. I'll figure it out soon. Expect some. *winks*. Also it's Wednesday so here we go!


WIP Wednesday #5: A Quick Look at Some WIPs

Not too much to talk about this week (been a bit too busy with other things) so I won't be writing up something this week. However, have a look at my current projects (because I take far too long with some stuff). They're all still WIPs... some for good reason I guess.

http://i.imgur.com/LGWXY1O.png

An WIP isometric piece. Probably seen this last week since I did a break down of the layers for that WIP post. So far, I've found the Boat to be the most challenging thing though it still needs a lot of work and polish. Might have readability issues so I'll have to fix that. Not sure if I can get this done for the pixel challenge this week but this is still good practice. Still in outlines stage which makes me worry about it a bit.

http://i.imgur.com/zIlhF5H.png

Also practicing making icons. This one will be animated, though I think I might have readability issues regardless. Playing with color theory as well (the orange in his hair actually doesn't show up as orange from faraway so mission accomplished).

That's all for today! If I get those done, expect some more uploads <3

Toodleloo~

[5TailedDemonLizard]

All of your sprites are freaking amazing! I love your style and it's nice to see some things other than pokemon. May I ask what program you use?

[TheoreticalSelkie]

All of your sprites are freaking amazing! I love your style and it's nice to see some things other than pokemon. May I ask what program you use?

Thank you! I've kinda moved away from Pokemon lately since I'm doing mostly whatever I want. Which doesn't seem to include Pokemon. Oops.

I use Aseprite 1.0-beta currently. It works the best for whatever I want to do. Thinking about trying out GraphicsGale when I have the chance to (with the demo at least).


Forgot I had actual sprites to update with oops.

http://orig15.deviantart.net/c631/f/2015/150/0/8/bat2_by_willowtruise-d8vf05p.png http://orig03.deviantart.net/b046/f/2015/150/1/4/icon___ginko_by_willowtruise-d8ve24u.png http://orig00.deviantart.net/6562/f/2015/150/c/c/icon___shui_by_willowtruise-d8vcovq.gif

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

I love seeing your WIP things! It's really interesting seeing how people do their artwork. That isometric piece is gorgeous and I really like the limited colour stuff, too. The smiling cat and the black and white things. They remind me of old school games. :D

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Okay I know I missed last week, but considering I've been finishing up WIPs without even getting to Wednesday it's a bit tough. Just kidding. This week is also a quick update.


WIP Wednesday #6: Quick Looks Again!

http://i.imgur.com/HPTVw8I.png

Getting there with the car. Cars are not a field of something I have experience in unfortunately. I'm looking at references for the Fiat 500 1970 L which is what this particular car is. I am planning on making a turnaround so I want to cover all angles (which seems to be about 8 so far).



Now for some finished stuff~

Icons:

http://orig06.deviantart.net/5805/f/2015/160/d/8/pirateicon_by_willowtruise-d8wpdyp.gif http://orig05.deviantart.net/982f/f/2015/160/c/0/connacht_by_willowtruise-d8wl0ay.gif http://orig11.deviantart.net/8ccc/f/2015/160/9/b/pig_dog_by_willowtruise-d8wpeag.png

And a bigger piece:

http://orig04.deviantart.net/8d6b/f/2015/161/4/6/trey_lumens_by_willowtruise-d8wtd5b.png

[SassySnivy]

I freaking love that car. It's so cute, and the colors are really nicely done. What doesn't make much sense to me though is the shading on the one facing forwards: I understand that the sides that are shaded are meant to be facing more away, but you may want to have it be just one singular line that differentiates the sides from the front. It looks odd, like those two sides are dipping in a little more than they should.

Still experimenting with colors, I see? x]

[TheoreticalSelkie]

I'll get around to the car... like... in July? Something like that. Hella.

Also yep, I'm still experimenting with colors. Which brings me to this week's WIP Wednesday! I've been slacking, I know.

There comes a time where you're not sure what's going on... this is one of those time. Welcome to another week of WIP Wednesday~


WIP Wednesday #7: It's a Safari Run... Right?

Well without further ado, here's the WIP of the week.

http://i.imgur.com/32oN6O0.png

As for what it is, it's an game mockup in the GBA resolution. Am I sane? Probably not. But it definitely looks good so far. Just the background to do, which is going to be some weird lab thing. I'm definitely not looking forward to this part, because of how hard it'll be to pixel and line up with the rest of the thing. If not, I might opt for some sort of Mother 3 deal and call it a day.

Except, you know, I have to animate this at some point. But that's a project for another time.

And not much to talk about, technique-wise. I'm doing a lot of color conservation here, especially with the HUD and the monster sprites. So far, the HUD is just 6 colors. That gives me a lot of room to work with the background. Like... 10 colors, since my limit will be 16 on this one. Though I'm not sure how this'll pan out when I do work on the background.

Fingers crossed that it all works out!

Thank you for reading my rambling, and see y'all next week!

[TheoreticalSelkie]

I actually finished a WIP Wednesday for once. I know that I missed a few weeks, but hey, vacation > pixel art sometimes xD

Without further ado:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJm9WWlWoAARyjM.png

Yep, the mockup.

8 colors, chili peppers in the background, probably a food RPG?

The things I make sometimes...

[SassySnivy]

Oh geez I totes remember this. xD I love how it reminds me of the battle backgrounds from Earthbound and Mother 3, minus all the blurred and trippy colors. Still trippy in its own way, though. Are the face-like icons supposed to be for the different monsters? Oh wait, those are meant to be for the player character and co. My bad.

That centaur-griffon-thing that looks like it came from the ring tho...that's always creeped me out a bit, lawl. Like seriously Selkie where did that even come from

One thing I just now noticed about it, though, is that if you were to make the green darker it would be a little easier on the eyes. Also that pink background hurts my retinas, might want to make it...not as bright. x]

WELCOME BACK WE ALL MISSED YOU

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Speed-X

Lawl yeah I was like "I should make a laboratory background, no wait I want repeating food, BANANAS, this looks more like chili peppers" and thus the background was born.

As for the colors, the green is okay where it is imo because if I make it darker, it contrasts too much with the white. It seems to pop more probably because of the background (complementary colors). I like burning pink tho :(

JK, I pushed it back to a bit darker-red.

http://i.imgur.com/1vg12bp.png

Hope the red looks better here, since I decided the pink didn't work too well with our snake-cat. As for our centaur friend... inspired a bit by Megami Tensei sprites and other... weirdness :P

[monkeybard]

I feel like a dark, solid-colour background doesn't work too well with the enemy sprites which are already very dark, and when each enemy has a different colour it might be better to use a slightly more neutral colour for the background as well. Some of the detail you put into the monsters gets a little obscured or confused amongst the current background in my opinion. It looks very nice though! Very quirky and reminiscent of some Megami Tensei x Mother or something.

[TheoreticalSelkie]

monkeybard I'm trying to fiddle around with the background colors (http://i.imgur.com/VpU4MJO.png) which is probably a lot of work in itself to fix up since I think some of the detail issues could be attributable to the shadows under the monsters. It'll probably take a while to hit upon the right color for the background, so I'm probably not going to focus on it as much right now.

and a bit of a quick sword:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJxLH3vWcAAfcOl.png
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJxLH4xWsAAtIrF.png

[Suicune's Fire]

Lovely sword. O: I'm also a big fan of the GBA creatures/mockup scene. It's awesome. Personally my favourite background was the darker room-like one, rather than the red or pink.

P.S. Do you have a DeviantART account? If so, we'd love to have your pixel art in our PokemonCrossroads group. c: I can also add you to this thread (http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/forum/showthread.php?320-The-DeviantART-Thread) if you have a DA account.

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Suicune's Fire yep I do! It's willowtruise.deviantart.com

[monkeybard]

That's a really cool looking sword! Very worn and rusty. A little weird that there's no guard on the hilt though :P

[TheoreticalSelkie]

>quietly updates this
>makes terrible joke about how school has destroyed her
>flees

http://i.imgur.com/pTX1usz.png
http://i.imgur.com/gTqhdMn.png
http://i.imgur.com/Fv0C6iq.png

[SassySnivy]

>quietly updates this
>makes terrible joke about how school has destroyed her
>flees

http://i.imgur.com/pTX1usz.png
http://i.imgur.com/gTqhdMn.png
http://i.imgur.com/Fv0C6iq.png

Glad you've been up to no good! c; I love the guy in the green; the pose is both very dynamic and exaggerated without being overly so. You got the bends of the legs down pretty well. The legs on the one where he's swinging feel really awkward, though. At least the leg closest to us does. It's as if it's both bent AND straightened out, which doesn't make a lot of sense.

The last one also has awkward posturing; mainly the arms and legs. The arms (at least the one closest to us) have a u-shaped bend, and the farthest foot at around the ankle area looks disproportionately small.

I love that mammal...thing! My only nitpick is that the head is a little too big for the body. I'm very much enjoying your use of colors on that one.

[TheoreticalSelkie]

Glad you've been up to no good! c; I love the guy in the green; the pose is both very dynamic and exaggerated without being overly so. You got the bends of the legs down pretty well. The legs on the one where he's swinging feel really awkward, though. At least the leg closest to us does. It's as if it's both bent AND straightened out, which doesn't make a lot of sense.

The last one also has awkward posturing; mainly the arms and legs. The arms (at least the one closest to us) have a u-shaped bend, and the farthest foot at around the ankle area looks disproportionately small.

I love that mammal...thing! My only nitpick is that the head is a little too big for the body. I'm very much enjoying your use of colors on that one.

And off I go into not doing pixel art again lol

I think it's really variable when I do these stuff but oh well

AND YEAH I REALLY LIKE GREEN but that whole thing was kinda done in chronological order with me trying to figure out how to pixel again so if I feel like it, I might go back to redoing racer again because he bothers me in more ways than one. And then maybe looking at how to fix the other ones.

Idk what the mammal thing was, I just called it cat.ase. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Suicune's Fire]

Cool new pixels! 8D /late to the party

I love the creature so much. O: And the portrait of the guy winking is really nicely done too. c: The use of colours is great. I agree with Speed's advice too, especially about how the green dude is awesome. xD I think the right leg is a little short, though, because you if straightened out the bent leg then it would be longer than the other one, haha.