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InkRose98 — Pixel Zecora Sprite
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Published: 2013-01-12 06:36:22 +0000 UTC; Views: 1731; Favourites: 49; Downloads: 14
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Description
My second and much better attempt at pixel art. I used a tutorial this time.
I decided to do Zecora because I haven't drawn her before and she's freakin' awesome.
Anyway, feel free to use it as your icon!
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Comments: 15
Pixel art is one of the more interesting media because of the amount of manual labor we go through just to do simple things like drawing lines.
[link]
^first, it's usually a good idea to make sure our lines are 1 pixel in thickness so our work appears a lot more refined. While it's possible to have an art style that purposefully weights your lines to be thicker than one pixel, those art styles are very difficult.
It also helps to make sure your lines are smooth to count individual pixel segments. The line segments ideally should gradually change in length for a smoother curve. Zecora's mane for example, appears to be a level line which has a sudden, abrupt change in direction down by 45 degrees - that could be intended to be a curve but it looks like three flat lines. Merely truncating those corners immediately creates a smoother curve: [link]
But more importantly, it's probably most useful to know that as a piece of art, there's not very much to this. Should it be just a sprite of Zecora, or should there ought to be more about it? Portraits, as far as I've figured them out, ought to 'say' something about the subject, and I think that can be applied to sprite art like this. IMO, top-tier sprite artwork ought to be animated because animations can very, very easily bring a ton of like into these and it can start making impressions on people like good portrait-works I've seen and appreciated.
Also consider this: in games, sprites are always used as a smaller piece of a larger whole. You can consider making a mock-up and make believable game screenshots out of these. Until then, sprite work like this will very easily feel incomplete as again, they're often used as a smaller piece of a larger whole.
Should it be just a sprite of Zecora, or should there ought to be more about it? Some of the best art I've seen tend to tell stories and make impressions, but this sprite isn't necessarily doing that for me.
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Thank you, I find this critique very helpful.
I am still learning how to make sprites as well as normal pixel art, and so I am still getting used to it all, as it is a very simplistic and yet complicated form of artwork.
I would like to learn how to animate this, but as I said before, I am still learning. 
I must say, in your fixed version of her mane, it looks much better! Who knew that adding or subtracting just a few pixels could make all the difference? I certainly didn't.
I did use a 1 pixel brush, but I tended to "fix" corners by adding some extra pixels here and there, but now I see that that wasn't the best idea, and just made the whole thing look too blocky.
Again, thank you for the time put into your critique, I appreciate it.
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There's a lot to learn about pixel art, but there are very few pixel artists so all you would find out about the medium is through whatever floats around on the internet. I would suggest at least lurking places like pixeljoint or wayofthepixel.net to see what sort of advice really good artists can give to others. Better yet, I think any art site which is focused on critiques can easily provide some really interesting ways of thinking for you to pick up. That is, if you're willing to invest in the time to see what sort of knowledge is out there
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Hi, great job on the Zecora pixel! You her fur/pelt colors down, and the braclets are quite good for a first try! Keep working on it, especially the outline. She's a cutie, I might use her someday. Oh! Ihave a good idea, would you like me to make her blink? It will be free of charge, and I will totally give you all of the credit for her :3
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Thank you!
Yes, you can totally animate her if you want!
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I totally forgot about this until now However, I shall get it done now since I'm not doing anything.
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I think that critique was fair for the most part, but I really hope that it doesn't make you sad or anything just because of a low-star rating. I think this little Zecora is adorable and certainly a wonderful jumping-off point, so to speak, for you to go further and create even more awesome and adorable works<3. I don't agree with the critique in the sense that if you don't think it should move, then it shouldn't. And just because this doesn't "tell a story," it IS still a very recognizable version of the character you were representing, and super adorable at that!
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Thank you! I probably will do more pixel art in the future. I agree that this wasn't really supposed to tell a story or move.. it's just a sprite.
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Yeah, just a representation of a character.
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