xD which wings? We got plenty of wings. xD

but the silver dragon (the picture I posted on the other page) is a gaia item.

Yes, that dragon. ^^;; Only larger in comparison to the pixel doll (I never liked how small the dragon on Gaia seemed compared to the avatar). I would like the body to be visible from either side, I just wanted to make sure the head would be visible.

His head looking off to the side, and behind the sash (though on the avatar's left side, where the sash is easier to see through).

If that seems like too much to do for two hundred gold, I'll up the payment if youd like. Just tell me how much you feel is fair.

@crazy still not sure which wings you're talking about *confused*

@insane cricket larger and the whole body. Okay. Nah, 200g is fine. :3 It'll be good practice.

Alright, thank you very much. ^_^ I'll send the trade, accept it when you're done (I'm not telling you to hurry up, I'm just going to do it so I don't forget and squander all my gold away on the CI I want). ^_^

haha no problem. :3 I'll try and get it done as soon as possible anyways. xD

Alright, lol. But I don't mind if you take your time or anything.

xD I might have to take you up on that offer. Finals are coming up and all. But blah. xD I don't like letting orders wait. Makes me feel guilty.

Don't feel guilty about it. I completely understand. I can wait for it. You've been so kind to take on the task of adding a dragon for me, I appreciate that very much. ^_^

Oh, could I ask you for some advice on my own pixel doll? I'm rather proud of the shirt, and the base I made (except that I can't get the eyes right).

:3 haha it's no problem. Good practice as I say. xD <3

Sure. :3 I don't know how helpful I'll be ^^;; I don't consider myself to be all that talented, :P just started within the last year or so teaching myself how to do this kind stuff.

Well, I just thought maybe you could give me some pointers. I'm really proud of the shape of my base, but I'm not happy with the shading, and I can't make it appear how I want it to.

I didn't do the eyes right, I'm aware of that. And the hair (in the picture with the shirt) was only added so it wouldn't be bald anymore. The hair sucks.

I really want to get better at this, so I practice with recoloring Menewshan items so I can learn shading better. It's helped a bit, but I still have a long way to go when creating something of my own.

And I think maybe I should've made the head taller.

Sorry for rambling, here are the images.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...y/556083d2.png http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...y/3208b77c.png

Sorry about the line, I use it to divide it in half so I can easily count how many pixels I am away from the center.

Actually creating bases are actually really hard. So props to you for actually getting down to it. xD <3 *all my attempts turn out weird* And recoloring mene items are actually a good way to start. That's how I learn. All by praticing by that.


As far as shading goes. Dithering is actually a good way to start. You don't always have to use it (especially on the smaller bases)

Here are some examples of dithering.

http://www.furcadia.pixelovely.com/r...s/dithered.gif
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ng-example.gif

Basically the idea is to use two different colors and being able to bend it together without having to use another color.

Other suggestions are that you need to decide your light source. Right now you have a dim light source on the right (casts little shadows on the left side). Your eyes you need a darker outline to give the appearance the eyelid. It's also not symmetrical. You have to shift one or the other by I think two pixels.

And this is just a personal opinion, but I think the arms are too skinny. @[email protected] I'm not sure.

Originally I had the eyes symmetrical but they looked horrible to me. I tried the dithering thing but I failed miserably, so I decided to attempt it again later. I think the dithering might work on the shirt, though. Seems like a good item to practice on.

I made the base several months ago. Back in September, I think. Might've been October. But then my laptop died, and I couldn't stand attempting to pixel on my boyfriend's computer. I just wanted to shoot myself every time I tried.

The arms are small because I was trying to make it seem more like they were behind the avatar, it was to create the illusion of distance. When I had the arms bigger, they seemed to swallow up the breasts, which was frustrating. I'll definitely give that another shot, though.

I knew from the very beginning that I bombed with the light source. I feel bad about that every time I try to fix it. Though I have to say, you telling me where the light source was makes me a little happy inside, because at least you were able to tell where it was supposed to be. ^^;;

Do you have any examples of bigger dolls that you've made? I've been learning by looking at other people's dolls and attempting similar things (not trying to copy perfectly, just trying to get the technique down).

I'm using MS paint for my pixeling (Is it 'pixeling' or 'pixelling'?), so when it comes to different shades of colors, I feel I'm a bit limited.

I think I'll try out dithering again on the shirt.

And thank you very much for taking the time to look at my doll and comment about it.

Would you have any advice for the hair? (I can make outlines of hair for the Menewshan avatars, but I just can't seem to do it for my own.)

re: arms
*nods* Also keep in mind that your forearm is thinner then your biceps.

Another thing you'll eventually learn is that your outline doesn't have to remain one color. Eventually when you figure out how where your light source is, the outline closes to the light source should change to light color.


As for bigger dolls. The only ones I have are these, and all but a few were my very first dolls that I sold here (meaning they're probably worse then before XD)

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...op/Ateya-1.gifhttp://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...Shop/Lenna.gifhttp://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...Shop/Azuki.gifhttp://www.menewsha.com/forum/member...cture10925.gifhttp://www.menewsha.com/forum/member...cture10720.gifhttp://www.menewsha.com/forum/member...cture10657.gif

(I spell it as pixeling, but I'm fairly certain it's one of the few worse that actually exist. ^^;;;)

As for hair. It's usually a good idea to sketch it out. With a pencil you're given much more freedom. Then try copying into pixels. It's actually hair to just pixel and not have a clue as to what you want to pixel. Sketches make it easier to transfer the idea.

You should also remember about lines. Angles are tricky but remember not everything has to be outlined. Hair also usually has a nice shiny or a like a jagged halo of highlights. (most commonly seen in anime pictures :P)

Same thing about light source for hair. :3 Need to figure out where it's coming from.

The arms were supposed to be like the bicep was bent really back with the forearm returning, but I know what you mean about the size. -Nods- I think I'll try to redo the arms in a few minutes.

I understand about the light source, I was just trying to ease my way into that. (Like with the hair, and the outline being a lighter color where the light source is.)

I do thank you very much for your opinion about this. Do you know of any other great pixelists that might also offer advice (Not that yours isn't good enough, please don't think I mean it that way.)?

http://www.kawaiihannah.com/pixelart/tutorials.php

Try reading this too. (She removed her older tutorials T__T)

No problem. :3 I don't know actually any other pixelists that would. You could however as Blue and Twigg though. They're the only other pixelists in this forum that I've met (and their shops are still open). I've been meaning to visit the rest cause curious and all. :P

Alright, thank you.

I tried dithering again. I feel like I failed horribly. >.<;;

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...y/2bb4461a.png

Edit: Okay, I think I fixed the arms, and I moved the eye over a pixel. The eyes still look horrible to me. >.<;;
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...y/2a5b915f.png

Nah, the colors are blending much better. :3

Here's simple step by step of how I normally tackling dithering. :3

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ne/Outline.gifhttp://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...base-color.gifhttp://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...se-color-2.gifhttp://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...se-color-3.gifhttp://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...line/final.gif

Oh wow, thank you for that. <3 That actually helps a lot.

Also, do you think the arms are a better size now? They look better to me, but I'm not sure about the elbows.

You seem to be really good at it. ^^;; If you want to use my base you can. I think you could turn it into something really cute.

No problem. xD I actually forgot to save between the last two images :P

You're getting here. There's something still a little off, but I'm not entirely sure what. I was never quite good with perspective. I'm fair at eyes too. @[email protected] So I'm no help there.

hehe thanks. :3

Okay! I think I managed to make the head look a lot better. And I'm more pleased with the eyes, though I still want to make them better.

I made the head taller, and I edited the elbows, and I added eyebrows. I also added more lines around it for even easier counting. I lowered the eyes and the nose both by a pixel. I want to try to make the jaw a little more narrow, but I'll work on that a little later.

I have to say, I think those small changes made a huge difference.

What do you think? (I removed all the shading earlier save for the nose, and not the eyebrows.)
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...y/7b3f2a78.png

It's looking good. :3 I agree. A much better improvement over the previous version. :3

I'm trying to figure out what to do with the ears now...

you'll wanna add a few darker lines inside the ear to show the depth of the ear.

Oh, I know that. I meant the shape of them. ^^;; I got distracted though and changed the feet. She has toes now. And her feet are a little smaller.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...y/715186f4.png

Edit: Alright, I'm finally happy with the eyes! And I made the head one or two pixels taller again.
http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...y/718a83c0.png