Maria's Helpful Place of Pixels - OPEN!
 

Welcome to Maria's Pixel Haven!

~A Little About Me...I'm 28 years old. I became a pixelist for Menewsha in January of 2013 after spending the previous year working on items for the Newbie Emporium and improving my skills. I am a music teacher in real life and I absolutely love it!! I stepped down from being a pixelist for Menewsha in early 2016. Real life comes first! But...you may or may not see some Maria items here soon because I may or may not be working in secret ;)

Please come in here for tips and pointers. Feel free to ping me if you need help! I have no problem commenting! Part of how we get better is critique and comments from others. I could not have gotten better without the help of several people including Xuvrette, Demoscout, Apricot, Jellysundae, Wishie, Ikuto Akihiko Hasegawa, Bellybutton, Daria, and more.

I am here to help you!

Current Project:

~There are tips given to me by people that I find really helpful!

Mene Bases:
https://i.imgur.com/uphJYjr.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/HSTqjR3.png

1. Mene items use either 5 or 6 shades (Please stick to this when you are beginning because it will be easier for you. )
2. Always be aware of what type of fabric you are using as that will determine how much of each shade should be applied.
3. For most cases, if you work in a 6 shade palette, use the two darkest shades only for lines and the lightest shade only for highlights. The rest of the outfit should use only the three middle shades.
4. Dusk, Leaf, Plum, and Atlantis are the hardest mene palettes to use because they use multiple colors rather than shades of the same color.
5. Don't recolor your work - it will be easier for Jelly to recolor items because they are already cut.
6. While I use one layer, using multiple layers might be easier for you!
7. If you are starting out, Kawaii Hannah's Basic Pixel Tutorial is the best! Kawaii Hannah's Basic Pixel Tutorial
8. When pixelling, I find it easiest to talk about shades as numbers: Shade 1, Shade 2. I will always talk about them from lightest to darkest...lightest being shade one and darkest as shade 6. For example:
https://i.imgur.com/ky8HA5v.png
9. Don't be afraid to take critique as it's the only way we ever improve!
10. Don't be afraid to make an item and it be deemed a "no." You aren't going to finish every item successfully. What doesn't kill us makes us that much stronger!
11. Don't be afraid to ask for help! Xuvrette, Apricot, Jellysundae, Liztress, Momochan, blueblackrose, and myself are all willing to help you if you need it!

12. This is a great tool when making items...it is the shade progression of the palettes used here on mene made by Xuvrette:
https://i.imgur.com/5Mftjai.png
13. These palettes are used more and more these days...this isn't as fancy as palette progression as the one Xuvvie made, but I use this all the time:
https://i.imgur.com/ePqEibu.png
14. One tip I like to think about is to get the shape correct before adding the shading! It's hard to erase your shading each time you change the shape!
15. I call these the Phoenix Jubilee Palettes:
[img]blob:https://imgur.com/16434732-38fe-4d9b-8499-481a99afecdc[/img]
16. This is called "bright purple" and has been used in a couple items:
https://i.imgur.com/T4n5XzG.png
17. This is called "Petrol"...it's a darker teal:
https://i.imgur.com/nvay4v1.png
18. This is called "Mina Pink"....it came about during Valentine's Day 2013 because I was trying to make items in pink and hated all the pink palettes. So I created my own pink palette and dubbed it "Mina Pink" and the name just kind of stuck:
https://i.imgur.com/k3xmcZx.png

Finished Items:

Newbie Emporium:



Valentine's Day 2013:



St. Patty's Day 2013:



Phoenix Jubilee 2013:


Summer Shipwreck 2013:

Old stuff I worked on before I became staff...you can see I sucked a lot! lol :



More stuff I worked on before I became staff:

:shock: I haven't seen the dress of doom in a couple of weeks but oh em gee it is so good now!

@Carzee - I think it's a matter of just getting the shading right and to look good and natural. I gave it up for a while though because I think looking at it with a clear head after a while is a good idea. I'm so invested in it I'm going to finish it even if it takes an entire year to get it right! lol

Looking at it again, I can see what you mean about the shading. Maybe you need another shade of shadow? Does that make sense? It almost seems like the rises are round, but the dips are flat?

@Carzee - I've tried that actually XD It looked way too contrasted before. I DO have yet to add any of the highlight color onto the dress though so that might make a difference :D

Here is what it looked like with another shade added to it:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...no/dress20.png

Also, can I post in your thread yet?

Yeah, I think I was still stalking the announcement thread at that point.

And it may make a difference, you could be right there.

@Carzee - to be honest I've been working more on the shorts lately than the dress. And I just started a pencil skirt :D

What do you thinK?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ncilSkirt1.png

The pencil skirt is looking pretty good so far! :) Could definitely use more shading, but big spaces suck. :yes:

@Carzee - lol yeah I've barely started it! (As in I started it about ten minutes ago lol) So it definitely needs some shading work XD But the shape is okay?

Maria.. MARIA THAT GREEN DRESS!! AAH!! <333

Ohhhh, that's cool. Yeah the shape is good. :yes:

I wanted to get that one done in time for St. Patricks day and I didn't :( Hopefully it will be used next year :D

Yay :D thank you :D

Couldn't you just.. put it out now and not for St. Patties? D: Please.

I just don't know if it's deemed "finished" XD
All approval of items is done by Jelly. So if she decides it's good enough, then I don't have a problem with releasing it now lol

I really enjoy the shape of it.

I could always recolor it a different green and put a flower there instead to make it an everyday dress....

Here is the dress in Emerald but still with a clover:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ndress10-1.png

I adore all the versions. <3 I've always been a fan of that irish shade or a dark olive. <3

*leaves a foot mark*

I love the length of that dress! I usually find it hard with some of the existing items, as some skirts are super short (i.e. ironically, the skirts that Yaks and xuvrette are wearing above me) and some are full length with no feet.

...*goes to change another skirt in an attempt to make Nuova's description twist meaning...* :evil:

Hehhe :ninja: I was wondering whether either of your avatars would have changed before my comment was read, making it wrong ^^

well, you can use words like...
mid thigh length, knee, mid calf, ankle length... basic.

What do you mean?