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neller
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#26
Old 01-27-2014, 05:30 PM

That lighting is more accurate! I'm sorry you're getting tired of seeing it but I know that feeling. Meh. Its looking good, though! :D

I just into pixels like a year ago. :O But I enjoy it a lot!

hilarbees
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#27
Old 01-28-2014, 11:11 PM

:O :O :O!!!

Everyone! Check the first page to see!! I have sooo many questions!!! D: D: D:

Libra
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#28
Old 01-29-2014, 09:30 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by hilarbees View Post
Firstly, I would like to say, although I have done numerous small-scale pixel creations in the past for many years, I have never done clothes like this for avatars... :( So I'm really nervous about posting up my work... I am already pretty critical of myself, so go easy on me!! If you have good advice or tips you can give, then feel free to comment! But! If you just want to complain about something with no comments as to how I can improve or what I can do to make it better, then... just don't do it! P(>o<)P

Anyway... So here goes... *deep breath*
I know exactly how you feel! I feel like some people just sort of fill their post up with things that are wrong with the piece, and don't offer ideas or resources to help you impove! Also I don't like it when people DUMP a whole lot of bad stuff about my artwork, I'd rather see someone make small suggestions so I don't feel like have to do as much to "fix" the piece. I have noticed the same thing in my thread, and since I am extremely easy to offend (when it comes to my pixel art) I have to give myself some time to cool off before I reply to any critiques made

I must warn you though, after I put my rant up in the beginning of my thread, not as many people commented. So be careful about things like that. After a while I realized I'd rather have someone telling me everything thats wrong with my pieces than nothing at all

Anyway, I love your sparkly dresses! They are a good shape (something that I've only seen on one item on Mene) and also well put together . The fold at the bottom of the dress is really good, and the folded part at the top of the dress adds some real character to the piece! I really like how the dress has been coming along!

Some ways to improve them: Any fabric behind the base should have minimal shading/highlights. So I'd suggest making the back of the dress (behind the legs) to have 2-3 colors maximum. Also, I'd love the sparkles even more if they weren't on the fold in the dress.

I actually found this tutorial on adding sparkles to doll's clothing, which is super helpful! I may not use gimp, and I can't use the exact technique this tutorial uses, but it helps me understand that a majority of the sparklies should be on the lighter parts of the fabric. I plan on making a doll with glitter someone this year

Glitter tutorial.

Also, on to your questions:

Mene style clothing is 6 colors, although there are a few clothing sets on Mene that use a few more colors, it all depends on the piece (if there's a gradient to it, if a softer appearance is needed for the piece, etc). At this time I think any pixeled clothing made by users needs to stay at the 6 shades of a color to keep it's fluidity. The style needs to match existing pieces, and the easiest way to achieve that is by having a defined dark outline and 6 shades of a color for parts of the piece.

At least that's the way it will stay until someone can prove that using more will in fact keep the fluidity of the articles of clothing as well as be very appealing to the users . (I think mixing palettes would be interesting, like combining a white pallete with moonlight?)

Yes, slightly transparent pieces shouldn't be a problem. We do have items that are transparent in some parts, though I'm not sure how they get them to be that way on the website . Although, I have found it very annoying when the outline of the item is transparent, I think the outline of the item should stay non-transparent so that it's easier to see where the item ends at with a clean line (much like our clothing does).

I don't think animated items are possible in our avatars (or if they are it would probably not be very good for our servers). We do have items that have animated icons in our inventory tabs, but they don't actually animate on our avis.

-wipes brow- Ok! So if there's something you specifically want me to comment on, just let me know. That sparkly dress was the first thing that popped out at me

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#29
Old 01-29-2014, 10:39 PM

ClariusFlorina: AaaahhhH!! Thank you so much for commenting on my page! :) :) I'm really glad you did! I understand everything you just said!

So much words! XD XD

Quote:
I must warn you though, after I put my rant up in the beginning of my thread, not as many people commented. So be careful about things like that. After a while I realized I'd rather have someone telling me everything thats wrong with my pieces than nothing at all
I totally get that and pretty much expected it from the beginning. I just don't need people telling me something's wrong with my stuff but can't tell me how to fix it or improve it. :( Otherwise, I really don't mind criticism! Just gimme guidance! I NEEDS GUIDANCE! lol ;P

And! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT GLITTER TUTORIAL! Actually the only time I added sparkles was while I was at work and it was reeeeeaaaaallly slow. >_> <_< And I added them so lazily :P I knew the sparkles needed work which is why I haven't updated the sparkles versions at all yet for the new shading ;D But I'm really excited about that sparkle tutorial!! :D :D

And thank you for answering my questions! I appreciate it soo much! I will keep all those points in mind! And I COMPLETELY know what you mean about the outline for slightly transparent items. I mean, even in traditional art if you're drawing something that is completely transparent, you need the outline to be defined!

And you know, I kinda thought that animated items would probably be hard on the servers. I should really think things through more before asking stupid questions haha XP

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#30
Old 01-29-2014, 11:04 PM

I'm so glad you liked it! (my post I mean)

To tell you the truth, I recently have been inspired to make my own dolls again. Being on deviant art and finding a majority of the bases I used to pine over (and promised to use one day), have inspired me to make my own dolls again! With all the stuff I make for Mene bases, it seems like it's going no where, and rather than letting my artwork rot, I'd rather make something that is just for me? So I have A BUNCH of dolls in the works, and I'm not sure which ones I'll actually complete xD

Have you made any dolls/pixel art recently that has nothing to do with Mene? xD

hilarbees
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#31
Old 01-30-2014, 12:32 AM

Not in a long time! It really has been a while... :( I was trying to focus on my other artwork for a long time! But after working on some of these Mene items, I think I'll probably try it out and make pixel dolls of all my original characters! It would take a really long time to do (I have 68 primary characters in my main original story with 68 more secondary characters along with it, and even more with all the teachers and side characters!! D: It's crazy!), but I think I'd be really happy with it! I would, of course, start with the very main characters first, then probably do the ones I like the character design of best next, and then just do the rest gradually :P It would still take an eternity lol.

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#32
Old 01-30-2014, 01:58 AM

Sounds like quite the undertaking that would be! Recently I've been making dolls of my fav crossover couples: Dexter & Blossom, Jack & Elsa. Neither doll has gotten very far though. In fact I'm stuck on the girl's hair actually! I hope I'm able to finish them! X_X

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#33
Old 02-02-2014, 08:03 PM

hmm? I read Florinana's wall of text. I hope I am being responsive enough for you earlier in your thread? I didn't notice any rant in your thread.... O___O -the horror~-

Hilarlar~ I have three different critique modes to choose from~ sugar coat, CSI and brutal. >3 All without graphic though.

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#34
Old 02-03-2014, 04:25 PM

NO BRUTAL!!! DX I would die lol

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#35
Old 02-03-2014, 07:48 PM

Yeah I'm the same way. I get so bored looking at the same thing and working for so long. But no worries. Keep at it and take breaks when you need it and you'll finish before you know it. No rush ok? I look forward to seeing the finished product.

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#36
Old 02-07-2014, 07:27 AM

No brutal, then which you prefer? sugar coating or CSI mode?

Installing adobe... so I can zoom in to see the details.

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#37
Old 02-07-2014, 01:05 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by hilarbees View Post
Preview? Here's the idea:

SPOILERX





I'm still trying to get stuff right, though... :/
That sort of thing would look great as a Man'o'war sort of deal- maybe with one strap that would make the sort of purple head of the colony and then the rest of the dress being the tentacles.

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#38
Old 02-13-2014, 04:41 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by xuvrette View Post
hmm? I read Florinana's wall of text. I hope I am being responsive enough for you earlier in your thread? I didn't notice any rant in your thread.... O___O -the horror~-

Hilarlar~ I have three different critique modes to choose from~ sugar coat, CSI and brutal. >3 All without graphic though.
I'm sure you were at the beginning. There was a point where I was posting quite a bit of stuff and not as many were commenting is all. And then I got paranoid that it was because I had put up a note saying "Don't give feedback if you can't show me a picture or tell me how to improve it." It's all good though ^_^

Quote:
Originally Posted by hilarbees View Post
Preview? Here's the idea:

Ok! So I have decided to take a closer look at this one and make some comments about it.

First off, I really like the idea of the jelly dress (that's my official nickname for it now ^_^). Its fun, and we don't have a whole lot of clothing that are shaped like animals or objects. Right now we have objects, animals, and clothing with animal/objects on them, but I can't think of a dress that is shaped like an animal or anything. Definitely keep in mind the possibility of detaching the top of the dress from the skirt. The skirt would look so awesome with some shell bras that we have around!

So here is an overview of what I took a closer look at:


I'm gonna hit some of the things that could mostly be improved on the piece, and in depth ways to make them better. First, I'll start with the shoulder.



I find the straps to be interesting. They look a bit like lace? Or perhaps some straps with a bit of sharp folds on the sides? Either way, they're are several ways to improve these:
1)Smooth out the edges. This image depicts what I mean with the black block that I added.
2)Take out the center colors from the straps/sleeves, making them appear more like lace. This is also depicted in the image above, with the disappearance of the blue.
3) Replace the lacey look with a strap that is similar to the belt. I love the blue beady/pearliness of the belt and I think it would look awesome on the straps.



The next thing I noticed is how your shading the folds of the jelly skirt. Right now, it looks pillow shaded. Whenever you're pixeling skirts, you have to decide whether the folds are gonna be soft or hard. Soft folds have a bit more spacing between each shade, while hard folds often will have the highlight of one fold up against the dark part of another fold. Here are some examples:

SPOILERX

Hard Folds:

Soft Folds:

All dolls are linked to their rightful owners.


I'd suggest studying these, even practice doing a similar shading style whichever one you like best. As long as you don't copy the exact arrangement of pixels in the shading, then you'll be good.

I also made a little tutorial of the visual difference between shading based on a light reference, and pillow shading.


Try to keep the highlights closer to the side of the light reference (On mene avi's, its the direction they are facing).



And last but not least, the lonely sideways tentacle (or whatever it is called). Since that part of the jellyfish are typically flat, I'd suggest making more of them to look like this, to keep a fluid look to the whole skirt.

Sorry about the GIGANTIC post

hilarbees
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#39
Old 02-13-2014, 04:53 PM

ClariusFlorina: No, no, no! I don't mind at all! Those are all excellent points!! Each item is supposed to be removable: the straps, the top, the belt, the tentacles, all of it. This is a terrible rough draft, haha!! I've already made some changes to it. I've been working quite hard on it since I'm a bit of a perfectionist...

The straps were in fact supposed to be beaded like the belt. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to be fixing that one... ;A;

The folds on the skirt will definitely be soft folds, and slowly it's coming together. I actually did several rough drafts, all pillow-shaded like this one, and posted the preview of the one I was most satisfied with. Because the pillow-shading is a quick and simple way for me to get my ideas out to see how far I think I'll be able to take a particular design ^^v If that makes any sense to you, haha... None of my drafts will ever have appropriate lighting, I think haha. Lighting/shading is the part I have to FORCE myself to do because I'm so lazy lol

Anyway, here are some references for how I'd like the skirt to be. I definitely don't want the fabric to be flat, it has to be puffy and shiny as if there were a whole ton of tulle stuffed underneath. And the fabric of the skirt itself would also be sturdy, I guess a bit starchy, but not too much, so as to give it a pure puff look and not have irregular folds.

SPOILERX

This last one is too irregular for my tastes:


I really imagine a satin/organza/taffeta bubble skirt stuffed with a lot of tulle haha

Anyway, again these are all excellent points that I will definitely keep in mind!!

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#40
Old 02-14-2014, 08:27 AM

Florinana~
hmm... I don't remember about the happenings.
But I don't frequent this part of subforum as much. And I tend to not post comments when people already mention the point of mistakes.

hilarbees
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#41
Old 02-20-2014, 08:59 PM

xuvrette: I don't mind either sugar coat those critiques or just CSI me! I don't really know which to choose between!! I'm more of an... in-betweener, I guess!! D:

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#42
Old 02-28-2014, 11:22 AM

Hey Hilar. Those taffeta dresses are beautiful. c:

hilarbees
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#43
Old 03-09-2014, 01:32 AM

Awwww, thank you so much Dystopia! I'm so sorry I haven't posted the preview pic yet! But I promise I will! Things have been crazy, but I will get to it soon!!

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#44
Old 04-17-2014, 12:10 AM

Ohhh I love those dresses!!!!

hilarbees
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#45
Old 08-27-2014, 12:59 AM

@Maryness Thank you so much!

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#46
Old 12-12-2014, 02:33 AM

I way like the taffeta dress and the lace overlay! The combo looks great together, but I also love the idea of using the lace with other items. :3

Also, I think you did a great job pixeling the fabric, it conveys the shiney, drape-y character of taffeta quite well.

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#47
Old 04-24-2016, 07:55 PM

I AM REVIVING MY OWN THREAD PLEASE DON'T HURT ME

Here's what I did today:



My hand is killing me. Also, I'm going to update the front page here. Slowly, but surely.

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#48
Old 04-25-2016, 03:25 PM

This is embarassing... I totally forgot about this subforum...
*blames real life* I apologize for cliff hanging you for my comments. I was kinda... lost? (in real life)
You really like Nature palette? XD

hilarbees
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#49
Old 04-26-2016, 03:49 PM

Nah, not particularly, I just read somewhere once long ago that it was a good one to use for items to be re-colored. Of course, I could be remembering that all wrong or something. And no worries! I completely disappeared for like... two years haha

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#50
Old 04-27-2016, 03:10 PM

I see... I am not sure which one is the best 'adaptable' palette... I choose the color I think fit the design most. lol.

 



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