Woodmouse's art stuff [random stuff, page 49]

[Sleepwalker]

About the mudcrawler; Apparently the light is coming from the right so there shouldn't be that much shadow at the bottom or bottom-left. And as said at our left the crawler is pretty flat.

Otherwise it's nice to see you have improved much.

The lines look like folds/recessions in the mud to me.

[woodmouse]

Too bored to continue the mudcrawler for now, but I wanted to make something, so I made this:


And before anyone points out, I know it doesn't have a shadow, and that it's too big and horribly stupid and it sucks, but well. I just wanted to make something Wesnothish.

[Zerovirus]

Well, it's good that you stop. Eternal has basically replaced the Mudcrawler already, if I'm not mistaken.

[woodmouse]

Well, it's good that you stop. Eternal has basically replaced the Mudcrawler already, if I'm not mistaken.

NOOOOOOOO!!! I... I... I'm gonna cry...!

It's been the biggest project of my whole life so far...

Well... It would've never been committed anyway, even if I had finished it, and made it good enough for mainline, but still...

[Speedbrain]

You could still finish it for the practice and maybe some UMCs could use it.

[woodmouse]

You could still finish it for the practice and maybe some UMCs could use it.

Nah... I won't spend my "precious" time to make stuff for UMC, , but rather making music, and album covers and logos for bands.

Okay, well, I know I'll make something Wesnoth-related for UMC tomorrow or something, it's just a reflex.

[thespaceinvader]

You should. It would be good practice, and, to be blunt, your work is not making mainline in the foreseeable future, partly because it's not good enough, but partly because in the time it will take you to become good enough, we will probably have come close to finishing the modernisation of our set of base frames.

[Tet]

Of course TSI is allways right.

I am still amazed about this improvements in that short time. For my untrained eye the contrast is the main issue. I think you (woodmouse) are to shy to use dark colors. I read somewhere: With round things contrast is your friend. It helped me.

I know Woodmouse is allways asking if he can commit to mainline. I am not sure if he needs the answer more and more blunt.

From my perspective it would be just: not yet.

[thespaceinvader]

You perspective is irrelevant. The answer to woodmouse is 'if we ask you to'. Until such time as we do, the answer will be no.

I have to be blunt with you woodmouse, because otherwise, you don't listen.

Contrast is a problem, Tet, you're correct. But the biggest problem by FAR is anatomy. You're covering up your difficulty with how figures should be shaped by swathing them in cloth, or drawing made-up stuff as an excuse.

You know what I've said before about practicing anatomy. Go back and read it again. You will not get good if you keep avoiding it.

[woodmouse]

I am still amazed about this improvements in that short time.

What, you call 2 years a short time? So you must be like... 100 years old.

My main problem is that I want to make so much other things too, that I don't have time to focus on Wesnoth art... I mean, I think I COULD do something awesomely awesome, but it's just that I somehow don't like that it has to be licensed under GPL, and if it won't be accepted in Wesnoth, I can't use it elsewhere...

Also, is it a must that EVERYTHING that is posted here, would need to be finished...? I mean, I know not, but... somehow it seems that stuff which isn't good enough for mainline, someone wants to use for UMC, but they don't because it's not animated... And I REALLY don't have time to animate anything... Or the motivation either, though... Or skull, either...


Sorry about the horrible amount of text, which everyone will consider excuses!

Aaaaaaanyway.
I tried the "shape -> colors -> shading -> details" method for the first time, and gotta say, I think it's a LOT easier and faster than making things in complete parts, like limb at a time!
So, here's the result, some sorta zombie:


I think it might be my best sprite so far... I could make a new undead faction, BUT of course, the fact that I'm too lazy and stuff to animate, it wouldn't become anything.

[Blarumyrran]

All your body parts are shaped like amorphous macaronis.

[Zerovirus]

I find that this thing's pretty useful at times like this.

[Iris]

My main problem is that I want to make so much other things too, that I don't have time to focus on Wesnoth art... I mean, I think I COULD do something awesomely awesome, but it's just that I somehow don't like that it has to be licensed under GPL, and if it won't be accepted in Wesnoth, I can't use it elsewhere...

That's not true.

Since you are the author of your own artwork, you retain copyright on it — the GPL is not intended to remove the copyright holder's authority over the usage of his Intellectual Property. Therefore, if you have a need to reuse your art somewhere else you could opt for double-licensing and choosing a Creative Commons license that suits you fine, while still allowing Wesnoth user made content authors to distribute your work and its derivatives under the terms of the GNU GPL. By double-licensing, you can distribute your work in your own terms if you ever need to create something that can't, for whatever reason, be relicensed under the GNU GPL due to its "viral" nature, etc.

Also, is it a must that EVERYTHING that is posted here, would need to be finished...? I mean, I know not, but... somehow it seems that stuff which isn't good enough for mainline, someone wants to use for UMC, but they don't because it's not animated... And I REALLY don't have time to animate anything... Or the motivation either, though... Or skull, either...

If you don't have the skill and don't have any motivation to learn and improve your spriting, then don't do anything.

If you don't have the skill and want to learn, then continue practicing, and reading, and learning from other people's work, which is how I learned.

However, it's important to note that most people aren't interested in works in progress. You should post only what you have finished unless it's crucial for your development. So far it doesn't seem that WIPs are productive for you in any way, so stick to producing art and comparing it to the mainline style over and over until you are really sure it's on par. Then, post.

Just like programming, spriting takes a lot of concentration and working alone. Just showing people what you do and how you do it won't really help if you can't take your time and criticize your own output, work on its flaws, and look at it as if you were evaluating another person's work instead of yours.

Also note that it's not really essential to learn to animate — there are plenty of UMC units in such popular eras as Imperial Era and Era of Myths which aren't really animated at all, yet their baseframes are just cool. It's important to learn to improve your general pixel-art skills before delving into the overwhelmingly intricate mechanics of animation.

That said, I really hope you read this, keep your thoughts on it to yourself, and learn. You've got potential since you have the enthusiasm for making pixel art, but you really need to study, learn and practice on your own.

Good luck!

[thespaceinvader]

Nothing NEEDS to be finished. Finish it only if you want to. This isn't school, we're not forcing you to work. In fact, if you don't want to work, personally I'd prefer if you didn't, because trying to get you to do so effectively has wasted a not insignificant amount of our time. If you don't care about it, don't bother us with it.

[IPS]

Nice srpites all hehehe

Likes very interesting, but I couldnt see all the sprites because I did arrive to late