hi there, i'm sorta new here and am a (i guess you could say) hobbyist artist. basically i'm posting some of my stuff here for you guys to see, i would like to know what you think in general, what you think is good, and what you think is bad (the works). i've got some pixel art stuff, and also some stuff i made in photoshop; i don't really have an established style. here we go. first of all, here's a pixel-art AK-47 that I made - most of you will notice that it doesn't have a clip. the reason for this is that i can't get the shape right, my curves are bad, which i'm trying to learn how to do. - - second is my pic entitled "the storm" which is a composition in photoshop: and the third, which is an abstract/fractal based pic. basically i took a rendered image from apophysis and photoshopped the heck out of it - any comments and critiques are very welcome.

I like the first [smile]. Very nice in my eyes. However, in the middle part of the AK there is a white gap. Dunno if it was intentional, but it stands out in a bad way [sad].

I like the two others too.

Rock on,

thanks samsonite. as for the gap in the ak47, that was intentional. check out his pic -

so, as far as i can tell that little gap is actually in the gun. [smile]

Whether or not it exists, it doesn't look good. One of the fundamental concepts of drawing and composition is to eliminate what doesn't work, and change/adjust things so they do work.

Not sure about the first one.

The third one would be better with some sort of background, even very suble, be it a textured wall or reflection or space, or gradient, or something... it looks like a frame from a cool particle effect that will be alpha'ed out rather than a finished work.

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Original post by Professor420 Whether or not it exists, it doesn't look good.

i see what you mean. i might make a new version of it and stick it up here for you guys to see.

(and thanks for the idea for the third image)

You mentioned that you couldn't get your curves right. Perhaps you can try working at slightly higher resolutions? Then you can get more details and curves seem more realistic. Nevertheless, its better to work at lower res. first. You have talent in pixel art, for sure ;). You should try isometric pixel art sometime. (http://rhysd.syntesis.org/tutorial/)

I like the abstract image as well.
About the white space.
See: http://www.airsoftgi.com/images/ak47.jpg.
If you notice, it can be replaced by a thin black line. Otherwise, even though you won't be perfectly accurate (no one ever is), you could try continuing the orange tinge into the white space.

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you have talent in pixel art, for sure ;).

thank you for the comment, but my skills are somewhat limited. anyway, thanks for the idea to work in a bigger resolution - but i'm using graphics gale, which i haven't completely figured out yet - i may have to do some fiddling :)

Graphics gale? Well to be honest, I started all my pixel art in MS Paint! I first modelled some crappy stuff, but then as I improved (still in Paint), I was able to completely draw out inner details of my house in isometric pixel art. Took me about 3 weeks. Several parts of the house, including kitchen, master bedroom, 2 small bed, 1 living, 1 formal, 1 dining, 1 fireplace/library & 2 exterior shots (front, back). I must say, it was very rewarding in the end. I never colored them in though..
..Just fyi.

Keep workin hard on it. Although I see great hand-drawers & 3d artists, there aren't many people are good pixel artists these days.

yeah, i hate mspaint... the color picker is teh suck. i just hate it. anyway, it's good that i got started with pixel art 'cuz pretty soon here i'm going to make a game with Scrolling Game Dev Kit...