Basic Pixel Doll Tutorial
Posted: 5th March 2008
Difficulty: Easy
In this tutorial, you'll be able to see the principles learnt from the basic tutorial being used to create a pixel doll. The base used in this tutorial is the Zephyr base - you can use another one if you like, but try to keep it small so that you can practice your pixel placement.
Contents
- Lighting - 1st Layer
- Lighting - 2nd Layer
- Lighting - 3rd Layer
- Shadows - 1st Layer
- Lighting the Outlines
Lighting - 1st Layer
First of all, you'll need to decide where the light is coming from - that way you'll be able to figure out which parts get lots of light (highlights) and which parts don't get light (shadows).
I've gone for a general light (like the sun) from the top left-ish corner - it's probably the easiest to start learning with~
Now, I'm quite odd in my approach to shading - I do the opposite D: I prefer to do the lighting first and then add final shadows later if they're needed, but you can add shadows first if you'd rather, whatever's easiest ^^
I've gone for a general light (like the sun) from the top left-ish corner - it's probably the easiest to start learning with~
Now, I'm quite odd in my approach to shading - I do the opposite D: I prefer to do the lighting first and then add final shadows later if they're needed, but you can add shadows first if you'd rather, whatever's easiest ^^
Lighting - 2nd Layer
You should be able to see the orange starting to really take shape now as more layers of light are applied to it.
Notice the way the lighting is curved to help the orange look "spherical" in shape rather than flat. And also that it's lighter more on the left side than the right because I decided the light was coming from the top left.
Also notice that details within the leaf have been further refined from the previous step and can be seen clearly now.
Lighting - 3rd Layer
This is the final layer of lighting now - compared with the two previous layers of lighting, this one is pretty mild, with most areas getting only a couple of pixels added. The orange itself gets the most attention for this lighting layer. Because of it's size and it being so plain, I need to make sure that the lighting really brings out it's spherical shape.
Shadows - 1st Layer
The first and only layer of shading (for me anyway - this might be your first layer of highlights if you started with the shadows) XP
Most areas don't get much attention in this layer - the orange again gets the most attention, because it's the biggest object XP I have however added a little shading to the part in the hair. I've also darkened the leaves hidden towards the back beside the orange, so they don't stand out as much ^_^
Lighting the Outlines
Now, I begin to shade and highlight the outlines using the shadow and base colours, to blend them into the image a bit. Be careful not to blend them too much, or they'll disappear o.o
This process can be a bit tedious sometimes - I redid the outlines on the orange 3 times before I was happy with it ^^;
