So I've read quite extensively and main things I've come across is you simply experiment and find what you like, is there no formal to picking gradients and ramps? I heard long time ago it was bad to use gradients but this professional book says to use them so I'm a bit confused? Most seem to express that your different shades should be completely different hues. While this professionals book say they should be shades and tints? If someone with good experience in pixel artistry could shed some light and tips on helping me get started on making good color pallets that would be great, I don't want to start making my art until I got my colors down.
Example say I want to draw realism with pixels, most seem to want realism, so I pick the color closest to real color and then I try to aim for colors shades that also look real? I might be looking at this from a programmer way and want a solid ground answer or formula of how to make my color pallets. Sadly this professional book suggested that to be lazy like them and just take colors pallets from other games... I'd personally would at least like to be able to make my own if needed... So I'm looking for a direct answer on how to make my color pallets.
A. Take them from other games or take colors from real life images and work around that (not sure about how dark or how light each shade or tint should be).
B. Take pallets other people have already spent tons of time making.
C. Have the computer generate gradients and ramps for me?
Any help on this would be most useful.
ID:1313911
 Jul 4 2013, 2:16 pm
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I, an unprofessional artist say screw them and go with what you like. Art is what you make it. There are tips people follow for making color palettes like how purple is closest to black/outline and yellow to light blah but it's ultimately up to you.
One thing I love to do is to keep my saturation low. Noone wants to bleed from the eyes to have to look at your art piece | |
Well a lot was explained in this book, how kids like brightest most flashy color and young adults are about the same and older people as well so can easily see it and then middle aged adults tend to like cool darker colors and genders are opposite on that as well. Most of what I read is quite a toss up, everyone is different, some say to only use warm and cold colors and others say go for shades of the real colors you pick and also tints. So I guess best bet for me is to experiment as much as I can with both and my own way and see what I like. Perhaps also slightly think about what viewers might like as well. Logic kinda tells me the more real it looks.. less it matters what color it is. But it perhaps also has to follow logical color too... Quite a toss up, but yes I'll practice and read as much as I can on it, thanks for the opinions/tips on it.
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So about gradients and ramps, does anyone pick the different shades themselves or do they have a computer make the gradient then pick colors inside the gradient that have the best contrast differences in between? So tips on that please.
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It's all about your own choices. Most computermade gradients don't have the same quality that man-made gradients have, which says more about the people making those gradients than the programs they're made with.
If I look at the program I use, Photoshop CS5, I can edit a gradient to perfection, while making it less time-intensive than making it entirely by hand. Choosing colors for a gradient all depends on what the gradient is for. I'd suggest reading this piece written by one of PixelJoint's finest artists (Dawnbringer, famous for his creation of the near perfect 16/32 color palette) about colors. http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299 Other than that, I can advise you to just play with the colors. After a while you start realizing what works and what doesn't. Just don't be afraid to try strange combinations, Sometimes they work the best. | |
That is Dawnbringer, it says cure as his name? I read that guide very extensively, I actually found his guide the most confusing since he only explained things, and not really how to go about them, or where and how to practice it, or what to look for when doing your own, like he explained what the tools did, not how to use them. But if you look at my recent pixel art, that I am going to be using for my avatar, I actually used that pallet since you had suggested it in one of the old threads. Thank you I'll be defiantly practicing with what you said.
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Oops, I sometimes mix those two up -_-. let me refer you to the right article... This one doesn't explain so much as it shows.
http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12795 and http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16247 | |
 Please constructive criticism this artwork I did to try and help someone on a thread in art/sound thread with an example of what I meant. | |
One important pointer I might want to throw out there is that it's good to have nice contrast, whether it be pixel art or traditional art, etc.. When choosing a palette of colors, it's in the user's best interest to choose colors that show a difference (which is what contrast is by definition).
For example, with this palette:  I have a good set of colors that are all easily distinguishable from each other, with black being one of my most used "filler" colors, as well as white (the background). I could make a flame sprite using these colors, much like:  | |
Yeah... I know his right arm looks possibly jacked up because the shade blends too much with the background, trying to see what I can do about that =o.
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 Slightly better contrast I suppose just from slight better background change.  I was some what relying on a darker background to not need an outline, but I will see what I can do later on that. | |
So before I made the one for the thread in hopes of demonstrating what I meant, I had made him much bigger with the plans of shrinking him before I even started and this is what he looked like before I shrank him, please constructive criticism him as well, but I will say that I stopped in detail at that point, since I achieved basically what I felt I needed for detail to I shrink him. Enjoy.
 I think he also looks kinda silly too, maybe like a ken doll. With that face at least. But I feel he matches the visual a good amount before shrinking.  So as you can see in the image of the visual head and legs were cut off so I improvised and looked at some other visuals, as for the face, I felt like making it look silly since I knew it'd be gone when shrank. Feel free to give tips on anything even though this sorta knew it was going to be shrank and detail didn't matter much sort of thing. I'll try to study more on my shading and color picking of shading that seems to be one of my problems so far. Also I did tweak the image a bit on the right arm just dithered it instead of trying to shadow it with color. My shading a lot right now on him at least looks kind of like wounds or tattoos. | |
Well I actually have my screen darkened because I'm partially light sensitive but meh I will try to pixel anyways. Darkened with no brightness and around 71% contrast =p. So what I see is quite different.
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Never use 100% black or white. If you want a real challenge don't ever use either at all.
This keeps things uniformed in color and usually saves you time.