Siggy Shading tutorial

Siggy · 03-07-2012

Intro

Hello today I am going to show you how to shade your pieces of pixel art , the "do" and "do not" sorts of things, it also shows the sorts of mistakes beginner artists tend to make and how you can avoid these slip ups!

1: The Basics

The bread and butter of all pixel artists
Starting with what shades you should use:
In smaller works of pixel art e.g- Heads, Hats..
it is recommended that you use 4 shades MAX for each colour

it is also fundamental that you use shades that have a lot of Contrast, shades you can easily tell apart from each other
if the shades are too close to each other then they tend to blend too much.

this is an example of a badly chosen assortment of shades.
http://i39.tinypic.com/5uz2b.png (Unsupported image host)

and here is an example of a good assortment of shades
http://i43.tinypic.com/14261xv.png (Unsupported image host)

I will use this good assortment to show you the mistakes you can make, even if you have a good selection of shades

2: The Evils of Pillow Shading

Pillow shading, an honest mistake made by beginner pixel artists...
even I made this mistake and I am not ashamed to say it because I learned from my mistake, this form of "shading" looks very unprofessional whenever used and can make a great piece of work look tacky, it shades in a way that makes the light source appear directly shining onto the object being shaded, this looks not only extremely unrealistic, but could even ruin your project! , this is an example of pillow shading.

http://i42.tinypic.com/5un4hk.png (Unsupported image host)

Even though we are using a good selection of shades, pillow shading manages to ruin this poor Square.

Another Example.

http://i42.tinypic.com/4i0j1e.png (Unsupported image host)

this here is Steve The Iceburg, he is very upset with his complexion, and wonders why his creator would ever do this to him, poor guy we shall fix him up later.

Moving on!

2: Another Beginners Mistake! - Gradient Shading

Oh dear, this seems to be another one of the number one mistakes made by beginners, gradient shading is using the shades one after each other without arranging them in any kind of pattern apart from straight lines or diagonals, witch, as said before, looks unprofessional, unrealistic, and tacky.
But never fear Beginners! I also made this mistake as you can see from my earlier works.... but as I progressed I learned from my mistakes as before, which is great, and I hope you will too.

Example of Gradient "shading"

http://i39.tinypic.com/w8t7hl.png (Unsupported image host)

Again a bad shading style ruins our project.

Another Example

http://i44.tinypic.com/2csjprt.png (Unsupported image host)

Poor Steve! his position just seems to get worse and worse as he slowly sinks into depression at the thought his merciless creator.

3: Dithering!

After all the negativity I'm glad to say that there is finally going to be a positive point in this tutorial , dithering! a style used by many pixel artists
because:

1:it shows clear definition of shades while still maintaining a good look

2:it shows the depth of objects and light sources a lot better

3:it makes it appear as though there are more shades from a distance, which looks fantastic!

Example of Dithering

http://i43.tinypic.com/1juvd5.png (Unsupported image host)

Hooray! the Square is now shaded and very pleased!

Another example

http://i42.tinypic.com/2afyhpx.png (Unsupported image host)

Amazing! Steve's life has taken a great turn and he now feels fit to go out into the world! he is now a very successful business man =]

4:Epilogue

Well that's the basics of pixel art and shading people, I hope that you progress your skills further and become great pixel artists!

Always remember that when you make a mistake with your art you can always learn and become better from it!

I also invite you to share any works of art you have made to further everyone understanding of this fine art, it would be much appreciated

Thank you and Happy Pixeling!

- Siggy

iHawk · 03-07-2012

Nice job! I'll try this out!
+Rep

Siggy · 03-07-2012

thanks! and good luck!

Ace · 03-07-2012

Nice tutorial bro

Xertic · 03-07-2012

I love dithering. Nice job.

Siggy · 03-08-2012

thank you.

iPoptart · 03-08-2012

Would you bye any chance no how to shade a flat object with the thickness of a Poptart, I've tried and it has alluded me x_x Great tutorial by the way +rep

Siggy · 03-09-2012

thanks

Luna · 03-09-2012

sigg??? XD

Siggy · 03-10-2012

pardon..?

Cigam · 03-10-2012

Nice tutorial Siggy. Sure it'll help me out with my work. +rep

Luna · 03-10-2012

lol sigg its luna from cxe

Admiral · 03-10-2012

Nice guide, will definitely help me out!

Just wondering though, shouldn't this be in the guides section?

Beholder · 03-10-2012

I find it ironic the thing I hate most about this tutorial-
That you scaled the example images up in a non-integer manner.(1x, 2x, 3x, 3.85x, 4x)

Zerith · 03-10-2012

Hey what's up. This is Zerith. Just wanted to agree that dithering is a pretty good style of shading but I don't want to give newbies the impression that pillow shading is an absolute no-no. Shading plays a big part in images, but another that plays a huge part is lineart. Spending a lot of time in developing a perfect outline for your image can give you amazing results. I personally pillow shade. Here's some of my old work when i first started out.

03-10-2012	15
Zerith Guest Posts: n/a	Hey what's up. This is Zerith. Just wanted to agree that dithering is a pretty good style of shading but I don't want to give newbies the impression that pillow shading is an absolute no-no. Shading plays a big part in images, but another that plays a huge part is lineart. Spending a lot of time in developing a perfect outline for your image can give you amazing results. I personally pillow shade. Here's some of my old work when i first started out. Attached Thumbnails

03-07-2012	1
Siggy Graals Green Haired Child Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Auckland Posts: 83	Siggy Shading tutorial Intro Hello today I am going to show you how to shade your pieces of pixel art , the "do" and "do not" sorts of things, it also shows the sorts of mistakes beginner artists tend to make and how you can avoid these slip ups! 1: The Basics The bread and butter of all pixel artists Starting with what shades you should use: In smaller works of pixel art e.g- Heads, Hats.. it is recommended that you use 4 shades MAX for each colour it is also fundamental that you use shades that have a lot of Contrast, shades you can easily tell apart from each other if the shades are too close to each other then they tend to blend too much. this is an example of a badly chosen assortment of shades. http://i39.tinypic.com/5uz2b.png (Unsupported image host) and here is an example of a good assortment of shades http://i43.tinypic.com/14261xv.png (Unsupported image host) I will use this good assortment to show you the mistakes you can make, even if you have a good selection of shades 2: The Evils of Pillow Shading Pillow shading, an honest mistake made by beginner pixel artists... even I made this mistake and I am not ashamed to say it because I learned from my mistake, this form of "shading" looks very unprofessional whenever used and can make a great piece of work look tacky, it shades in a way that makes the light source appear directly shining onto the object being shaded, this looks not only extremely unrealistic, but could even ruin your project! , this is an example of pillow shading. http://i42.tinypic.com/5un4hk.png (Unsupported image host) Even though we are using a good selection of shades, pillow shading manages to ruin this poor Square. Another Example. http://i42.tinypic.com/4i0j1e.png (Unsupported image host) this here is Steve The Iceburg, he is very upset with his complexion, and wonders why his creator would ever do this to him, poor guy we shall fix him up later. Moving on! 2: Another Beginners Mistake! - Gradient Shading Oh dear, this seems to be another one of the number one mistakes made by beginners, gradient shading is using the shades one after each other without arranging them in any kind of pattern apart from straight lines or diagonals, witch, as said before, looks unprofessional, unrealistic, and tacky. But never fear Beginners! I also made this mistake as you can see from my earlier works.... but as I progressed I learned from my mistakes as before, which is great, and I hope you will too. Example of Gradient "shading" http://i39.tinypic.com/w8t7hl.png (Unsupported image host) Again a bad shading style ruins our project. Another Example http://i44.tinypic.com/2csjprt.png (Unsupported image host) Poor Steve! his position just seems to get worse and worse as he slowly sinks into depression at the thought his merciless creator. 3: Dithering! After all the negativity I'm glad to say that there is finally going to be a positive point in this tutorial , dithering! a style used by many pixel artists because: 1:it shows clear definition of shades while still maintaining a good look 2:it shows the depth of objects and light sources a lot better 3:it makes it appear as though there are more shades from a distance, which looks fantastic! Example of Dithering http://i43.tinypic.com/1juvd5.png (Unsupported image host) Hooray! the Square is now shaded and very pleased! Another example http://i42.tinypic.com/2afyhpx.png (Unsupported image host) Amazing! Steve's life has taken a great turn and he now feels fit to go out into the world! he is now a very successful business man =] 4:Epilogue Well that's the basics of pixel art and shading people, I hope that you progress your skills further and become great pixel artists! Always remember that when you make a mistake with your art you can always learn and become better from it! I also invite you to share any works of art you have made to further everyone understanding of this fine art, it would be much appreciated Thank you and Happy Pixeling! - Siggy

03-07-2012	2
iHawk Graalian Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 986	Nice job! I'll try this out! +Rep

03-07-2012	4
Ace Banned Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: A box Posts: 3,317	Nice tutorial bro

03-07-2012	5
Xertic Banned Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: PA,USA Posts: 447	I love dithering. Nice job.

03-08-2012	6
Siggy Graals Green Haired Child Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Auckland Posts: 83	thank you.

03-08-2012	7
iPoptart Graals Greatest Pastry Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: In the pantry Posts: 188	Would you bye any chance no how to shade a flat object with the thickness of a Poptart, I've tried and it has alluded me x_x Great tutorial by the way +rep

03-09-2012	8
Siggy Graals Green Haired Child Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Auckland Posts: 83	thanks

03-09-2012	9
Luna Registered User Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: derp Posts: 57	sigg??? XD

03-10-2012	11
Cigam Player. Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 1,812	Nice tutorial Siggy. Sure it'll help me out with my work. +rep

03-10-2012	13
Admiral Registered User Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 2,912	Nice guide, will definitely help me out! Just wondering though, shouldn't this be in the guides section?

03-10-2012	14
Beholder Professional iPhone Hater Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Canada Posts: 454	I find it ironic the thing I hate most about this tutorial- That you scaled the example images up in a non-integer manner.(1x, 2x, 3x, 3.85x, 4x)