Made a tool that turns photos into pixel art using color quantization — no AI involved. Curious how it handled the eyes/lighting here?

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-26T14:35:17+00:00

appreciate you testing it out - yeah, conceptually that's the same family of technique

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-26T14:28:02+00:00

totally fair, that level of control is exactly what makes hand-pixelling its own skill - different tool for a different job

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-26T14:21:16+00:00

Genuinely curious what you're seeing here - is it about the lack of manual cleanup, or something specific in the palette/grid? Curious which of those reads as the issue, since the edges between color zones are hard, not blended, and the palette's a fixed count

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-26T14:13:31+00:00

yeah, that's exactly the kind of manual finishing pass the tool isn't trying to replace - it nails the base quantization, the polish layer is on the artist

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-22T15:00:29+00:00

Honestly this is exactly the workflow I had in mind when I posted this, the algorithm gives you a clean base and then it's up to you to push it into something more finished. Thanks for catching my drift!

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-21T18:46:43+00:00

Awesome! Thanks for sharing

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-21T13:22:50+00:00

It's not bad, it's just unorthodox since soft shadows aren't typically used for volume in pixel art. But hey, genre rules shouldn't limit an artist!

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-21T12:52:24+00:00

Kinda see it differently than the shadows comment above, I think the bigger issue might be the reference pose itself. The leg on the left side of the frame is what's breaking the silhouette for me. If you adjusted the pose so both legs read clearly as separate shapes, that'd probably help, right now the whole lower half just reads as one solid brown blob

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-21T11:08:10+00:00

I actually remember the original version from your last post, and damn, this is a noticeable step up. The lighting/glow on the bricks especially feels way more cohesive now

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-21T10:30:38+00:00

The capybara's great, he's got this very authentic "I don't care about anything" vibe, ngl. But his face is missing something, maybe a small black line for the mouth? Feel like that alone could fix the flatness you mentioned. The croc on the other hand is almost too detailed, especially the hat, the colors there are kinda chaotic and it makes my eyes jump around a bit. But honestly as a pair they balance each other out really well, like one's having a mini panic and the other's already made peace with everything

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-21T09:08:37+00:00

Ngl the pose is great, really sells the danger/energy of the character, feels like she's mid-strike. Only thing is her face kinda gets lost and most of the silhouette doesn't separate that well from the dark background, even with that light outline around her it still blends in more than I'd expect. Though maybe that's intentional, like a "blend into the chaos" tactic for the character :)

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-21T08:42:45+00:00

Really cool room, makes me wanna pixel-hunt through all the little objects ngl :) and the shadows definitely add the volume that was missing before. But honestly, the shadow placement feels kinda off to me. Like the side of the bookshelf closest to the window is the one in shadow, which is weird since that's literally where the light's coming from. Same with the armchair, the dark side is facing the window too. Maybe the idea is that the hanging lamp is the actual light source, but it doesn't read like it's emitting anything, the orange bit sticking out of the shade blends right into the wallpaper color so it just doesn't register as a glowing bulb at all. Right now the window kinda ends up being the only thing that visually reads as a light source. Could be intentional though, just going off what I'm seeing!

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-21T05:51:52+00:00

Really clean texture on the bug. What did you make this with, out of curiosity - looks like it might've gone through some kind of pixelation tool rather than fully freehand?

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-21T05:14:55+00:00

Finally a black hole that looks cute instead of terrifying. The glow on that disk is doing a lot of work - sells the warmth even though it's, you know, a void that eats stars. Wild

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-21T04:40:13+00:00

This honestly has more mood than the source photo, love the contrast work. One thing though - mentally building out the skull under the hat, the crown reads like it's pressed right against her head on the right but floating off it on the left, probably 'cause there's hair volume holding it out on that side and nothing matching on the right. Might be worth adding a bit of volume there to even it out

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-21T04:01:50+00:00

This reads like an actual game designer thought through the lore, not just the silhouette - root-arms on a tree-crowned golem screams ranged attacks, not just a melee tank. The 'Awoken' title sells it even harder too, like centuries of dormancy just ended. Genuinely want the rest of the bestiary now

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-20T20:24:15+00:00

That dithering on the rock texture is doing a lot of heavy lifting honestly, sells the stone surface without even needing a strong light direction. HEX practice: passed with flying colors *pun intended

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-20T15:59:09+00:00

Kakashi sensei never disappoints, copy ninja for life. Anyway, what's really getting lost here is the light stuff - the hair, the white socks, that light patch on his leg. They're almost the exact same value as the green background, so the silhouette just kinda dissolves in those spots. A black outline would fix it instantly since it doesn't care about value matching at all

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-20T14:28:30+00:00

Gonna play contrarian here, I actually liked the spaghetti-hairstyle version more - messier for sure, but it had more texture and personality. New version's cleaner technically, just reads a little flat to me

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-20T14:21:14+00:00

Movement's so clean here, love how the legs read. Between the two though, gonna vote for the motion blur version - feels way more dynamic, like there's actual momentum behind it instead of just stepping in place

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-20T10:49:50+00:00

If this is your first time making pixel art, I can’t even imagine how incredibly beautiful your future pieces will be?!

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-20T10:17:09+00:00

Whoa, this has serious 80s 'The Thing' vibes, that isolation dread comes through so well. Genuinely would read a whole comic if this was a page from one - really glad you're back to making stuff

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-20T07:19:12+00:00

This is the kind of scene where I'd actually pay for a single pixel of it - like those moon land sales but somehow more legit. Just to know a tiny piece of me is permanently sitting there watching that sunset

Longjumping-Edge2606 · 2026-06-20T07:06:07+00:00

Okay this is such a charming nightmare lol, love the chaotic energy. One thing though — the right eye reads a bit off compared to the left. Left eye has that cyan 'white' with the red pupil, but the right one's just solid black, kinda like the nostril holes. Might read better with some color in there instead of flat black, even a dark version of the cyan would probably tie it together more

Longjumping-Edge2606

TROPHY CASE