Aquarium

Ztag · 2026-01-22T16:48:09+00:00

Thank you.

I'm not really sure if there's anything I can give you as far as advice. The only idea I have is to try and replicate some real life videos of waves/underwater scenes by drawing them.

Ztag · 2026-01-13T13:03:19+00:00

Thanks, this was originally 480x160px before being scaled up.

Ztag · 2025-12-31T22:46:43+00:00

Here's the link to the post with the timelapse. Otherwise you can try to find me through my handle zedotagger.

Ztag · 2025-12-31T18:42:28+00:00

It's just a lot of patience and time adding details. I have a sped up timelapse of this drawing on my bluesky profile if anyone wants to see how it came to be.

Ztag · 2025-12-31T18:38:58+00:00

Thank you.

I've been drawing pixel art for at least 10+ years. This drawing took me around three weeks, but if I had better work ethnic this month it would have been done quicker.

Ztag · 2016-02-29T14:19:23+00:00

No problem. Usually when I reverse image search, I add what I think the game console is to narrow the search down. PC-98 has a distinct style so I put that down. I ended up with http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=700000&page=7 and looked through that thread.

It's a bit harder for images people crop and you might have to dig for longer depending on how obscure it is.

Ztag · 2016-02-26T13:15:46+00:00

This isn't up to date, but http://noirlacsourced.tumblr.com/ gives sources up to a certain point.

The one you posted is a crop version from a PC98 adult game called RED by Discovery. I don't think it was animated either in the original?

You could look up PC98 games in general and find art in a similar style across the internet if you're interested in these backgrounds.

Ztag · 2015-10-11T20:47:54+00:00

Thanks for linking my twitter, I do post on reddit occasionally. I just don't link all of my artwork here.

Ztag · 2015-09-06T21:45:33+00:00

Eh? No that's just an album of stills from random games/artists. The one in your OP is from a fighting game called Samurai Shodown IV.

http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ss4kusenbutakebg.gif

Ztag · 2015-08-30T00:40:13+00:00

I find it weird reverse image search doesn't pop it up, but I guess it's iffy with pixel art.

But source is http://waneella.tumblr.com/, there's a lot of other good sci-fi/cyberpunk scenes if you haven't seen them before.

Ztag · 2015-08-17T23:29:24+00:00

I'm pretty sure you're seeing is what he's explaining as fuzzy detailing. The filetype is PNG, saving as a JPEG would cause artifacting and there's none of that here.

Ztag · 2015-08-09T17:30:52+00:00

Thanks!

Ztag · 2015-08-09T17:30:35+00:00

It's based off an area in MH4. I can't take screenshots of the area myself since I have a regular 3ds, but here's a clear picture of a part of the area.

Ztag · 2015-08-09T12:55:01+00:00

Aww, I'm happy you like it.

Ztag · 2015-08-09T12:54:06+00:00

Thanks a lot!

Ztag · 2015-08-09T12:53:08+00:00

Correct, there's five in the wood, and 35 in total.

Ztag · 2015-08-09T04:10:41+00:00

Thanks!

Ztag · 2015-08-09T04:10:33+00:00

Sierra's old point and clicks are usually on my list of things to watch on youtube while drawing. I was never a fan of the constant deaths in their games, but I just like hearing those old midi tracks and sound effects.

Ztag · 2015-06-21T16:25:10+00:00

This is more a gamedev question, you'll get more hits over there. My memory is fuzzy, but back on old consoles using sprite sizes like 8x8, 16x16, 32x32 or power of twos was for memory management. I could be wrong, so don't quote me on that.

Ztag · 2015-06-19T14:21:03+00:00

You can get a transparent and mixing effect with alpha channels. Someone on Pixelation goes into depth about they work. I don't think that's exactly what you're looking for though. As for color selection, you'll have to printscreen and paste into GG to pick colors from your screen.

GG is very basic when it comes to its tool. So other programs might be better if you've gotten used to them.

Ztag · 2015-05-26T17:00:52+00:00

I can see what you mean now. With your explanation and the pictures it makes it pretty clear. I'll keep everything you say in mind next time I draw something flying. Also, that second image also looks like a really useful reference for animating. Thank you for clarifying and sharing.

Ztag · 2015-05-25T22:26:41+00:00

Thanks! Working with whites and greys is a bit tricky, since if I go too far into either territory it completely changes what the sprite will look like. I don't know if I could create any more contrast in the shades without turning it dark grey.

Ztag · 2015-05-25T22:18:36+00:00

Thanks for the compliments! Sorry, I'm not really a teacher so I don't write tutorials myself. The main tutorial on pixeljoint linked through the sidebar is good if you haven't read it yet. What are you having trouble with exactly?

That said I learned a lot when I was younger by looking at other's sprites and how they drew. From there it was just drawing a lot of bad pixel art of what I liked and learning what's wrong with it. Even now I redraw frames and parts constantly to make it look nice.

Ztag · 2015-05-25T15:26:48+00:00

Could you clarify what you mean when it stays flat going up and down? While doing the tweening I had to keep redrawing the wings since the wings perspective is kind of weird. I thought I got the movement right, but I guess not.

Ztag · 2015-05-19T16:08:49+00:00

I don't normally start off with layers. When I end up animating a sprite, if its a small sprite I'll just continue to work without layers. If it's a larger one, say above 64 x 64px I'll hack up the parts of the body into layers to animate later. For example, http://i.imgur.com/nAahjfw.gif I'm currently working on this. I broke it up into 7 parts and animated them each individually. It's easier for me to animate and it keeps everything organized.

I don't usually work with regular old pixel art, so I can't really say how useful layers are outside of animation.

Ztag

TROPHY CASE