My first sprite

[dthnote801]

Obviously it's not fantastic, or good for that matter, but I've been dabbling around with spriting for the past half hour or so, and the creation turned out like this.


I'd love any tips / pointers on this.

Which obviously I need to find a way to shade this, and to find a better color palette.

[elementaldisaster]

You got the shape right…. just needs detail, as you said. Also, i would try to do something with the background, like darker on the edges and lighter as it comes in towards the sword, just an idea.

[Lukin]

What program are you using? Seems like you are using a brush to color it, which is not good as it has anti aliasing.  If its photoshop, right click on the brush tool and select pencil instead.

That is, if you don't want to go outside the lines or have 1823419384 colors.

If it's a sword it will most likely be symmetrical too.

[Lukin]

Okay, so here is my version of your sword. 

First of all, I'm using a light gray background to make sure it will stick out in game, while not having black outlines. I use selective outlining which is basically you make it darker where shadows would fall and lighter where light would fall.

I then made the handle out of leather instead of the same material as the hilt or w/e its called, as I figured it wouldn't be that comfortable and it seems more realistic. I also made it smaller than the blade as it seems more realistic too. The sword is now also symmetrical.

The actual blade is based on a tutorial made by Kreator, same goes for the palette.

I suggest you take a look at [http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/topic,54337.0.html](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/topic,54337.0.html) and maybe just the tutorial section overall.

Black outlines can be a good thing sometimes, but often not imo.

EDIT: Of course I forgot to add selective outlines on the actual blade.. x.x

[dthnote801]

@Lukin:

> What program are you using? Seems like you are using a brush to color it, which is not good as it has anti aliasing.  If its photoshop, right click on the brush tool and select pencil instead.
>
> That is, if you don't want to go outside the lines or have 1823419384 colors.
>
> If it's a sword it will most likely be symmetrical too.

Right, I am using photoshop, but I used paint for the basic outline of the sword.
Thanks for the tips Lukin.

[Jeff]

Here's a list of graphic tutorials, it'll help you out to get your footing: http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/topic,71652.0.html
Also, you can't use brush tools for pixelling…. use a hard edge tool, like the pencil tool.  any anti-aliasing will make the finished project look mottled and blurry.