First Tile

[Sarkilas]

So I had a crack at making tiles. It didn't turn out too bad, but on the other hand, I'm only happy with the eye-shading. The actual tile shading turned out pretty lame.

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9287 ... mptej8.png
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Any help for improvement would be greatly appreciated, as I am trying to improve my spiriting skills.

Thanks!

 

[Ynlraey]

The tile is kinda pillow shaded try dithering or something :P

 

[Grathea]

The tile is neither pillow shaded nor dithered. However, that's academic, as it's not a tile either.
No, I'm not just being a callous bitch, I have explanations and tips, wait up a second.
Tiles are supposed to tile. Thus the name. This does not. Also, you've for some reason got an extra shade in there (third from the bottom) which is both a) indistinguishable at 100% and b) FAR too saturated for that color curve.
Secondly, a tile is supposed to BE something. What is this? What is it made of? What purpose does the eye serve?
Also, the texture that a tile is supposed to convey is sadly lacking.
I'd suggest reading parts one through four of Gas13's excellent pixel art tutorial for advice.

 

[Sarkilas]

Thanks for the comments, especially gratheo.

First thing. I've sprited for like a couple of days, and it's never been any good. I was just hoping to improve over time to get somewhere near good.

Thanks a lot for the criticism. It helps a lot. Oh, and especially that tutorial. I was actually looking for a good one at that. Cheers!

 

[ev149]

You need some work on your shading, try dithering it more.  The red part of the eye could use some small shading, and the eye should be outlined with a darker color if you want to make it stand out and not blend into the background (just remember not to use pure black).  Also, make sure to put this in the correct section, as I don't think it's a resource. 

-ev149