Texture examples using DawnBringer's 16 color palette
I've been especially fascinated by DawnBringer's 16 color palette: http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12795
And surt's recent works using it: http://opengameart.org/users/surt
I'm requesting a new resource that uses that palette to create example materials and textures.
Mockup of what I'm looking for:
I created that mockup directly from Surt's puzzle art http://opengameart.org/content/puhzil
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The palette is interesting because it somewhat forces the artist to color lights and shadows with warm and cold hues. But as a colorblind, untrained artist it's hard to think that way without seeing examples. Having a sheet of texture examples would be a tremendous help to me.
I'd like to see such a sheet contain many examples. Basically creating tiny sub-palettes that represent various materials.
The spheres in that mockup sheet I posted would be a great starting set of basic smooth spheres. But I'd like to see more:
- examples of shinier spheres (more specular highlights)
- reflective spheres (chrome-like look/pallete)
- matte spheres (almost no specular).
- fewer colors but using various dithering techniques.
- commonly used real-world materials (steel, rusty iron, leather, tree foliage)
I'll contact surt about this specifically because he's already familiar with the palette and has produced great art with it. I may be willing to pay surt for this, or someone else that specifically has experience with this sort of thing.
Does anyone else think this is a good idea? Maybe several artists could colaborrate to create a large collection of materials?
I know spheres are the standard for previewing materials in the 3d world, but imo they don't work well here; one problem with the particular spheres is that there's banding around the top hilight, but it's difficult to get a solution around banding on something as necessarily smooth as a sphere - and then the solution likely wouldn't be general enough to work as a sample for various palettes. Maybe speculars should be shown on gem-like boxes instead?
Also, much of the joy of pixel-art is that shape/texture/light are all connected - that if you change a few pixels from one color to another, then you might change all 3 in various, complicated ways (especially with tiny sprites/tiles). But with a sphere, the shape is very precisely prescribed to the viewer; imo it's much more interesting to see how perception of a small blob with no such prescription changes with various palettes.
anyway, generic blobs (rocks? skin? foliage?):
I'll certainly be happy to try my hand at this but if you really want to see proper use of the DB palette it's probably worth trying the man himself.
He's capable of much more advanced pixel sorcery that I am, he can use greens and cyans and oranges in unnatural ways where that don't belong and to forge an unholy beauty.
For example here and here.
He's got contact details on his PJ gallery.
Still, I'll make my straight-forward, very vanilla attempt.