One of the challenging aspects of pixel art is deciding about the details that are to be eliminated and the ones to be emphasized. The intricate details have to go but the important features of the subject have to be represented in the final result of the artwork.
For this subject, the most important aspect is the eye and of course the zebra stripes. For this piece, I had to spend more time working on each pixel of the eye. I did five reiterations until I'm happy with how it looks.
After the eye, every element just follows through. The stripes are fun to create. I was just playing on the curve lines until I clearly represented the look that I'm aiming for. The shading is a lot easier from here, black and white gave the final result a really good contrast.
In the final result, I still made a few iterations on the stripes to make some of the curve lines smoother. You will be able to notice it on the progress below:
Here's a film strip of the WIP:
While here's a gif version of the WIP:
”Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
