I've been really eager to get back into pixel art again so, before doing anything else, I decided to come up with a palette of 64 colours to use within my art for the world.
I love working with creative constraints! Having a limited set of colours to use makes me think about how to utilise them in weird and wonderful ways - the same thing goes for working at a scale of tiny pixels!
For this bright fantasy world, it made sense to pack in as many bright and saturated colours as possible. I had to do quite a lot of tweaking in several iterations of the palette because sometimes the contrast was a bit too much, or there were colours that were too similar, or I'd realise that there was a certain area of the spectrum missing - but I got there in the end!
I also tried a new approach that some pixel artists use to create their palettes by laying out the colours in connecting hues. Instead of having an 8x8 square and start making colour ramps from point A to B, this way helps me visualise what colours are closer to one another. The other benefit of this layout is that it can be easier to pick colours from :D
For this palette I wanted to make sure there was more emphasis on natural tones like browns (for wood, leather, rocks, fur), greens (for foliage and landscapes), and lots of different blues for water and sky.
After running a few tests by remapping some of my old pixel art with the new palette, I decided to call it done! Swapping out the colours of an old piece wasn't enough of a real test for me though, so I created the first header image for this world that would give a great visual introduction to the starting area that I want to work on during WorldEmber this year :D
JOY64 palette by TJ Trewin
Zendu field
The gently rolling hills of Zendu field beckon travellers seeking both peaceful exploration and exciting adventures.
Late spring is the best time of year to see the beautiful orange blooms paint the landscape in a warm glow of sunlight. Newborn calfs of herding creatures can be seen frolicking around and braying in the fields while huge soaring birds caw above the evergreen forests.
In the distance, a meandering river lazily carries a small merchant boat along its current, and a bridge spanning its banks has a path leading towards crumbled ruins.
Amidst the voluminous clouds that attract many artists to the region are colossal sized floating rocks mysteriously looming beyond reach. One seems to have some kinds of structure built on top of it, but it's hard to make out any details.
