This tutorial will demonstrate how to create form by taking in the factor of lighting on depth. Instead of doing a complex and in depth tree we are only going to deal with a simplistic tree, somewhat cartoon like but still displaying some sense of realism. It will appear more as a display of shape then anything significant. It’s not a tutorial on how to make a tree and is not to the standards Joseph has displayed as I finished it in around 2 to 3 minutes for the trees. Here is a look at a more well thought out and time consuming tree, by Joseph.


So lets’ get started.

The first thing to take into consideration is ‘what does my object look like’ in this case a tree isn’t merely a flat object its structure of leaves produces depth. Representing this depth requires a bit of foresight. In my case I have put together the trunk of the tree and left it as is. However the leaves are a little more complicated. Bunches of leaves protrude from the tree. These leaves create a great deal of depth but simply drawing a flat blob to show the leaves won’t allow for the easy representation of this depth. So instead I draw circles. Each circle is actually representative of a sphere of leaves.



Next is perhaps the most significant of factors for creating the sense of depth in an image. The lighting, as I have displayed the yellow circle in the corner is the source of light (the sun). The yellow scribbles on the piece are where the sun is able to hit without the loss of light. And finally the small near the bottom demonstrates the near lack of all light on the piece.



From this we can make the rest of the piece. All the circle lines that are hidden by the middle protruding bundle of leaves are removed. The lines around the piece are given a black outline due to the cartoon like style. The areas of lighting are left the greenest, while the not entirely lightened parts are given the darker green shade. And the areas receiving near no light are given the same colour as the outline.



To improve on this piece I would suggest dithering as it creates a sense of ruggedness giving a sense of leaves. This also applies to the trunk to create the barky look. I wouldn’t consider this piece completed however it does show the technique I wanted to display.

-Edit-
From Joseph we have:

and i gave it a little tweaking.

-Edit again-

and another one I did a while after the tutorial because I had the time.

there is already a tree making tutorial by mothflavour and by CMR

although you should have asked to use my tree, ill allow it.
also, good tutorial, I can add onto your current tree for more realism, ill pm with finished product.

sorry Joseph, didn't even think of asking you :P my bad. But yer that would be good, I wouldn't mind showing a finished version but really cant be bothered doing it myself as I only wanted to make the tutorial in around 10 minutes. The writting took around 7 :lol:. Dithering can be a little more time consuming and I have other things to do so I was going to leave it there indefinately.

Tomster I really dont get why you cant pixel incredibly well. according to you, you have used all these tutorials and are still posting images like that tree. Try giving this tutorial a go and see if you can produce a piece up to the same standards as that last tree -before Joseph's finished version-. Which I dont consider very good or hard to achieve.

That's actually not that bad of a tree. Good job, Zeid.

Tomster, that's not the point in the first place...

Thanks, I think the tree turned out great especially after Joseph leant a hand to improve my rather quickly made tutorial (adding the dithering I had recomended for his piece a while ago). My real intention was to demonstrate (mainly to tomster) how light creates depth and to take this into account when pixeling.

I had the exact same thing zeid, for some ambient lighting...but it didnt look right to me. good job though, it looks better than mine did.

It's alright but i could probobly have done better...

The more views and styles and techniques, the merrier.

nice try "I Am Uh". I know you can do better. if you're worried about the trunk, dont try it yet, get the leafy area finished first, or at least started. keep glancing above at the finished image and see how it works. you can even copy and paste it into paint (or whatever you use) and zoom in. look how the dithering is organized.

Hey! I love this tutorial! I tried it out myself and got some help from my brother to fix it up. CC is sweet!

That’s nice rose, the dithering could use some work. But you showed the idea the tutorial was covering of depth and light. The trunk looks very nice.

Nice tuts, but put random lighter and darker shades to show leaves, if you want it less cartoony. (tip keep the trunk generally the same size, it should get drastically thinner near the leaves.)