(snip)
(Oh, If anyone could figure out what tool SR7 uses for that "grainy" texture in his art that would be helpful.)
I seem to remember this being detailed somewhere, where it is described how the 'grain' is added to the art. Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly where I read that (I think it was in one of the F95Zone threads that talk about his art/game), maybe someone else will know where that was posted! (here, Deviantart, etc.).
Edit: This isn't what I read before, but it still might be useful to a few people in this thread:
It turns out that both of these are in the SR7 Collection (
see here).
Here's the third piece of artwork/guide from that collection.
Again, this isn't the Photoshop tips that I remember reading that talked about how SR7 adds grain to the SR7 sprites (the second image above mentions a concrete texture, I remember reading something different, my brain might be confused though!), and also that 'inner halo' on the characters, note that there's a light outline just inside of the black one on most of the characters.
Edit 2:
Lovekraut shared this image in a followup post,, including it here for completeness.
Quick note from my end. A trick I sometimes use, when editing an existing sprite with a paintbrush is to use the sharpen tool afterwords with the opacity dialed down to say 10-20% to add grain to a spot that I just edited, using the tool in multiple passes until I achieve the 'grainy' look that matches up with nearby grain well enough. This can take a bit of practice, but it's a quick and dirty way to re-add grain. That way it doesn't jump out at you immediately.
I also use the clone stamp tool a lot, copying the skin texture from nearby to the area I'm adding/modifying.
Another useful tool is the History Brush. You can make a big change (say with color balance, brightness/contrast, etc.) to a layer, then use the history brush to apply the change only to the area you want to modify. This can be faster than selecting an area sometimes. I use this tool fairly often in my 3dcg image render postwork when I'm trying to make an area of an image either pop more or blend into the background more. I usually set the history brush to say 50% and then brush in the change in multiple passes if needed, that way I can dial in how much of the change I want.
But mainly this post is about giving y'all some ideas r.e. how to best duplicate/edit SR7's artwork, which is awesome!
