Hello pixelation, I've been a lurker on these forums for a very long time but have never posted any work. I recently made a decision to devote more time to pixel art, and hopefully become a great artist. I know there are many extroardinary artists who post on this forum, and it would be an honor if any of you were to help me improve my work and hopefully someday reach your level of skill.
Today I'm working on a small, sword-swinging platformer-game character. I like the shape of the character, but picking colors has always been my weak point.
The main problem giving me a headache at the moment is that I want the character to be displayed on top of very bright, sunny backgrounds. I originally imagined him as a warrior with a white cape that burned bright and glistened in the sunlight, along with his sword. However, putting white on top of an also-bright background simply makes the sprite blend in. At the moment his cape is somewhat gold-colored, but that didn't help much. The problem becomes apparent on the following .gif, which uses the background color I wish to use in my game.
Here's the first sword-swing animation. The goal was to make the wind-up as slow and deliberate as possible while still allowing the attack to come out quick enough after inputs for it to be useful to the player. Another problem I'm having is that I'm not really sure how I want to draw the sword. I like the appearance of a thin and slightly curved blade, like a stylized katana - but I feel like if his sword were nothing more than a thin white/gray 1px line, it would blend in to the background.
Thanks in advance for any help. Feel free to comment any thoughts or critiques.