Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: straypixels on October 31, 2008, 01:28:27 pm
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Hi all!
I used to post Waaaaaaaaaaaay back in the way, long before Wayofthepixel, and, frankly, I miss it ^_^ It's good to be back.
I've started working on my pixel art again and I'm hoping to get some crits. I'm working on an RPG (and a couple of platformers :P) in my spare time for grins and giggles, but there's something about my base sprite that's just bugging the heck out of me.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/aarpie/strongmaletemplate.jpg)
muscled male
I can't figure out what's bother me on it, or how to fix it. I want to get the form settled before I try to start shading, since it will change the shading :) Help a brotha out? ^_^
stray...
EDIT:
Progress Animation:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/aarpie/progress.gif)
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the lower half of the guy doesnt seem to be angled like the rest of him. instead, the lower half looks more like its taken from a frontal view.
try angling his pelvis more so that the curve of the waistband curves more. make his feet point out more as if you're looking down on them..
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Also, it's JPG :P
Save as .png.
What exactly is the angle, meant to be?
3/4 top down? or what..
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Stupid Photobucket... it's actually a BMP, but it converted it without asking me :P Oh well. Here's an updated version of the stocky body. Is this looking better? 3/4ths, typical RPG angle (FF, or Chrono Trigger look)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/aarpie/strongmaletemplate-1.png)
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Okay, I've got a little bit more progress done, but I'm not sure how I feel about the shading. I think it's a little too... light. Could someone help me out? Crits NEEDED and wanted ^_^
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/aarpie/strongmaletemplate-2.png)
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you mean this is NOT made as a commentary on Helm's muscle baby topic.....you've got to be kidding me!
uhm, if yo mean to be serious I'd reccomend to make him less wide and have longer legs, then drop the baby face. also use some contrast...make your shadows darker and...keep your lights the way they are.
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What muscle baby topic?
I'll tweak the shadows later on and repost.
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http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=7301.0 your dude really looks like a buffed up baby to me
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I think that's because the head is large. Shrink the head and it will look more 'adult'. :P
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Here's the latest version... I really don't like his head now, but I'm not sure what to do with it... oppinions?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/aarpie/strongmaletemplate2.png)
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its mostly the fact you have such short extremities and such a wide blocky torso....
Things tend to look bad when you heavily change something by drawing over what you already had....maybe you should re-start it?
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You're probably right... Especially given that I'm probably going to size down the sprites after all lol
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I redrew his legs to put them into what could pass for the right perspective. While I'm at it, I'll give you some advice which I didn't address in the edit.
(http://www.lolipopsicle.com/linky/help/storng.gif)
You should definitely optimize your palette. The arms will be okay if he's in armor and wielding stuff, otherwise they look pretty awkward. But besides that, reconsider how you shaded, and why you decided to make some parts front on instead of giving them the same treatment you gave the torso. Learn to think of things as forms rather than symbols. When you need to draw legs, think about the angle you need rather than the stock imagery you have in your head.
In fact, it wouldn't hurt to play around with 3d shapes, to familiarize yourself with them. Open up a 3D program and roll a cube around, or pick up a pencil and twirl it. Look at how things change when they're viewed from different angles, look at how the light casts itself across the hard planes. Look at everyday things and break them up into these 3D shapes. Humans are no different from any other object, we can be broken apart. Don't get scared of trying things in perspective because you can't draw the thing head on, it would probably be easier to draw it at an angle because you're no longer thinking of it as a "hand" it would be a collection of rectangular prisms.
Not to say legs are just two stacked cylinders, they're limbs with their own musculature, bone structure, contour, and width. But it's helpful to see things simplified before you try to take everything in.
Oh, and look at the filesize. ::)
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(http://www.locustleaves.com/somedude.png)
For what its worth here's a silly little reference render in this figure artist version of poser I had lying around. It's not as good as real life human being posing for you but it's sorta a difficult pose to find real reference of. At least it's a good look at which muscle groups are where and how the volumes could be shaded. The model seems to have no penis so I overcompensated in adding the censorship bar to give him some self-esteem back.
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ROFLOL
Thanks Helm :D That's actually REALLY helpful! I'm going to get to work tweaking my guy ASAP. Either that, or I'm going to start from scratch lol
And Atnas, thank YOU for all your valuable input as well! I'll work on optimizing my palette (I'm trying to pick up all I can on that topic as we speak)
Thanks!
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Agreed. Outside came my insides. :D
Sokota