Combat Dragonfly

[Zweckform]

Hello,

here is a sprite i did today it depicts a combat dragonfly, a possible endboss. Yet i am not satisfied with parts in the back. Btw. there is no AA to the background as its supposed to work on any gfx.
If you have any ideas for improving the piece, just fire at will.  

Current version:



Shot animation:

[cassiius]

It looks very flat as you have it now.  Also, dragonflies have four wings, not two.

I suggest looking at some references of dragonflies and study their anatomy.  I understand it's not supposed to be lifelike, but I believe it will make your piece much better looking.

I'm not very good at shading (or colors for that matter) but there's something wrong in your shading; I just can't put my finger on it.

EDIT:  Another thing, he doesn't look like he's in much of a "combat state" or anything, or like he's even flying.  Give him some kind of dynamic pose.

[Zweckform]

Hello,

It looks very flat as you have it now.  Also, dragonflies have four wings, not two.

I suggest looking at some references of dragonflies and study their anatomy.  I understand it's not supposed to be lifelike, but I believe it will make your piece much better looking.

Ok, i'll give it a try to make it more recognizeable as a dragonfly.

I'm not very good at shading (or colors for that matter) but there's something wrong in your shading; I just can't put my finger on it.

Yes it seems there is something missing for a cooler look and maybe it looks odd that the front got mor light than the back.

EDIT:  Another thing, he doesn't look like he's in much of a "combat state" or anything, or like he's even flying.  Give him some kind of dynamic pose.

Right, its definitly lacking aggressiveness or as you proposed dynamic.

Thanks for your help, new version hopefully coming soon.

[Zweckform]

Hello,

new version with reduced palette (now 14 instead of 18 colours) and many changes:



I am still not satisfied with it looks too flat, but i am a bit stuck atm.

[Maru]

To be honest, I prefered the wing design on your first dragonfly ! Though I feel the wings should be a bit larger to make it look more powerful.

I think the shading is throwing me off at the moment. Maybe make it smoother so it looks less dull and more metallic like metal? (I'm assuming that's the effect you're aiming for...)

[Jeremy]

Hey, I've made an edit to show how I think it can be improved

The lighting is almost pillowy, try adding a lightsource (e.g. top left). I agree that the wings looked better in the first rendition but they need to be bigger I sorta went overboard with realism, they'd probably need to be much stronger looking.

[Zweckform]

Hello,

Sorry you dislike the new wings. I actually found them more accurate for the character of the ship, even though its not close to the real dragonflies anymore.
In this edit i changed the shading to a more metal like look, as it should be a armoured ship and the older version didn't fit (as you guys stated).
Some changes in the structure here and there and i hopefully added more depth to it.
Still 14 colours with some palette changes.

@Jeremy: Nice edit, the wings look cute, but too natural for me in this case. Thanks for that anyway, it would be an interesting direction,too.


 

[Zweckform]

Hello,

finally got some time to rework some areas. Thanks to Dan/pdx for his comments that helped to improve it (...this is war, not a flowering meadow   ). This version got back to 18 colours. Aggressiveness was increased and the thrusts added. For those who still wonder about the wings: the plan is that they are used to project a shield in the end. Still testing that.
Any c&c still warmly welcome.

[Zweckform]

Hello,

finally got my head a bit free and did a little shot animation for the Dragonfly, as usual C&C is warmly welcome.

[newdan]

Hi zwecki,

considering from where you started with your dragpnfly, you´ve already come a long way, boy.

The reflection of the flames vanishes too fast (at least for me).

To improve you could add a frame with a even brighter refelction to match the gun flames.

dan

[EvilEye]

It's clear you put a lot of work into this guy and it does look nice, however it also looks very surreal due to the habit of rounding everything out. The arms, the backpack, the legs even the wings look spherical. I think this is mainly a problem of not studying any reference and just putting shadows and lighting where you guess they should be. If you want to bump your work up to the next level you should study how light interacts with objects in real life.

[Zweckform]

Hello,

It's clear you put a lot of work into this guy and it does look nice, however it also looks very surreal due to the habit of rounding everything out. The arms, the backpack, the legs even the wings look spherical.

Hmm, this was intended. All parts are supposed to be rounded.

I think this is mainly a problem of not studying any reference and just putting shadows and lighting where you guess they should be. If you want to bump your work up to the next level you should study how light interacts with objects in real life.

You are right, i did not use a reference for lighting/shadows here. You think some variation in form would help this piece ? Don't get me wrong, i seriously want to understand the problem you see here, but its hard without a tangible example.
Maybe you could add some detail so i can understand it better ?

[EvilEye]

Well I tried my hand at a partial edit.



I edited the left half only.

Looking at it closely I see a lot of "pillow-shading" ( shading a shape inward ). You do this in a lot of spots.

You're coloring also looks very grainy, like stone, not like metal. Metal is clean and shiny. I didn't get a good metal look myself but I think I did a better job defining volume. Even that is tough because you have some detail there that is confusing.

You're way too heavy on the black, and you make it worse by adding dark colors around the black outlines. I can't think of a term for the look that this creates but let's just say it looks amateurish. Adding black outlines to all the little detail flattens the image. You just don't have enough space to outline all the little detail in black. Use contrasting colors to make detail.

Your wings look like big stone paddles. Why the bulge in the middle? Why aren't they straight? If they are going to curve it should look more aerodynamic.

And I'm sure there was something else I was going to say but it escapes me at the moment. Hopefully my less-then-perfect edit will illustrate what I mean.

[Zweckform]

Hello,

ok thanks for the details, will make some tests with that. Your edit made it much clearer.

[mrblu]

  I'm down with your mecha dragonfly.  And I'm cool with metal panels for the wings, as I assume they are only there for looks.

Maybe this will help :3

[Zweckform]

Hello,

here is an edit of the Dragonfly based on EvilEyes objections. I think its actually an improvement and i found that i neglected the overall flow of the light in the earlier versions.



@mrblu: Its not supposed to copy a dragonfly but look similar. In fact i tried to get away from the exact original form while keeping its main characteristics.