Mage sprite take 2

[Sentient|Sago]

Hey guys! I changed his design a bit, hopefully more people could comment on it. First off, yeah, the side view doesn't have the folds on the clothing. I didn't draw the folds because I wanted you guys to advise me on how to do it. I'm a big noob when it comes to drawing, and so I was hoping you guys could give me some tips, or perhaps direct me to some easy-to-understand tutorials (I can't find any simple ones.) Any criticism is very much appreciated.





Thanks in advance!

[jun]

Well, it seems like a few things changed from some dude's pixelart character tutorial. 

I'm a big noob when it comes to drawing, and so I was hoping you guys could give me some tips, or perhaps direct me to some easy-to-understand tutorials

I would stay away from "tutorials" if I were you. You should learn drawing from the ground up. Websites like www.drawabox.com are a great starting point for learning fundamentals. You should also look into buying books like Fun With A Pencil by Andrew Loomis.

Of course, you can just keep forcing your way through without learning the fundamentals, but it's really not efficient in my opinion. They're giving you the fish. You should learn how to do fishing! And then you'll be able to catch the rarest and the most beautiful fish yourself.

I will refrain from editing the character. You should try to make an original design It's way more fun that way, and you'll learn a lot more than following a linear tutorial in my opinion.

Forget about folds and clothes for now. Show us some sketches of a character you made yourself, something you wanted to make!
Good luck.

[Curly]

I recommend reading this to learn how to avoid common mistakes like pillow shading, banding, not shifting hues, jaggies, etc.
http://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299

[lachrymose]

Nice start dude!

I think the biggest issue here is that he really don't read all mage like. Maybe a sneaky thief? Add some details like magic effects or wands/staffs to really bring out that mage like personality!

Also don't be afraid to experiment with adding a bit more color to add detail and personality to the clothing of your mage.
Hope this helps, have fun!

[Sentient|Sago]

Wow, THAT was fast! Thanks so much for giving me great advice, guys! @Jun, your post was very intriguing. Should I really start from the ground-up and start with the fundamentals of art, then move up to more complex topics and then start pixel art? The task seems daunting, and it would sure take some determination and a good chunk of time. Would my efforts be worth it though? Would love to hear your, or anyone's, thoughts on this.

@Lachrymose, thanks a lot for pointing that out! Now that I think about it, my mage does seem much more like a rogue than a mage. I'll be sure to add some more bits like a wand and perhaps some color to really bring out the ominous dark-arts-master feel.

@Curly, thanks for showing me the video! I'll try my best to study it, although if I really were to start from the ground up, it would be better if I picked this up at a later date.

[jun]

@Sago

It may look daunting, but it's quite easy once you sit down and practice regularly 30-40 minutes daily is more than enough when starting out IMO. I'm sure you'll be able to make time. You can do pixelart while you practice fundamentals, and experiment things. It'll be real fun.

And yes, I think you should get acquainted with art fundamentals as a BARE MINIMUM. They'll help you a LOT in pixelart. Remember, it's just a medium. Pixelart isn't very special than any other type of art. You need to know how to visualize form, perspective, volumes, values etc.
So my answer is: Yes, it's very very worth it.

[eishiya]

Seconding jun. While there are some formulaic things you can do without knowing the fundamentals (e.g. simple isometric buildings using someone else's palette), if you want to make original work of any quality, you'll need to know the fundamentals. Fortunately, there are many resources on the fundamentals, many more than on pixel art! And once you understand things like perspective and light, it'll be much easier to grasp pixel art, because pixel art is largely just figuring out how to depict all that other stuff with limited tools.

[Sentient|Sago]

Thanks, Jun and Eishiya! I guess I really should start with the fundamentals first.