Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Meruvian on April 24, 2016, 10:52:39 pm
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(http://i67.tinypic.com/52b95t.png)
I have been working on this picture inspired by a cool neo-ninja i saw on deviant art, just for practice. anyway i am really struggling with her legs! this is one of my first pixel art attempts, I'm still a beginner, so some direction in making the legs look less silly (or any critique really) would go a long way :)
thank you :)
Here is the original image for reference:
https://ixquick-proxy.com/do/spg/show_picture.pl?l=english&rais=1&oiu=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-af3AYMQVDCA%2FUqqEi4dQEfI%2FAAAAAAAAMUg%2F1d2Twneq1nI%2Fs1920%2Fwarrior-girl-anime-weapon-body-suit-hd-wallpaper-1920x1200.jpg&sp=86290aacabd8aa65dfc17f8ff1624b43
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She is perfectly proportioned, as of right now, to be a person that suffers from primordial dwarfism condition. But I don't think that is what you are going for. :crazy:
It looks like you have a basic understanding of shapes and the human form. But fall short in the area of proportion(How big/small/short/long..etc, things are in relation to each other).
I strongly feel you can figure this out without an actual edit from the users here. So I challenge you to look for a full body female reference image. Once you do, pay very special attention to:
How long the legs are in relation with the body?
How long is the upper portion of her leg, above the knee, compared to the lower portion of her leg, below the knee?
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Thanks for the response :)
I hear what you're saying, I have already been trying to figure this out for a week, and I am still sat here trying to figure it out. I understand the proportion is wrong, (which is why I have asked for help), my problem is not that I cannot see that it is wrong, but that I do not know how to fix it. I don't know where to put the pixels in order to achieve the desired effect. so I thought I would ask, to speed up my learning. That's why beginners use forums right? :)
I am the sort of person that learns from being shown so any correction I can receive would be greatly appreciated, but if you can't then that's fine! I don't want to waste anyone's time :P
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I suggest you download a book on human anatomy, such as Loomis Figure Drawing for all it's Worth. It'll help you get a better understanding of proportions and other basic stuff.
As for this sprite, the biggest problem is the lenght of her legs. Ideally legs should be around the same length of the upper body (torso+head), sometimes more, sometimes less depending on what you want to go for, but in this case the legs are much shorter, giving that "dwarf-ish" aspect to your sprite. Particularly in the case of a sexy woman, which is what I believe you are trying to do, legs should be long.
I'll try to do an edit later but that should give you something to work with on the meantime.
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Proportions are something best worked out before you get to pixel-level detail. Sketch or block in the body parts without worrying about making nice, smooth shapes or details like clothing, then add details and clean up afterwards. If you aren't sure what the proportions should be, there are plenty of proportion charts out there (https://www.google.com/search?q=human+proportion+chart&tbm=isch).
You dove into details too early, before taking the time to work out her proportions and pose. Also, if the 128x128 size is your working size and not a crop: I highly recommend working on a larger canvas than you need, so you don't find yourself squishing things in. It's easier to crop later than try to fight off the subconscious urge to distort things to fit.
Here are a couple of possibilities, one more realistic, one with anime/supermodel legs:
(http://i.imgur.com/jkIK8Kj.png)(http://i.imgur.com/MHKTigF.png)
Like Hagane wrote, I made the crotch-heel distance equal to the head-heel distance. On a realistic person, the "crotch" position is higher, the anime legs have the "crotch" as being at the bottom, where the crotch ends. Note that it's the crotch-heel distance, meaning the distance to the heel of the foot, not of the whole leg. A character wearing high heels will have legs that look longer because of the way the foot is positioned. That's why the guidelines in my sketches don't reach the "floor".
The character's head is rather large, so the longer legs will probably feel more proportionate. The shorter legs would look better on a character with a more realistically-sized head.
Also notice how rough I made the sketch. This is because the goal is to just work out the proportions.
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I suggest you download a book on human anatomy, such as Loomis Figure Drawing for all it's Worth. It'll help you get a better understanding of proportions and other basic stuff.
As for this sprite, the biggest problem is the lenght of her legs. Ideally legs should be around the same length of the upper body (torso+head), sometimes more, sometimes less depending on what you want to go for, but in this case the legs are much shorter, giving that "dwarf-ish" aspect to your sprite. Particularly in the case of a sexy woman, which is what I believe you are trying to do, legs should be long.
I'll try to do an edit later but that should give you something to work with on the meantime.
Wow man THank You! there was A LOT of helpful stuff there. I have downloaded the book and I am going to increase the length of the legs to the same length as the torso+head, such a good rule to go by :)
I'll make the changes and upload them for more criticisms but it'll be awesome to see your edit too.
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Proportions are something best worked out before you get to pixel-level detail. Sketch or block in the body parts without worrying about making nice, smooth shapes or details like clothing, then add details and clean up afterwards. If you aren't sure what the proportions should be, there are plenty of proportion charts out there (https://www.google.com/search?q=human+proportion+chart&tbm=isch).
You dove into details too early, before taking the time to work out her proportions and pose. Also, if the 128x128 size is your working size and not a crop: I highly recommend working on a larger canvas than you need, so you don't find yourself squishing things in. It's easier to crop later than try to fight off the subconscious urge to distort things to fit.
Here are a couple of possibilities, one more realistic, one with anime/supermodel legs:
(http://i.imgur.com/jkIK8Kj.png)(http://i.imgur.com/MHKTigF.png)
Like Hagane wrote, I made the crotch-heel distance equal to the head-heel distance. On a realistic person, the "crotch" position is higher, the anime legs have the "crotch" as being at the bottom, where the crotch ends. Note that it's the crotch-heel distance, meaning the distance to the heel of the foot, not of the whole leg. A character wearing high heels will have legs that look longer because of the way the foot is positioned. That's why the guidelines in my sketches don't reach the "floor".
The character's head is rather large, so the longer legs will probably feel more proportionate. The shorter legs would look better on a character with a more realistically-sized head.
Also notice how rough I made the sketch. This is because the goal is to just work out the proportions.
That was all so very helpful, I'm really seeing where I went wrong now. The proportion charts will definitely be such a big help so thank you very much for that.
You're quite right about the 128x128 canvas, I just wanted to learn pixel art so I thought the best way to learn was just to start instead of wishing so I'm still making a lot of these beginner errors. I'll be sure to sketch an outline first before doing the details, what you have said there makes a lot of sense! I feel like just starting from scratch based off of what you and Hagane have said.
Thanks Eishiya :)
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Quick an dirty, looks like others beat me to the punch though.
I highly recommend Loomis as well. :y:
(http://i.imgur.com/xuGpUkC.png)
I forgot to mention that I just very quickly blocked in the basic size/forms here. I'd go back over a few times to fix the jaggies an apply AA where needed to soften edges and makes curves looks curvier. Steps I skipped for the sake of brevity.
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This might help, but i feel like the other edits were better but whatever.
(http://i.imgur.com/6QXSQFz.png)
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Quick an dirty, looks like others beat me to the punch though.
I highly recommend Loomis as well. :y:
I forgot to mention that I just very quickly blocked in the basic size/forms here. I'd go back over a few times to fix the jaggies an apply AA where needed to soften edges and makes curves looks curvier. Steps I skipped for the sake of brevity.
lachrymose, I REALLY see what you mean about to dwarfism lol I saw this in comparison to mine and jus burst out laughing, at how silly mine looked lol.
Her figure on yours looks brilliant, I wasn't confident enough to use straight lines on her body, but where you've put them, on the right side of her torso and on her right side it looks so much better.
It really helps to see where I have gone wrong next to yours so I appreciate you showing me!
But why would you AA? To my eyes what you've done looks great.
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This might help, but i feel like the other edits were better but whatever.
Draco this is creaking awesome! Your heels are amazing! I was really struggling with heels (thus the 3 mock ups) in the image.
Your post helps just as much as the other edits! So thank you for that.
In fact, my next question was going to be about shading, and you've done it here so well! know any good resources or material I could use to learn more about shading me light? I'll add it to my reading list after Loomis' book lol
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(http://i67.tinypic.com/2dspra8.png)
sorry for the late reply guys! I have been at work!
so I have read everything you guys have said multiple times and I have made the following changes:
- I have started using bigger canvas sizes so I don't squash my drawing into a small space
- i am gonna start practicing drawing an outline to get the proportions and the general 'gesture' of the drawing down before I focus on the details
- I have picked up the book by Loomis suggested by Hagane, (and confirmed by Lachrymose) and have already rad the first chapter today.
I have uploaded my first 'wire drawing' just to show you guys that I am actively making changes, it looks a little silly, I know, but I will keep practicing. Thank you all so much for your incredibly helpful responses and even taking the time to create edits to show me, I have got so much out of it. I am gonna be practicing this for a while!
Thank you very much Guys and Girls! :)
p.s: how do I mark this thread as 'solved' or the equivalent?
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Be careful with the proportions. Your new sketch has legs and arms of different lengths xP
You can edit your first post to add [CLOSED] or [SOLVED] to the thread topic, if you want. However, I recommend keeping it open and posting your progress :D
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Be careful with the proportions. Your new sketch has legs and arms of different lengths xP
You can edit your first post to add [CLOSED] or [SOLVED] to the thread topic, if you want. However, I recommend keeping it open and posting your progress :D
Legs and arms are supposed to be the same length lol Got It! Again, THANK YOU for the feedback I really am learning from all of this Eishiya :)
And okay, I'll keep the thread open to post my progress, I'll try to do it weekly or something :)
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Hmmm, you are very very very stiff and reserved.
You need to relax your drawing more, be more loose.
Work on a larger canvas. You can always resize.
I think it would be good for you to follow Stan Prokopenko. He has a free series of videos that you can find here:
Proko.com (http://www.proko.com/library/)
It even tells you where to start, just follow the videos in order. Feel free to post here for feedback on any completed exercises.
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The new pose could still have slightly longer legs, particularly her left one which right now is shorter than her right. Count the pixels with your drawing program, either use a square selection or line tool to measure the limbs in pixels as all programs show you this info somewhere. This is a clear improvement over the previous proportions though.
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(http://i63.tinypic.com/1gqcfl.png)
Agree with the other crits.
I would advice you to look up and study the contraposto, which is a classic figure drawing pose. It teaches you fundamental aspects of weight, balance, rythm etc. It's a assymetrical position in that most of the weight is carried by one leg. This causes the hip on that side to push up, and the torso tilts in that direction as a compensation. Try to see the hips and the torso as boxes. Look how the edges of the boxes are closer at one side in my sketch and the direction indicated by the lines on the skeleton.
I think it's best to practice figure drawing on paper or a tablet though. It's easier (but not easy ;) )to figure it out on paper first before dealing with making a abstract figure out of square blocks. But keep doing pixel art for the sake of doing pixel art.