Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: secretcat on March 05, 2017, 10:13:47 pm
Title: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: secretcat on March 05, 2017, 10:13:47 pm
Hey,
So I'm attempting to make a portrait of Red Riding Hood for a game, I was looking for some critique and ways you think I can improve it, thanks! (http://i.imgur.com/xTZMlMo.png)
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: tikitorches on March 06, 2017, 12:32:31 am
Here is just a quick edit: (https://image.ibb.co/gMRQgF/s1.png) (https://image.ibb.co/niHbov/s2.png)
(also you don't need to post at 2x, you can click on the images on the forums to scale up :y:)
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: |||| on March 06, 2017, 11:00:53 am
Hello Secret cat, I made you an edit too; some lighting and palette ideas.. but idk if that's the sort of style you'd like. ... yay dialogue portraits
(http://i.imgur.com/X25CM1B.png)
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: secretcat on March 06, 2017, 11:10:52 am
Wow Thanks everyone for the help!
|||| I absolutely love that style, my main gripe with mine was that the face looked so flat. Can I ask what kind's of things you used for reference etc? I would love to use a style like that, but I'm not sure I could keep it up for the rest of my portraits!
I'm going to take all the advice and do an update later when I'm not at work. Thanks again!
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: secretcat on March 06, 2017, 10:01:53 pm
Ok! I had another go, really trying to give the face more shape and personality - please let me know how I did and how I could improve :)
(http://i.imgur.com/R59dyYH.png)
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: |||| on March 06, 2017, 11:02:28 pm
Looking better Secret cat.
I'm glad you liked it! I didn't actually use any references.. which isn't really advisable I suppose. But i will help you with pointers below. I did keep this piece I made a while back's shading in mind which has a similar point of light and style (though warmer overall, and larger): (http://i.imgur.com/cJFHSy5.gif)
Okay.. first thing I notice:
The eyes- try to make the darkness of the eyes blend out a bit to soften the edges a little bit and give her some subtle eyebrows; maybe use the darker golden color.
The hair- it looks actually pretty good but need smoother shapes/clusters. Think of hair like this as silk ribbon almost.
The nose- needs minor touch-ups try to give the bridge of the nose a tad more depth.. but it is close, you have a much better shape now than before I think the main problem is due to:
The lips- they look to straight.. I mean I guess it could work but with the angle they should raise up about 1 pixel on our right side the spacing of the philtrum, the area between the top lip and nose looks a little too long (as it did in the 1st portrait).
The hood- looks better just needs minor clean up on clusters. good luck & keep it up.
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: secretcat on March 06, 2017, 11:48:48 pm
Thanks so much for the pointers :D
Here are some adjustments made using them:
(http://i.imgur.com/55gL4Ib.png)
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: secretcat on March 07, 2017, 09:00:55 am
Ok I made a few more minor changes to try and make her look less....angry?
(http://i.imgur.com/kyW2ipj.png)
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: secretcat on March 07, 2017, 11:49:05 am
I think I'm finished tinkering now.... thoughts?
(http://i.imgur.com/hNh2Xvh.png)
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: eishiya on March 07, 2017, 01:53:54 pm
You have a whole lot of colours on the face with some nice hue variation, but almost no value variation. As a result, they all blend together and the face just looks flat and solid-coloured. Don't be afraid of contrast and shadows on the face.
There are some isolated pixels on the face, making it look noisy/textured. Unless she's got a blonde bears and moustache, you should probably avoid those.
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: secretcat on March 07, 2017, 03:39:40 pm
Oh no! The 5 o'clock shadow can never be unseen!
How about this:
(http://i.imgur.com/J0QlUny.png)
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: dpixel on March 07, 2017, 05:39:58 pm
eishiya is correct about the colors. Some of the colors put next to each other, you can't tell apart. Keep it simple at first. Using maybe 3 for the skin and 3 for the hair. It makes it easier to learn about the color values needed. You can do a lot with just a few colors. In my edit, I removed a bunch of redundant colors and focused more on the shape of the face and eyes. Hope this helps. (http://i.imgur.com/DdSFRDQ.png)
You're making a nice improvement though. Keep it up. :)
Title: Re: Dialogue portrait help
Post by: secretcat on March 07, 2017, 10:21:12 pm
Thanks, I understand that being simple with the colours can make getting the values easier, but I wanted to keep them in, personally.