Pixelation

Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: Pixel Muffin on September 05, 2009, 04:32:55 am

Title: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Pixel Muffin on September 05, 2009, 04:32:55 am
Alright So I recently got a silver skull that one of my family members (distant) designed and made himself, And I decided to roll with the skill theme. SO I have made the skull outline, but now I need a hood to cover the head. I think I have a basic outline of the whole hood but I need the inside hole that you look through.
I tried myself and it never really seemed right to me. Can I get some help on this?

I left the teeth out and the bottom jaw on purpose just FYI, and did my best to re-create the spine vertebra.
(http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2021/skull.png)
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Seele07 on September 05, 2009, 12:33:11 pm
I would make the Nose Hole/s a little bit smaller :) To me, they/it seem/s a bit to large.

Greetings,
Ingo

PS: Please have a look a Skull Photos at Google Image Search or an Anatomy Book.
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Pixel Muffin on September 05, 2009, 01:56:14 pm
Yea, I understand that the skull isn't exact to the human anatomy, But that's the way I would like it. But I think I will make the nose smaller.

EDIT: Here is a smaller edit as well as what i'm going to call a "peep-hole" in the hood. Any suggestions on how to make the hood look better?
(http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/506/skullv.png)

Second edit. I took the hood off, put it around the neck, then colored the bones and the inside of the robe like thing.
(http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/506/skullv.png)
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: allaze-eroler on September 06, 2009, 02:45:02 pm
the skrull is interesting and i think you need to make more like this one : http://www.gii.in/wallpapers/data/media/80/Grim-Reaper-Tattoos-2.jpg

ho i forgot : your pic remind me.... darth vader !  ???
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Pixel Muffin on September 07, 2009, 06:22:51 am
Alright heres an edit of it. Made the hood better. Will get shading sometime soon!
(http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/1108/skullj.png)
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Jad on September 07, 2009, 03:15:56 pm
Right now the outlines around the eyes don't have a clear purpose - they're not making the edge between skull and socket smoother, and they're not defining them either.

Either you darken the inside of the eyesockets and remove the banding, or you darken the outlines, is my advice.

Also the eyes and nostrils really do feel very big for the shape of the skull. On the other hand you could try enlerging the head from here, I think that'd look good as well.

One thing to keep in mind is that even if you aim for something not entirely realistic, if someone says it looks off, then it does for that someone. Keep that in mind, you can't always fend those kind of comments off by saying that 'it's a style thing'

Just saying!

Good luck with this though. Your lines are strong, but your rendering is a bit lacking.  ... I'll make you an edit

(http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo326/endisaster/skulljEDIT.png)

Err. Everything that looks sloppy is, I'm just trying to show you how you can model and sculpt out the shapes using shading. That's all! Ask me if anything's unclear.

I added teeth and eye glow for shits and giggles, am not very serious there.

Note how I darkened the spinal cord so the contrast between spine and skull is clear.
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Pixel Muffin on September 07, 2009, 08:51:14 pm
:o See I had trouble on the hood where yours looks better. Damn need to work on that.
I get what your saying Ill fiddle with it and mess with the eyes and what not.

I wasn't trying to fend off the comments. I am using a different reference for a skull than just google images. Sorry if it came off that way.  :-[
(http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/8304/dsc01351q.th.jpg)
That is a skull my uncle designed and then molded from.... Sterling Silver? maybe, idk material really does not matter here, But that's what I was referring to, trying to get the skull to match that more than a typical human skull.

Ill study your edit, see if I cant pick some stuff up.

Thanks for the help  ;D

Edit:
(http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/5052/skullk.png)

So I looked at yours Jad, I didn't copy and paste, but i kinda followed how you did the hood, so it might look similar. But it shouldn't be exact at all... Also edited how I colored the skull, (also similar to Jad's style) Just trying to pick up on some techniques.
Tried AA on the edge of the hood, idk if I like it. Will prolly get rid of it anyways.

Edit: ~Fiddle, Fiddle, Fiddle~ Heres an attempt at shading the hood. Getting closer....
(http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/4117/skullm.png)
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Luminous_Reaver on September 08, 2009, 03:02:24 pm
Tried AA on the edge of the hood, idk if I like it. Will prolly get rid of it anyways.
I don't believe I can give you any practical advice...but that is not AA. :yell:

...Why can't I control myself? Here. (http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/6624/ohdearh.png) I know it's not helpful, but yeah.

...What is it I want to say...? You're thinking with outlines, so you're failing to express volume. Or that's what it seems like to me.
Err, but uh, nice progress so far. I don't mean to say mean things if that's what it sounds like.
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Pixel Muffin on September 08, 2009, 09:30:06 pm
...What is it I want to say...? You're thinking with outlines, so you're failing to express volume. Or that's what it seems like to me.
Err, but uh, nice progress so far. I don't mean to say mean things if that's what it sounds like.

Can you kinda explain "thinking with outlines" Your free to edit it to correct a mistake.
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: adcrusher524 on September 08, 2009, 09:55:34 pm
I think he means that you're thinking of it as a 2D shape, not an actual object.  That's just what I thought he meant
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Luminous_Reaver on September 09, 2009, 01:32:55 pm
Can you kinda explain "thinking with outlines" Your free to edit it to correct a mistake.
Adcrusher probably explained it better than I could have. I think Jad was trying to say the same thing, too.

Here's an example of how I usually work...
(http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5782/exampleo.png)

...I'm sure I made plenty of mistakes myself, (:() but they're not important right now. Your latest edit kind of fixes some of the problems your original had, but it still seems to me as if you're only coloring your line art, and not defining a skull. ...Yeah, you're probably going to want to wait for someone more experienced and articulate to help you out. Sorry if I'm not being helpful.
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Pixel Muffin on September 09, 2009, 10:35:02 pm
 :wah: God damn. Pardon my french. Wow, thats a lot better than the skull I put up. I get exactly what your saying. I should work on that a lot more. Thanks for the help Ill have an edit soon. :D

Edit:
Made some serious changes.
(http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/6822/skullp.png)

Worked on the head, And now I've erased the "folds and wrinkles" in the hood, Just defined the light (if even that)
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Luminous_Reaver on September 10, 2009, 02:07:35 am
I'm not exactly good with cloth, and I didn't have time to look for the greatest references... (http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/6964/grim20reaper20lg.jpg) You can tell I got stumped for a while because there are four almost identical progress thingies. (:sry:) I also think I screwed up somewhere down the line because I was too lazy to really reshade the skull once I draped some cloth over it. In the end I decided to make the eyes smaller to make more room for some kind of expression....the vertebra I added in at the last second almost seems like it could be the lower jaw, which makes it kind of look like a smile in the end. If I were to continue I'd try and work with that. I'm not sure if I strayed too far from your original intention, but I digress, this might help you find something to do with that hood of yours, possibly.

(http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7128/examplenh.png)

So I think your piece has seen a lot of improvement, but, well, it still has a lot of outline. I suppose that's fine, but I think it's hurting you more than it's helping you right now. There's also a little bit of random dithering inside the hood that just seems off.
Title: Re: {WIP} Grim reaper
Post by: Pixel Muffin on September 10, 2009, 09:45:45 pm
So your post got me wondering, I have gotten rid of the hood once again.

Tell me what you think of the skull.
(http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/9264/skullw.png)