Pixelation
Critique => Pixel Art => Topic started by: adcrusher524 on February 06, 2010, 03:48:20 pm
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(http://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w328/adcrusher/Metal%20Slug/metalsluggirl-11.png)
It's not exactly supposed to be metal slug style, I was just playing metal slug when I thought of this.
Please C+C
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My two cents:
The basic color scheme is good.
The basic pose is good, things are clearly going on in the image.
The anatomy and perspective are poor.
My recommendation (keep in mind I'm no expert) is to practice form and anatomy. Your colors and choice of poses are ok, so set them aside and focus on the weak spots for a few pieces. Do some grayscale (or near grayscale) work based on reference photos to train your brain some more. If it helps, here's a near grayscale palette that I'm using (err, don't use the white background): (http://www.ixdrive.co.uk/img/e4edee8e2e2b13a2bb78d2baad6223ca.png)
Tourist
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Update:
(http://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w328/adcrusher/Metal%20Slug/metalsluggirl-14.gif)
I started from scratch, but I copied and pasted some parts from the old one. I hope the anatomy is better.
-Tourist: I have a question, how does using gray scale make the anatomy better? I tried it but It looked terrible so I didn't want to post it.
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Man the face is still squashed to hell. Look at your face flipped horizontally and maybe you will see how wrong it looks.
(http://i50.tinypic.com/2s6ppu8.png)
The new one looks better, I like your design of the shirt and jacket, but fix that face man. Here is the edit I posted at pixeljoint:
(http://i45.tinypic.com/257zmly.png)
Virtually all I did to the face was unsquish it, and a few other little things.
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-Tourist: I have a question, how does using gray scale make the anatomy better? I tried it but It looked terrible so I didn't want to post it.
Well palette won't explicitly improve anatomy, but working in monochrome simplifies the value analysis process. This in turn gives you easier control of rendering form, which in turn lets you nail your anatomy easier.
Working in monochrome is a good study process; anatomy is something to be studied, so they go together well. I think that's what Tourist is trying to say.
As for crit:
- Pillow shaded! Define the light source, block in the shadow areas, blend shadow to midtone, add highlights and speculars.
- The flat black of the guns is kind of distracting and feels out of place. It contrasts in value so heavily to the rest of the piece, which is dominated by mid tones.
- The character of the guns themself don't seem to fit. They look like glocks or some kind of relatively modern pistol. When I look at this girl (or any of the Metal Slug characters) I'm think crazy adventurer action heros, like Indiana Jones or whatever. The tools they use should have personality.
- Pants look like her butt-crack would be showing. Have the belt come up as it goes around behind her
- Arms are blobby. Find some reference photos for arms in that pose
- Clavicles (collar bones) are angled the wrong way. They angle up, even when the arms are down by your side.
- Face is flattened an distorted. The eye positioning is particularly the problem. As the face turns into profile the far eye is occluded by the nose. Also the whole mouth area has a convex curvature out from the face, which brings the bottom of the nose out as we turn into profile.
- Far earring should be more occluded, I think.
- Lot of banding going on in the folds of her blouse
- Could use a little more red in areas of the skin, particularly the nose, cheeks and ears
- Could get more red into the pants, contrast the greens in the rest of the image
- Some selout going on (arms, hair), which is death to pixel art (mostly).
I like the pose a lot, though. It's classic action shot. Look forward to updates!
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-Tourist: I have a question, how does using gray scale make the anatomy better? I tried it but It looked terrible so I didn't want to post it.
Well palette won't explicitly improve anatomy, but working in monochrome simplifies the value analysis process. This in turn gives you easier control of rendering form, which in turn lets you nail your anatomy easier.
Working in monochrome is a good study process; anatomy is something to be studied, so they go together well. I think that's what Tourist is trying to say.
Pretty much what Eyecraft said. Anatomy and form don't depend on color or texture patterns. Colors and patterns can distract you from getting the shapes and form correct, monochrome make sit easier to keep focus.
I don't think you really need to post anatomy studies. I mean, you can, but you've got the source, you can see where things match and where they don't. It's ok that they're awful, they will get better with practice. Pixel it, see where the errors are, make corrections. The goal is to better train the part of your brain that does art. Maybe alternate, one anatomy study, one picture from scratch.
Tourist
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Did a few things to her face and hair. I hope it says something to you XD.
Main things, be more consistent with the lighting, also try harder to render the character's nose and mouth..you can do better than a line across her face. Also, the hair shouldn't have dark lines running through the hi-lights. It adds too much contrast and can seem unattractive.
GL
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/json10131/facialedit-2.png)
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Wow so much crit! Thanks!
update:
(http://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w328/adcrusher/Metal%20Slug/metalsluggirl-16.gif)
I'm not satisfied with the guns, I'm still working on their design. I don't know what banding is, if someone could explain it to me, that would be great. I also tried to make the lighting come from the top leftish.
Tourist- that's a great idea about alternating. I'll try that.
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Banding is when you have a line hugging a line:
LLL
LLL
LLL
LLL
LLL
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I'm not too knowledgeable in the art of the wind, but. why does the shirt flow one way, while the hair flows another?
(whether it's wrong or right, it loses drama.)
(http://i49.tinypic.com/6fxc8j.jpg)
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Accident makes a good point. I don't think such thick hair would flow straight back like that, though. Here's my idea...
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2zfj3ic.png)
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Update:
(http://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w328/adcrusher/Metal%20Slug/metalsluggirl-18.gif)
Thanks for the crit. I really liked your edit Gliding.
keep the crit coming ;)
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First: an explanation of banding. (http://www.wayofthepixel.net/pixelation/index.php?topic=8110.msg92434#msg92434)
No offense, but I don't think the new hair works so well. It loses the silhouette and motion that the original had. The way I interpreted the picture was that she was wheeling around, which is why her arms are like that, and her hair's like it is. The hair implies the line of action in the original, though it could be emphasised and clarified.
The piece still suffers from a lack of form. Pillow shading is still rampant. When shading, try simplifying the subject into very simple 3-dimensional primitives. You have core shadow popping up all over the subject, which breaks any sense of form, flattening it.
(http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z212/gastrop0d/edits/metalsluggirl-18_ed.png)
Catch the motion in the jacket, hair, earrings, etc. Anything that's going to have inertia. Drawing with a full (though mine is incomplete too) pose is the best way to go, as you can properly define the figure and lines of action. Also note the core shadow running down our right of the figure (which would continue down the legs if I shaded them ;) ).
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wow awesome edit Eyecraft! Thanks a lot.
update:
(http://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w328/adcrusher/Metal%20Slug/metalsluggirl2-3.gif)
I decided to go past 16 colors so I could shade the guns and add red to the face. I also took Eyecrafts suggestion of making it a full shot. I was trying to keep it 100x100 so I could make it my PJ avatar, but then I found out that the avatars there are smaller than that.
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Okay, update:
(http://i520.photobucket.com/albums/w328/adcrusher/Metal%20Slug/metalsluggirl3-1.gif)
I changed the leg position and lengthened the legs. Someone on PJ said that the main problem is in the hips, but I don't know how to fix it. If anyone else sees the problem, maybe you could explain what's wrong? Thanks!
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Eyecraft's edit addresses exactly those leg issues I raised on PJ! ;)
Look at the precise shapes of his legs, and their differences. Her right leg is just so slightly bent, this gives the whole feeling of how she's moving her weight. The other is bent too in a complementary fashion (wish I could explain that better!). The pants are also tight on the skin. The thigh's length is in the correct proportion (although his arms look short).