Haven't done much as of late sadly, but here's some of what i've done:

I'm currently experimenting with idle animations and trying to settle on one i could use, here's an example:



I'm trying to make different units for each of (currently)four factions, as of now each faction is denoted by a differing colour, sort of like in Advance Wars, although im also wanting the appearances to be visually different as well, so one can tell immediately (and not just because of said faction's colour).

Some more below (Sorry for the unused space, still trying think of more units to make):



More attempts at improving previous attack animatios below.

One handed: Should probably be faster, but i am worried if i increase the speed it'll look too fast.



Two-handed sword:



Two-handed non-sword attack:



Sorry if there's not much improvement!

Been practising all the time, haven't made anything that i'd want to submit or has even gotten past the wip stage yet because i feel it's not up to a good enough standard

Sorry that all my stuff is basically the same, I've made stuff that i look at now and am frankly embarrassed with so i want to practice until i can get to a stage where i'm happy enough with it, if that makes sense? I realise it's probably a fool's errand but it's how i feel.

Updates on animations;

One-handed attack:



I've been told that realistically attacks would be done in a quicker fashion, rather than the slower, more flashy version i've previously done. I removed some frames and sped up the attack, but i feel it's now too fast possibly, but might as well include it for the sake of progression.

Spear attack(s):

After watching some videos of people using spears and playing games like Dark Souls 1 and two, i realised some of them actually slid in the hand (but not out of it) during the attack. Here's a one-handed version:



I wasn't sure how i'd go about it in a two-handed version, but i presume it's something like this (obviously with full arm motion but it's just a quick attempt atm):



Also was just wondering if anyone could review the palette im using? I've been using it for a while, but i always like to change it every so often so i can learn more from it:



It's currently 36 colours (34 without black or white)

Apologies for the double post, but i just wanted to ask a few things about proportion and style;

I'm in the process of reviewing my current sprites something i do every so often, just incase there's something that needs changing and im of the opinion that the knees are in the wrong position, that they're too low, or at least appear that way. This also applies to the crotch, even in my new version im still sure it's not proportionally correct. I've tried to keep it based on the 8-head proportion guide, after reviewing it again i realised that sections of the body were out of proportion, according to the guide.

Below is the current version of what im working on at the moment with the aim of rectifying the issue of the disproportionate body, i am aware the changes are quite small at this size, with the previous version next to it for reference.



I've also got the problem of trying to keep the sprites under or at least at 32x32, which fits tiles i've made, i tried going up to 64X64 tile size but that was frankly too big but without making them look too small or unintentionally dwarf-like or weak. This size limitation has meant that I've had to make the character bases 1-pixel shorter as well, to fit the 32X32 limit, as they were previously too big.

Im interested in hearing people's opinions on whether trying a realistic style at such a size is even possible, let alone practical. I realise that at this level and size i am sacrificing a great deal of realism for the sake of portraying limbs, the body etc, so realism may not even be desirable, but my main goal is to have a medium between a realistic and practical style. I guess the main question i have is, am i concentrating too much on the former, to the detriment of the latter?

I've always liked the sprites in Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Advance and Tactics Advance 2, as well as in Tactics Ogre and the knight of Lodis, although i feel their proportions are odd, resulting in a chibi-like style which i personally find difficult to emulate, thought this is less pronouned in the Final Fantasy tactics, which has more detailed, larger sprites, but seem to be closer to chibi style than my attempts, which may be due to the perspective in the game (isometric, i think?).

Apologies for the rambling, I honestly don't know much about art nor any of it's theory. My main inspiration and reason for ever venturing into pixel-art is the desire to emulate or achieve something akin to above mentioned games, as well as Shining Force 1 & 2, Alundra, Pokemon, etc.

Just a quick pointer. Nearly all movement we do starts from the hips, the more the hips push the movement, the better animation looks. Your hips you animated are very rigid.

I could go into a lot more detail (I'm a movement coach) if you want.

Sure, I'd appreciate it! I'll also work on trying to animate the hips more, apologies for the stiffness of them.

Edit: Another quick update apologies! I added hip movement, not sure if thats what you meant by that Gil. Also changed various things as well as the speed of certain frames as well as adding extra frames for more movement:



Here's the previous two, just because i find it easier to compare them when they're all in the same post (if it's annoying, just tell me and i will stop doing it sorry):

Thanks for the comment AlcopopStar!

Had a look at that video Gil, must be the older robin hood movie?

Update:

Changed attack slightly, added front view attack as well:



Also spear/thrusting version:



I also wanted to see what it'd look like if it had a large shield (that covered up parts of the body and arm).

In regards to animation process, what i do is take something and keep at it until it's either right, or i have to change it completely and start the process again. Not very efficient but it's what i've done so far.