@Charlieton: Yes, the main reason I posted was to provide feedback stating that I thought your style had merits, too. A lot of artists will take any critique thrown at them and completely change their piece for no reason, even if it didn't need changing. I didn't think your piece needed much change, so I figured I'd stop in to let you know, hahah.

'ppreciate it! 

One thing you should definitely take from Elk's is the wing. Yours right now looks more like another section of the body rather than its own form.

Yup! As I said, I was going to think about making the wings stand out more.



Better? Not much different I guess, hah!

Haha Elk, that's awesome! Also, it looks like a little Conan 'O Brien-bird with that crest in the last picture. 

I'll be thinking about making the wings longer and more pronounced.

It still grows . . .

Looks like a 'lil baby Evolution Chamber. Kinda!



Regardless, it's CUTE!

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I don't know. I think the head-movement looks pretty natural right now (though I think I sped it up a little bit since the last one). Any second opinions?

It's a good animation but I'll second Mike's suggestion to speed it up more. As far as I can tell birds move their heads in rapid jerks all the time, even when they're relaxed.

Yes, that's completely true. I sped it up and have cut away a couple of frames, and I think it looks good still.

I've tried adding color and giving it more depth. I'm sure there's some banding. Need I add AA-colours, or what is it you usually do in the case of banding? Also, is the palette okay, and do the lighting/shading appear consistent? I get blind when working with one piece for an extended time, it seems...



edit: As stated, I was unsure if the shading was consistent. I made a simplified version where I try and define the shape of the bird with just gray tones. Already my previous, colored-in bird, doesn't seem to react to the light the way it should.



Yeah, it's a little silly to shade the tuft of hair on the head, as though it were a solid object. But that'll have to do, for now. Other than that, is the shading done right in this one, you think? Can I build off of it?

edit, edit: I went on and used the gray toned shape, did some additional tweaks, and got this:



I think it's much improved! I'll be adding some extra colours (for the beak, and maybe the wings), and then start applying this look to the other frames as well.

I like the last maggot/catepillar larva thing a lot. The shading is very well done, imo. He looks nice and 3D. Good work!

Thanks! It's some sort of beetle larva, according to the source.

If anyone wants good quality references for all kinds of insects, check this page out!

Updates! Yummy!

Seems like you could pull off a lot with just different timing.

Even though your animation is really smooth it doesn't really help to convey a mood.  You need to make this bird look like it's thinking.  Why is it turning it's head?  Did it hear something?  These are things that should be considered when animating a living thing.

Also the bird looks pretty awesome slap some lighting on it and should be good to go.

  (this is slower in browsers than it is in Ggale or Promotion)

I'm not sure what mood you want it to convey. Also, birds generally turn their heads all the time when sitting still. I guess it's just to look around, and not necessarily as a reaction to something else. As such, the movement doesn't have to be too rapid, as it would to a potential threat.

I don't know. I think the head-movement looks pretty natural right now (though I think I sped it up a little bit since the last one). Any second opinions?


I increased the size a bit to give room for more realistic-looking bird feet. The back-and-forth-steps were replaced with a few hops before the squawk. When watching how birds move around, they seem to hop around a lot more than walk. It varies between species, of course. The magpies and smaller birds outside always hop, while the chickens walk most of the time. I'd say my bird is closer to a magpie than it is a chicken, and therefore it hops!


Here's a caterpillar on the run. I had originally planned to combine it with the bird above, having it chase it around. I might still do the chase thing, but I think I'm going to make another bird that does the chasing instead (one that walks! Maybe a chicken, then?).

Shading is lazily done for now. If the animation seems okay, I'm going to add all the "caterpillary" details. And decent shading.


Here's also a bigger one that I'd like some crits on. For one, I wonder if I'm going in the right direction with the shading in the rightmost picture. It's not animated, but I'll include it here anyway, instead of making another thread.

Thanks for your time!