CSW Style Character

[Moribund]

Ugghh I can not even begin to approach doing hands. This is my mostly complete character in Card Saga Wars/Tales Of style.

C&C greatly appreciated in both spriting technique and character design. I think he might need a fourth colour I dunno. Maybe a tie?

Thank you!

[Kidfrommars]

I made a crappy edit. But I took off a colour and it looks pretty much the same. I also attempted a crappy hand.
The hand would probably look better with something in it.

[Kcilc]

Hello! I also made you an edit.


Some things to remember are that when working at this size, you're implying much much more than defining. The prime example I see in your sprite is the buttons on his shirt. They are unnecessary, and clutter up your image so that the more important things get lost in the details. Just try to imply hands, don't actually draw them.

You seem to be pillow shading—or not defining a light source and making things lighter as they move towards the middle of the section—instead of actually shading. There are really three different "stages" of shading evolution in an artist. The first is what I just talked about, the second is contour shading, where you shade each section by its shape in two dimensions—sometimes disregarding how each part reacts to the other. And then finally form shading where you shade a lot like a sculptor, cutting and curving, trying to dig into the canvas and really bring out the third dimension. Really strive to get to this form shading.

Your character's anatomy seems a little bit disjointed. I'm not sure what say for this other than, look at naked people! Or as little clothing as you can stand. Then look at people with clothes on to see how the fabric works. Please note that my edit is not even close to perfect in this regard.

EDIT: I'd also suggest to lower the value of your skin tones a bit. I didn't play with the colors of your sprite that much, so just keep that in mind.

[Moribund]

Thanks a lot you guys!

@Kidfrommars I really appreciate the quick reply, the colour bit was a good observation.

@Kcilc I studied your edit for like, 20 minutes. Thank you so much, there are so many things I see now. I think I'll try another character soon. Mine looks so muddy and undefined and awkward next to yours, but I don't need to tell you that.

As for looking at naked people, I'm sure that could be arranged. *suggestive eyebrow raising*

PS: If anyone's interested, I was trying to go for this style.

Edit: How would I be able to incorporate your many meaningful changes into the style I was attempting?

[st0ven]

PS: If anyone's interested, I was trying to go for this style.

anyone know if either ahruon or ork lurk here in the forums using like a different alias or something? id love to hear them comment on their work or give a demonstration ^_^.

Id like to add that with a sprite of this size, posture is pretty important, and also tricky, to nail down. Kcilic does a good job of balancing the weight properly on the feet but your pose is altogether a bit uninteresting. 

[Moribund]

I tried again and I think the stance and proportions are better- but to my eyes the shading is a lot worse. :/ How do I make his right leg look more like it is in the background? If I shade harder it just looks weird.

Kcilc, I stole your hand for this one I hope that's ok? I want to get the basics down before I try hard stuff like tiny hands.

[Ai]

The shading is a lot BETTER. One of the things that I can see in pro work when I look, is the importance of flats. When you don't have large flat areas, nothing looks round.. it just looks amorphous, as a rule. That's a problem that your first version had a lot, which is much improved on your latest sprite. You
could still take it much further.

Edit:



Changes:
* use flats to emphasize depth a lot more (eg. non-fluffy hair, stiff-ish shirt, jeans folding


* increase color contrast



* poke the face a bit. make two similar colors non-similar (better contrast)

[Moribund]

Wow thanks! I'm sorry for the late reply- I wanted to wait until I sprited another thing. I kind of get what you mean by contrasting flat and rounded/irreguler surfaces.



Is the stomache enough flat area? Is there a ratio I should pay attention to? Also, is there a tutorial on small hands anywhere? I tried to make the pants crumply-er, did I do it right?

PS: Sorry I'm not incorporating all the changes at once- I'm not ignoring them I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around all these new concepts.

Edit: Added the original blue pants version.

[Ai]

Some quick comments:

* I prefer the greyish pants better, as they balance the lightness of the shirt.
* The shirt does not look like a shirt, as you've currently drawn it.
   the dark line along the bottom suggests a garment that is rolled UNDER at   the bottom. whereas a shirt generally either fits and doesn't roll under or outwards, or rolls outwards during movement.
   That whole row could be replaced with the lighter color just above it, then it would look more shirt-y and less jumper-y
* it would be good if you could cite some specific references. I've seen some youtube videos of CSW, but it would help people to provide better critique if you could show the sprites you are trying to imitate the style of. Even better if you can cite photo references for the pose or materials you are trying to represent.
* you have this thing going on where her boobs each look very similar to her shoulder. I'll check that out when I get back later today, it should be fixable.

[Kcilc]

Her breasts are really high. I think you need some room for her neck and collar bone. Also remember that when she's got a shirt like that on, you won't be able to see the separate breasts because the fabric will stretch over the cleavage.

Her pants seem really baggy too. I know that when I started spriting, I always accidentally made my characters' pants and shoes way huge. Just keep that in mind.

Don't be afraid to have really sharp spots in your art. Notice that you've outlined where the shirt connects with her left (our right) arm, not just once, but twice. I'd say in that situation, it would look better if you dragged the lighter part of the shirt all the way to the skin, so that it looks more like the shirt is casting a shadow on the arm than just making an outline.

Resist the urge to use all of the different shades so evenly. The fewer times you use a shade in your piece, the more valuable it is to our eyes—the reverse can be true if you have a powerful color. Use that to your advantage as often as you possibly can.