AuthorTopic: My first attempt at a sprite, ever  (Read 3517 times)

Offline Demon Lizardman

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My first attempt at a sprite, ever

on: July 13, 2010, 06:17:09 pm
I was following a tutorial on Derek Yu's website and read his stepped and made this simple sprite. IT's better than any other sprite I made, I think it's an improvement, but I wish I done a lot better. I made this in Photoshop, Intuos tablet. I think the colors are a bit bland, and all I am asking is how to get better and where to find some tutorials.

Offline DigitalAutopsy

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Re: My first attempt at a sprite, ever

Reply #1 on: August 01, 2010, 01:28:06 am
Wow, that takes me back to when I first went to war on an Apple II.

I lost too.

First things first - know your medium.

You're fighting the pixels in some places, and surrendering in others. I get the feeling this hasn't been edited? The nose, for instance, has straight lines on a round surface - don't let your mouse do that to you. Try to find a harmony of shape and line, or arrange the clash of styles to compliment each other. Don't be afraid to edit. Sprite art is more like laying tiles in a mosaic than straight out drawing.

Another problem I notice with the design, is the lighting - I can't tell why some surfaces have highlights ( Shoulders, center of the nose ) while others ( brow, the swell of the nostrils ) are completely untouched. There's no sense of texture. Anyone could have drawn this.

You can do better. You must teach your inner eye to see the world more clearly. The best way, and the most brutal by far, is to take a piece of paper and a pencil, and draw a still life near a lamp. You may not look at the paper. You may not lift your pencil from the paper. You must draw every reflection, you must draw every shadow. Watch how they dance over every surface. Follow the rays of light as they bounce off of objects, so that that some shadows fade and others grow.

Now take that awareness to your next picture...

Hope to see your next post soon.

Offline pistachio

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Re: My first attempt at a sprite, ever

Reply #2 on: August 02, 2010, 05:41:15 pm
Um.

What he meant to say was you got the lighting wrong and to observe your surroundings though through my eyes I see your approach isn't exactly realistic. Regardless, you'll need to practice shading techniques if you don't want your result to look like this.

The figure itself seems rather ill-proportioned. Its legs are placed so far back it looks as if it'd fall flat on its nose. The lineart is pretty messy, and the lighting is completely off in some places to such an extent that it deserves to be called a WIP.

However it's good for starters.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2010, 02:55:16 pm by pistachio »