AuthorTopic: Guyver piece, need critique  (Read 4811 times)

Offline Zoanoid

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Guyver piece, need critique

on: December 01, 2010, 01:12:32 pm
First off, I'm new here and want to improve my skills at pixel art, I heard this was the place to be for the more serious critique :)

I created this fan art piece for fun:



It's from an Anime called the Guyver. First I drew the outline using various references, then traced it more or less with a one pixel thick pencil. After that, I coloured the main parts. Then I started shading the rough areas and finally added the highlights. I used dithering to add more depth.

I plan on doing more of this stuff in the future, as I really enjoy pixel art. Anyway, I'd like to hear your opinions :)

Any feedback on color pallete, technique, structure, proportion and the like is very welcome!

Offline Olothontor

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 238
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Guyver piece, need critique

Reply #1 on: December 01, 2010, 03:00:44 pm
That is a LOT of dithering. It gives it a very... textured feel, like the armor is made of blue carpeting.

I don't imagine that's what you're going for, but if it is please feel free to ignore me.   ::)
"In a mad world, only the mad are sane." - Akira Kurosawa

Offline WizKid

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 23
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Guyver piece, need critique

Reply #2 on: December 03, 2010, 06:07:35 am
That is a LOT of dithering. It gives it a very... textured feel, like the armor is made of blue carpeting.

I don't imagine that's what you're going for, but if it is please feel free to ignore me.   ::)

Like Olothontor said to much dithering. Since it is suppose to be metal it shouldn't have that much dithering.

Offline EvilEye

  • 0011
  • **
  • Posts: 501
  • Karma: +1/-0
  • Game Developer Extroaordinaire
    • View Profile

Re: Guyver piece, need critique

Reply #3 on: December 03, 2010, 01:28:50 pm
Looks nice. I saw a movie called the guyver way back in the day, before anime was mainstream in the US.

Some critique on the structure. His shoulders are slanted, if you draw a line from the top of one shoulder to the other you will notice it curves down. It should be nearly horizontal unless he's shrugging for some weird reason. Same with the knees, the elbows and the hands. Also the right foot should be flat on the ground, it looks like he's standing on his big toe.

Now about the dithering, it's excessive and too obvious. I'm not a skilled ditherer myself, but I've seen examples of good dithering. Here is one I found on pixel joint:

http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/30531.htm#

Offline Zoanoid

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Guyver piece, need critique

Reply #4 on: December 03, 2010, 03:11:16 pm
Tnx for the feedback!

About the dithering: Agree that it's too obvious, could've been better. It's actually not supposed to be metal, but more some kind of organic plating...

@ EvilEye, he's not facing directly forward but a little to the right, hence everything is slanted. His right foot does look a little akward now that you mention it. Thanks for the example of the dithering btw.

Offline EvilEye

  • 0011
  • **
  • Posts: 501
  • Karma: +1/-0
  • Game Developer Extroaordinaire
    • View Profile

Re: Guyver piece, need critique

Reply #5 on: December 03, 2010, 04:33:11 pm
@ EvilEye, he's not facing directly forward but a little to the right, hence everything is slanted. His right foot does look a little akward now that you mention it. Thanks for the example of the dithering btw.

What does facing to the right have to do with one shoulder being higher then the other? You could get away with his right shoulder being higher then the left, that would indicate ( exaggerated ) perspective, but you have his left shoulder higher then the right which is just awkward.

Offline Stava

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 78
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Guyver piece, need critique

Reply #6 on: December 03, 2010, 06:08:04 pm
@ EvilEye, he's not facing directly forward but a little to the right, hence everything is slanted. His right foot does look a little akward now that you mention it. Thanks for the example of the dithering btw.

What does facing to the right have to do with one shoulder being higher then the other? You could get away with his right shoulder being higher then the left, that would indicate ( exaggerated ) perspective, but you have his left shoulder higher then the right which is just awkward.

If he used this picture as reference : http://img227.imageshack.us/i/guyver1th2.jpg/sr=1
It has one shoulder higher than the other.. And I see no problem with it, really.

Offline EvilEye

  • 0011
  • **
  • Posts: 501
  • Karma: +1/-0
  • Game Developer Extroaordinaire
    • View Profile

Re: Guyver piece, need critique

Reply #7 on: December 03, 2010, 10:40:31 pm
If he used this picture as reference : http://img227.imageshack.us/i/guyver1th2.jpg/sr=1
It has one shoulder higher than the other.. And I see no problem with it, really.

On that reference the camera angle is slightly high, and it's possible the figure is leaning a bit. Zoanoids interpretation looks to be eye level. Much of this has to do with the head ( which is horizontal ), the angle of the feet and a few other subtleties which are hard to articulate.

Offline Lukkas

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 40
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Guyver piece, need critique

Reply #8 on: December 04, 2010, 08:29:25 pm
I do see what EvilEye means, and I agree. The perspective immediately looked a bit fishy to me but I couldn't articulate it. The shoulder is definitely a few pixels too high for that perspective.

To expand on his comment about smaller subtleties, I think the perspective of the arm furthest away also seems to suggest the viewer is at eye-level and the figure is standing straight, but the height of the shoulder conflicts with this.

As for the rest of the construction however, great job. My only additional suggestion beyond what others have stated is that your shading method is too... "cloth-like". Color diffuses across the surface in a fragmented, rough way, rather than the way light reflects off of more smooth/metallic/plastic materials. In the folds and contours of the material, like the impressions on the spikes of the gloves, the lightest shade and darkest shade should be closer, perhaps even next to each other. I'm probably not doing a very good job of explaining, maybe this picture will illustrate what I mean.

See here? Pay attention to how the highlight of the barrel meets the shadow on the other side of the barrel? Generally, with a shiny material, the neutral or inbetween shades are sparse, whilist highlights and shadows are very dominant. I think, assuming your figure is supposed to be shiny, you should try to emulate that.
« Last Edit: December 04, 2010, 08:32:08 pm by Lukkas »