AuthorTopic: {WIP} Curly Brace  (Read 6481 times)

Offline Chrispy

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{WIP} Curly Brace

on: January 08, 2011, 02:09:29 pm

I can't help but feel that there's something wrong, but I can't seem to put my finger on it.
Update:
« Last Edit: January 08, 2011, 03:16:29 pm by Chrispy »

Offline miascugh

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Re: {WIP} Curly Brace

Reply #1 on: January 08, 2011, 03:21:11 pm
Overall it's a pretty good start, from this point on it depends what you're going for exactly. Is she supposed to be masculine? Her pose itself works fine, the temperament it conveys suits her character, resolute with a hint of her being some sort of a renegade princess. Obviously she belongs to a very western tradition of portraying heroines, with her tank top, relatively muscular arms, and overall realistic proportions,  all of which suggesting guerrilla field experience and all kinds of strengthses already on the superficial level.

I don't know if you were intent on using her original in-game palette and/or how much of this still is w.i.p., but for a sprite this big I'd suggest a broader range of shades, less saturation as well as a lot less blue overall, a less plasticine like shading-style (I think you can loosen the invasiveness of the darks) and outlines to some extent (plus avoiding such close shades as the dark gray of the skin and the purple of her top next to each other, making them merge almost). Her eyes strike me as lifeless the way they are, kind of like the button-eyed people in coraline. Her feet and ankles could benefit from using references, especially the further leg has a very cylindrical ankle, but no heel and fails to suggest the weight it supports (could be a tad bigger as well, imo).

Cheers, solid start, keep it up!  :)

Offline Helm

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Re: {WIP} Curly Brace

Reply #2 on: January 08, 2011, 03:37:05 pm
Hi, I took a look.



what miascugh said, more or less. Better range of color, less saturation, more reference for the extremities, sparkle in the eyes somehow. The biggest problem for me was a consistent lightsource.

Offline Chrispy

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Re: {WIP} Curly Brace

Reply #3 on: January 08, 2011, 04:21:17 pm
I really appreciate the critiques, they've been a big help. Here's my edit taking what you guys said into consideration
« Last Edit: January 08, 2011, 04:42:13 pm by Chrispy »

Offline big brother

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Re: {WIP} Curly Brace

Reply #4 on: January 11, 2011, 02:34:23 am
I hope I'm not the only person that feels this latest edit is a big step down from the original.

It trades in the strength of a bold form with stark light and shadows for awkward, uneven details. The original has a nice flow to it -- the swooping hair leads into the line of the eyes and into that of the earpiece. The edit de-emphasizes the organic nature and introduces a host of anatomy issues. The front of her pants... is that a FUPA? In Helm's edit particularly, the arm to chest transition looks unnatural, like armpit fat is pushing its way out of the tank top. The hand on the hip wraps around its shape in the original, but now the fingers look like the prongs of a flat fork. Muting the white skin tones only causes the red of the tank top to burn through the image.

Sorry if this sounds super harsh -- it's my knee-jerk reaction to the result. I don't mean to offend anyone, I just want to see the artwork achieve its full potential.

Offline DarkFalzX

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Re: {WIP} Curly Brace

Reply #5 on: January 11, 2011, 03:02:04 am
I totally agree with Big Brother - the newest edit is a far cry from the original piece which, in my opinion required far fewer changes than was suggested by Helm and miascugh. The new colors feel drab and dull next to the bold, yummy originals. The detail adds nothing but needless clutter and depth issues. Her boobs are now lopsided, and her face now has an amerime tude'-grin, as opposed to a far more expressive original. The far leg of the original image is positioned far more naturally and is better shaded than both, the latest author's and Helm's edits. Not to say that leg looked perfect in the original - there is a bit of an issue with the shin angle, but it could be fixed by shifting a couple of pixels around, and not redrawing half of the image.

Sometimes less is more.

Offline miascugh

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Re: {WIP} Curly Brace

Reply #6 on: January 11, 2011, 07:26:57 am
i think i made valid points, but strongly colored by personal style tendencies of course. Although i'm not always so sure of the benefits of full blown edits, i'll try and illustrate my suggestions when i get home later, even though it's just a my way of doing things.

Offline miascugh

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Re: {WIP} Curly Brace

Reply #7 on: January 12, 2011, 12:32:52 pm
Ok, here goes. Three versions, one that stays true to the color scheme, a personal palette and an 7+1-color version to demonstrate that you can make the style work without gimmicky shading:



And yes, obviously it is a pretty remote departure from what the original feels like, setting priorities in the visuals that you might not care about, chrispy.

Cheers, hope this helps in some way  :yay:

Offline Chrispy

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Re: {WIP} Curly Brace

Reply #8 on: January 17, 2011, 04:32:13 pm
I dunno, I tried to make a mix of what everyone was saying thrown into this, using miascugh's edit as a base.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2011, 02:06:35 am by Chrispy »

Offline miascugh

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Re: {WIP} Curly Brace

Reply #9 on: January 18, 2011, 11:09:05 am
i'd suggest moving on to your next piece as this one has served its purpose. The latest version very much feels like a summarization of what has been shown and thats cool, but starting something fresh is a better way to judge yourself what you could get out this discussion here. And most importantly, work on something for you to like, not for the others :)