AuthorTopic: [WIP] Blonde girl  (Read 12569 times)

Offline piffany

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Re: [WIP] Blonde girl

Reply #20 on: June 24, 2011, 03:51:48 pm
Thank you so much for all the tips, r1k :) I took your previous edit and merged it with the barbie doll to start with:



And went out of my comfort zone to increase the contrast:

« Last Edit: June 24, 2011, 04:39:45 pm by piffany »
--Piffany
Disclaimer: I am still fairly new at pixel art, so please don't be offended by my negative critiques :)

Offline pistachio

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Re: [WIP] Blonde girl

Reply #21 on: June 24, 2011, 06:25:48 pm


AAAAGAHAGHH

Sorry, that version just took it way too far. All that eyeliner and dramatic shadow is starting to make her look like a zombie. And rather than darkening everything that's not highlights to black and mercilessly blending that in with it, try to apply blobs of darker shading with minimal blending. Also note, darker skin tones would be more brown/flesh-colored than black. Never go around just adding black and don't add too much on skin tones. It makes it look bland and not very fleshy, like skin's supposed to be. In fact there aren't many situations where you would do this to most surfaces. Even then, areas where you blended are still pretty obvious, as if you used a tiny smudge brush with tiny pecks or scribbles for strokes.

And I liked her without the makeup better, looking back. I usually don't see a child wearing large amounts of makeup other than in Toddlers & Tiaras, and that's still pretty weird. Both the show and your current piece.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2011, 12:40:43 am by pistachio »

Offline piffany

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Re: [WIP] Blonde girl

Reply #22 on: June 25, 2011, 12:40:02 am
@pistachio: I know that version was taking it too far. It was just an experimentation on shading. I agree it looked better before without makeup and here's one without/with less makeup.



Can't tell what looks good or bad anymore  :blind:
--Piffany
Disclaimer: I am still fairly new at pixel art, so please don't be offended by my negative critiques :)

Offline pistachio

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Re: [WIP] Blonde girl

Reply #23 on: June 25, 2011, 07:45:27 am
Lost previous post :(, hopefully this one's worded well.

@pistachio: I know that version was taking it too far. It was just an experimentation on shading. I agree it looked better before without makeup and here's one without/with less makeup.



Can't tell what looks good or bad anymore  :blind:

In a way, this version also takes it too far. The lips are beginning to lose their form, losing themselves in a smudged mess. Heck, the whole thing's getting lost in a smudged mess. You seem to be losing your grip on the direction of the lightsource and controlling the speculars and contrast, and you seem to be losing, if not getting a very odd grip on, that as well. (And where did the chin go?)



Here's a quick edit showing how I would go about it (working off of r1k's), and a compositional suggestion as well. Sorry for the ugly aliased brushes, it's all I have, but it may actually be a better way to go about this, without the anti-aliased background of course. Here I: dropped the frame to include shoulders, now it looks like she's turning her head to look at something, which might make the looking-up thing more obvious? (But I might have taken the neck-turning too far, ahem) Suggested individual strands of hair, as well as some wavering in a breeze to give a feeling of movement. Redid lighting; now it's overhead as the white arrow indicates. Now the nose and lips cast very slight shadows, as does the neck which now appears more cylindrical. Added a few sky speculars on the hair, because after all I did end up making it a bit glossy. Added a bit of dress/toga/some drapery on the shoulders, which I'm not sure you wanted, but I wanted to see what it looks like (sorry). Values could be adjusted, but other than that I think it looks pretty good.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2011, 09:04:11 am by pistachio »

Offline piffany

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Re: [WIP] Blonde girl

Reply #24 on: July 01, 2011, 03:54:33 am
Hi pistachio, just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate your edit. I'm just a little busy with school these days but I"ll definitely work on this again when I have time :)
--Piffany
Disclaimer: I am still fairly new at pixel art, so please don't be offended by my negative critiques :)