GR#077 - Adventure Game Mockup 3/4 - RPG projection

[Calx]

       Very nice work, it looks like its going to be a very unique piece.   
However,
Some of the color recycling just doesn't work as is, IMO.
For example, the tree. The leaves and the trunk use 2 light purple shades as darker shades,
And I think it hurts the overall depth and clarity of the tree.
The trunk could just use the darker brown shade instead of the purple,
for the leaves, you might want to use just a darker shade of green or greenish blue.

Overall, I think the piece uses to many de-saturated purples.
Hue shifting is important, but make sure the color you shift to has the proper value in relation to the colors next to it.
That said, I think this mock up has great potential, and that fox is going to look great when it is finished,
also I really love how you did the ear for it. 

[Ryumaru]

The portraits are looking great. I would love to play a game in this style where pixel aesthetic and painterly style are favored over strong symbolism. With that said, do still be careful as this is still game art and the tiles have such a higher fidelity for single pixel detail that I fear the characters would get swallowed by it. Perhaps though, expertly executed animation could make this a non issue.

      Very nice work, it looks like its going to be a very unique piece.    
However,
Some of the color recycling just doesn't work as is, IMO.
For example, the tree. The leaves and the trunk use 2 light purple shades as darker shades,
And I think it hurts the overall depth and clarity of the tree.
The trunk could just use the darker brown shade instead of the purple,
for the leaves, you might want to use just a darker shade of green or greenish blue.

Overall, I think the piece uses to many de-saturated purples.
Hue shifting is important, but make sure the color you shift to has the proper value in relation to the colors next to it.
That said, I think this mock up has great potential, and that fox is going to look great when it is finished,
also I really love how you did the ear for it.  

While this is a completely valid critique in terms of more realistic representation ( decisions always made to enhance the form) it may be less valid in terms of stylistic voice. Now, it is improper for anyone to pull the " style" card but it is obvious that Alex knows how to advance and recede form and by that fact, anything that could be said to deter from clear form that may cause from unorthodox color recycling can be seen as stylistic intent. We can already read the object as a tree trunk and even still we do see that light is hitting it a certain way- so is it important incredibly important for those purple values to be darker? Even when their lower chroma lets the next palette step jump towards us through the picture plane which is exactly what the tree roots are intended to do?

That said, I do not wish for you to think im picking on you, or for you to even retract your critique as it is well enough written and valid. With an artist of this level we must however be aware of their voice which is dictated by their artistic choices- both planned and arbitrary.

[AlexHW]

thanks, ill keep these things in mind.
here's an update the the knight's face.. I just realized he's looking into his visor, so I'll have to change the direction he is looking.

[pistachio]

An idea: More of a shadow cast onto his face by the visor. In the rougher, earlier version, where the face was overall lighter, this was more apparent. Although, masking his eyes in shadow is perhaps something of a cliché in some hooded characters of this type... But it makes sense, no? and adds a mysterious look to the character. His nose also seems a few pixels too low, although this may be a stylistic choice unless you're aiming for a realistic face (which otherwise you seem to be doing).

[AlexHW]

good points..
how's this?

[AlexHW]

updated the girl's face:

[Tourist]

I think the girl's face still has some structural problems.  At a guess, it looks like you used a reference photo taken from a camera phone with a terrible fish-eye lens and a single point flash.  The more I look at the face the more cubist it looks.

I think the main problem is that the forehead slopes back too sharply compared to the cheek line.  Here's a couple of quick references.  They aren't good references, but my computer blew up this weeke3nd so this was what I could grab quickly from the web.



First image, head is tilted back, and the chin is therefore thrust out much further than your image.  But the forehead slope is close to what you have. 

Second image the head is nodding forward.  The chin is under the cheek/eye like you have, but the forehead is that much more forward/vertical.

Third image, the head is tilted to the side.  Here is the only image where you can see the far cheek all the way past the mouth, but that's only because the face is chubby and smiling.  Again, the chin comes out rather far beyond the eye position.

In all three, the mouth and the tip of the nose are closer to the cheek than what you have, and the forehead is closer to the angle of the cheek line.  I tried a quick edit, but I goofed up the colors, and lost most of the roundness of the face.  And the mouth needs some rework.   But maybe it can help.



Tourist

[AlexHW]

hm, thanks for the critique.. I made a few tweaks to the forehead/nose/chin/eye/cheek. I don't want to change anything too drastic like your edit because then it will alter her character, and I like the look mine has going.
here's an update, tell me if it helped.

[jams0988]

Getting better and better. =)
One thing that's bothering me is the knight's in-game sprite, though. The way he's standing, he doesn't read as a knight to me. Looks more like a rogue/archer/thief type of character. That might not be an issue once you start animating him right now. His legs add to his thief image - I can't tell if he's supposed to be wearing any armor done there, but it doesn't look like he is.

Love the zombie's portrait. Super cool. =D
I think your updated girl portrait basically fixes the problems Tourist mentioned. I also agree that his changes the character of your girl's face pretty drastically. For the record, I think "tough, main character woman" when I see his. Yours rings as a "damsel in distress/poor peasant girl." Both are good, but I'm not sure what you're aiming for.

Also, I disagree with Calx's assertion that the coloring recycling doesn't work. I was interested by what he said, so I spent a little while messing with your color scheme, seeing if I could find anything better. I couldn't, hence my disagreement. I'd love if Calx could change a few of the colors around for us, because I'm very curious about what he's thinking would be better.

[Redshrike]

I just wanted to drop in to say that I've been enjoying this very much.  The tight detail in each tile (and the way the sudden color changes between them), with the fanciful hue shifting and character designs, combine into a strange and fascinating whole.  Very dreamlike and "Dunsany-ish."