[WIP] Sprite (maybe for SideScroller game)

[Elfuun]

Hi  
I'm trying to make the sprite of a hero for my own sidescroller game, but it's a little hard. Well,  I usually draw sprites like this, so i don't know what's wrong.
I made a little sketch but it don't help me so much because i'm not very good at anatomy. Can someone just edit my sprite or tell me what should i erase or change?
Thanks, Elfuun.
ps: sorry for my so bad english, i just have 3years of it, and i'm french

[Edit] : Woops, forgot the sprite  
I think the arms are wrong (and not finished yet ).

[RedKnight91]

Hi Elfuun!
Well, the basic tip you should follow is to start from a sketch of the whole body before you get into details with color, shading, etc., as you did : )
I'm pretty sure the head is wrong too but I don't really know 'cause it has no facial features!

[Elfuun]

Thanks for advices!
I just make a little sketch of the head to show how I see it (right in english? Tell me if you don't understand  ).
But, in fact I just think it isn't the style (?) I want for my game, so maybe I'll resume from begining. I want something more... cartoon, or more funny, like a game for kid.
So, should I use more curves? Or more saturated colors?

[RedKnight91]

the colors are ok, just try to start from a sketch of the whole body. If you want it to be cartoony or funny try to have lot of smooth curves for the body : )

[pistachio]

Like what I mentioned in my last post, so far this has some anatomy/construction issues, making it seem flat, especially the arms. It looks like you jumped straight to lines with no clear idea of what you were doing, then cleaned said lines up, without considering the shapes the drawing is made of. (Will edit this post to elaborate.) I can see why you would want to go with simplified anatomy for a game of this type, but it's still easy to discern whether the drawing lacks form or it doesn't.

...Looking closer, the whole thing doesn't need a redo but there are still some problem areas, especially the neck and arms. Just needs some adjusting.

Making an edit now to show you what I mean.

[Elfuun]

[Edit] : Woops, it's a little bit too big!

As you tell me, I just drew a sketch of my character to use it like a model. I thinks the body can be good but I realy don't know how to do the neck (Yea, I hate neck). I think in this style my hero could don't have any neck. It may be more easy for me.
Well, I'll try to do the head this afternoon (it's 9AM in France), and I'll show you

[pistachio]

Sorry for the wait.

Not a big fan of anime eyes/faces.

Anyway here's how I would go about creating the sprite, the face and limbs specifically. Judging by the previous work you've posted, you've got the anatomy down, it's mostly the proportion that needs work, which this may help you with.



I thought the arms could be in a different position, but the legs seem pretty undynamic next to them. Still, it's a useful reference.

[Elfuun]

Wow, your sprite looks so good! I love the legs!
I'll try to find some anatomy lessons to know the proportions.
Well, I don't have time now, I begin work tomorrow... But I'll try to release me to work that.

[Elfuun]

I'm back (:
It's hard to find time to work pixel art, but I have done something today.
Well, it's completly different of my ancient sprite and it's also bigger.
It's a step by step, and I still have a problem with the neck and legs / feet.  
Any comments/edits/help please?  

[alex pang]

legs are to small.
They should be the size of the rest of the body.

[Elfuun]

Something like this?

In fact, legs are there (in red)

It's approximately the middle of the body, but it's not very visible.

[jams0988]

No, alex meant "the legs are the same height as the rest of the body including the head." You could make the legs about twice as long as they are now, and they'd still look natural.
The height from the bottom of your character to his crotch should be the same as the height from the top of him to his crotch. Just remember, the center of every man is his junk! =P

And I like the color palette you're using. It's pretty cool looking!

[Elfuun]

Mhh... You mean something like this? (Don't worry, it's a sketch)

But, you know, my sprite has to be a SD (Super Deformed, or chibii, as you like).
So, I don't know how to change the legs to seems more real but keeping the ratio 1:3  (hard to say... It's right in English? Tell me if you don't understand )
The sprite with longs legs looks better, but in fact I have to extend legs to have 1:3 (it's something like 1:2.5 now)

[PypeBros]

I think one thing that doesn't work with your super-deformed proportions is that the body of the character is roughly the size it should have for a normal-proportioned kid. Chibby typically shorten the body as well, so that the head is emphasized.

[Elfuun]

Maybe he looks like a child because he is a little too packed (?). Should I make him leaner?
By the way, he doesn't seem very manly/masculine or strong. Maybe more raw (hard?) shapes for his body?

-----------------------

Il me semble que tu es Français, et comme mon anglais est très approximatif, ca m'arrange un petit peu
Peut être qu'il à l'air d'un enfant vu qu'il est un peu (trop même) tassé. Je pense que ca s'arrangera si j’agrandis les jambes et si je le rend plus svelte!

[PypeBros]

oh. I see the legs better, now. Don't hesitate to use colours to depict the trouser-to-shirt transition.
Also, I encourage you to sketch more poses for your character and see whether his "chibbiness" will still allow it to move as you planned. Only then, you're ready for spriting.
Going for full-detail (pixel art) before animating usually leads to dead ends.

[Elfuun]

As you adviced me, I tried to animate him walking (just the legs, without arms) and I did two sketchs. Well, it's a bit hard (for my first try), and I advanced the clothes (pants are something like dragon scales, or fish scales). Any comments?

[jams0988]

Again, the coloring is awesome, but his legs are way too short! You even have him numbered by heads right now, so it's obvious his legs only take up a third of his total height. They need to take up half to look natural! And your arms at rest reach halfway down your thigh. Look up Loomis's anatomy books for a quick and dirty beginner's guide. A lot of people seem to love them, and I can also personally vouch for them. =)

[PypeBros]

Here's another that has 1:1:1 proportion for head, torso and legs. Actually, that's a fairly common recipe for cartoon characters. It doesn't make them necessarily look odd, just young. Something else goes wrong with your character (as, imho, there's something wrong with Link's short legs in the last DS art)
- hands typically go *past* the belt. If your character cannot take something in his pocket naturally, something needs to be fixed.
- legs have more uniform width. Tu lui a fais les cuisses super-larges, et les tibias super-fins. He looks a bit like a chicken, here. Plus, you put the belt in the "legs" part, while it typically belongs to the bottom of the torso part.

HTH

[Phlakes]

I think you might want to try staying closer to your sketch, mostly with the legs. In the sprite, it looks really strange that his thighs are as wide as his body but his calves are tiny little stumps. That's also probably harder to animate.

Plus, the curves of the sketch make it feel more dynamic.

[Mathias]

By "sidescroller" you must mean platformer.

This is the biggest platformer char I've ever seen. What space age res you runnin'?