[WIP]Nivek's Unfinished Sketches

[AlexHW]

I don't think I will stretch the image to make her taller but I will think about this point.

Another option is squishing the upper portion a little if you don't want to make the image larger.
I'll try to make some videoedits sometime.. I mainly just want to experiment with the hair..

[AlexHW]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKp7nVq8sMM

there you go.. don't bother listening to me talk, i was just trying to sound interesting.. eventually the video speeds up when i had nothing to say ..

[Bissle]

Looking better. I see what you're getting at with the legs, but at the moment it looks like her legs are different sizes. Her left leg (the one with the stocking) looks shorter. Grimsane and Elrinth's edits are a good reference for how to even them out. By the way, is her right foot simply at an angle, or is it partially lifted, like she was standing on the side of that foot, kind of like this of this? It's hard to tell.

She looks much more like Monica right now. By the way, are you using a reference? The picture on the Dark Cloud Wiki isn't a bad choice. Also, this is a good in-game pic since her head is straight on. It looks like it may have been the pic PixelPiledriver used to reference. I'm guessing you want her to have similar proportion as the original character, so definitely keep using whatever you can find of her to guide you.

Good work on the hair, Alex.

Edit: Argh, yeah you said in the first post that you referenced Google Images. Oh well. XD

[Zizka]

Alex, it'd be great if you could do more of those pixel edit videos. I find them instructive and it's interesting to see how you proceed. Also, there's hardly any quality pixel art tutorials on youtube so yeah (well I can't find good ones anyways).

(sorry for the slight off topicness).

[PixelPiledriver]

It looks like it may have been the pic PixelPiledriver used to reference.

I used several references since this is a pre-designed character



Seeing the whole object as constructed of smaller objects simplifies the drawing process.
This is the same process used in programming and other art forms -> break the major problem into smaller problems.
I like to use shape extrapolation and draw from memory instead of direct referencing.
It adds an element of random incorrectness that I enjoy.
Altho I do not suggest this as the best way of doing things, just what I prefer.

This is just a recreation of my thought process.
Not what I actually used.
But I've done this before hand for other stuff and it can be really helpful.

[nivek]

Yeah Nice job on the hair Alex.

@Bissle - Her right foot is supposed to be at an angle, so she is not standing on the side of her foot. I'll try to fix the left leg as well(was experimenting).

@PixelPiledriver - Thats an interesting way of designing/ drawing her. The image on the top left is my main reference.

Today I'm going to work on the proportions and shading.

Edit: Maybe add a background to it too.

[nivek]

Update:


There's not much of a background. Not sure what I will do for the background. Maybe a town from the start of the game or a forest setting  .

[nivek]

Another update with a rushed background:


I will add shadows and clean it up for the next update.

[Dr D]

Not really a crit, but something about the perspective of the background and the character looks off to me. Maybe it's with the composition? Should her head be sticking out higher than the top of the trees? (I know she's in the foreground, and the trees in the distance, but it still looks strange to me.)

On another note, love the progress that is being made here and the crits that have been given, this has already come quite a way. I'm also glad you were able to deduce for yourself to draw the whole character rather than cropping at the legs. It's a good practice, and it usually makes for better, or more correct pieces even if they're to be cropped in the final result.

[Chris Burrows]

The way she is holding the sword is very nonthreatening. I liked the way, in PixelPiledriver's rendition, the sword had a bit of perspective. Coming at ya on an angle, to slice ya up into tiny little pieces.