[c+c] character sprites

[japie81]

I did those a while ago, but i have never really asked anyone to look at them who actually knows a thing or two about pixel art. So I decided to show them here and see if anyone can provide me with some constructive criticism.



I think the grey-bearded guy and the one with the viking helmet look a little flat due to bad shading. Also I would really like some tips about the texture of the beards, as i found it quite hard to make them look natural.

Does anyone know of a good tutorial or example for a walking animation (preferably 8 directional) for this type of sprites? I found it very hard to even get the static view for the other directions right, and have so far not managed to do so.

 

[Facet]

Hey, welcome

I took my favourite of the bunch and worked it up with a little key to my thinking re. shading, basically: simplify wherever possible, avoiding outlines or dithery details that could conflict. At such a small resolution extra info like that can swamp the really important stuff (ie. planar form) pretty easily. Natural texture is pretty unlikely so small, but if the form is there you should fill in the rest in the looking.

Try applying some of that stuff to the other guy you mentioned perhaps, and also working on mid-tone background if you weren't already; that can really help to see and balance form/contrast better. I ramped up the black in mine 'cos that's good for sprite visibility, and the white for more shiny shines. 

[japie81]

Wow, thanks for the reply. I love the stance you gave him, he looks way more natural like that. Mine are very static looking and symmetric, though i am not too bothered by that at this point. I'm having lots of difficulties drawing human like shapes at this size. Every attempt at drawing any of those guys from the side or 45 degree angle failed miserably, let alone trying to make a walking animation

Anyway, thanks for the tips. This is very helpful

[japie81]

Here are some monsters i made in somewhat the same style. The 'genie' at the right was never really finished as i didnt get the brightest tone right and got frustrated i guess

[r1k]

theyre all really noisy.  Remove all the noise and then choose a light source and shade them to show form.  Quick edit:

[japie81]

Thanks for pointing that out r1k. Though I think i would want to find sort of a middle way as the shading in your example makes him look like he's made out of smooth plastic. But I defintely agree that mine are way too messy and inconsistently shaded.

Anyway, I tried to recreate the stance of the example facet made, and turned it into somewhat of a tribal warrior. I didnt give him much clothing because I would really like to learn to draw somewhat realistic looking body shapes. The oversized head and old final fantasy like eyes are something that I really like when it comes to sprites of this size, so thats probably not something I would want to change. I think the shape came out pretty good, but once again I'm having a hard time with the shading. I went for three shades of brown (apart from the outlines) first, but changed them to a little brighter tone at some point, and added a darker one because now my darkest tone seemed a little too bright on some areas.



I also went ahead and tried to create a base for a walk cycle for this guy, as i really need practice with that.