AuthorTopic: Help with spriting process  (Read 2459 times)

Offline Agent K

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Help with spriting process

on: November 21, 2013, 02:45:34 pm
I am super new to this, but this is what I have so far


I am stuck on the right cheek bone, having trouble getting it to feel right.  any suggestions? or even anything else that looks outta whack?

Offline Johasu

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Re: Help with spriting process

Reply #1 on: November 21, 2013, 03:30:36 pm
You didn't really outline what you were going for.  Are you asking for critiques on the model, your form mockup, the palette you are using, or the portion you have begun to pixel?
This information will help others to help you.  I make mistakes on art by not thinking through what I am doing before I begin.  It's ok when you are aiming for random creativity, but direction is important when you have a goal.

Your anatomy is in crazy disarray at this point if you are aiming for a human female as the end result.
Hands and feet are same size.
Off balanced posture (leaning backwards)
One leg is thinner than the other.
Breasts are wider than the torso.

You have shaped the face with a smooth flat color and sort of crimped the edge down with a thin layer of shading.  Remember to show SHAPE with your colors. You haven't defined a light source. You are also working with a very large body model, which is more challenging because more pixels are required and it's a lot more work to make any sorts of changes.  Do you have a reference that you used?

What is your objective?  What is the subject?  Is it a robot?   A person?  A doll?  Are you going to work on anatomy?  Coloring?
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Offline Agent K

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Re: Help with spriting process

Reply #2 on: November 21, 2013, 03:58:53 pm
Sorry for not being clear, everything from neck down and the hair is super rough, just tried to get the posture.  I am going to try and adjust it so shes not leaning so far backward since you mentioned it (she will eventually have a staff in her right hand).  Its sort of a mystic/alien creature with pale skin and looks human but has a slender cat-like build.  Her feet and hands will be much smaller when I get to them.  She is going to have like a rainbow/multicolor theme to her atire and hair.  I have a hand sketch, but no scanner.  So basically any C&C right now I would like in the head region, I have never been real good with facial features and am currently looking at examples to shape it but not coming up with anything like what I want (so its just flat for now).  But comments such as the breasts being to big and anatomy propotions being off are appreciated and will be addressed in my next update.

Offline Johasu

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Re: Help with spriting process

Reply #3 on: November 21, 2013, 04:46:11 pm
So...  Rainbow Cheetara?   ;)  http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111219202359/thundercats/images/8/80/Cheetara.jpg
 :lol:
Looking at your piece straight away, I can see that you are using a large amount of colors which really aren't necessary for how far along you are.
In the beginning you should perhaps start with a simple range of 3 shades for your creation.  One to set the color and a brighter version for highlight and a darker one for shading.  You can then use those to define your shape and afterwards add more colors as they are needed.

A couple more glaring oddities are the egg shape to the head.  Her chin is super pointy and crown very rounded.  Your eyes and nose are very high on the face, while your mouth is much lower.  Are your nose and mouth that separated? Her ear is on the back of her skull.  Think about these things as you look at it.  How far apart are your ears and eyes?  How high above your eyes is your hairline?

Im no expert on anatomy, but there are some simple guidelines to go by when you draw a face.  [Unless you are going for nonhuman shape, which you have established you aren't.] If you trace a finger straight down your forehead to your chin you will feel a symmetry of features, midline between the eyes, down your nose, midline lips, down your chin.  If you run a finger across from one ear to the other you will brush your finger along your eyes and clip the bridge of your nose.  Now, no two people are perfectly the same, barring twins, but these features can help you line up a face in a drawing.  You can even use lines to help you square things up and get them placed right.

There are countless untold volumes of tutorials on the web for how to draw sketches.   :y:


I did some work here to illustrate a few things.
1) I cropped it down to just focus on the face.
2) I tried to draw the frame box around yours, the hairline left me with a bad shape on top but this shows that your characters head either ends very quickly above the visible patch in the hair or flattens out on top.  Also of note is the way your chin curves outward from the mouth giving a sorta protruding chin or "round painted on an egg appearance" to the mouth.
3) I drew something closer to what a traditional framework for a head/face is. I tried to frame it around yours so it's a little odd in shape still.
4) I filled your primary skin palette blue to just show you the crazy number of extra colors.  I think whatever tool you are using to draw is auto anti aliasing.  The face in 1 has 90 something colors in it..
5) I cut the hair out to just show how you can isolate things in layers to work on particular portions without distraction and clashing efforts.  [Keep it as simple as you can and your work area clean.]
6) I took out the colors just to show the line-work on the face and how oddly shaped and jaggy it is on the one side.
7) I added a color to your palette and cleaned it up some.  Tried giving it a more humanoid shape, though I clearly kept to your original shape and allowed it to have a sort of pointy chin, shortened/rounded crown, and little to no pronunciation at the nape conjunction to the skull.  This kept to your initial portrayal, but left it with more shape. It feels like a toy doll now to me and I would definitely try to correct more of the anatomy, unless you want it to look sorta unusual.
8 ) I stuck your hair back on it to show how much the shape changed.

Now you can take these edits with a grain of salt.  I am no master of anatomy or even faces.  It IS your piece, so my idea may be way off from what you want.  Mine looks differently colored but that is only because I haven't shaded, or highlighted anything.   That comes next.  I didn't deal with the neck aside from cleaning up the mess of extra colors there.
Definitely check into the auto AA though.  It will make pixeling nearly impossible. :(
« Last Edit: November 21, 2013, 06:02:35 pm by Johasu »
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Offline Agent K

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Re: Help with spriting process

Reply #4 on: November 21, 2013, 10:15:33 pm


I worked on this before I saw you latest post, just want to say thanks for all the help and insight it really is awesome and I really appreciate it.  I downsized to fewer pixels and also did notice that the brush was auto anit-aliasing.  I am just struggling with the total anatomy and I think I might be in over my head.  There are several things I cant get to look right, she has like one boob looking at 3/4 and one starring you in the face  :-[, also something just doesn't seem right with her legs and i just have no idea what i just know they look too blocky.  I think what I will do is look at you post before this one and practice getting the anatomy right on the face before I do anymore.  Thanks again for looking at this    :y:

Offline Johasu

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Re: Help with spriting process

Reply #5 on: November 21, 2013, 10:34:52 pm
Anatomy is one of those things that really is a whole realm on its own.  The human body is so flexible that understanding it well enough to recreate it in varying poses takes a deep understanding of the skeleton and muscle underneath the skin level we portray.
I haven't spent much time on it myself at this point so I don't know that I could really be of use to you in building a better shape to your character.
However, you can equip yourself with the basic OBVIOUS tools at your disposal to save on some of the big mistakes.  Find a good reference for what you want to emulate and look at the way the light hits it.
Think about the shape of the body and look at how long arms, legs, and other parts are.  They are usually pretty similar in proportion to other body parts in MOST people.
Start small so it's easier to make large changes with less work.
Don't be afraid to save a copy or make a new layer and redraw something completely if it's screwy.
And really the biggest one of all...  You have the internet.  Most powerful tool ever invented, as far as we know.  Use it.  Research what you want to draw.  Research art.  Research drawing.  Research coloring.  Look up pictures of boobs if you can't get them shaped right.
Then practice.  Be willing to change it, even when you are frustrated with it.  :yell:
Keep at it. ;)

Also, you really need to stop working off of a white background.  Too bright or too dark on the background will overpower your pixels and you won't be able to see what your colors are actually doing.
Find some neutral soft color to use: a soft brown, blue, or grey often works for me depending on what the base color I am using for my sprite is.
« Last Edit: November 21, 2013, 10:43:59 pm by Johasu »
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