Black bear C+C

[AWhiteRabbit]

Hi all. Not much of a forum poster, more of a lurker. Decided to come out and post.
My first pixel art that i didn't stop half way through and "finished". I was trying to get a bear just walking through the snow. Maybe looking for some food?
 Also can't figure out how to properly get the disturbed snow look on where he walks ( i know his paw looks cut off =p)and something just seems a bit odd about its head.


edit: forgot to wait for the snowstorm to pass was a bit tired. here it is=D

[coffee]

I don't know if it's just me, but I can't see any bear? : ( maybe it's a polarbear in a snowstorm?....

[cauli]

Hey AWhiteRabbit.

Well, the first thing that struck me as odd are the colors.
A polar bear is usually of a warm-white color. Many times yellow, as usually juuust slightly darker in value than the snow.
A black bear would probably be more brownish and darker in value than yours.

The head is odd because the snout is too long for the perspective.

He is missing his paw and, because you are missing his paw, the elbow joint is maybe in an odd position.

You need some color variation in the trees. Wouldn't they be covered in snow?

Maybe also improve your composition by rearranging the elements in a less ordered fashion. Add some sky, maybe a moon or some branches in the foreground, remember to always keep the composition balance.

[AWhiteRabbit]

Ok, tried to fix the nose a bit. still think it looks off.. more like a fox nose. Tried to make it look like the elbow pivot is there. added some clouds and put some snow on the trees.
still looks really sparse to me.

[cels]

Nice start! You're right that the latest change looks odd. Do you have a picture of a bear you're working off, or are you doing this from your memory? I guess the body at least is from this picture.

I've tried to do a quick edit, even though I don't think I've drawn a bear since I was a child. Now, I'm not saying that my version is good (in fact, my bear ended up looking more like a raccoon than anything), I'm just trying to illustrate that your bear's snout needs to be more elongated and it's almost as if you're missing the whole bottom jaw of your bear. I'm not a very good artist, but this edit hopefully explains more than I could do with words.



Finally, I would like to say that it's very rare to see a polar bear surrounded by trees, as they tend to stick.... near the north pole, where there's a distinct shortage of trees. [Fun fact: this is actually how the polar bears got their name. The north pole.  ] Sorry, I didn't mean to be snarky. It just seems easier to keep this as a "black bear" than to change it into a polar bear.

I don't think you need to add more snow to the trees. Wind and sunlight will reduce the snow on trees from time to time, even in an otherwise snow-covered landscape. I do agree that the three trees look like they're on a single line, which makes it all seem less natural.

[AWhiteRabbit]

yeah! that is the exact picture i was referencing from lol.
definitely an improvement. I never thought about taking away the outline on the on the bottom half of the face. It really makes it look more natural and not pasted over.
The trees do look like they are in a straight line made with a ruler though.
the whole background was just me thinking of whatever.

[jahasaja]

A very quick edit. The size of the head and the fact that you used black outlines made the head look unnatural. (and the fact that he did not have a neck. )

I tried to remove as much of the outline as possible while at the same time makeing the head bigger. also made some small shadows corrections.

I tried some changes to the paw but i really dont have time (when you stopp everything just to do some pixel art does that mean that you need so seek help??  )

Hope it helps.

[Parkerbaby]

I like the concept so I scribbled on it.
Black bears have big ears and long snouts. I think you could do more to have it read as a black bear.

[AWhiteRabbit]

Ok i think i did fix the head so it does actually flow into the body and hopefully it looks like there is a neck.
made the ears wider and redid the snout.
also made the background look less plain and hoping for a wind swept look.
i still want it to look like a cloudy day. not as bright as parkerbaby had it.

although now that i look more the ears probably do need to be bigger.

[Mathias]

I say lose the black outlines and go for softer edges. I like how your bg doesn't use outlines.

Why is your bear grey? Never use pure grey. It's so lifeless and dead. The bear's fur should be reflecting cold blue light. Blue-ify him. Lighten him up, too. Polar bear, right? Polar bear's are WHITE.