AuthorTopic: [WIP] Skinless Cyber Monster  (Read 6107 times)

Offline Lazy Brain Games

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[WIP] Skinless Cyber Monster

on: February 13, 2014, 08:34:20 pm
Hi all! I'm struggling a bit with this new project that calls for a "regular" palette (I'm used to only using NES palettes). Here's what I have so far:



I'm trying to have this skinless guy be as scary and menacing as possible, so I opted to have the light source be placed underneath him. I'm doing my best to convey the muscle fibers and how shiny/slimy exposed muscle tissue would be, but I seem to be lacking in technique. Some of the anatomy is incorrect but since it's a fictitious kinda thing I'm not too focused on it.

At first I thought having such a saturated red was a bit much, but from what I've gathered that's how exposed muscle tissue is colored? I started rending the bottom part of the jaw and chin but it just doesn't seem right, I know I'm doing something wrong but I can't quite figure out how to fix it.

Any pointers on this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks to all who reply :)

-John

Offline Johasu

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Re: [WIP] Skinless Cyber Monster

Reply #1 on: February 14, 2014, 05:33:26 am
Just some ideas...
Muscle is meat. Look up some roasts and such.
http://stock-image.mediafocus.com/images/previews/raw-beef-roast-34041001.jpg
Muscles on different parts of the body are shaped differently as well. They don't all look so striated as you are depicting them.

Up close muscles are a bit translucent. The light doesn't reflect off of meat as brightly as you are showing it because of this.
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Offline Mathias

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Re: [WIP] Skinless Cyber Monster

Reply #2 on: February 14, 2014, 07:01:53 am
Ignoring PA tech, etc, I have to say this guy is far from scary and menacing.

He looks like he's crying. Like those tubes are piercing his skull and it's extremely painful.

If you're still open to changing your lines at this point, I'd recommend sketching out some meaner looking facial expressions. Something more sinister.

Offline Lazy Brain Games

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Re: [WIP] Skinless Cyber Monster

Reply #3 on: February 14, 2014, 08:41:57 pm
Thanks for the replies guys! Yeah, I think I'll have to go back to the drawing board on this one. I'm definitely feeling some growing pains having to switch from a NES palette and resolution! None of my old tricks work!

Will update when I have a redesign ;)

Cheers,

Offline Johasu

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Re: [WIP] Skinless Cyber Monster

Reply #4 on: February 14, 2014, 09:43:56 pm
Work smaller starting out.
Working on huge images like this is daunting when you don't have a strongly developed skill set to work with.
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Offline pistachio

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Re: [WIP] Skinless Cyber Monster

Reply #5 on: February 14, 2014, 09:45:46 pm
Heeey again.

First off I APPROVE of the subject matter and what you're getting at--this is cool, could potentially be cooler. :y:

As for the NES vibe from the palette palette, yeah, I can still see that.
When you're restricted to mono palettes or anything for a while, you might think that it's a formula you have to follow.
It's something you have to break out of gradually.
Studying real life references, etc. helps.
Let's break this down:

Your value is pretty good but could use more obvious ramps. The small amount of colors you have is good to start off with tho. Another important thing: even though it's muscles, you still need to define the major planes of the head with those few colors.
Hue: you've actually shifted this but not enough to be noticeable. With the red light, keeping it generally mono makes sense but it still has to be visible or it's inevitably going to look like the NES palette.
Saturation: is a whole other ballgame, not even touched here as far as I can see, it's all max saturation. Fleshy objects usually have smaller desaturated highlights, saturation around the midtones and into the shadows, which fall off into desat. again.

What Mathias said about the expression is true and a pretty common hurdle. In trying to draw in the anatomy you forgot the big picture, the gesture. In this case it's the facial expression. You want menacing, go lower brows, wider jaw. Try grimacing in a mirror. Feel that expression.

This edit demonstrates both those things:



Lines from the WIP so you can see that more clearly.

Adding in subtle angles/perspective works really well and adds to that. This edit might be overdoing that, depends on the art direction really. If you're going for this retro Saturday morning cartoon look (which it looks like with the character design) straighter angles could work, but you see the point?

Implementing more cyberpunk elements into the muscles is a cool opportunity, one I tried to take in that edit.
Also played up the ape-like quality.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2014, 11:00:05 pm by pistachio »

Offline Lazy Brain Games

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Re: [WIP] Skinless Cyber Monster

Reply #6 on: February 15, 2014, 01:24:47 am
HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this pistachio!

This fantastic edit will definitely help me get some bearings on what I should be doing differently. One thing that's obvious is that I was too focused on drawing each muscle fiber and ignoring the bigger picture. Some of it comes down to just my mediocre drawing skills and my lack of palette creation experience, but now that I have such a good example to reference I can grasp some of these new ideas a lot faster.

Thanks again man, will be posting an edit :)

-John

[EDIT]

Took another shot at it, pixel-art wise I feel like I'm doing better, the drawing itself is so-so but I may just go with it since I have so much more to do!



I was feeling a bit ambitious so I tried having a secondary light source which seems to tie it in better with the surreal background. There's a few areas that are still a bit confused, but I think I'm well on my way to having a better understanding of palette creation and implementation.

Thanks so much pistachio and to all who replied! You guys = awesome.

[EDIT]

I forgot I had to add some more to this guy for the game, everything below the neck is only going to be seen for about 2 seconds so it isn't too much of a priority :P With the exception of a few lighting tweaks, I'm fellin' like I can move on to another character for now.



Thanks again everybody!
« Last Edit: February 15, 2014, 08:16:40 am by Lazy Brain Games »

Offline Jim16

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Re: [WIP] Skinless Cyber Monster

Reply #7 on: February 15, 2014, 09:36:49 am
Before you move on, please make the hand bigger, it's super tiny at the moment.

Offline ErekT

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Re: [WIP] Skinless Cyber Monster

Reply #8 on: February 15, 2014, 10:22:58 am
It's a massive improvement and the new background is very cool as well. Nicely done :) Before you start dealing with cleaning up pixels for this (banding and whatnot) you might want to fix some anatomy issues and re-think the neck solution. The collarbone for instance is completely straight right now. The plated left side of his neck looks like it extends all the way up to his ear. How does he move his head around? It might make more sense to have the machinery follow actual muscle/sinew structure more closely in this area?

Offline cels

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Re: [WIP] Skinless Cyber Monster

Reply #9 on: February 15, 2014, 11:20:46 am
My thoughts:

- Agree with ErekT in regards to the collarbone and neck. One thing that was really cool about pistachio's edit was the contrast between organic and metal parts. Now, if you want a more seamless transition between organic parts and machine parts, you can always look at some HR Giger stuff, but right now I feel like the structure is a bit too simplistic to be sort of bio-mechanical.

- The neck is extremely long at the moment, and long necks are very rarely scary.

- I don't understand how the jaw works. On a human skull, the jaw connects pretty far back, ending right under your ear. On this creature, the jaw seems much shorter and it feels disconnected from the rest of the head.  It doesn't look like a working jaw, it looks like a mask, because I can't see how it would work.

- The creature's right cheekbone is very sharp and distinct, where the left cheekbone is far less protruding and sharp. Looking at the sharp edges of the right cheekbone, it seems that the left cheekbone needs similarly sharp edges. On the other hand, sharp edges really conflict with the idea that these are naked muscles. And I think right now, your muscle textures already look more like plastic, compared to pistachio's meaty texture.

Disclaimer: I'm a noob, apply pinches of NaCl.