[wip] wooden robot

[thebombsauce]

This started as a sketch, probably going to eventually use it for a game. Meant to kind of have a steam punk automaton aesthetic with the merging of wood and metal. I would to love to hear any criticisms the people here have as I'm certainty not artistically inclined.

[YellowLime]

Legs aren't moving enough.
Also, when the left foot is in front, the right arm is too, and vice-versa.

Use a flat color on the body, instead of the checkerboard thing (dithering).
You can have two or more colors, but try to use vertical lines instead, to try and make it seem like wood texture.

Avoid using black outlines, instead use dark colors for them.

[thebombsauce]

Alright I took your suggestions into the sprite itself (I'll fix this animation when this is satisfactory). I changed to a flat color but I don't understand the vertical lines part of your advice. I also got rid of most of the outline but I couldn't really find one I was happy with for the minigun.

[r4c7]

I think he was suggesting to draw vertical lines to try and mimic wood grain:

[thebombsauce]

I tried going over this at least 20 times this morning and I just can't seem to get a good wood texture going the best I got was this wood stained kind of thing that I'm still pretty unhappy with

[Johasu]

You     Edit
They are suggesting something more like this.  Subtle lines to insinuate the texture.  Your clusters are too wide to read the way you want them to.
On a small sprite it is important to think about how you are using the available space you have.
That's also why the black line vs dark line of similar color works better.  The black will dwarf your color choices and eat them up making your details look smaller and not read as well. Whereas if you use, a dark gray or dark brown on those color borders it allows the color to blend a bit and read better.

Also of note:
I kind of pegged the legs a bit, swapped some colors to make the open torso read more internal than external, and made the feet feel rounded as a bit of a suggestion on how to maybe improve on your design.

[thebombsauce]

I'm sorry while I do greatly appreciate the effort but that edit looks really messy in my opinion and doesn't really seem to convey much as far as wood texture goes, I'm trying a couple of other things and I'll post them in a bit so I can get some opinions.

edit: alright heres one I tried with just broken lines I think it looks alright but again I'm a novice   




heres one where I tried to do a dithering pattern thing I've seen a couple of times on other pieces

[cels]

Here's an attempt to help you with some of the issues you're having.



Some explanations / thoughts:

- At this small scale, you need to be really careful about adding detail. Less is more. The clockwork inside the robot could read as anything, like flames inside a stove, or a golden cloud, or small fans / windmills. Make the cogs bigger, so they're easy to identify. Maybe the scale of the clockwork is not what you had in mind, but it's easier for the eye to identify. You're basically drawing a cartoon version of your concept, at this scale. If it's not easy to identify, leave it out of the sprite.
- I've made some significant changes to your color ramp. Instead of 4 disconnected ramps, I've tried to connect them a bit. At this size, the difference between a dark brown and dark grey-blue is almost impossible to spot. I've also tried to vary the hue within each ramp, as the wood moves from a cold colour (purple-brown) to a warmer colour (golden brown), for example. The metal isn't just dull grey, it goes from a grey-blue to a grey-cyan (from cold to warm).
- I've used different colours for the outlines, so to reduce noisy contrast a bit. The darkest colour is for outlines used on the dark sides, and brighter colours do the same on the bright side.
- I've tried to get rid of as many individual pixels as possible, as they often add noise instead of contributing to the piece. Notice the tumb, for example. In my eyes, it's just a single white pixel with no purpose.
- I've tried to do a chrome effect on the metal helmet, so the reflection bounces from bright, to dark, bright again and then dark. You can just go from bright to dark to reduce noise, which will make the metal look less polished.
- It's hard to understand how your model will actually move, mechanically, when the thighs seem to be cut from the same piece of wood as the torso. So I've added some lines to separate the thighs.
- Please do not use dithering to simulate wood on this piece. It just adds noise, contributes nothing. I agree that vertical lines are the way to go, but I've tried to use slightly bigger clusters, so it doesn't just look striped.
- Probably some other stuff I've forgot to mention.
- What's the weapon he's holding? It's a bit hard to see. Could be a gun, a chainsaw or a leafblower  If it's a gun, maybe he could hold it a bit more aggressively or in a way that makes it easier to recognise as a firearm.

[thebombsauce]

Now that is super impressive, as of right now I'm sitting on this version of it which is only slightly changed from your edit (weapon is a gold minigun btw)



but before I animate it and use it, I'd like to know how much of it you want changed since the wood pattern and colors are completely your doing.

[cels]

Personally, I don't care what you copy and what you do from scratch. For your own sake, it's probably best to work from your own version and try to draw the wood texture and choose the colours from scratch, then compare it to what I've done if you like it. Then you'll get a better understanding of why I did those things, and you'll probably make some choices that you prefer over my choices. For example, I'm not sure my colours were that great. Perhaps I should have used a bit less saturation for the metal. So for me, do whatever you want. For the sake of learning, the more you do on your own, the better.

In regards to the minigun, it really makes little sense to hold it like that. With your arm straight, you have zero ability to absorb the recoil. He's carrying it like luggage. I would change the way he's holding it.