Flying carrier pigeon sprite from the back

[oxysoft]

This is a flying gray carrier pigeon for a low-res 3D game



intended size to be viewed at: 300% or 400%

Notes:
1. The sprite seems to have became more cluttered than I had initially imagined it. I think this is something that could be fixed with more efficient clusters? Maybe?
2. The red tail has been giving me a lot of trouble
3. Those are its feets sticking out at the bottom. I realize that birds don't fly with their feets like this but I think it gives it a bit of a style/personality.
3. I wanted it to have goggles, but I'm unsure how to represent them well at this small resolution. For now, I made its eye stick out on the left.

edit:



looking better already I think

[smithy101]

You don't really need the black outlines at that small resolution if you remove it you have more room to make it look better and give it his goggles. I recommended using aleast 2 diffrent colors for the belly. The bird also seems to be missing a beak.

[oxysoft]

You don't really need the black outlines at that small resolution if you remove it you have more room to make it look better and give it his goggles. I recommended using aleast 2 diffrent colors for the belly. The bird also seems to be missing a beak.

I really like strong outlines to separate entities from the scenery in pixel art so I don't think they're gonna go. And yeah, it is missing a beak, I wasn't sure how to represent it since it's kind of in the front and obstructed by the head slightly. I'll have another go at the beak soon

[Decroded]

U can often remove some or all outlines inside a sprite as there are other ways to separate forms.
This frees up pixels.
You also don't strictly need an outline around 100% of all sprites to make them pop, but that's more of a case by case thing.

[oxysoft]

U can often remove some or all outlines inside a sprite as there are other ways to separate forms.
This frees up pixels.
You also don't strictly need an outline around 100% of all sprites to make them pop, but that's more of a case by case thing.

I quickly drew some clouds to fill the sky with and I think it would be hard to have the pigeon read well without outlines. Or at least, not without a proper color change

edit: forgot to attach the picture



This picture isn't particularly a good example since most of the clouds happened to be further away rather than around/closer to the pigeon

[Dyluckk]

Try not to upscale your art.
Just post it in it's original size.   

[oxysoft]

Try not to upscale your art.
Just post it in it's original size.   

The latest picture is just inside the running game, in which the art will be scaled

edit: I'm having another go at the pigeon, trying to explore different perspectives



As you can see, I went for a more from-the-back angle so to speak. Shading is difficult as always but I'm trying my best. I think my best bet will be to settle on something then make that sprite from different angles and animate it based on how the player is moving and such. From certain angles, the goggles and such will be easier to imply I think.

[Decroded]

The new angle looks pretty decent on my phone.
Hard to comment without understanding the gameplay but that screen is mixed res as if the sprite is scaled in-engine.
If it's often viewed at that size why don't u just double the sprite size to give yourself more to work with?
Also consider some brown hues so he isn't the same color as the clouds.

For outlines I personally I prefer a white cluster to have say a mid - brightness outline instead of so dark, and reserve the darker outline for mid and dark clusters.
There are exceptions to this but it's generally the habit I'm in these days (ser my post history in my profile for examples).

[oxysoft]

Quick edit before school



Again, to be viewed at 300% or 400%

I made 3 variations
 
1. Before edits
2. Reviewed colors and shading, has better depth than 1. I think
3. Without any outline, looks a bit goofy right now but could probably use some work, tail looks much better now
4. Outline put back on 3. so the outline was basically pushed 1 pixel away from the shape, giving us a bit more room to work with. Could use some more work as well

[BatElite]

Top is the original number four
Bottom is my edit



-Lowered the wings and made them thinner, which I think helps with perspective.
-Separated the body from the wings.
-Coloured the outlines a bit.
-Tried to apply a bit of texture to the wings and messed with the tail a little.

Do you have any other assets for the project already? You'd probably want the (lack of) outline to be consistent. Since the project is 3D, does it use models for other characters? If so, you might want to check if outlines would work with the style they're in. If you do use an outline, you can at least bring some of the darker colours into them.