[WIP] Swordsman - feedback

[ChronoAS]

Hello, everybody. I started spriting today and ended up not quite satisfied with my work.

That's what I ended up with.


It wears a coiled scarf over some neck armor. Wrapping on his shoulders and his shirt are a cloth. Arms are being protected by gauntlets. He has two belts: one for clothing and one to attach sword on the back.

I like perspective that I've chosen for this sprite, but I'm not quite sure if I angled his right shoulder (one that's closer to the viewer) correctly.
Also, my color work is a complete mess. I don't get how to make a nice palette, so I ended up with moving HSV sliders for similar points when making shading for a color. By the way, what colors should I pick for my background to see sprite clearly?

If you have any suggestions or advices about what can be improved, I'll be really grateful!
Have a nice day.

[Echo-07]

Hey Chrono,

Nice character you got there, the little details to his cloths give him nice story telling elements that help give him interest.

Perspective - I think the perspective at the shoulders is working, it's actually the feet that are problem. The angle of his right foot seems ok but it looks like you ran out of space on your canvas and had to curve the foot to fit it in. Enlarge the canvas and redraw the foot so that its facing the viewer more. As for the left foot, we're looking at it at a profile view when we should be looking down at it so we can see more of the top of the foot.

Sword - The sword grip is angled down but the sword tip is higher. It could be a curved sword but the sword end looks pretty straight. Follow the angle that the sword grip is taking and place your sword end lower so it matches.

Eyes - The whites of the eyes are getting lost in the face. You can either darken the value of the skin tone so that there is a greater contrast between them or do an outline of the eyes to make them pop more.

Background - I usually go with a warm grey when I'm working but that's because I've been working on sprites that are darker in value. Usually you want to stay away from colored backgrounds and just make sure that there good contrast between what you are working on and the background. Everyone has their own way though, whatever works for you is what's best.

It's been a long time since I have given a critique so I hope I was able to articulate my thoughts clearly. Great work man, keep it up!   

[AlcopopStar]

I'll echo what echo said.

Nicely designed character, def has some personality with the costuming.

In terms of perspective, either the shoulders and face or the feet and hands are off perspective, depending on what perspective you go for.  Currently If you connect foot to foot or hand to hand by drawing a line you would use a slightly diagonal line, but if you connect the shoulders or eyes you would use a horizontal line. This mean your image is kind of on two perspectives at once. One trick I could suggest is drawing concentric circles from the base up at the perspective you want, this can help act as a mental guide.

Good start though, looking forward to seeing progress.

[shapeshifter]

What did you use to do this?