AuthorTopic: Skinless Harpy WIP [Nudity]  (Read 2607 times)

Offline Lazy Brain Games

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Skinless Harpy WIP [Nudity]

on: January 08, 2015, 07:23:45 am
Hi all!

For the most part I'm happy with this harpy, although I can't seem to figure out how I'm supposed to shade the wings (the skin of the wings that is). I should be curving away from the viewer as if its being filled with air (the Harpy would be descending). I thought it would be no big deal but I can't seem to figure it out. Once I get the shading right I can layer on some veins and stuff to reinforce the form of the wings, but I can't seem to wrap my mind around how the form the wings is supposed to work. Any advice you can offer on the wings or any general critique is more than welcome!



Thanks for stopping by!

Offline Decroded

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Re: Skinless Harpy WIP [Nudity]

Reply #1 on: January 08, 2015, 08:03:25 am

Cool character  :y:
Does it drip blood everywhere as it flies around?  :crazy:

I can't edit right now but just wanna say this palette suffers from the same issue as you're previous work, and that is that each ramp is basically the same hue.
I think you should explore blending from one hue to another instead of just plain dark red to plain bright red.
I don't know what software you work in but I like duplicating the layer, mess with colours, do a compare, duplicate again, mess some more and so forth.
It makes sense to get the shading down first as you're trying to do but don't forget to try that afterwards.

In terms of wing structure I don't know how to say this in words but it seems like the top most skin is the back of the skin (folded over) so this deserves more light and a highlight along that top bone.
Straight under that is darkest since it's the most in shadow, ant the next bone down doesn't get any highlights so simply use the different hue and materials reaction to light (bit higher base brightness) to separate it from surrounding dark skin.
Bone at bottom gets more light but not as much as top bones.

Once you have base shading down it would be great to experiment with backlit translucency to really highlight those veins and stuff, but that's something I suck at at the moment so maybe someone better can help out there for both our sales :-)

Offline yaomon17

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Re: Skinless Harpy WIP [Nudity]

Reply #2 on: January 08, 2015, 08:38:35 am
Take this with several salt grains as I am not the palette master.

Really lazy edit using a 2x brush XP, don't(emphasis on don't) mirror the wings like I did. Just did it quickly to show the palette concept in case it would help. Also I think the feet are a tad small and I would suggest widening them (with proper perspective) or lengthening them.
I didn't do a great job on the wings. References are surprisingly hard to find.



Maybe those will help. Good luck!

Offline Decroded

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Re: Skinless Harpy WIP [Nudity]

Reply #3 on: January 08, 2015, 09:19:31 am
Ouch salt  :o

Got the shading right, I'd probably try a bit more highlight along the top of wings.
While that looks cool, I feel like a mix of pinks, reds and greys would give a more sickening raw flesh appearance.

Shadows areas can be whatever you're in the mood for.
For example if sprite is only shown in one scene you might consider the ambient hue of the background.
Otherwise or you might go for something you could use against more backgrounds.
And on a sprite this size you can afford to experiment with more than one ambient influence.

« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 09:22:52 am by Decroded »

Offline Lazy Brain Games

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Re: Skinless Harpy WIP [Nudity]

Reply #4 on: January 08, 2015, 07:46:38 pm
Thanks for the pointers guys! After further considering how to address the wing issue, I think I may just do a kinda regular drop shadow from the arms and convey the air filling the wings via animation rather than rendering it a particular way.

As for the palette, I actually did have a palette thread I started a while back. http://wayofthepixel.net/index.php?topic=17539.msg156854#msg156854

In fear of  opening a can of worms, I'll just say that I kinda like broken palettes. I suppose I could site John Ruskin's 'On Art and Life' as a precedent for creating things that aren't academically correct. Of course I know I'm being kinda obtuse asking for help then saying "no not that help!" but those wings were so vexing! I took another stab at it and tried to do something more stylized with the wings, although if I'm animating them it might be more trouble than its worth. In the future I'll post a "broken palette" warning beforehand  ;)



Thanks so much for you help guys! I really appreciate it! Awesome edit man!

Offline Decroded

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Re: Skinless Harpy WIP [Nudity]

Reply #5 on: January 09, 2015, 02:04:52 am
Lose the palette it's holding u back.
Ur shading is too regular causing bands of evenly spaced shades.
Always try to vary the width of colour bands.