I'm not my project's primary pixel artist, looking for some pointers

[NathanielA]

This is what I'm working on.



We're using the half-kaizer template on Himeko Sutori, so the head and hands are pretty big.  Do you have any pointers for me?  Any and all feedback welcome.

http://himekosutori.com/

[BlackTerror]

Nice standing frame, but I would add more walking frames. 2-frame walking is extremely limiting, and 3-frame (A-B-A-C) will never look right. You want 4 frames minimum for a good walk cycle, ideally 6 or 8, each distinct from the standing frame.

For the walk frames themselves: you should consider stronger foreshortening and much darker shadows on the distant limbs. Currently there's not much separating the standing frame from the walking ones, light-balance-wise. Also I'm not sure what's going on with the bottom of the forward feet. Is that supposed to be the bottom of the sole? Because that would never be visible from this angle, and the perspective is off on it anyway.

[NathanielA]

Thanks very much for the advice BlackTerror.  Unfortunately, I think we're limited with the number of walking frames for now, but maybe if we get a big Kickstarter, we can take the time and money to smooth out the walking frames.  I can definitely shade the limbs more and change the feet though.  I really appreciate the pointers!

[hapiel]

My suggestion is that when your budget doesn't allow for proper animation (which can be cheap), alter design!

Either simplify your characters so that they take less time to draw, there is a reason that animated cartoons are always... cartoony!
Or, design characters that do not require complex animations. If you have a floating skeleton, he is more original and doesn't need to have moving feet!

[NathanielA]

Thanks for the advice hapiel!  I'll keep that in mind.  I'll think about simpler sprites in the future.