AuthorTopic: [C+C][WIP]Harley Quinn  (Read 3378 times)

Offline Altourus

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[C+C][WIP]Harley Quinn

on: July 03, 2015, 03:59:23 am
Hey guys,

I'm working on trying to take my pixels to the next level and seem to be hitting a road block. Was wondering if you can point out some of the mistakes I'm making? I can tell there are issues with this piece but I don't know where to start.



Based on this costume

In this pose

Offline Gil

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Re: [C+C][WIP]Harley Quinn

Reply #1 on: July 03, 2015, 08:49:14 am
Anatomy-wise, you could do some work on it, though general proportions seem about right. Maybe her arms seem too short? If those are not meant to be foreshortened, I think she couldn't even put her hands in her pockets with arms that short. The way the shoulders attach to the torso seems off too. A bit too "LEGO minifig" if that makes sense. Finall, the face area is not correct. The ear is too small, the eye is in the wrong spot, the nose seems flat and the mouth seem painted on. Again, they are somewhat in the right place, so this is a question of tweaking, tweaking some more and retweaking, all the while looking at references. I'd do a few edits, but I don't have a pixel tool here.

Finally, I'd say the colors don't sit too well with me. The skin-tone makes her look a bit ghoulish. Mainly, you're missing all the reds and oranges skin tends to have. Maybe go for something more complex than a slightly hue shifted single ramp? The hair uses a weird kind of yellow I try to avoid in organic things. Basically, you always want to make sure your yellow stays on the orange side instead of the green. It's subtle, but a little extra warmth to your yellows tends to make a huge difference. Maybe one final not on colors: the red and blue are very primal, a small shift around the color wheel could really make those colors pop more. This is a bit nitpicky though.

EDIT: just saw you posted some references. So yeah, arms are definitely not foreshortened, but way too short. The reference also shows how to do the face properly. If you look at the reference, then your face, you'll quickly see how yours seems painted on. This probably comes from a lack of understanding facial anatomy, so study up.

More things to study: the neck of the girl in the reference is in a really cool position. Study those volumes!

As for the Harley Quinn reference you posted: the colors are a good reference. As you can see, the colors in the picture are different and I prefer them to yours. Her hair contains tons of oranges (in fact, I don't think there's any yellow in that reference), her skin is way more rich, apparently the top is white (yours is a dull gray, this is mainly a question of adding proper highlights to the material). Finally, the costume colors are indeed far removed from the primary ones you use. Mainly the blue, which is a desaturated steel blue, with a velvetty sheen to it, as opposed to the purple you used. The main difference in the red is about saturation.

Hope that helps a bit :)

Offline Altourus

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Re: [C+C][WIP]Harley Quinn

Reply #2 on: July 03, 2015, 01:08:29 pm
Thanks, I'll work on incorporating these changes when I get back from the weekend :)

Offline lachrymose

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Re: [C+C][WIP]Harley Quinn

Reply #3 on: July 03, 2015, 08:15:02 pm
Basic proportions are decent-ish....
Anatomy needs a huge work-over though.
Its good that you are using a reference. But I think you need to pay more attention to the lines that are made here. The neck, the bottom of the rib cage, the curve of the shoulder and back are all very prominent and show a lot of sensuality. Your rendition is lacking those things.
Start again focusing on the anatomy. Use a very rough wireframe/skeleton model, focus on proportions.


Once you have your basic proportions down start to fill in your basic skin tone. Multiple layers works wonders here.


Get rid of outer lines, keep the inner lines to show where things are separate.(A personal step for me, take it or leave it)


Use your reference to start adding large shadows to show form and value. By now most, if not all of your basic red lines are gone.


Further refinement. Small changes to anatomy..etc.


Beginning on clothes.


I've not finished this as i'm short on time at the moment, and the clothes stage will take multiple editing passes. But you should get the general idea. :)

And finally a little .gif showing progress.


NOTE:
I picked colors, for the most part directly off of the references themselves, they could still use a bit of work. But the general value is established and that is what matters most.

NOTE 2:
I haven't done the art stuff in awhile, so anatomy might need another pass over.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2015, 08:17:29 pm by lachrymose »

Offline Altourus

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Re: [C+C][WIP]Harley Quinn

Reply #4 on: July 03, 2015, 08:20:00 pm
Wow that is impressive. I'll definitely have to factor that into a redraw, it was like night and day looking at the two.

Offline IrresponsibleFreelancer

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Re: [C+C][WIP]Harley Quinn

Reply #5 on: July 06, 2015, 12:35:11 am
The number one thing that i see in it that makes it slightly less appealing than it could be is the gesture of it.  It feels very stiff and that could be fixed be since she is more relaxed using more swooping motions.  I mean with the pose still the same the lines of the body could be more relaxed just looking at the comfortable pose of the body.  (consider this all taking into the medium of pixels)  The colours and costume seem to be working good for you but the gesture just makes it feel uncomfortable.  All things considered great work so far.
I dont get it done, but when i do its not done.