[C+C][WIP] Where to go with colors?

[tzm]

4º (Current)


3º

2º


1º


Reference:

[Joe]

Hi tzm!
Is this a self portrait?



The easiest way to go with colors is on an as-needed basis. To your existing colors I changed the mid-tone (not nearly enough contrast), and added a dual hair highlight/dark skin tone and another skin tone for light shading and details.

I shifted the eyes down 1px for more forehead, and squashed the head by an additional 1px under the nose, shifted the mouth down 1px. Everything else is just eyeballing the values, and as I work I make sure not to band.
It's helpful to think from a tonal point of view rather than a linear point of view; meaning, think in lines for positioning the various features, but look for the shapes that make up your subject.

[tzm]

@Joe: Yup, that's me.

Lovely mid tone. Yes!
And very precise corrections on the proportions, really did made quite the difference.


* I'll revise it with the aditional colors and incorporate the proportion changes you made.
* I'll try the more realistic shading you did. Looks very interesting.

Thanks a bunch for the feedback!

[Glak]

I think that the reddish tone in Joe's edit should be darker.  This would give it less contrast with the darkest skintone.  Right now I think that that contrast is too strong, as the main contrast should be between the two lighter skin shades and the two darker.  This would also make it easier to solve the implied mustache problem.

[tzm]

Update:

@Joe, My background is more with pencil than my weak one with paint.
So I indeed i guess think "in lines".

Hopefully fixed the positions and redid the shading, more in the lines of Joe's critic.

[Decroded]

10x better 

at this point I'd say lose the dithering its not adding anything.
it looks to me like ur dithering everywhere because u think pixel art just has dithering but imo its a technique that should be understood and controlled, not applied willy-nilly.

The neck and shoulders don't match the reference but also they don't look right for the pose ur suggesting here.
it kinda looks like a severed head on the floor in the corner of the room.

not sure background colour is doing u any favors its pretty dark like the hair so if ur going dark u might wanna fake some rim lighting.

hair doesn't have highlights yet.
add small highlights sparingly for best effect.

some other issues with the forms but I don't know how to explain and can't edit right now

[rafa04]

Feels like hair and eyes are too flat


2º (Current)


1º


Reference:

Hello, if I may give my opinion, I prefer the 2º. Why? Because the more I look, the more the picture looks realistic to me. Number 1 is also good. But it looks like a cartoon. Too much bright color But it looks good.

[tzm]

@Decroded:
A noob indeed, will remove it and work only with the tones, any particular technique you would recomend looking first?
Ah! can't unsee my head on the floor! Will fix the neck and shoulders and hopefully post it back today.

[tzm]

Removed dithering and went for extra colors.
Fixed shading, now face look thineer.
Shoulders hopefully looking better. (It is very hard to do wrinkles)

[Parkerbaby]

The latest is a serious step backwards. You've lost the planes of the face--it's become all muddy. It's better to keep the dark tones in there to designate shape.