[WIP] [C+C] My First Largish Character Sprite

[The Phinx]

She looks like a capoeirista

[dpixel]

Sometimes when anatomy is something is this small, I break it down to just lines.  It doesn't take that long and the lines don't lie...just the way you may perceive them. 
A couple things stand out.  hips to low, crotch way to high or legs to long, and boobs to far to the left.

[lachrymose]

Edit: tweaked post a  bit more... still not happy with the way it looks..

Well your pose is a bit stiff, I've ignored edits to it because I think it is more important to actually create and know the parts of your character before working on how to place her. Especially if you aren't familiar with anatomy. We need to take out time and slowly build up her forms. Its okay to not be happy with it so long as you are willing to improve it. Anyway, take a look at your initial character and the one you have now, WAY better.

I think her upper body is working way better, as mentioned her breasts aren't quite right, her right breast shouldn't extend that far back.

Her torso is also VERY square which is a feature you see in many manly men. Don't be afraid to make it curvier.

We haven't focused much on the legs yet, but all legs start at the hips, which are almost non-existent. You can "create" hips by tapering her midsection like I recommended above.

See my edits, pay attention to the differences i've made while trying out new things.

[Decroded]

Looks like she's on stilts

[lachrymose]

Looks like she's on stilts

Its an interesting stylistic choice, not a fan of it myself. Just trying to roll with it lol.

I digress it is causing me problems as well, trying to shape and position the legs is difficult to do.

[Linaru]

Looks like she's on stilts

Its an interesting stylistic choice, not a fan of it myself. Just trying to roll with it lol.

I digress it is causing me problems as well, trying to shape and position the legs is difficult to do.

I have been trying to imagine the legs as if she stood on tip toes. so that when shes standing the foot and ankle section as straight as the leg creating the pointy bit.. that's also why her legs are long.
i think its a nice style that ties in with what i have in mind for a background.

Edit: tweaked post a  bit more... still not happy with the way it looks..

Well your pose is a bit stiff, I've ignored edits to it because I think it is more important to actually create and know the parts of your character before working on how to place her. Especially if you aren't familiar with anatomy. We need to take out time and slowly build up her forms. Its okay to not be happy with it so long as you are willing to improve it. Anyway, take a look at your initial character and the one you have now, WAY better.

I think her upper body is working way better, as mentioned her breasts aren't quite right, her right breast shouldn't extend that far back.

Her torso is also VERY square which is a feature you see in many manly men. Don't be afraid to make it curvier.

We haven't focused much on the legs yet, but all legs start at the hips, which are almost non-existent. You can "create" hips by tapering her midsection like I recommended above.

See my edits, pay attention to the differences i've made while trying out new things.

I have not actually made any edits yet, i'm going to do that now. but i did a 'test' for animations to see how her body would work for a simple walk.
i had hoped that this would give me an idea on which areas of her body would not look right when her legs move.



As you mentioned there's definitely something wrong around her hips, as i moved her leg forward i found my self making the top of her thighs bulkier and curvier to compensate.

as my previous experience is mostly 8X8 - 16X16 characters its a very different work flow for me to get my head around.

=======================
edit:

so here is my edited version next to the old body for comparison:

             Old                           New


i have done away with the trousers for now since they are kind of baggy and making it difficult to see the body shape.

I have moved the knees about , shortened the legs
 made the torso a bit long, trimmed back the shoulders and tried to add a hour glass figure as suggested.
i have not changed it in the exact same way as in your examples but they certainly helped me to see what areas to move.

i have also moved the right arm out the way so we can see what is going on there.


i think for clothing i am pretty set on the white top black trousers and some sort of purple waist rag that can flap in the wind
i don't want to over detail her with accessories as it would pull away from the style i am aiming for.

[Linaru]

Okay spent some time tweaking and polishing up the clothes layers a bit definitely an overall improvement



I'm still a  little unsure on how to handle her face, there's not a lot of room for detail
aloft of reference work i have found are a much smaller resolution but simply leave the faces blank, I am not sure a blank face looks right on this character.
but at the same time my attempts to add a bit of eye detail have made her look a bit off.

[dpixel]

For the face with something this small, you really have to play with the pixels.  (More the values)  Just one pixel can make a big difference.
In my edit, I had to work with the whole head (hair and face) to get something that looks ok.  Also, I adjusted the values and tones and upped the contrast.
Hope this can give you some ideas...

[Linaru]

your attempt helped a bit with ideas but you have completely changed the pixel art style

i attempted to find a middle ground:

[dpixel]

your attempt helped a bit with ideas but you have completely changed the pixel art style

That's because I raised the contrast quite a bit.  Just my preference.  Glad it helped a bit.