[CC/WIP] Forlorn Knight (getting back in the game)

[Gentu]

Hi guys. I'm new to the community and I haven't made any pixel art since 2005. I am so rusty.



This is a forlorn knight. I intend to animate him. Hopefully I'll be able to start tonight.

I'm crazy about medieval fantasy and all I tend to draw these days are knights (forgive me if the subject matter is overdone around the community, I'm quite out of touch). It was originally going to be an elite knight resting at a bonfire from dark souls, but the helm was too hard for me at this stage, so I went with something different. It is a work in progress, as you can see, the right arm and leg haven't been completed. Before I continue I was hoping to get some constructive criticism for the anatomy, palette and shading because I know I've made errors.

[Pusty]

I like it! But I think the spear needs some shading cause it looks kinda plane

[Gentu]

I hear it. Changed the left arm because it was annoying me.

[Ambivorous]

Inspiring stuff - I like it.

Made an edit (on your original imagine, but added the spear shading and moved the left arm):


Your lighting is kinda all over the place? I moved it to from behind the knight to give it more of an "abandoned by everything including the sun" kind of feel.
Added more contrast and darkness again for loneliness appeal and because metal tends to have a strong contrast.
I changed the hue of two of your colours to be more blue as well for extra sadness.

Hope that helps!

[Gentu]

Inspiring stuff - I like it.

Made an edit (on your original imagine, but added the spear shading and moved the left arm):


Your lighting is kinda all over the place? I moved it to from behind the knight to give it more of an "abandoned by everything including the sun" kind of feel.
Added more contrast and darkness again for loneliness appeal and because metal tends to have a strong contrast.
I changed the hue of two of your colours to be more blue as well for extra sadness.

Hope that helps!

Oh wow. That's really awesome. Yeah, the lighting was all over. My understanding of light is pretty poor, tbh. I hope to improve it by practicing and posting here regularly though.

Anyway, I really liked the phrase you used 'abandoned by everything including the sun'. It really inspired me so I had another go using your piece for reference. I used your palette too. I hope you don't mind. 



I like yours better. As you can see, I'm also struggling with the legs and feet. Any pointers?

EDIT: I just had a thought. I could solve the leg issue by tucking his right leg behind his left one. Hmm. I'll work on it tomorrow. It's too late...

[Ambivorous]

Yup, you're more than welcome to use whatever I post - it's all to help you out. ^^

So I think one of the biggest issues which make it hard to finish off is that your pose is a little off. Since our poor knight is feeling so forlorn he should be hunched over more, shoulders forward. I also bend his right leg to go under the left and dropped his right arm to the ground (which is now hidden).



Unfortunately he shrunk in this process.


As for as learning about lighting, I started doing value studies to help me out with that. Just draw pictures from reference in greyscale for an hour once a day and you'll be way ahead in no time (I really noticed a massive difference after a month).
Similarly for poses, just do pose studies.


Whoops, didn't shrink his head. Fixed.