AuthorTopic: 4 color face  (Read 3513 times)

Offline Blueschist

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4 color face

on: November 29, 2015, 03:49:32 am

I decided to challenge myself by drawing a face with only four colors, and have sort of hit a standstill in progress
the hair is a mess and I am not quite sure what I want to do with it, or if it's even going to be in the final picture, since I might put the frame around the head as an excuse to not bother with the shoulders. Crit would be very much appreciated, although I may not work on this again for a while, well see. If I have time this week, I might take a crack at doing two more, in silverish and goldish colors respectively.

If anyone could offer their opinion on whether or not they prefer the right or the left version, that would be great as well.
« Last Edit: November 29, 2015, 08:35:27 am by Blueschist »

Offline Piotr

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Re: 4 color face

Reply #1 on: November 29, 2015, 08:44:46 am
Background counts too...

Offline eishiya

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Re: 4 color face

Reply #2 on: November 29, 2015, 05:49:01 pm
I don't see the difference between the two versions other than the specific colours used?
The face is dominated by dithering rather than solid areas of colour, which makes everything look overtextured (it might look fine on CRT screens, but how many people have those nowadays?). Try to make the face readable and look good with just solid areas of colour. Then, add small areas of dithering to smooth some of the transitions. Don't be afraid to commit to stark shapes or to lose some unimportant details! That's one of the strengths of minimal-colour work.

I think you should add the shoulders in. Disembodied necks looks very weird. Having the shoulders would make it easier to show the form and direction of the neck, because it would give you a contrasting plane.

Offline Decroded

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Re: 4 color face

Reply #3 on: November 30, 2015, 10:08:53 pm
yeah I don't like the dithering either its ugly to me

Offline Kcilc

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Re: 4 color face

Reply #4 on: December 02, 2015, 03:30:34 am
You've got a little bit of a leftward slant going on there. I'd suggest mirroring your picture for a while to re-calibrate.

As for the hair, remember that it's not a solid mass. It's good to block out the general shape first to see it as a whole, but at this point you'll need to focus on individual strands. You don't need to draw out each and every one, just enough to give it some texture. Also remember that hair is never perfect. There are always little rebels that don't follow the group.

Is there any reason why you're sticking with a monochrome pallet? There's a whole lot more that can be done with four colors.

Here is a scribble. Maybe it will give you some ideas:

Offline Blueschist

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Re: 4 color face

Reply #5 on: December 02, 2015, 06:54:40 am
Thank you guys for the critique and advice.
@Piotr: don't worry, the final background will use the palette I end up using, this one is just to help me differentiate the sprite from the backdrop in this earlier stage
@eishiya: the only difference between the two was the amount of contrast between the two lightest shades yeah. If I don't do shoulders I will crop out most of the neck and hair, because you are very much correct, it would look very awkward as a neck trailing off into nothing. I can see how the dithering is a bit overpowering, and tried lessening it, I haven't had a ton of time to work on it so there is obviously still work to do there, the current wip is below alongside the older piece



@Kcilc: Thank you so much for the edit, this has a lot of good concepts in it. You definitely did a better job balancing the dither than I did, I'll have to take a closer look when I get the chance. The leftward slant is actually present in the reference, but I'll consider rotating everything for the sake of a more visually appealing piece. As for the colors, they're very rudimentary, I have a sort of irrational process in which I first choose colors that I think will look good, but are invariably awful, work on the drawing for a good while, realize the colors are crap, and spend like a full day messing with them. I do enjoy your vibrant hues though. Also, I'll definitely work on that hair once I get a chance. Just a few more weeks of school and then I'll have time aaah.

Thank you all again, will post again once I have made more actual progress.

Offline Kcilc

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Re: 4 color face

Reply #6 on: December 02, 2015, 01:27:20 pm
Could you please post your reference too? It would help us keep our critique useful. :)