bug man

[walker]

Hi board users

Cool community you guys have here. I've only just started getting in to pixel art finally. I have been interested in it for years, and the idea of creating a game - so I'm finally doing it.

I've come up with a character I feel is really cool, but i am having a few troubles. Mostly classic pixel art problems (lines too thin/thick, gradients unrealistic, not enough space to make details. But, I am learning to basics and having fun. After bugging my friends for input I thought I might ask you guys.

So, here's my character. He's for a platformer. Main concerns are that using only one colour looks bland? In theory his character design should be fine but I'm not sure if I can get away with such a monochromatic job at pixel scale? Eyes might be too saturated too. Other than that I'm really just having trouble with shading and acceptable outlines I guess, general techniques. I think you guys call it Sel-out.



Any input/criticism is valued and appreciated.

Cheers!

[Decroded]

welcome 
looks like ur off to a good start 

not really sure whats going on with the design so i just roughly modified the shading to give u a few options.

[walker]

Hi thanks for the reply.

That's amazing. I like the blue you've worked in, kind of reminds me of Metroid fusion?

I can understand why you'd get confused. that ribcage section is actually folded arms. He actually has 6 arms, its pretty challenging to draw at that resolution. I'm working on a higher resolution sprite right now, not sure how far I want to go.

If you're interested:

[Decroded]

I can understand why you'd get confused. that ribcage section is actually folded arms. He actually has 6 arms, its pretty challenging to draw at that resolution.

nah we can tell what it was so ur already doing pretty good with that 
i made a bit of a mess of it but would probably have totally redone the arms and dont rly have time.
first i probably would draw the middle arms so we can see them better including those shoulders, then the top arms be more raised and elbows out more to show they're resting on top.
or the middle arms could be resting on his hips to free things up.

[BatElite]

Might as well post this anyway. I didn't reinterpret anything with my edit, and just lighted it differently. What light source were you using? It looks way to the right, which I missed, so I used a top-right thing instead.

A single colour ramp for the entire dude is probably fine, though you can always try a few versions and see what works.

If it matters any, your character has 8 limbs total now, rather than the 6 insects tend to have.

Also, it isn't entirely clear to me where the arms a connected. From the sketch it looks like two pairs at the shoulders with one pair below?

[walker]

Hey thanks for the work guys, I like the options. I am using your idea Decroded, for the hands on hips. I think it's working well. Going to try and colour this one in a more interesting way, and work harder on eliminating such a strong outline.

I was trying to do the light source coming from the front, veering to the right. I don't think it was effective.

This should give you a more clear idea of where the arms are connected. (WIP)



The two pairs that were folded have changed positions a little. In any case, they are now attached at the shoulder, the longer pair is kinda hanging below them. they all almost come out of the same sockets I guess? Hard to say haha.

I hope you guys like this one, because double the sprite size is going to be hell to animate, at least for me lol

[PixelPiledriver]

Some process work could really strengthen this character.
I suggest drawing him about 10+ times with varied proportions and color balances.
Busy at the moment, so I don't have an examples for you.

[Decroded]

its good that ur still going.
ppd is right its good to do many sketches but with that kind of process try not to spend too much time detailing each one as it will slow u down and maybe demotivate.
instead of going pixel level detail try painting strong light and dark with a 2x2 brush then a quick clean up and add some lines here and there where needed.
also helps to use photo references even though obviously not too many 6 arm people around just look at various 2 arms.

with this version it looks like the arms all join to same shoulder which doesnt work.
perhaps he needs a longer torso to fit more shoulders.
also look at how the arms on bugs connect perhaps and maybe each arm can be more stick-like?

[walker]

thanks a bunch for the tips guys.

I will be doing some character design stuff tonight i think. really want to get a nice colour palette down. maybe i am thinking too far ahead but here are some palettes ive been experimenting with. colour is very challenging for me somehow. I think most of these look ok, to the point that it will come down to background contrast etc.

some colour roughs:


i think 5 and 7 are best


touched up 5 and 7


further roughs. trying out hue shifting here.

If you guys have any tips about how to get a nice hue shift id appreciate it. not sure if im looking in the right places online but it seems like the kind of thing thats very hard to describe. colours just 'look right' together or they dont.

I dont think i have the worst eye for colour but there is an art to it thats for sure.

[Decroded]

look at the colours I used in ur colour picker.
I used very common cool blue shadow to warm yellow highlights.
hue shift for the sake of hue shift is fine but understand it happens in nature too.
sunlight is yellow but the sky scatters the blue part of the spectrum so we get blue light bouncing into shadows (more concentrated where more exposed to open sky).
many other types too but this is most common.

but also notice its not only the hue but the saturation and brightness that change over a ramp.
sometimes we like to "bounce" (e.g. go up then back down) these values also to create interest or in response to the material.
likewise we like to add sudden shifts vs more linear changes.

so yeah set ur colour picker to hsb/hsv (same thing) mode and start eye dropping.
u have to do a fair bit and study other works by various artists like henk neiborg as well as analyse various preset ramps people have made and pay attention to what kind of images and moods they're appropriate for.
but yeah totes worth doing so u learn to mix ur own colours ;-)