[C+C] Koi Samurai Character Portrait for Wings of Aetos

[JustinGameDesign]

I'm fairly happy with this 80x80 character portrait, but I'd still like to know if there's anything I could be doing better.



I designed this character for my game, Wings of Aetos, in which each character is meant to have an element and combat style. For the element of water, I chose a koi theme as well as a complementary samurai style.

The pattern on the scalp and neck bring to mind the fish, while the white face and orange around the eyes are meant to suggest kabuki makeup. I used a model for the proportions, but the hair and wardrobe are a variations on characters in several Japanese period films.

One challenge I set myself was to try to represent a water-themed character without the use of the color blue, although I find the green of the eyes a good fit here. The expression is made to look emotionless and fish-like, like someone who is interested in what they see, but perhaps a bit off-putting.

[MysteryMeat]

I think you're pretty close. he certainly feels aquatic and ALIEN with the fin ears, but I'm not quite sold on the fishiness. Maybe making the hair some sort of stylized fin or quill structure?
Something to work on with the mouth perhaps, too. As he is he kind of just looks like a vogue model, it's not really selling me on the fishy nature there. Some kind of flap or protrusion around the mouth could do it, like you see on catfish:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9efe104d01b917cdc6d79c2e413dc827a00e129e/c=22-0-1488-1101&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/Louisville/Louisville/2014/06/23/1403533943000-lcjdc5-57xtxoxqcohx6sncmhf-original.jpg

Gills somewhere would also help sell it, usually people put them on the neck but you could probably work them in lots of places here.

Regardless of all of that though, this is an excellent piece I'm already looking at to refine my own process. Great work.

[JustinGameDesign]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've toyed with adding the the mouth feelers that actual koi have and may still be able to imply the presence of gills under the cloth on his neck, but once I've made the full-body sprite to go with the portrait, the fish tail I'll put on it will hopefully make any ambiguities about his nature clear.

Any obvious flaws in the placement of pixels, proportions, etc?

[JustinGameDesign]

Here's the game sprite for the same character. I decided to leave his arms bare, so that the orange on his shoulders would show. Paired with the portrait, the character design should be fairly clear to players.

The lack of an outline at the bottom of the sprite is to accommodate the outline of any platform I might place him upon.

[MysteryMeat]

looks pretty good to me. clean silhouette and clear visuals. 10/10
might help to put pointier edges on the fin, but its a pretty small thing

[MysteryMeat]

Made an attempt at some tweaks, most of it's some minor stuff around the eyeshadow and the shading on the face so he looks less angular.
I also tried to pronounce his brow a bit, since he appears to be furrowing it a bit here.

[JustinGameDesign]

Thanks, I'll have to take a close look and compare it to the original.