AuthorTopic: Small demon? New Artist  (Read 5439 times)

Offline bearkin333

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Small demon? New Artist

on: October 06, 2016, 04:31:54 am
Hey there, thanks for reading. I'm a new artist that's mostly just done small stuff for the purpose of games I was making, and I want to start getting better at pixel art.
This is my first stand-alone piece of work just for the purpose of practice.



I feel like it's got some strong points, but I can't figure out quite what's wrong with it (though I know there is much). I'd love any advice on how to improve it.
Thanks in advance!
« Last Edit: October 06, 2016, 04:33:30 am by bearkin333 »
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Offline Kairos

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Re: Small demon? New Artist

Reply #1 on: October 06, 2016, 04:17:24 pm
That is one cute fox demon thingy  ;D

I think you should remove the black outlines and give him a little more texture since he appears to be covered in fur but it is only visible atop his head.

Maybe you should consider changing the position of the tail or not drawing his knee because his figure is not recognizable at his actual size and since the tail is so close to the knee it is causing clutter on the sprite.

One last thing, you should try changing your highlight color to a more orange tone and your darkest shadow to be purplish.

Offline bearkin333

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Re: Small demon? New Artist

Reply #2 on: October 06, 2016, 08:45:01 pm
That is one cute fox demon thingy  ;D

I think you should remove the black outlines and give him a little more texture since he appears to be covered in fur but it is only visible atop his head.

Maybe you should consider changing the position of the tail or not drawing his knee because his figure is not recognizable at his actual size and since the tail is so close to the knee it is causing clutter on the sprite.

One last thing, you should try changing your highlight color to a more orange tone and your darkest shadow to be purplish.

Great response! Thanks for all the advice. I got around to fixing up the picture according to what you've said - I tried to make him a little fuzzier by blurring the edges between shades and adding a little bit of dithering.
I changed most or all of the outline to a color more related to what color the beastie is, but this has always been something that troubles me. I'm not sure how best to color an outline, if not all one color.
The color changes make a world of difference. Could you explain why that is? If you don't mind!

Here's the edited picture:



I also made a few design tweaks, like adding little claws and removing the hint of pupil-d eyes, going for a brock-like style instead. It looked like that before, but it wasn't the intention.
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Offline Kairos

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Re: Small demon? New Artist

Reply #3 on: October 06, 2016, 08:57:25 pm
It looks better!

But dithering and placing dots between colors don't give the appearance of fur. You should try adding short stripes and lines like you did for the wings instead.

Here is an old example of an edit I did for someone else:

Offline dpixel

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Re: Small demon? New Artist

Reply #4 on: October 06, 2016, 09:01:48 pm
Just doodling around with it...trying to define shapes, messing with color, etc.  A new pokemon?   :P

Offline bearkin333

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Re: Small demon? New Artist

Reply #5 on: October 06, 2016, 09:23:52 pm
Just doodling around with it...trying to define shapes, messing with color, etc.  A new pokemon?   :P


Well, hello, zapdos! -
Seriously, that's awesome.

Quote from: Kairos
THAT'S NOT WHAT FUR LOOKS LIKE

Wow, that's very helpful! Thanks a lot - I'm gonna give it a go around like that.

« Last Edit: October 06, 2016, 09:27:12 pm by bearkin333 »
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Offline bearkin333

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Re: Small demon? New Artist

Reply #6 on: October 06, 2016, 10:04:43 pm
I've been having trouble interpreting the straight lines as fur. I'm probably overthinking it, but I tried it on the demon-guy/emo zapdos and just made it look like he was wearing stripes to a plaid party.
I'm giving it another go by working on another furry creature, this one's a bear.



Any more help would be lovely. You guys have been wonderful.
Voice actor, programmer, artist, I do whatever I can. :D

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: Small demon? New Artist

Reply #7 on: October 07, 2016, 12:20:11 am
Here's a good tutorial from one Faustbane on deviantart, it's one I find myself coming back to sometimes when I need a bit more detail in.
One of the big things I pulled from it is that it's better to go for a sort of sharp zigzag rather than just straight lines, to give it a layered look!
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline bearkin333

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Re: Small demon? New Artist

Reply #8 on: October 07, 2016, 05:25:58 am
Wow, what an impressive tutorial! I attempted it on the bear, and I have to say I managed to ruin a perfectly good animal.



I feel like it looks more like lava-skin than fur, and I've managed to remove any sort of cohesive shading across the whole thing - any suggestions from this point are very welcome.
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Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: Small demon? New Artist

Reply #9 on: October 07, 2016, 09:04:28 am
Hahaha, nice

No, the point is to think about how the form of the bear hair works and apply from there. Think of it like hairlines on humans but applied to the whole body and also on a bear
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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