Need Advice please

[Fieldren]

Hello everyone, i've just found this amazing website and after reading some of the topics i've seen a lot of extremely talented artists so i wanted to have some advice from anyone that's willing to take some time to help me grow with my personal style...

Ok, here i go:

I'm currently making a game, gathering inspiration from games like Castlevania, Silent hill, Dark souls and Dying light.
1-.I ussually work towards a certain concept and i try to make my characters look like they have some sort of background and not just a dude with eight arms or something (If you do it is totally fine, it's just my intention this time) and i have trouble getting different poses and concepts.

2-. I know how shade works , but i have trouble aplying it...
3-.I want to make thriller-based color palettes but i always end up using the same colors.

I'm going to post some of the scratches that i have so far, please post anything that you consider that's gonna help me grow, i really want to gather information from you, since i'm just starting to pixeling ( about 6 months ).

Thanks for your time guys! Cheers!

Ps: How do i post images here? Do i have to post my local link here?

[Fieldren]

[MysteryMeat]

Post at original size, it helps us to make tweaks to show off concepts!
Designways i can see what you're going for but the pose on the scythe monster is a bit static, try having him holding it over his shoulder instead of straight up. Alternatively, swap it for some other weapon better able to fit the apparent size limitations you're working with!


Also, if you're taking off silent hill: what do these monsters represent? Like, silent hill is pretty big on the monsters representing the internal demons of its victims, are you rolling with that or is it more of the general aesthetic you're going for?

[Fieldren]

I really appreciate your advice.

First, i'm gonna try other poses/weapons on this scythe dude, i also think that lacks of shading work as well...

Second,i'm trying to isolate One concept at a time to make it something material, let me explain:

This scythe duderino could be an incarnation of what heressy would look , or alternatively, a fake messiah.

anyways, i need to put a lot of work into any of these two, but i want to know which way i need to go towards design, so i'm kinda lost right now.

Thanks!

[MysteryMeat]

For a fake messiah, I'm not quite getting that. It lacks any iconography other than the scythe, which traditionally means death, and the rosary, which is more a tool of exorcism. As it stands I get more of a deathy purifier vibe off it, a spooky helper of spirits passing from one world to the next.

To run off christian symbols, for example, you could toss in a fake halo (like perhaps an anglerfish style growth), stained robes, preachy gesturing like raised open-palmed arms, maybe even multiple!
I can go on, just from that you can pull a lot of ideas if you really do a bit of thinking. Keep at it!

[Fieldren]

Dude, that's awesome!

i haven't thought about that...at the time i'm just gathering ideas, trying to put things together but i haven't realized that.

I'm gonna apply it to this duderino, will be posting results soon.

I also want to try different colors, something more like fleshy, more grotesque.What can you tell me about my second duderino? I know that the pose and colors are not the best, but i wanted to make a black soul starving to chase others.Any advice with shading? i want to achieve a creepy look on both mobs.

Anyway, thanks again Mr. CarneMisteriosa

[MysteryMeat]

Honestly I can see what you're going for there a bit, but more cues might help to make him more spooky. Expanded mouth, more pronounced skeletony look, stomach voids... Think about hunger and it's associations!

Can't help with flesh much, I'm colorblind and it tends to be kind of a sticking point for me.

[Fieldren]

Here i post some other stuff that i've made, clearly not the best but i want second thoughts.

[MysteryMeat]

Really liking the first one, gives off a strong prisoner vibe. Lotta theming fun you can have with that.

Second, not so much. Just looks like ellis doing a JoJo pose, to be honest.

[Fieldren]

Honestly, that red guy with the weird pose was just my attempt to try different poses so i'm aware that he is not the winner of my beauty contest hahaha, thanks for your feedback Meat, I really appreciate it. Going to work on this four dudes this week!

Cheers!

[Runensucher]

Oh, I really like this stuff. It's fun to read about the thoughts you had while designing this. I bet this is going to be very cool..
I'm not a fan of horror games or films. But as an amateur, I think your designs come out very unique. Keep up your high effort, it's worth it.

There is something about your sprites that is wrong. It's called pillow shading, and it is in every single picture. As you didn't make this failure in your other topic with this hatred guy (http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=21530.msg180349#new), I think this was just inexperience, wasn't it?
Pillow shading is something you have to avoid. It makes your sprites look flat. The prison guy is strongly influenced by it. The light source for the ball on the chain seems to be in the upper left, but thats where the shoulder has its darkest part.

I marked the pillow shading on the other pictures. Thanks to the colours, it is well hidden. But it is there.


Start with the soul eater. It already has it's own light source on its back. Why not use this? I bet this will look awesome.

[Fieldren]

Dude, thanks!

That was a major thing that i wasn't aware of...First i wasn't able to make the light/shade work, but as you say, that is clearly a pattern that i have frequently. I really appreciate your clarification about this, it's something very hard for me overall cause i'm new with the pixel art and thinking about the fact that i want to make characters that comes up from negative feelings, and concepts i always try to use dark colors or limit myself to give shadow more protagonism than light, thinking about making things darker, not brighter.

Any advice into how can i work "pillow shading"? I gonna be aware of it from now on. I'm currently working on these 2 sprites, gathering all the info that you've been giving me lately, i greatly appreciate it. Thanks, RunenSucher!

[Runensucher]

Mhhh...
This isn't easy, as i don't know how you work. Let me guess: You do add the lighter colour first.
Please try this:
- Give your monster the form you want. Dont use any other colour than the first one.
- Think about your light source. It's easier to do so, if it is the sun or a hanging lamp. Then you shade the lower parts. Like the tummy of the soul eater or the legs of scythe monster. Shade skin folds, joints, ribs.
(- Take the next darker colour of your ramp to add more details. This step isn't needed in every sprite. Your scythe monster for example, doesn't need a fourth colour.)
- Now your sprites should look like 3D. If not, don't add any brighter colour. Work at them until everything looks "realistic".
- The last step is highlighting. Don't overuse your brightest colour. Just add it where the skin is hitten by the light directly.

I hope this works for you. You can read something about lighting here: http://opengameart.org/content/chapter-4-shadow-and-light

[Fieldren]

You're completely right. I always start by putting the lighter colours and then i put the darker ones,gonna change that as soon as possible.

I've been watching some of Glauber Kotaki speedpaints and some of his work with Duelyst,and he has very interesting works on shade that i want to apply in some way.

For example i like this Happy void worm, light gives him an evil sensation.



-Due to my job i have little time , but as soon as i can, i'm gonna put effort on what you say. Thanks again Mister Runensalchicha!