AuthorTopic: Any thoughts?  (Read 4203 times)

Offline AppleGirl

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Any thoughts?

on: December 28, 2016, 02:40:19 am
Hello everyone!!  :)
I made this dude (his name's Louis), and I wanted to see if anyone had thoughts or suggestions. I'd like to keep the style pretty simple, the reason he's made with so many pixels was to give his face detail. I'm very open to criticism (how would we learn if we aren't corrected?).

Thanks!

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: Any thoughts?

Reply #1 on: December 28, 2016, 02:43:07 am
First thought is that if you're going lineless on the face you should apply that to the whole body. Alternatively, give the face and legs lines. Consistency!
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
MAJOR BORK TALLY: |

Offline AppleGirl

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Re: Any thoughts?

Reply #2 on: December 28, 2016, 03:06:40 am
First thought is that if you're going lineless on the face you should apply that to the whole body. Alternatively, give the face and legs lines. Consistency!
Oh do you mean don't outline the sprite? I'll do that! Thanks for your reply ;D

Offline AppleGirl

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Re: Any thoughts?

Reply #3 on: December 28, 2016, 09:07:22 pm
I made a few changes and added a second character, Gabby (Louis' brother).

Offline Zia

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Re: Any thoughts?

Reply #4 on: December 29, 2016, 06:09:01 am
I feel like the way you're doing it right now is less minimalist and more MS Paint-y. Consider different ways to give your characters form. It's definitely possible to change around the outline shape or color blocks of a sprite to give it some extra oomph. His five-o-clock shadow made me think you might be going for a slightly "slouchy" look, so here are some thoughts:



Do you have a specific use for these images in mind?
Eriophora Zia

Offline AppleGirl

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Re: Any thoughts?

Reply #5 on: December 29, 2016, 05:26:58 pm
I feel like the way you're doing it right now is less minimalist and more MS Paint-y. Consider different ways to give your characters form. It's definitely possible to change around the outline shape or color blocks of a sprite to give it some extra oomph. His five-o-clock shadow made me think you might be going for a slightly "slouchy" look, so here are some thoughts:



Do you have a specific use for these images in mind?

That looks really cool! I will definitely play around with the postures. I'm thinking of using the sprites for a game where you would fight without going into a fight scene (can't remember what it's called, Hyper Light Drifter style).

Offline MAVW

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Re: Any thoughts?

Reply #6 on: December 30, 2016, 12:01:14 am
If your intentions are to use in fighting scenarios I'd suggest working on their poses, right now they feel more like point 'n click characters.

Offline Zia

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Re: Any thoughts?

Reply #7 on: December 30, 2016, 12:32:38 am
These sprites are pretty large for the amount of battle animation you'd need to do. I'd encourage you to shrink them down by at LEAST 50%. Making large sprites look smooth when animated is much more difficult, especially when you're new to pixel art.
Eriophora Zia

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: Any thoughts?

Reply #8 on: December 30, 2016, 02:01:32 am
I'm here to echo both MAVW and Zia.
You have a habit of working with really static poses and anatomy, everyone's limbs look like sticks and they always stand in that same stiff posture! While as a general thing I'd reccomend you take a look at some anatomical guides on google so you can better work the contours of the shoulders, arms, and legs, here's some ideas on how to spice up the design slightly without compromising that simplicity!

All I did here was add a couple colors for shading and change the shirt into a hoodie, to give him a more grumpy schlubby look. The rest was all slight pushing of anatomy, like giving his pants a slight bell-bottomy look to imply calf muscles, which tend to bulge out a bit below the knee at most angles!

Just reading about some of these in your off time can give you a lot of information, I'm pretty lax on my anatomical studies (more than I probably should be) but just glancing at this stuff in passing gives me a lot to work from.
Try studying how shoulders, hips, and spines work especially, those are probably among the most important for expressive poses!
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
MAJOR BORK TALLY: |

Offline AppleGirl

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Re: Any thoughts?

Reply #9 on: December 30, 2016, 04:42:10 am
Alright!! So I combined all the info you guys have given me, and I came up with this. I know it's still not that great, but it's much better than before. I made him less pixels and tried to make him stand with his arms crossed, leaning back a little. Let me know what you think!