[WIP][CC] Beaver Knight

[JellyStarCat]

Whoa, thanks for the criticism, everyone. They were very useful and detailed .
Sorry, I haven't posted any progress lately.
Anyway, I decided to do it again from stratch, here's what I have currently .


Concept drawing:
Spoiler

[JellyStarCat]

Progress.

Not sure how I should do the shading of the golden part of the helmet?

[JellyStarCat]

Added detail for the red thing and also highlight on the helmet.

Is the shape of the red thing read-able?

[JellyStarCat]

Little progress this time, added some detail for the face.

[heyguy]

The new art is looking good. I like the new face details. Will this character be animated in the future?

Here's some good reference and advice for how to create metallic shading.
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=18793.0

Anyway, keep it up!

[Petrichor]

I think the visor could be projecting out and away from the head some more.  At the moment it looks like quite a tight fit - almost as if it has been wrapped around the head.  Note the shading beneath the visor in pistachio's rendition and how it creates a gap between the visor and the head.

Also I really like the palette!

[JellyStarCat]

Hey guys, sorry for the late update again , I had a busy week.
@heyguy: Thanks for the advice! And no, it won't be animated, it's just a gift for my friend.
@Petrichor: I tried to add more shadow under the visor, I'm not sure if I need to change the shape of the visor?

Added another highlight shade on the helmet, does it look more metallic now?

[Petrichor]

What I meant was that the visor itself is very close to the head.  What you have right now is a headband when you want a baseball cap, if you know what I mean?

I've quickly whipped up an example where I moved the visor 1 pixel up and to the right to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about:

[JellyStarCat]

Hey, I'm back.

I moved the visor up a bit in according to Petrichor's suggestion, it is widened too (if you can't see it clearly, the top of visor now has 4 pixels instead of 3  )
Added shadow on the bottom left of the beaver's face (your left), I think it has more depth now, not too sure though  .
The visor ring grip is also added.
Arms idea changed.

My main question is: Should I make the robe appear as it is being blown by the wind? If yes, how strong should it be?

[pistachio]

Cool progress I only just checked it out but the sketch this is based off of has good construction although it could be fleshed out more.
The helmet shading is flat and not consistent. Moving the highlight there towards us is the easiest (but cheapest) way to correct it.

Should I make the robe appear as it is being blown by the wind? If yes, how strong should it be?

Again, it's whatever makes the most interesting shape. See the difference between the last edit I did and the original.
Sketch a few different robes on top of your current sprite, try to find a good composition. Don't forget the torso underneath it.

BONUS: also do 50 studies of capes and drapery
Seriously though, if you recognize your weak points now you'll be struggling with them a lot less even after 10 studies.