[WIP] Human player shading

[jjgms]

I struggle when trying to shade a character. I use top left as a light source. The directions of the three sprites are given in the following image: Can someone help me?

[jjgms]

Will not anyone help?

[MysteryMeat]

its too simplistic honestly. not much to work with here.

[Curly]

It looks good so far.
Are you going for a topdown or a sidescroller view?

[jjgms]

Yes, an RPG. People tell me it's too flat!

[Curly]

It looks more like a sidescroller.

In 3/4 perspective, in general, things at the top get in front of the things below. The things at the top become wider and the things at the bottom become narrower.
In the sprites facing to the sides, you usually place the foot and the shoulder in the back a bit higher than the other.

Crappy quick edit:


Some games use sprites similar to yours anyways.

[jjgms]

The shape looks great. But, I'm still concerned about the shading. I mean, you left the arms and hands in another color.

[Curly]

Well I was talking about the perspective
At this size you should probably just highlight the shoulders, the biceps and the forearms.