Critique My First Completed Pixel Art

[thesydneylad]

Hi, I'm Michael and I just signed up yesterday.

I want to become good enough to make SNES-level sprites, at least. So I watched a bunch of YouTube videos and read up on how to make pixel art and decided that I should start at the bottom - 8 bit. I went online and I found a fan-made Mega Man character to make an 8-bit design out of [1st image] and the result of me trying [2nd image]. The result is pretty funny to me. The end result looks like a friendly professional dancer that's about to challenge you to a dance-off.



Anyway, please critique away. If it's necessary, I can recall the several other Mega Man sprites I used as reference to help me with edges and whatnot.

[Xenon02]

Well first of all I seems like his arm is pretty off (more like a gum) and the colors his helmet doesn't fit the color from the original same like pants

for example MEGA MEN !!! Pretty popular guy as a 8-bit guy
https://www.google.pl/search?q=8-bit+characters&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLoJiTz4PbAhVlDZoKHSkZDHsQ_AUICigB&biw=1083&bih=929#imgrc=X3XU2r8MjJm5OM:
check at his arms and colors

[BasseBoi]

i did a little redraw, before i explain what i did i want to say that im also a beginner with pixel art, and im not a expert by any means, especially with nes game designs. and i only designed it simply so you get an idea what i mean.

but what i did was
- redid the arm. in your picture it looked like he had 2 elbows, because you started the arm with a straight line, i started the arm with slanting lines (it becomes much easier to draw)
- i alsocolored in his other hand, it was green before, i have no idea if that was what you wanted, but if you want to keep the green hand i suggest to use another green, maybe the light one he have on
- i changed the skincolor, becuase he looked a bit sunburned, the color was too red. (i took a color from a snes game charater)
i changed
- i changed the contrast on the colors, it very easy to overdo it (i always over do it) but the picture can become hard to look at if the colors is too strong.
- i changed the jaw shape, he looked a bit crooked, and i changed it so it looks a bit rounder
- i changed the legs thickness so they matched
- and lastly i added the the rounde thing on his chest. i did because i though it would held his outfit togheter. but this was only my personal choice

i want to say that for being a first drawing you did good, you had a very complex reference.

as i said before, i am a beinnger so all my redos maybe isnt the best. and you dont have too keep them, thats your choice, but i wanted to show you a example   

[Zanorin]

Hey Michael, welcome to Pixelation.

The biggest problem I see are the proportions ; as other members often tell people, you must practice a lot, using not only pixel art but also traditional art : pick up a pencil and draw, from reference and without reference, until you get basic proportions right.
Another thing I see is that you seem to be drawing what you think you see, and not what you actually see. Correct me if you did that on purpose, but take a look at the feet for example, or the arms. They are a completely different shape and color than the original's. Learning to reproduce reality (or in this case, a drawing), without letting your brain interpret it without you realizing it, is something pretty important.

Anyway, I gave a try at redoing your sprite ; far from being perfect, but I did the following :

• Tried fixing the proportions (mainly legs and arms)
• Shifted the colors (green was too green, skin was too pink)
• Redid the torso, tried making it closer to the original
• Made a version using the same color count as you, one shaded adding 3 more colors, one adding another color for smaller details

[thesydneylad]

Thank you, both to Zanorin and Basseboi. I'm gonna cut and paste your redraws and your directions and advice into a document so I can learn from them for the next character I draw. Thanks for the compliment, Bass.