m3chanica1 g0d

[Ryumaru]

this is a boss for a mockup im collaborating with. for extra pixel aesthetic, he will be double the size in game.
most anatomy problems are style, while others closer to the lower body are just me not knowing anything.

[surt]

I love the character design (it looks familiar, is it based on anything?), and great pixelling.

Not much to crit, but I'm wondering why there are the 8 by 8 blocks in the wings, it makes it look like its for a retro platform, but the same restrictions don't seem to carry through to the body.

EDIT:
Okay I see you've done this kind of thing before.

[Rydin]

I like this. It's got an almost cyberpunk feel to it.  I'm confused as to what the black strip is that covers his mid-section...wings?  If so, the texturing is very cool.
The colors are definitely working...I especially like the texturing on the head, good work.
Um, he seems kinda pointy, like on the knuckles and elbows (also just noticed that the bend should be at the elbows, not on randomly on the muscles), but I think this pointedness works to your advantage, adding to the whole pyramid theme.

I can't wait to see the end product.  Keep us updated .


PS:
Does he work for the Illuminati? 

[pixelblink]

it looks familiar, is it based on anything?

I'd guess from Silent Hill?
Looks great so far. No crits from me

[Ryona]

This looks verrrry cool!

I love the style and colors. Though he seems to have a lack of hips. Or maybe that's just part of the style. *shrugs*

[Ryumaru]

surt: the 8by8 blocks are just there for aesthetic reasons. he is a mechanical god, and as such i tried to have a fusion between computer imagery and a living form. also, i want to pixel him in c64 hires mode which uses 2 colors every 8by8 tile.
rydin: other than a style bit, i have no idea what the black strip is either. a geometric form of wings was my first intention though. the bend you speak of is me giving edge to that muscle group, it is not intended to be his elbow. NICE observation of how it adds to the pyramid. i did a little draw over in paint and i found that it almost lines up!
pixelblink: NO. NO. NO! my inspiration for this character had absolutely nothing to do with silent hill! not only have i never played it( i just know what youre talking about because ive gotten the same comment many times) but my first reference for this was the image thats on the us dolloar bill, the pyramid and eye.( which apparantly is a satanic symbol now?)
ryona: yeah he doesnt have any hips, i havent studied the hip bone(s) before, and it definitely shows.

thanks for the comments guys! what would really be awesome is if i could get some tips on a name for this dude, pyramid head just isnt epic enough i was thinking the binary for GOD but, thats so many characters its not even worth it. if its a helpful bit of information, the symbol above his head is a halo and the greek letter theta, for no other reason than im studying trig.

[Stwelin]

NO. NO. NO! my inspiration for this character had absolutely nothing to do with silent hill!

With a title like "Pyramid Head" i think that everyone assumes it's from silent hill.  The design is very similar, as is the name.  When Surt asked if it was from somewhere, i thought he was being sarcastic. (was he? still can't tell...)

EDIT: oh yeah! the crit part. Well, i'd like to see a little more detail in the concave stomach area.  the palette is really really good,  it might very well be the only thing keeping this from being a total Silent Hill ripoff.

[Soup]

Silient Hill poped into my head. Although the only similaritiy is the head.
Great work so far though.

[Akzidenz]

Yeah - the one piece of advice I'd give is that the design is really remarkably similar to the Silent Hill character. Whose name, if I'm not mistaken, was "Pyramid Head." Even the palette is very Silent-Hill-ish. If you really want to make this thing your own, I'd say mess with your palette, mess with the design a little.. maybe think about renaming him.

Looks terrific, though.

[halu]

His left leg looks a bit odd, it kinda looks like he's falling to the right, but the rest of his body doesn't seem to give that appearance.
Great work though, I love it

[Ryumaru]

stwelin: the concave area has been noticed. in game he will be twice the size in a 260 by 224 resolution, and the platform that the character will be on will probably cover that part up, or atleast thats my excuse1
soup: thanks
akzinidez: pyramid head is not his name, and i think i will change the title to mechanical god. what does this pyramid head look like? ive never actually seen him before. i guess ill do a google search.
i really dont want to mess with the pallette, im very happy with it. although if its such a problem i will definitely be changing his disign up a bit.
halu: heh, thats just me trying to hide my poor knowledge of the muscularity of legs as best as i can

edit:

[Helm]

If you do google him you'll see that you've emulated his design to a fault. If you want this to be yours, redesign time. Lose the 'pyramid' from, the 'head' and suddenly he's no longer 'pyramid head, of silent hill'. I'm sorry, I don't see any other way around this if you want to proclaim no ties to that game. It's just a very distinctive symbol to try to disassociate from the Silent Hill franchise. Just because you earnestly swear you've never played that game doesn't do anything towards this.

I like the colors and the red tint in darkness effect. What I don't like is wonky anatomy. I have a hard time accepting style over a good firm grasp of anatomy, since it always shows. What I mean is, you may not see it, but what you say is style, under it, indecisiveness about anatomy still shows, and not just on the legs. You do a lot of similar drawings, fixated on fore chests and arms, and this is hurting you. Start from the bottom up, join a life drawings class, buy an anatomy book and go through it all. You're learning by repetition and reproduction, locking yourself up into your own art, not by studying reality. You're not challenging yourself in anatomy, and you'll end up doing the same thing over and over again to the detriment of your art.

Your pixel skills are fine. Time to hit the books on anatomy proper.

[Wolverine]

Actually it far more reminds me of a skinny Torquemada from the Nemesis The Warlock comic books than that bad guy from Silent Hill.  Pyramid Head's uh, pyramid helmet is actually way, way bigger (and I actually always found him to look pretty stupid to be honest).  Really liking how this is progressing.

[Ryumaru]

helm: the only similarities i notice is a pyramid head. there body types are completely different, they play entirely different roles, and the basic ideas of each are severly unrelated. i cant really imagine him having anything other than a pyramid head because thats how it was when i first made him, without it he would just be a lanky, anthropomorphic being. i do agree that there will always be ties, but i just dont want to think that he was actually part of my reference.

i dont really have much to say about that, because thats true and i know it is. all i can say is, that anything anatomical that i repeat is from an instance where i saw a similair musculature, or similair shape on a real person. ill probably be asking for encyclopedia anatomica or whatever it is for christmas, but can you honestly say youve seen a 15 year old at a figure drawing class before?(i use my age as an excuse for nearly everything)

wolverine: thanks, although after seeing the other pyramid head just a couple minutes ago, i think he looks pretty badass. of course, when im not drawing mechanical gods im drawing muscular guys with swords, so i may be a little biased.

if you would like to see basically the entirity of my influence on the design for this guy, take a look at churis+
http://www.churist.neth.pl/
from the time i first saw his stuff, it imideatly influenced all of my work

[Akzidenz]

I think the point that people are trying to make is that you have to realize - regardless of your intentions, influences, whatever - people are going to think that this is Pyramid Head. If you're okay with that, then just keep going. If you don't want people to confuse the two, then you need to drastically change the design. Nobody here is doubting your sources of inspiration, in any way, don't take it like that. You just have to realize how similar the two are, and how the majority of the people who see this will automatically assume that Pyramid Head was your direct influence.

When an audience sees your work, they're going to interpret it how they want to interpret it. It's your job as an artist to control the connotations, context, vernacular, aesthetic, etc of your work and make sure that the audience sees what you want them to see. You don't get to give a lengthy speech about your inspirations and intentions to someone every time they see one of your pieces - the work has to speak for itself.

So yeah. Decide whether or not you can live with the fact that the majority of the people who see this are going to assume that it's Pyramid Head. And then go from there.

[Feron]

thats like saying it could be confused with this guy...

i google pyramid head and theres loads of diffrent things.  (this was just the funniest IMO).  theres lots of pyramid heads out there so i dont see why its such a big deal.


nice pallette and good job so far.  anatomy is probably quite off - but i think it looks good stylisticaly.

[Claredeth]

Pretty great.

I love how you used the shading on the pyramid to its full advantage.
I can not give c+c really.

[AdamAtomic]

Ditto, nothing but the name reminds me of Silent Hill in any way.  The just straight-up bent forearm is NOT working for me though!

[Ryumaru]

i smoothed that kink in it alot. is it still horrible?
update:
changing the angle should take away any actual resemblance to pyramid head. its lost alot of depth but meh.

and for comparison:
the infamous pyramid head!
http://static.flickr.com/19/100064007_c9852b4dd2_o.jpg

[shaheen]

I prefer this latest revision, as it looks a lot more menacing and godlike the way the whole body sort of leads to the point at top. Not sure why.

The main problem I've got with it now is that the hands could definitely use some better anatomy. Right now they look very small compared to the rest of the body.

[Locrian]

I know nothing of silent hill.  Instead, the first thing that popped into my mind was Churist.

http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=842084&postcount=25
http://wroclaw.net.pl/~northe/zak/churist/gfx/12.html
http://wroclaw.net.pl/~northe/zak/churist/gfx/09.html
http://wroclaw.net.pl/~northe/zak/churist/gfx/18.html

[Ryumaru]

khris: thanks, yeah i really do need to work on the hands.
locrian: yeah, ive already refrenced him in my second to last post. churist is just so badass and was my most major influence. conceptart is where i first saw him.

edit: AH FUCK that churist piece is exactly like mine(well, mine is exactly like his i should say), fuckkkkkk! first its silent hill and now its churist, what will i do! that piece must be one of his"edits" because its not in his gallery.

[alkaline]

I assume you knew about it though because you posted in his thread.

well, I don't know, I don't get what's going on..but I guess it's alright and all, just keep in mind to state your references. I'm a little confused by your last post as to whether you were surprised of its relation to churist's piece or not?

[Ryumaru]

im suprised because not only do i now remember seeing it back then(febuary) but im suprised at how almost exactly alike they are when i hadnt seen the piece in months. im also a little mad because now ill have to make more changes so that it is not basically a replica of his piece.

i might just go back to the other head, i can deal with people saying it looks like pyramid head.