Skeletroids stuff

[Ben2theEdge]

I figured rather than start a dozen different topics for the graphics I'm doing for my game, I'd try to keep them all contained in one. Anyway, here's my attempt at some character portraits.


Here's the character, Xavier.


From left to right: The original portrait I did when I first started the project - since then the artstyle has changed significantly and the semi-realistic portraits don't really fit the rest of the game at all. In the middle is the sketch I did for the new portrait, and on the right is the new portrait (not yet animated).

The current version:

[AdamAtomic]

I like the sketch a lot, it has a slick, Steven Silver kind of style to it.  Your color rendering of it is just creepy though!  There's a lot of great, natural things about the sketch that have been lost - the clean lines have been obscured by over-rendered shadows and highlights.  Anytime your image is MAINLY highlights and shadows you know you have a problem - the hair is actually quite good in that regard though!  The realistic rendering style is at odds with the distorted, cartoony design.  Also, you've changed his posture some - the sketch features a confident, relaxed character - his shoulders are down, head pulled back over his body.  The colored version has higher shoulders, and his head is pulled down and pushed forward - combined with the enormous eyes he looks like a paranoid freak!  By sticking to a realistic nose and mouth size it puts the eyes further at odds with the rest of the design.  Note that your sketch has a nice small nose and a wider mouth, plus a smaller ear.  I'd stick with your obviously good instincts and try to work the strengths of your sketch into the finished portrait!

[Ben2theEdge]

I think what happened was that I started taking too much reference from the original portrait and not enough from the sketch.



Slight modification. I tried making it a little closer to the original sketch. I don't want to make the shoulders too much lower because I think that the original sketch's shoulders were too low and didn't match the in-game sprite.

[Stwelin]

i think it's because of all the shine on the eyes. try toning it down a notch and make them look more flat and less popping-out-of-his-head.

[Ben2theEdge]

Tried toning down the brightness in his eyes and added a few other touches.


Left: Before. Right: After.

[Sharm]

Both of the pupils are shaded exactly the same, but one is more in shadow.  Try making the shine area smaller on that one.  It should help with the popping out of his head look.  I really love how the hair turned out.

[AdamAtomic]

quick & nasty edit to illustrate some of the stuff I was talking about earlier, since it clearly didn't make sense...



I wouldn't use any of my edits explicitly, they're mainly here to illustrate the following points:

1 - skin tone - your dude is lookin a little pale/ashen!

2 - you shadows and highlights are completely overwhelming the actual color of your different surfaces.  His armor especially is almost completely overwhelmed, and retains very little color identity.

3 - anime shines aren't just anime shines.  They are stylized specular highlights on the glossy surface of the eye.  Thus, they should probably match the actual light source in your image yeah?

I still think you should take another look at your original sketch and figure out why you (justifiably) like the sketch so much - pay attention to his posture and facial features!

[zeid]

It seems to me you have done some excessive exaggeration on the eye. Some exaggeration is acceptable of course but it's loosing the human aspect of the face, this might just be my opinion. I made an edit of the face, it's not complete as my hands are injured (so it's not the best edit) . I would suggest more reference from anime, you seem to be attempting a style similar to that but don't seem to have it quite down pat. Looks pretty good so far however I'm certainly liking the graphics for the project.

[Ben2theEdge]

Adam: Wow. I'll have to take a closer study of your edit in the morning when I'm not half asleep, but I think I see what you're talking about now.

Zeid: Yeah, the huge eyes are just my style... I guess it's influenced by Bryan O'Malley's work, or American cartoons from the early half of the 20th century, but it's intentional, believe it or not.  I agree that if I was going for a purebred Anime look they would have to be altered like in your edit, but that's not exactly what I'm going for.

[Faceless]

This is going to sound horrible, but I think you'd be better off going back to the sketch, tracing it again, and flat shading inside the outlines.
What you have at the moment totally loses the charisma of the sketch.