Skull + Swordfish Sprite need work.

[FatalFetus]

Well I'm getting addicted to this whole pixel art thing, some of the stuff in these forums is just amazing. I never thought people could do such wonders with tiny squares, pixel art is like a WAY better form of tile murals!

My next couple of items are trying to work on shading, low colors and smoothing shapes. Skull came out a little rougher than I wanted, though. As for Spyke's swordfish.. I know the saturations need fixed, it's a slightly pinker shade. (Or faded red, but thats just not manly.) C & C greatly appreciated on ANYTHING you see wrong with these as I am trying to learn. I'v looked over all the tutorials in the link under general, pretty good stuff.







Thanks,
Fetus

[Crazy Asian Gamer]

Ok, you got the right attitude about learning. 
People here really are amazing. 

Swordfish: Indeed, you are correct about the color. Might I suggest a base color of RGB(198,47,29)? Also, the front can use some work, for as of right now, it seems twisted instead of sharp and pointy. I suggest you take out the, err, diagonal metal glares(?). Overall, this ship seems to need a darker palette. The shadow in front of the cockpit can be prolonged and smoothed out with more shades. The, uh, rocket(?) in the back seems to have some sort of alternate light source, and it'd probably be good to keep light shading consistent.
You also need a rocket "hole"(?).

Skull: Texture is nice. Only thing I can find is to bring out the lower jaw a bit.

[Mercury Rising]

I like the skull yet the swordfish I think it is a great idea yet wasted for size.  Don't be limited and try something big, this could turn out amazing.  Also darken the grays and add more gray to the reds.  Other than that... you have cooler toys than me 

[FatalFetus]

Took all CnC into consideration and came out with this. The only bit I haven't gotten to was the one about it's small size.. I think its a great idea to make a larger version, but I wanted to finish my tiny sprite one first. I'm interested to see how much more detail I can fit into a larger piece.

Fetus

[Conzeit]

um, dont do this at a bigger size, get this right first, then think about bigger sizes.


first of all, you are not interpretating the shapes correctly. if you are really going to try this, it's not worthwhile if you dont atleast draw things correctly.

even with that slanted refference view, I can tell that the Swordfish's wings are NOT completly perpenticular to the cockpit. I can clearly tell that it's wings have a slight v angle to them therefore are tilted towards the front of the ship.

if you are going to draw the swordfish atleast get a good view from the top of it before you do, and be precise when duplicating it's shapes, the whole effort is worthless whitout that.

You have conflicting perspectives. if you look at the cockpit, and the whole area around the cockpit, it seems like it is a top-view of the swordfish, since you cant see any bit of the side of the ship.

but if you look at the spherical turbine that it has at the back, you can actually see part of the side of it (that red plate that goes around the silver turbine is tilted in a way that you wouldnt be able to see from the top)

Spike's Swordfish is a much much more beautiful ship than what you drew there, and you know it, I mean if you have a model of it you must love it. dont settle for something that doesnt do it's job, draw the ship the way you know it looks, you know the swordfish well, make sure your representation of it is worthy of it's name.

also, your pallete is badly contrasted, the shades are all too similar, make each shade difer from the last more so that they can convey true depth.

[FatalFetus]

Thanks alot cam, I know damn well that sprite is assage maximus.. I just couldnt really put my finger on what or what all was wrong with it. The vertical wing 'fins' that intersect the wings I just dont know how to get to appear from a top view. Obviously you wont see them but they should be noticably popping out, right? I tried to show them with darkened shadows to the right but alas, that's only part of it. I'll get right on fixing this up. Also.. I had a model like that once but it got lost when I moved years ago.. So Ill have to do some searchin for a top view. As for the slight V shape.. I don't remember there being one on the model or in the anime/manga, Ill have to go look for that when I search for a top perspective. I can't see it in that picture..

EDIT: Found a decent picture of straight wingspan on swordfish.


EDIT #2:
Colors redone. Tried to define the wing fins a bit more.. Back lift fin looks better.. (Fin over thruster) It still needs work but I'll have to get on it tomorrow.

Thanks again

Fetus

[Mercury Rising]

No what he meant was the fact that you drew the wings level with the cockpit while I can tell in both pictures that the wings come a little bit before the cockpit.

[xanthier]

Listen to camus, the man knows what he's talking about   

Like has been said, the wings aren't evenly lined up with the cockpit, also you don't have the engine(is that what it is?) proportionally large enough if you look at the pictures closely. It is significantly larger than the cockpit, currently you have them at about the same size. I suggest you make it wider and longer. The engine is nearly half the length of the craft. The engine in your previous version is more accurate, though the colors are off.

[FatalFetus]

EDIT: Added contrast to the blue 'metal' shades. Fixed up cockpit shading.

I didnt notice that wing cockpit difference at all, what the hell? I moved them forward, added longer shadow to right wing to add depth.. Edited back fin again.

[Xion]

Hehehe...
I love seeing people improve.

Hmm...I could see one of those middle colors in both red and blue being eliminated. I think an improved contrast to the right of the front of the ship would be beneficial, seeing as how ATM it looks round whereas the references you used showed a ridge on top of the nose.
Also, more contrast in the reds might be cool, but just IMHO.

Keep at it. Rapid improvement, I see.

[FatalFetus]

Thanks for the comment, I made a 7 color version.
->

Fetus

[Crazy Asian Gamer]

People here give great C+C 
Yeah, there's a huge difference from when you started and the finished version.
Color reduction is good, and you managed to fit the colors in 3 bits instead of 4. ^_^

[Mercury Rising]

Once you feel you are finished with this piece I recommend making a new swordfish at a different angle.  Straight on is nice yet an angle would look a lot better.

[xanthier]

much better but the wings still need to be moved back a bit, you'll notice in the model and picture that if you were to draw a line across the middle of the wingspan, it would not pass through the bubble part of the cockpit.

[Conzeit]

Xanthier, that is amazing, I was just about to post that because that's what I first noticed when I saw the model.

Fatal, let me ask you something, are you having fun? are you really having fun?...because...I see you sort of correcting things, only because people tell you, and as much as people tell you...um, I think it's important that you have feelings for your piece =), dont just copy the swordfish, try to feel it's shape and feel what makes them cool, and try to put that in your sprite, you get too technical you'll get bored, if you get bored you wont be intuitive and you wont understand the essence of the swordfish.

for example, do you like the swordfish's color? the color is pretty unique in this one, you dont often see serious pink jets, so you must feel SOMEthing about the color, if you like it, try to put in the sprite exactly what you like about the color, the way it glitters, the way it....I dont know, whatever you like, if you dont, give it a paintjob, this is your sprite and it should look how you like.

I get the impression you are letting other people lead you to much, take over dude, you have to do this for yourself or it's not worth it, dont make your pictures so you can show somebody, do them so you can solidify and define your ideas.

eh, that's why I do it anyway, I dont even show people my stuff if I dont think they'll give me an interesting comment on it, maybe I'm exagerating and you dont have to be like may, maybe this is even just a silly little hobby for you, but still...consider this, this might be loads of fun if you get more personally involved.

[David]

Yeah, listen to Camus and follow your own intuition rather than listen to others.

[FatalFetus]

I agree with you cam but because I was trying to learn my mistakes during this process I sort of ended up following a cookbook, heh. I learned alot about shading and color choices by doing this one small sprite.. so hopefully this pattern of following orders won't happen too much more. I appreciate everyone's comments and help on this piece, I can tell I'v improved since the first try for sure. I'll be sure to pay more attention to details throughout my influences and such. I set out to make a decent looking swordfish sprite and it's been accomplished.. I may or may not continue working on this at a later date, I don't think the background really matters for this piece.
Finale:

Thanks for all the C&C, its the best way to improve.

Fetus

[FaeryShivers]

Yeah, listen to Camus and follow your own intuition rather than listen to others.

-mind explodes while thinking about that statement-

Listen to camus and follow your own intuition rather than listen to others..
listen to...camus.....follow your own intuition.....ahhhhhhh!!!

But yes, people here often have a habit of falling into the "style critique" trap.
They want to become better so much that they latch on to anyones comments that
is remotely good. Sometimes they're helpful comments that help the person develop their
own style..and sometimes they're "personal taste" critiques. I try not to comment on peoples palettes unless the shade colors
don't go really well with the base color because I know my palette is usually low sat, I prefer it most of the time  but many people
do not.

It takes most people awhile, but they'll usually want to break into their own style eventually.
It gets frustrating doing a particular style all the time, especially if its not your "own." When I show people my
portfolio they tend to end up wanting the exact same style that every client before them wanted. x_x
Can't argue with the demand though.

Well fatal, you've come a long way in a short time. I know you were struggling and I wish I had time back then
to help you more but you know how my schedule is. I look forward to your next piece.