[WIP] Tactics. Again.

[Amon]

There have been a few lately I know, but i've been working on one of my own.

The process:


MUCH thanks to Adarias' wireframe example used on the other thread.  I wouldn't have got anywhere without it.

What I have now:


And what my issue is, is how the arms are turning out.  My aim for this is a slimmer kind of Tactics sprite than what's usually done, so I don't really want to make them a whole lot wider, but I don't like how it looks right now, so i'd appreciate it if I could get some different examples.  Also, if there's anything else that could be improved I'd like to hear about it.

Thanks.

[Xion]

Well you've got the iso guideline for the feet but you're not following it. 
The head looks kind of alien-like (eyes far apart, back of head concave).
Cool so far. I don't see what the problem is with the arms.

[Ryumaru]

the foot that doesnt follow the guideline is meant to be behind him, i think xion.

[MoD]

Is he supposed to be thrusting his crotch forward?

I don't think the arms really need work; you didn't describe specifically what you don't like about them and I don't see anything screwed up there.

I think you do need to work on straightening his back a bit and giving him a more natural pose, though. Right now, it looks very... awkward.

[InvaderLupus]

That's a really awkward pose. I took a look at some of your previous work real quick and noticed that you tend to pixel characters in the same pose, with the same point of a view. I can tell you have a subconscious tendency to do so, as it looks as if you've attempted to pixel the same pose with this sprite, but then changed the legs to be in an isometric point of view. This makes it look like he's thrusting out his crotch and bending back a bit.

[Larwick]

WOah woah, what's wrong with the crotch thrusting pose everyone? I think it's a nice exaggeration... perhaps a bit too much, because his body merges with his farthest arm. But i quite like it.

[Amon]

Heh, kinda funny no one thought much of the arm.  But from my point of view they just seemed rough.  I didn't describe what I didn't like because... I really didn't know what I didn't like about it.  Just that I didn't like how they came out.  Well I went and "defined" (If you wanna call it that) the muscles on it alittle bit, straightened out the pose, and adjusted the head.  As for the eyes, I really don't know where to put them while preserving the direction he should be looking and making it look good at the same time.  I gave it a shot on the right side, which was the attempt I thought came out best but im not 100% sure about it.

I took a look at some of your previous work real quick and noticed that you tend to pixel characters in the same pose, with the same point of a view. I can tell you have a subconscious tendency to do so

Got that from the 3 things I actually posted?  That's actually an interesting observation.

[ndchristie]

my first thought is to give him ears to round out the head, that will make him look a lot nicer.

my second is that if you want skinny to work, youll want to go larger, or use a complex png file so that you can AA the lines, otherwise its just going to look messy.  Working larger has multiple benefits, not only can you fit slimmer characters, but larger files are much easier to draw.  also, the individual pixels count for much less in a larger animated piece, simply because there are so many more of them (although mistakes are still shockingly obvious!)

this is a piece that i did a few months ago for a project I'd love to pursue some year from now.  The character is starlingly cliche, but this is just to show a size that i find ideal because it is not too large but large enough to show detail and get the skinniness you desire.