[WIP] Deer Goddess

[MashPotato]

Hi, first post, glad to be here ^_^
I would appreciate some advice as to how to improve the picture I'm currently working on.  As you can see from the pencil lines it's still a WIP... besides adding the birds and background, I still have to fix up the dress on our bottom right (which I forgot to do before posting here  ).
I'm a pixel newbie, so any advice is appreciated... for example, I was thinking of putting some AA between the figure and the background, but is that necessary?
Thanks ^_^


22 colours so far (not including pencil lines)




Latest image:



Final image: http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/19948.htm

[Sharm]

You're new to pixeling?  I ... don't know if I believe you.  This is very good.  I can't help much, but some of your larger curves aren't smoothed out.  They go from a 45 degree line to flat with nothing inbetween.



I didn't change much, just a few pixels on those larger curves.

[MashPotato]

Thank you Sharm; I fixed a few of the curves on the vines and the antlers, let me know if I missed any ^_^


26 colours including background

Added the birds in, but still need to fix up that dress a bit... if I kept the same general colour scheme for the background as it now, does the foreground disappear into the background too much? 
Thanks ^_^

[Fool]

Designwise I would give her a human hands - deer's are just useless in such symbiosis. Nice work=)

[Sharm]

Thank you Sharm; I fixed a few of the curves on the vines and the antlers, let me know if I missed any ^_^

It looks about the same... oh!  I see what you did.  There's still some problems with the vines.  You've got the darkest line with the right curve, but your lighter color defeats everything you did.  The vines on the lower left side are the best example.  Because of the way you AA'd it, it's implying strait lines.  If you zoom in on my edit, you should be able to see what I did to fix it.

I think the background colors are fine.

[vellan]

one of the biggest issues i have with this image is how tough it is to pick out the chracter from the background.

The image itself is great, but i gets so lost that i have to squint and lean in to make it out. Make the background nice and dark and simple, let the character pop.

Past that i think there are far too many things drawing my attention/eye away from what should be the focus of the character.

[MashPotato]

Thanks for the replies ^_^

Fool: haha, true, and I did originally draw her normal hands, but I'm kind of attached to the hooves now... I think it makes her look a bit more interesting ^_^

Sharm: oh, now I gotcha!  I'm fiddling with the aa right now, so I'll be sure to pay attention to what you pointed out.

Vellan: the fading foreground was one of my worries... I'll be changing around the background colours, I think to paler tones.  A darker background (at least the one I tried) didn't work too well, the dark browns seemed to fade even more.  As for the crowding issue, I see what you mean.  I moved the top-right bird further out and I think it really helped with that.

I will post an update later today, thanks again ^_^

[MashPotato]

I apologize for the double-post...

latest version:

I hope I have addressed the issues brought up ^_^
I'm still working on the background, and haven't refined it yet.  I want to keep it simple and non-intrusive, am I on the right track?
Thanks ^_^

EDIT: final image: http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixelart/19948.htm