Face Study

[Obsidantion]

Hello, I've made a character portrait for a game and I'm in need of some pixelling tips. Please comment, I really value the help here.

Portrait:
       Original:                  Latest:


Sprite:
 Original:    Latest:


P.S. I need an idea for a generic background to go with any portrait, like a pattern or something that doesn't distract from the character.

[tocky]

 Nothing really seems to fit properly. It gives the impression is of a mask with a wig stuffed in, because there's no illusion of depth. The hat looks a bit slug-shaped, and doesn't seem to fit the head. All the anatomy's a bit off mark.


I say give him an ear to make him less maskey (not like mine, though, it's terrible. Actually look at a picture of an ear while you do it, like I didn't, and it'll shape up a lot better), change the shading to give him more depth, and change the shape of the hat to fit his head. At first I thought the eyes were placed wrong, but I haven't moved them. I did move the far side of his face in, though. I also changed the feather - I think it ought to be more round. If you want to make it fluffy, try to do do that with shading. Breaking up the edges compromises its featheryness.

[Obsidantion]

Hey, Excellent edit! Thank you so much.
I tried to answer all your crits in this update. Don't know if the feather looks any good though.



(Your character is much more attractive, I think because he has a thinner and more defined face. I would like to be able to pull that off)

[philipptr]

I just made this very very quick edit (in paint) to show you how some AA could further improve your piece (didnt touch shadin/anatomy/colors)

[Obsidantion]

Good stuff, AA. I made him slightly more heroic looking and added a bg.



Please comment =)

-Edit-
Moved the ear back to look more anatomically correct

[Arachne]

What sort of character is he? To me, he looks a bit too young to be a hero (if that's what you're going for) and more like a troubadour.

[Ryan Cordel]

What sort of character is he? To me, he looks a bit too young to be a hero (if that's what you're going for) and more like a troubadour.

Goku was very young and yet he was still a hero. o.o

[Obsidantion]

I guess he's like link from zelda (I'll think about who he's going to be).
Here's a sprite of him as part of an anim that is yet to be made, could use a lot of help.
(If you would like me to make the walking animation before, I will)

[Fizz]

Make his stance less stiff, arms looser and his shoulder lower, unless he likes to walk like a dinosaur.

[tocky]

You've got sort of a mechanical/geometric/symmetrical thing going, which, while common enough (especially in isometric pixels), is kind of wrong for drawing people. People should be organic, curvey, and asymmetrical - leaning more one one foot than the other, shoulders very slightly opposed to hips, and so on. He's too straight, basically, too precisely vertical. I'll see what I can do with an edit, though I'm on shakier ground here than with faces. I like this tutorial (well, the second page, mostly) for drawing bodies - though it's hard to pull off at this scale, in any case. I think this is why so many games use chibi/bloboid sprites.

[Obsidantion]

Tocky: I really like how you've given the character more personality with that stance, more agile and a tiny bit awkward which I really like, thanks again. Here's what I came up with from that:



5 frames (4 of walking) and 1 of an idle, standing stance. I want the walking to be pretty quick maybe even a run but probably not as fast a frame rate as I have now. Feel free to criticize, I don't mind changing anything, including the 4-frame structure of the animation if you have a better suggestion. (The ankle bits are kind of rubbish I know. Oh and I will change the light source to downward facing again so that the shadowing is easier on other items in the game).

I quite like the idea of trying out 8 directions of movement, may try that.

Fizz: Hope he looks better, the walking is fairly stiff but it may have to be if I'm going to try the diagonals as well to define the direction more clearly, I dunno.

Comments please

[TrevoriuS]

Slow down the frames, you dont walk that fast

What angle does your light come from? You must note that the boots angle and light changes on torso and legs when they move and change position.
Now you just amde legs longer or shorter, not minding the feet positions or shading changes.

[Stefano]

I've spent more time than I should on this (30 min) but anyway, here's my edit.
I guess I probably have changed the sprite than I should, but when I first looked at it I thought that maybe giving this guy a more pronounced facial "topography" should look more natural. Meaning: I've pushed the eye sockets and mouth into the head and pulled the nose out, so it would look more protruded. I have also changed the hair to a less puffy volume, with more apparent individual hair clusters.

Additionally I gave him eyebrows and adjusted the highlight color to a less bright tone.



Again: I've changed more than I should. Sorry. 

[Arachne]

Ooh, I love that edit, Stefano.

Now, it takes more than adjusting the length of the legs to make a decent walking animation. As the legs move back and forth, you need to shade them accordingly.



frame 1: right leg bent; highlight on thigh, shin in shadow
frame 2: right leg highlighted, lengthened. left leg shortened and in shadow
frame 3: left leg bent, etc

[ndchristie]

These keyframes, as they are called, are the most basic and most important parts of even a simple walk animation.  There are two contact frames when the foot makes contact with the ground, and between them on both sides is a passing frame when, you guessed it, the feet pass each other.

In the front, these frames translate into something like this:



Now, this example has more extreme perspective and is highly exaggerated (though not as much as you might think); it's a pretty regular walk for a model, placing one foot directly in line with the next.  While most people do not walk with this much inwards motion of the step, there is a good deal of it even in a normal, relaxed step.  Note also the bend of the knees and elbows, and the swinging of the hips and shoulders.  Yours is a lot like a robot at the moment, adding in these simple motions will help you greatly.

[Obsidantion]

Arachne & Adarias: Thank you very much, very useful info. I shall update soon.

Please help me on how I should understand and learn from Stefano's amasing edit (I'm very confused and all I can manage is to copy it pixel for pixel).

[TrevoriuS]

Wait you say 30 mins is too much time spent on something?!

[Faceless]

Arachne & Adarias: Thank you very much, very useful info. I shall update soon.

Please help me on how I should understand and learn from Stefano's amasing edit (I'm very confused and all I can manage is to copy it pixel for pixel).

Look at the shape of the mouth and eyes. Look at the way the face curves in at the eyes, and out again to form a brow. Observe where he used outlines and where he relied on shading to convery shape. Most of all, go on google and find yourself copious references of the structure of the human face. Look at skulls, look at muscle cross-sections, or whatever helps you to better understand the shape of the human face. Pay close attention to the way light acts on the human face while you're at it.

[ndchristie]

30 minutes is typically considered time for a full edit; oftentimes a quick sketch is enough to push the person in the right direction, but more extensive feedback does of coures have its place.  I think this particular 30 minutes was well spent by Stefano.

[Feron]

Please help me on how I should understand and learn from Stefano's amasing edit (I'm very confused and all I can manage is to copy it pixel for pixel).

You have been presented with an excellent edit which, i assume, is near exactly how you wanted the piece to look, and the temptation to copy or even (as I have often felt) give-up is quite stong.   However either of these two temptations will teach you nothing.  I expect that you have your own piece side by side with the edit and keep thinking how to improve, but without copying.  This is bad, as your piece will only end up like a worse-off version of stefano's and will also be in the style of stefano. 

What i suggest is studying faces in general, to see how light falls and forms are created etc....  After that spend between 10 and 30 mins looking at the edit perhaps making notes of the techniques used to convey the knowlege of fascial structure.  I would then return to your piece without looking at the edit and continue working on it with your own style and ideas in mind.  It will be a good excersise as you will get used to pixelling without reference, aswell as helping you understand the techniques you are applying.

I have spent countless hours studying thousands of pieces, and i think it helps as you begin to recognise how the pixels work together to build up the image.

Good luck, looking forward to the coming edits as there are some very helpful posts in this thread.  If you play your cards right - it might eventually get featured!

[Stefano]

First, I'm glad you guys liked my edit.  I still think it's a bit too much time for something just meant to show a few techniques (and as Feron have mentioned, one might feel discouraged to go on. But it's so much fun! ).
Although is good to know that an artist I respect thinks 1/2 hour is cool.

Obsidantion: I don't think you should worry about gobbling it all up at once, but IMHO you should start with:

1. (in this case) researching the human anatomy.
----Google for resources and remember you own one of these! Stand in front of the mirror and move your head so you can understand how muscle/fat/bones show on the surface of your skin. Then how light affects it.

2. Pixeling techniques (videos: this topic have helped me a great deal in the last weeks of learning)
----a. coloring -> This is THE place to learn. Adarias, Helm, Arachne... many topics covering the art of picking a good palette. Check this out!
----a. AA -> there are some seriously cool topics on this subject, right here on the forums! Derek Yu did a great job explaining this.
----b. shading -> When I was starting, I used to render basic 3D volumes/light sources, oppening the image on photoshop and turn it into pixel art without tracing or using the eyedropper tool. Again, Derek yu explains how to use dither.

Anyway: be patient, grasshopper. Try not to get too frustrated and keep practicing, because none of the best artists I know learned everything within a week.

Cheers!
-Stefano

[Obsidantion]

I feel both inspired and overwhelmed! But I shall try my best!
Here's what I've been doing:


The 2 smaller images are references (the lower is a contrasted version of the upper to pick out shadow).
It took me 40 mins to draw my version (I use a laptop pad with no mouse if it's relevent to say).

Would it be okay if I used this thread to post my studies of the human face (it might litter it up a bit) so I can get feedback?

Thank you everyone for your help, I am truly grateful! Pixelation is a wonderful thing!

(P.S. I have already visited all those links (and downloaded all the videos) Stefano but I will study them all in depth so that I may now understand things I didn't have experience of the first time.)

[AdamAtomic]

you're very welcome to continue posting face studies in this thread!  i think you'll find that working with a tablet will remove some of the technical or time-related barriers you may be bumping up against.  You can get a nice refurbed wacom for under $100, and it is money VERY well-spent!  keep at it!

[Obsidantion]

AdamAtomic: I'll stick to my touch pad for now, but in the future I'll remember your suggestion "refurb wacom", thanks.

I gave myself 60 mins to draw, each frame in the WIP is a 10 minute interval.

   Reference:

   One Hour Elapsed:                        WIP Animation:

[Obsidantion]

Another 1 hour face study:


Please comment if you have any thoughts, techniques or exercises I could do to help me improve, Thanks.
Quite a long way to go yet.

[Faceless]

I wouldn't use 3d models as references.

[Obsidantion]

Faceless: Is that because the lighting is artificial?

20 minutes:

[fil_razorback]

I think it's because the guy who made the 3D face could not make it perfect. Therefore you'd be learning from a source with mistakes.

[Xion]

The nose in your latest looks a bit bulbous and pretty huge.
Keep at it though, and don't forget to pay attention to the generalities that can be applied when you work without a reference, such as the proportions and form. Make sure you're not just trying to copy it as well as you can, you know?

[Obsidantion]

Xion: I am having trouble with proportions but I get what you mean about making the picture look correct from memory rather then reference because I am aiming to make my art look good and not necessarily a precise copy of anything.

1 hour:


If you want, posting your own face studies here would be great help

[Feron]

all you seem to be doing is copying different faces.... how about some of your own creations without reference.

[Delgneith]

all you seem to be doing is copying different faces.... how about some of your own creations without reference.

Good point though I think a reference is ok for anatomy reasons just don't copy as it may not help you think why stuff is where it is. Secondly these studies are not really pixel art. More painted with the pencil tool.

[Obsidantion]

I agree, it would be good practice to not have a reference as it would force me to remember what I have learned for the outcome to be any good. I was getting a bit worried that these posts weren't right for pixelation as it's more about improving single pieces here. Could I ask if anyone knows a site that would offer critique that this kind of quick practice stuff would be better suited for (I was thinking something like www.conceptart.org). Cheers.

Oh ps Arachne & Adarias offered some info earlier for the sprites that this thread was original for but I didn't get to updating it, just wanted to say thanks for the help and it will definitely come in use for many other sprites I'll make in the future.

[ptoing]

Just wanted to say that the walkthingy Adarias posted there is VERY feminine. It's essentially a catwalk kinda stride and not how most people, let alone men would walk in every day life