Trudging through the snow

[cels]

I hope someone can help me out with this winter wonderland pixel art.

All feedback would be welcome, but I'm particularly interested in two things:

1) Which is better for the composition: small running girl or large running girl? I will fix the background to create a little space around her, as needed, so it's not as cluttered.

2) Is the pose dynamic enough? Does it induce enough panic? I wanted to have her clutching her stomach as if injured, but then the pose looked too static. Ideally, I want the viewer to have a slight concern for her safety.

Thanks!

[Ma3vis]

Third option looks the best from my perspective

[cels]

Thanks. Just goes to prove that bigger is better.

[Joe]

This looks really cool.

What stands out to me is that the guy in the back blends in too much, and also placing him at the same level as the trees skews the surrounding perspective. Unless he is really large, but he does not come across that way.

So here is a rough edit for positioning that also increases urgency.

[cels]

Thanks for the feedback and the edit, I appreciate it! 

Now, both the things you point out were intentional. In the case of him blending in too much, I used the same colors as the background so that he wouldn't immediately pop. I wanted the viewer's eye to be drawn first to the red structure, the woman and then start to look for the danger. Maybe even follow the trail. So in this case, I don't think I want to bring him totally out of the woods. I haven't fully decided though. Maybe it creates more urgency to have him in the open, as you say.

In the case of his height, he was definitely supposed to be really large. I tried to communicate this with the trees, the fences and the buildings, but it's tricky with this perspective, the snow and the lack of human-made items. If I could put him next to a chair, a car or a banana for scale, it would be easier. So I'm not sure how to solve it, because I definitely don't want him human sized. It's a giant. But I don't want the viewer thinking I got the scale wrong, which I totally understand is the immediate reaction. Do I add more stuff to show the scale better, or move stuff around? I don't know.

EDIT:

[SeinRuhe]

Holy mother of pixels Cels, this looks utterly cinematographic and nice!

Seems like I arrived really late at the party but I do have one critique on the pose of the girl that may also make a the thing following her more noticeable.

If you make her on a trip-like pose, looking backwards like she's worried of keeping track of something behind her and hunching in pain this may make the composition feel more like a "run for your life" than a "walk away from something that hurts you". And you can move the wound to her stomach like you first had in mind!



The rest is top notch, I was blown away by the scene <3

[cels]

Hey SeinRuhe, thanks for the nice words!

I did do some more work on the girl, but I'm still open to change so I will look for some useful references that can help me increase the desperation and panic. I'm sensing it will be tricky (will have to google 'woman in pain' in incognito mode  ) but watch this space and I'll see if I can come up with a good alternative. The party isn't over yet.

For now, here's what I've been doing earlier today.



EDIT: On closer inspection, I really like the pose you did. Just took me a while to get it. 

[cels]

Spamming this thread with a little progress update.



She's not about to keel over, but she does manage to look behind her a little. Maybe she looks too strong, not injured enough.

[SeinRuhe]

Hmmmmm a strong independent woman <3, indeed she may look a bit like she's going to turn around and slap the **** out of the thing chasing her. Still, I do think this direction suits more the scene, gives a bit more inclusion to the horrid thing behind her

[cels]

Thanks! You're right though, it may not be as terrifying this way. Then again, my gf will be happy that I pixelled independent woman, since I made her pose as my model. 

[Limes]

The houses in the midground look far too small. IMO.