RPG Battle Sprite (with paste-on expressions) [WIP]

[Bissle]

I've spent three days on-and-off working on this sprite for a game.  I'm not really pleased with it, especially the skirt; it looks like a hot satin-y mess, heh.
The facial expressions... well, I don't know what to make of them.

I'm looking forward to any C+C I can get! Thanks in advance! 

Edit: My progress-- Oldest --> Latest

[ndchristie]

so far as i can tell, the perspective is a bit strange for a sprite, even a battle sprite.  try to pick a relatively narrow range of view and keep the figure in it.

also you're losing some colors, at least your darkest shade, and i'm not sure how or why but it's terribly strange :O

[Bissle]

Thanks, Tuna Unleashed.

ndchristie: Hmm, I'm not quite sure what you mean about the perspective problem. Could you elaborate?

Thanks for bringing up the color issue--I messed up when picking a transparent color. Though unfortunately, the skirt always looked like that! Me and clothing folds don't mix, it seems. It's supposed to be wrapped around her waist, but it almost reminds me of a snake's underbelly. I'm hoping someone can help me with that. 

[ndchristie]

there's your piece, which has fairly obvious perspective going on (except in the sideview face) and next to it i've drawn one without proper perspective, which sits more firmly in this space.  Best advice is probably something between the two.

on the cloth note, i'm not an expert but i tend to let clothing fall in a downward fashion with some basic indicators of movement (diagonals) and very little else.  The important thing rather than the folds is the form, which once that's established dictates most of your lines anyway.

[AlexWeldon]

Her upper lip is too dark - resembles a moustache.

The folds on the clothes are wrong because they're all the same size... you'd only see cloth rippled like that if it was lying on a flat surface. When it's hanging, you get longer, more parabolic folds down the middle, and small ones around the edges and at the top. It takes practice, though, especially if you're not using a reference... there's a reason why one of the things they make you do in fine art classes is to draw a sheet hanging on the wall, or draped over a chair, or whatever. Here's a study I did when I took a drawing class. It might help you a bit.

Edit: Also, I think ndchristie is right, that with a skirt wrapped around the waist like that, you'd get more folds running vertically than horizontally.

[Bissle]

ndchristie: Ah, I see what you mean about the perspective.

Keeping to a firm line of perspective will make it easier to animate and make poses, but as the battle system is turned based, so assumedly that won't be as much of a concern than if it were say, action where constant movement would be a given.  But like you said, a happy medium would be best, I'm redoing her lower body to make it more consistent than her upper body.

Good advice on clothing folds, too, and an informative edit to boot.  I'm referencing it in my redo. 

AlexWeldon: That's actually the base of her nose--I was thinking the darker lines would have that effect. I took your advice and used a lighter shade, it looks good that, but it takes away a little definition from her face that I think it needs. I dunno.

Gah, yeah, the folds on the skirt sucks. I've been studying this stuff for the past year and I still can't get the hang of it. Very nice study; I'll be sure to use it.

Right now I'm redrawing the legs from scratch in order to get the "forms" better. Here's a WIP so far.



Is this any better? I tried to address some of the issues. I'm hoping to have a presentable version in the next 48 hours. 

[AlexWeldon]

Yes, I've noticed that one of the greatest challenges in pixel art is balancing definition vs. smoothness, especially in faces. For me, in my last project, it was a problem with eyes. If I made them too white, the characters had that wide-eyed, surprised look... but when I made them darker, the characters just looked like they didn't have eyes at all. I guess that's part of the reason anime style is so popular in pixel art... by making all the features either really giant or really tiny, you avoid the problem.

Anyway, she looks better now. Maybe you need the darker pixels at the side of the nose, rather than under it? I don't know. They definitely look okay at the side of the mouth... its just when they're above it that it really looks like a moustache.

[ndchristie]

alex- be aware that you are working on a flat model with only two hanging points.  clothing, on the other hand, is much more complicated than that and can exhibit a million different manners of falling and folding.

in general though yeah vertical weight and motion is a plus.

nose line does read as a mustache to me

[Jad]

This is worthless critique (from a mod? NO WAI) But I just want to express that her expression reads badly for me, I simply can't decipher what the heck she's supposed to be thinking. That smile right there is downright ferocious. Over all the feeling of the piece/sprite makes me wonder.

What do you want this character to convey? Who and what is she?

[AlexWeldon]

alex- be aware that you are working on a flat model with only two hanging points.  clothing, on the other hand, is much more complicated than that and can exhibit a million different manners of falling and folding.

in general though yeah vertical weight and motion is a plus.

Of course... I just meant it to illustrate the fact that you're not going to get a bunch of evenly spaced horizontal ripples on a piece of cloth that's hanging vertically.