[WIP] - Bear in flowery meadow

[SirBilly]

I'm quite satisfied how the head looks like so far, and Ive got a fairly good idea what this is going to look like when finished.
I want to hear what you think about it in general before I put too much effort on doing details.
I'm thinking about perhaps hide his legs behind some high grass, because I'm not really sure how to make them. And his arm, is the grabbing fist alright?

Would really appreciate your criticism on this! Thanks guys!

[greenalchemist]

Looking alright so far, for the most part. As for the 'grabbing fist', it either needs to be a little tighter around the flower, or the flower stem needs to be further in her/his paw; just move it to the right a little, or something along those lines. Also, the darkest shading along the head doesn't make sense to me. It's following a flower petal pattern, but no other shadows are doing that. Is his head petaled on the sides in some way?

Lastly, it this based on Gloomy?

[SirBilly]

The updated grabbing paw:



I must say that they look a like, I took the idea after searching for "bear", and it might have been Gloomy I got my inspiration from since they look a Lot like eachoter. And the flower petal pattern, it was meant to look a little like this:


This is perhaps a bad exaple but I think you know what I mean. But  mabye I shouldnt mix the shading with the tigerish stripes?
Thought it would give him a cute touch.

Thanks! 

[SirBilly]

He looked too much Gloomy that I decided to do a whole new one.
This is what I came up with so far, so please crit this one instead. Thanks to greenalchemist fot noticing too!

[greenalchemist]

I'm glad you found it useful, though I do feel bad that you had to change the whole face :x

As for the new face, I like where it's going so far. Maybe put a little more space between the eyes, and definitely color the nose, black or otherwise. The paw is an improvement as well, by the way. Though this may be a little irrelevant, I also liked it better when the bear was looking up and to the right a little more; it gave it an interesting, contemplative/melancholy look, and gave her/him a little more personality.

[SirBilly]

Two different edits, both are facing a bit more to the right

[Emtch]

Jpged!
The eyes need more volume.

[greenalchemist]

Yes, I definitely like that tilted head look. I think I like the one on the left more, with the small line for the mouth. But I also like the nose of the one on the right more.

This isn't so much a suggestion as pointing out something - the bear on the right, her/his smaller eye is slightly blurred, making it look almost square. Have you thought about taking his eyes in that direction?

I know you said you didn't want to put too much detail into the bear yet, but I want to make a comment on the shading, anyways. I think it would really benefit the picture if you applied some dithering. I'm still quite a novice with pixel art, so I don't know if dithering is general avoided or what, but I think the shading you have is a little too solid, and dithering is the only technique I know as of now that combats that. You may have already been thinking of doing it, but just in case, I thought I'd suggest it. Here's an edit I did, with some dithering applied (though not very skillfully), along with an edit to the nose, making it a copy of the bear on the right's nose.

And yes, you should probably switch your image file to .png or .gif.

[Gil]

I definately like the version without dither better. I dunno, dither hardly ever works on a piece this big IMO.

It has lots more character with the new face, liking it!

[SirBilly]

Jpged!
The eyes need more volume.

Ops, I thought I made it transparent already, that's why I uploaded in Gif.

Yes, I definitely like that tilted head look. I think I like the one on the left more, with the small line for the mouth. But I also like the nose of the one on the right more.

This isn't so much a suggestion as pointing out something - the bear on the right, her/his smaller eye is slightly blurred, making it look almost square. Have you thought about taking his eyes in that direction?

I know you said you didn't want to put too much detail into the bear yet, but I want to make a comment on the shading, anyways. I think it would really benefit the picture if you applied some dithering. I'm still quite a novice with pixel art, so I don't know if dithering is general avoided or what, but I think the shading you have is a little too solid, and dithering is the only technique I know as of now that combats that. You may have already been thinking of doing it, but just in case, I thought I'd suggest it. Here's an edit I did, with some dithering applied (though not very skillfully), along with an edit to the nose, making it a copy of the bear on the right's nose.

And yes, you should probably switch your image file to .png or .gif.

I definately like the version without dither better. I dunno, dither hardly ever works on a piece this big IMO.

It has lots more character with the new face, liking it!

Heres an update with a dithered version aswell:

[Dr D]

I can't say I liked green's dither version either, but I do really like that one, it makes him look soft and fluffy. 

[SirBilly]

I've started on the body, making teddybear legs is quite some puzzle. Anyway, heres a dithered version of my edit aswell. Should I go with cell shading or dithering? If I add another colour to him the dithering will look more complete, and the large light-pink-purple areas will decrease wich will give him more depth.

Helping me with the legs is very appreciated!

Thanks a lot for helping a stranger

[thedaemon]

I like both versions, and actually prefer the dithered one. Not sure why though.  I would add a color/shade to the muzzle though. Right now it feels left out having no color to it what so ever. Perhaps a blue.

[SirBilly]

I like both versions, and actually prefer the dithered one. Not sure why though.  I would add a color/shade to the muzzle though. Right now it feels left out having no color to it what so ever. Perhaps a blue.

I was waiting for someone to bring this up, I've had problems picking out a colour for it, but I think he fits in a brighter colour. But I'll try pick a nice colour for him without using too many colours.

Thanks for helping out!

[robotacon]

I like the dithered version.
It gives the bear texture which is the only time I personally prefer dithering.

[Gil]

Excellent dithering skills! That does look good.

The belly dither needs some loving though, it lacks the smooth feel of the head dither...

[thedaemon]

Excellent dithering skills! That does look good.

The belly dither needs some loving though, it lacks the smooth feel of the head dither...

I agree. Perhaps bringing the two high contrasting color in contact on the belly would be nice?

[SirBilly]

Thanks a lot, actually I'm very new to dithering but I've been practising almost every day.

Anyway, I think the problem here is the highligt area on the belly, on the cell shaded one. I'm not really sure where it should be, it looks off even before I started dithering.




Belly looks misplaced

[thedaemon]

The direction of the light on the head is different than the belly. Make sure you think about volume and where the light is coming from. I did a quick paintover of an idea. It might help you.