[WIP] an Old King

[samw3]

Hello, this is an old king for a simple 16x16 style rpg project.  He'll be used in the intro sequence.

C+C please about the form and lighting and such.  I rather suck at larger pieces so this is a stretch for me and I'm eager to learn.  He's wearing a breastplate under one of those capes with the fuzzy edges.  He will eventually be holding a staff in his hand.  Thanks for any help in advance!

EDIT: Some more updates.. I'm almost embarrassed to leave the first one there, but I will.  I was reading through some posts and saw EvilEye's comment about mirroring your art to get another perspective.  Great idea!  Still looking for comments and critiques.  I'll be working more on it.

EDIT: I guess that's what I get for posting at 5am board time.   Cleaned things up a bit and played around.  Still looking for c+c.

Sam

Oldest -----> Newest

[skamocore]

I made an edit - it mainly focuses on colour (I didn't really attempt to change much else), I have reduced your image down from 37 colours to 13:



Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a programmer right? It comes through in your pixel art. I think your colours are very literal, as in red is red; grey is grey. I think you should attempt to play around with different hues and generally experiment with colours. Sometimes what's best is to not just go with the most logical or obvious colour choices. A lot of the time when choosing colours for a pixel art piece there isn't one correct colour; often getting the 'right' colour takes a lot of experimenting and tweeking.

Also, some of your colours are very saturated, this is problematic especially in his skin colours.

[samw3]

First off, that you much for the edit.  Not sure why you removed his eyebrows.

Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a programmer right?

Not when I post here.   Here, I'm a budding artist that enjoys saturated colors.  (Seems like whenever I post here I get spanked for my use of color )

But actually, I consider it a complement that you didn't have anything to say about lighting and form.  I'm working on structure right now, but I'll keep your palette choice in mind.

I do like how it looks like an old photo, though it's not particularly regal.

Thanks!

[Jad]

There's a bit of general wonkiness in the whole piece that I feel you should address before going farther with this. Like for example the crown, I get both the feeling that the peaks are unevenly aligned somewhat, plus that the front side and back side are both completely different looking.

Furthermore, some things just feel off. The light is coming from our right but the torso LOOKS shaded from the front (even if it's shadowed by the cape, the impression's still there)

You should use shading to define shapes and detail a bit more since you're not going with outlines. Let's see some more shading in his face, put some of those darker shades on his left(ourright) side so it looks more clear. Also some more symmetry would be nice, after all a king should have a competent barber, so make sure it's even and symmetrical.

That and ... Maybe fuzz up the fuzzy brim a bit so we get that it's furry!

...


I dunno what to say more! I hope I'm not coming across as too harsh or anything, cause I really think this one has potential, and already looks nice. Also please do check out skamocore's edit - on my screen it looks almost monochrome, but in all it's dullness it's much easier on the eyes than the signal red you've got going on, so work some on that too!

Good luck!

[samw3]

Jad, thanks a bunch for your comments.  Very constructive for me.

I hope I didn't come across as being unappreciative.  I've learned a bunch already.  I'm working on it more now and will post an update in a little bit.

[Corsair]

First off, that you much for the edit.  Not sure why you removed his eyebrows.

Not when I post here.   Here, I'm a budding artist that enjoys saturated colors.  (Seems like whenever I post here I get spanked for my use of color )!

The eyebrows so you can actually see his eyes. there's no need to remove them entirely but moving them up 2 or 3 pixels wouldn't hurt.

Also, there's a pretty big difference between using saturated colors, and using straight ramps from the MSpaint palette (which are generally accepted, and at least in my opinion, difficult to look at.) Following his edit, darker shades should be "cooler" and lighter shades should be "warmer" this is especially true of grey shades since without *some* color variation, straight grey is a pretty boring color to use.

And skamocore is right about the *number* of colors used, 37 is way too many.

[samw3]

Ah, I understand.  I'll give that a try too.

[samw3]

Ok, here's an update.  Sink your teeth in..

@Jad How's the crown?  Less wonky?  I'm still not sure what to do with the breastplate..  Is it any better?
@skamoco How does the palette look?

I'm still looking for more suggestions.

Thanks a bunch!

[samw3]

Ok, I've added his staff, went with a gold crown, did a little more work on the breastplate and upped the contrast a bit.

Critiques?



EDIT: Finally cleaned up the palette after finding out about GrafX2.  I've got it down to 24.  Should I reduce it further?  Any tips on doing that?  Thanks!

[Jad]

Since there's a pretty harsh side-lighting in this picture, why not add a white specular on his crown? Also to improve shininess, try to come up with a way to render it without dithering - it makes the surface look rough.