[WIP] the Cat has a Gun

[mawk]

the cat. smaller one is the prospective size ingame. the lineart ones are just there for no particular reason -- they're older versions, and they're not particularly useful as far as extra insight goes. also the one on the far left looks kind of like gameboy mewtwo

slight edit. fixed some things that were bothering me in regards to the ears, and tried rethinking the shading on the windbreaker a little. still not really satisfied with the windbreaker, though.

fully scratch, palettes are full custom. intended colour scheme is cool, slightly muted tone as seen in games like Cave Story. I probably still have a lot of work to do on the palette to accomplish that. the gun is a nondescript black block because at the moment it's just a placeholder. I'm focusing on refining this cat and finishing the myriad poses before I start work on the various guns he'll use. as far as his hand position goes, he's supposed to be holding the butt and trigger with his left hand, while his right cradles the barrel from underneath. I'm not sure how decent a job I've done of portraying this, though. also, the two sets of two-pixel diagonal lines on the lower half of the windbreaker are supposed to be pockets -- I've definitely botched that bit, though.

first and foremost I'd like input on the windbreaker's shading and palette, since that's what seems the most messy to me after a quick glance. general comments on other points, amateur mistakes I've made, etc. are also more than welcome.

I'd also like to hear some input on what I should do with his eyes. the eyes-closed look isn't quite working for me -- I'd like to have his eyes open, but the things I've tried either made him look clueless (the single-pixel eyedots of the lineart on the far right) or angry. I'd like to see what my options are for a simply neutral expression.

and thanks in advance for whatever advice you have.

[Dyble]

the only things I really see is the tail should maybe be held up a bit not draging behind him
And its a tad hard to see the arm against the jacket.

[mawk]

the tail does look a bit too bolt-straight, yeah. I don't plan on actually curling it to point upwards, because that'd look kind of weird for a cat, but I'll try to make it more of a curve than a straight line.

as far as the arm and jacket goes, that's part of why I posted. I can't and won't use dark outlines to separate pieces of a sprite (unless it makes sense in terms of light and shadow,) so I gotta rely on highlights and that sort of thing to set different parts apart. any advice you have on how to better distinguish the arm of the windbreaker would be appreciated.

I've changed one or two inconsequential things in the last couple of hours. I'll post it up soon -- it really doesn't change anything in terms of critique, though. just fixed the ears a little and took a shot at curving the tail.

[Dyble]

A slightly darker line might help define the arm, But you said you didn't want darker line inless its a shadow

this is what it would look like if you did add a darker line

[mawk]

But you said you didn't want darker line inless its a shadow

and I meant it. there is a way to distinguish the arm, but it's not drawing a fourth shade over top of the highlights near the top of the sleeve.

slightly updated version is up.

[Ichigo Jam]

I think the arm readability might be helped by putting in more indication of an elbow - your version looks a bit like his arm curves smoothly from wrist to shoulder to me.

Also, a possible way of doing the eyes: (although I actually quite like the closed eyes you've got at the moment.)

[mawk]

oh yeah, I see what you mean there. I didn't really notice how much the arm blended in at first, but adding an elbow really seems to help things.

as far as the eyes go, I really like those. my problem was I was going for a slanted almond shape like most cats have, which of course doesn't translate well to this resolution. I'll save the closed ones for a blink cycle or something, but that style of eye fits the cat much better as far as general use goes.

thanks for the edit, man! it was a big help. I'll clock some more work on this and post what I come up with later. I might try to work out his running frames if I have the gumption.