First pixel art character

[bearseatbeats]

Howdy!

Been lurking for a while but I finally have something worth posting (I think). I would like a little help, anyway.




(Wasn't there a way to throw in a 2x or 3x tag to scale the image without resampling it? How would one do that?)

I think it's pretty decent for my first shot, and there are a few things that I'm going to try to fix (like her giraffe neck, for instance), but I'd love to get some constructive criticism before I get too far down that road. Thoughts?

She IS a little plain right now, though I don't want to get TOO crazy since I will have to animate her.

Thanks!

EDIT:

Progress?

[Khris]

(Wasn't there a way to throw in a 2x or 3x tag to scale the image without resampling it? How would one do that?)

Opera should do it, Chrome won't, Firefox does it when you put

Code: ags

img { image-rendering: -moz-crisp-edges; }

into c:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\YOURPROFILE\Chrome\UserContent.css


The sprite's not bad overall, but the torso is pretty much a lump, and there's no shading.
Her right shoulder needs work, also the breasts, and yeah, the neck.
Eyes are in the middle of the head, yours are a bit far up. Also give her some ears.

[Mad]

I think the general anatomy is quite alright, if she's a bit on the plumb side (bottom-heavy as one might say ) , which gives the sprite some character!

But as Khris already mentioned, she could benefit from some more shading to especially define her torso a bit more. Most people have the light source coming from the top, slightly from one side or the other, which is generally quite effective.

I think the colour scheme is simple but effective concerning the main colour and outline. You've already got one darker shade for the trousers, but I'd choose a shade with more contrast to the main colour. This, of course, also applies to the upper body, should you shade it.

The face could do with a bit more feature, which is possible in even such a small sprite. Maybe look for some inspiration in other sprites of that size you might find here or the great wide interweb.

My main concern here are the feet! As they are now, you are looking at them from above. Again, look at some references for this.

Hope this helps and we'll see an edit soon.

Edit: Oh yeah, her neck is a tad on the longish side...

[bearseatbeats]

Opera should do it, Chrome won't, Firefox does it when you put

Code: ags

img { image-rendering: -moz-crisp-edges; }

into c:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\YOURPROFILE\Chrome\UserContent.css

Oooh. Thanks!

Her right shoulder needs work, also the breasts, and yeah, the neck.
Eyes are in the middle of the head, yours are a bit far up. Also give her some ears.

Right shoulder and neck, I'm on top of. Breasts should be helped by some shading. I think I could move a few pixels on her right one to create more of a slope. (Her right, not my right.) You're correct about the eyes and ears. I'll play with that.

I think the general anatomy is quite alright, if she's a bit on the plumb side (bottom-heavy as one might say ) , which gives the sprite some character!

What can I say, I like girls with curves. Not chunkiness, mind you, but actual hips. :-)

Most people have the light source coming from the top, slightly from one side or the other, which is generally quite effective.

Now that you point it out, it's so obvious! I think I know what I'm going to do.

My main concern here are the feet! As they are now, you are looking at them from above. Again, look at some references for this.

I noticed this as well. Yep, I'll work on them.

OK, good feedback so far. I'll work on it some more after work. Thanks guys!

[bearseatbeats]

Hmmm. Apparently the topic doesn't get bumped when you just modify your old one. Duly noted. Anyway, I added a modified version above. Any thoughts?

[cat]

Much better, the face does need more work though.

[bearseatbeats]

Much better, the face does need more work though.

Hmmm, yes. Perhaps some eyebrows, for one. I'll see what I can do.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

You made some clear progress on your edit but there are a couple of things you should be aware of if you want your sprites to look more anatomically accurate and visually pleasing/colorful:

1.  Her torso is too long vis a vis her legs, giving her a stunted look.  I remedied this by making her legs longer and torso slightly shorter.
2.  Some of the colors do not vary enough in contrast to stand out well from each other.  This results in essentially wasted colors and occurs most often with shading.  I've switched around the contrast between the highlight and shadow tones of each range, making the highlight-midtone-shadow values stand out from each other.  
3.  Altered her posture, pushing her lower stomach (and boobs) forward.
4.  Adjusted arm length.  A completely unfolded hand flat against your side should reach down to mid-thigh.
5.  Made legs more shapely to emphasize the 'curvy' nature you had in mind for this character.
6.  Altered the face somewhat, bringing the eyes down, adding basic eyebrows and rounding out the face to make it more feminine in appearance.
7.  Added a hint of right shoulder and some appearance of the right arm.






The main points in this edit to pay attention to are what I did with the color contrast and how I brought the sprite closer to anatomical proportions.  With the face, the eyes in particular are one of those areas where you just have to plug away until you get it right.  Sometimes the eyebrows, especially on a female sprite, look off, so an alternative is to place a black pixel next to the eye to simulate an eyelash instead.  With something as small as the face here, it's basically a matter of being mindful of anatomy and using the lighting to 'fake' shapes you can't really draw in the confined space.

Hopefully this will help and I look forward to seeing your next edit!

[bearseatbeats]

Wow ProgZmax! Nicely done.

I see what you mean about the wasted colors. Mine looks so much more washed out than yours; something I had noticed, but couldn't quite articulate. You've definitely given me some things to consider. I'll try to work on it some more tomorrow.

Oh, the black art of pixel graphics...

Thanks for the help!

[bearseatbeats]

OK. Here's another edit. Now, believe it or not, it's not a paint-over. I put your version beside mine, ProgZ, and plugged away; used your better palette as well... and got something reaaaaaally damn close to yours, especially in the face (not much room for improvement there), though I didn't really intend to do so at first. Think next time someone edits my image, I'll try not putting them side by side. It's just too easy to more or less render what I see when yours is SO much better!




However, I feel like I learned a TON, so thank you very much! I'm probably going to add to it a bit and try to make it a little more my own.

Any further comments are welcome, of course.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I'm glad it helped, and by all means do work on it further if you think it needs it.  Anatomy can always be improved (one hint I'll give you right now is her head is too large for the body) but if you're not going for hard realism or trying to copy something 'real' (like a real woman) then you can afford some exaggeration in the shapes and sizes as long as the result is pleasing.  I look forward to seeing how your next sprite turns out.