My (none-artist's) campaign art

[SkyOne]

Hello,

I am trying to draw a small portrait for these puma units on my campaign:

pumas.png (29.58 KiB) Viewed 6424 times

However, (as a none artist) I am not sure how I can draw it well, especially his/her breath: --> EDIT: I mean BREAST, not breath:

Spoiler:

puma.png (33.27 KiB) Viewed 6424 times

Could anyone advise (or help) me? One of them is supposed to talk to the game leader as a loyal unit.


thank you.

[Crow_T]

What do you mean by "breath?" It doesn't look too bad as it stands already

Also for the sprites I'd make the L1 darker and the L2 lighter to distinguish them better.

[SkyOne]

What do you mean by "breath?" It doesn't look too bad as it stands already

Ooops! I meant his breast!

Also for the sprites I'd make the L1 darker and the L2 lighter to distinguish them better.

This is a good point. Thank you!
In the game, they are actually hard to distinguish...
This may be the L2:

puma-golden-b.png (3.38 KiB) Viewed 6330 times

I may keep its L1, though, because its color will be more wolf-like if I make it darker (actually, the L1 is a modified wolf in 1.6).
It also can be a fox (this is a jest) :

bw-fox.png (3.08 KiB) Viewed 6330 times

----------

EDIT: updated one (touched the breast + a few):

Spoiler:

puma-2.png (33.25 KiB) Viewed 6231 times

[doofus-01]

For the sprites, I'd suggest making the sizes a little more different (make the level 1 smaller). At a glance, they look pretty similar, I'm not sure color change is enough to convey who is level what.

As for the portrait, are you aiming for a retro-style? I mostly ask because of the dithering, but the low-color-count shading could also be part of that.
It's not a bad portrait, although it is very tightly cropped. The head seems asymmetric, did you flip it periodically as you drew it?

[SkyOne]

For the sprites, I'd suggest making the sizes a little more different (make the level 1 smaller). At a glance, they look pretty similar, I'm not sure color change is enough to convey who is level what.

Yeah, I thought it after Crow_T told me. A problem was that I had already animated them. I mean I had to make all of them smaller. So I just touched the base frame like this:

nf-puma.png (3.13 KiB) Viewed 6196 times

I can distinguish them myself now in the game, but as you said, still similar. I may make the L1 smaller later.

Thank you.

As for the portrait, are you aiming for a retro-style? I mostly ask because of the dithering, but the low-color-count shading could also be part of that.

I just drew it following this photo: http://www.lpzoo.org/animals/factsheet/puma
I mean I don't have an enough skill to aim for anything, and to draw it differently. Could you tell me any suggestions? I mean I am not sure I can do what you say, but I can try at least.

It's not a bad portrait, although it is very tightly cropped.

This is good enough for me.

The head seems asymmetric, did you flip it periodically as you drew it?

Aah, you are right. I did not flip it or do anything on it, so it looks asymmetric...

I really appreciate your comments.


Anyway, this is another set of beasts on my new campaign (although I don't plan to draw their portraits):

giant-porcupine.png (1.82 KiB) Viewed 6196 times

silver-porcupine.png (2.28 KiB) Viewed 6196 times

And this is another small portrait that I plan to install (this is for my Drake campaign):

Spoiler:

carapace-fighter2.png (38.43 KiB) Viewed 6196 times

The unit is the Hunting Carapace line: http://units.wesnoth.org/trunk/Return_o ... nster.html


Any critical comments will be welcome.
thanks

[doofus-01]

Yeah, I thought it after Crow_T told me. A problem was that I had already animated them. I mean I had to make all of them smaller. So I just touched the base frame like this:

For what it's worth, the level 1 sprite animations are usually more important than others, so maybe you could make the level 2 & 3 bigger or different without screwing up animations too much. Assuming the pumas are strong units, of course, if sprite size implies unit strength.

I mean I don't have an enough skill to aim for anything, and to draw it differently. Could you tell me any suggestions? I mean I am not sure I can do what you say, but I can try at least.

It's good that you have a reference. I think you tried to change the direction that the cat was looking, but kept the overall profile, so it ended up distorted. I drew some lines around where I would change things, and modified the eyes. I hope it makes sense (I am an amateur too, not a trained instructor).

puma-2.png (133.4 KiB) Viewed 6169 times

I see a strange mix of anti-aliasing in your image, how are you drawing this? It would be better to draw bigger, at least 410 X 410, then scale down. And don't use hard edged pencil; that's good for sprites, but not these things.

[SkyOne]

It's good that you have a reference. I think you tried to change the direction that the cat was looking, but kept the overall profile, so it ended up distorted. I drew some lines around where I would change things, and modified the eyes. I hope it makes sense (I am an amateur too, not a trained instructor).

Thank you so much. It helped me a lot for its improvement.
This is not the final, but better than before, isn't it?:

puma-4.png (32.5 KiB) Viewed 6084 times

I see a strange mix of anti-aliasing in your image, how are you drawing this? It would be better to draw bigger, at least 410 X 410, then scale down. And don't use hard edged pencil; that's good for sprites, but not these things.

I cannot handle the soft edged brush as well drawing lines yet, so I use the hard edged pencil for the anti-aliasing by changing the colors. Using scale down will be the next step for me.

For what it's worth, the level 1 sprite animations are usually more important than others, so maybe you could make the level 2 & 3 bigger or different without screwing up animations too much. Assuming the pumas are strong units, of course, if sprite size implies unit strength.

It makes sense for sure. The L3 puma is stronger than Direwolf (the puma is a fighter, instead of a scout), but smaller than it (although it is big enough as comparing with human units):

pumas&wolves.png (236.21 KiB) Viewed 6084 times

Thank you again, doofus-01.

[SkyOne]

Hello again,

I drew Goldhorn/Zlatorog unit (L1 only, not advances to L2) for my campaign.
Could anyone tell me what he/she thinks? Is it good enough or needs to be polished (I mean the sprite, not the portrait)? IIRC, I have not seen a real chamois even in zoos, so maybe, the neck is too long?

goldhorn.png (1.91 KiB) Viewed 5560 times

Also, any advice for the portrait will be many thanks (updated):

kyuel.png (85.76 KiB) Viewed 5487 times

thanks

[doofus-01]

Could anyone tell me what he/she thinks? Is it good enough or needs to be polished (I mean the sprite, not the portrait)?

I think it is a good sprite, but it is not really in "wesnoth style". A picture is worth more than words, so below is my quick retouch of your sprite. I'm not saying it is "better", but I think it is more "in style". (But a few words: I think you could have used fewer colors, it would make adjustments easier - fewer choices & distractions)

goldhorn.png (2.26 KiB) Viewed 5478 times

The portrait: The face (eye-cheek-nose) is well done! But the horns and shoulders seem kind of strange...

For the shoulders, it's like you were drawing a chamois-headed man? If so, then never mind. But if not, hopefully the bright-red lines help. Basically, draw more neck, forget the shoulders.

The horns look like pipes, I'd try to give them more of a taper and slightly curved junction with the skull.

kyuel.png (70.27 KiB) Viewed 5478 times

Hope that helps. Keep at it, SkyOne.

[SkyOne]

Could anyone tell me what he/she thinks? Is it good enough or needs to be polished (I mean the sprite, not the portrait)?

I think it is a good sprite, but it is not really in "wesnoth style". A picture is worth more than words, so below is my quick retouch of your sprite. I'm not saying it is "better", but I think it is more "in style". (But a few words: I think you could have used fewer colors, it would make adjustments easier - fewer choices & distractions)
Attachment:

goldhorn.png [ 2.26 KiB | Viewed 70 times ]

Thank you so much, doofus-01. It is much better looking from my point of view. I am very happy to use it. And it might be possible to use as a different purpose, something like:

mounted-princess.png (3 KiB) Viewed 5408 times

The portrait: The face (eye-cheek-nose) is well done! But the horns and shoulders seem kind of strange...

For the shoulders, it's like you were drawing a chamois-headed man? If so, then never mind. But if not, hopefully the bright-red lines help. Basically, draw more neck, forget the shoulders.

The horns look like pipes, I'd try to give them more of a taper and slightly curved junction with the skull.

I really appreciate the advices.
Actually, what I tried to draw was his body under the face, instead of the shoulders, so his front legs were supposed to be just under the picture, but I start feeling that it looks like a chamois-headed man...

It still needs to be polished, but this is the updated one:

kyuel2.png (84 KiB) Viewed 5408 times

Thank you for taking care of this forum recently, doofus-01.



Anyway, does anyone try to draw a portrait for the default falcon?
(well, I know the unit is too minor...)

[taptap]

I'm not saying it is "better", but I think it is more "in style".

I wonder about that Wesnoth style. One of your changes is turning the head to show two eyes, sth. most 4-legged mainline animal sprites don't do. (Wolves, horses at least.) It does not look like a chamois to me.

So here is my own take:

New horns in new palette, longer head, minimal changes to body (less colours, some more shadows and outlines).

goldhorn_taptap.png (2.13 KiB) Viewed 4962 times

Some slight changes to the horns.

goldhorn_taptap_0.2.png (2.15 KiB) Viewed 4958 times