old topic of Art for Bad Moon Rising NO NEW POSTS

Post by AI » February 16th, 2008, 5:00 pm

He seems to be jumping sideways, or at least moving his front legs that way...

Post by **irrevenant** » February 16th, 2008, 7:27 pm

doofus-01 wrote:As for the conceptual issue, I'm not really following you.

I basically just mean it should open its mouth and bite when it attacks.

re: Tcolor, since this is presumably a domesticated dog couldn't he be wearing a collar?

Post by **doofus-01** » February 16th, 2008, 8:23 pm

OK, I see. Thanks, both of you, for the suggestions and observations, I'll try to act on them.

Post by **doofus-01** » February 17th, 2008, 4:58 pm

And here we are. No collars yet, but the little dog has more teeth in its attack and the big dog isn't twisting as much.

There are some mis-colorations and stray pixels that are much easier to see in the .gif than in the original .pngs. I'll fix those, but spending time on a frame that's possibly going to get thrown out doesn't seem wise.

Post by AI » February 17th, 2008, 6:59 pm

the front paws still seem to be moving sideways and the animation seems slightly misaligned (look at the back legs, the feet seem to slide about a little)

Post by **doofus-01** » February 18th, 2008, 12:17 am

Seems I was a little sloppy making the .gif, the .pngs are not that bad. I'm not sure I see the twist as much as you do, but maybe if the front right paw is lower it will help? Or maybe I shouldn't have tilted the head.

As long as I'm posting, I'll submit another portrait. This is going to be a portrait of either the lead character or the leader line units. Maybe it's at too early a stage to comment on, but the proportions and general idea are mostly there.

Post by AI » February 18th, 2008, 12:57 am

I looked at the specific frame and I think that if you make the paws parallel to the snout, it will look fine, currently the visible one points inward.

Post by **kitty** » February 18th, 2008, 10:36 am

while i know nothing about pixelart and can only say that the dogs seem quite nice to me, i can share some thoughts on the portraits....

i like how you convey real personality in the veteran! i can imagine the way he talks, looking at him.
but i would generally recommend to first doing a decent sketch and then starting coloring. it will be twice the work if you detect a flaw after rendering the harness already... that said i think he has serious issues with his neck, shoulders and arms. did you draw him (roughly) naked before?

and generally i'm not to fond of the bandana on his helmet. why should he have it there? what's it's use? if it is kind of a sweatband he would need it underneath the helmet.

concerning the fur question a few posts earlier, i highly recommend http://tinyurl.com/28mfdv. it's a great book on rendering animals realisticly. (it's on oilpainting but the digital techniques are pretty identical in the end) short version would be: lay down base colour, block in lights and darks (lightsource!!!), add fine detail only in focal points....

Weeksy · Post by **Weeksy** » February 18th, 2008, 11:28 am

The bandanna on the helmet could very easily be an indicator as to which side the soldier is on. These are ragtag rebels, and as their group will get big enough that not everyone knows everyone, it's nice to have assurance that you're not stabbing your buddy. There's a scene in a Pratchett book where they use lilacs for that, but I think bandannas are more practical (if a bit less romantic).

Post by **doofus-01** » February 18th, 2008, 4:14 pm

Weeksy is right, the bandanna is an indicator of who they are fighting for. The sprites are Team Colored with bandannas. The way I envisioned it, dyed cloth was just another expense and these people had neither the time nor money for it. So they make what they do have go further with rags on their heads instead of cloaks, shirts, etc. The clothes are brown & gray, and the armor is dark instead of shiny, for similar reasons. And it made them not look like exactly like Loyalists. (And I thought it looked cool...)

I didn't sketch him naked, but I modeled him after a photograph of a professional athlete. He was obviously dressed a little differently, so I had to make some adjustments. Not very effective adjustments, it seems. Guess I'll try again.

I'll change the dog's leg to be parallel with the snout.

Thanks, everyone.
-----------------------
EDIT: Taking it one step at a time, here is an outline of a naked man. The red lines are where I think the axes are.

And the dog's paw should be better aligned now.

Post by AI » February 19th, 2008, 11:00 am

The dog looks great.

Post by **doofus-01** » February 19th, 2008, 2:07 pm

Thanks, AI.

Here is an image of the veteran getting his armor back. Hopefully the dimensions are better this time (the shading is leftovers). Right shoulder pad might be too small.

Post by **kitty** » February 20th, 2008, 10:22 am

the veteran is better now! but i still think that there is something wrong...

i hope you do not mind that id did a paint over to show where i think the parts belong. it's real sloppy and far from exact, but i hope you get the idea

.

btw the bandana explanation is believable, i just didn't get it...

Post by **doofus-01** » February 20th, 2008, 2:39 pm

With your sketch overlay, I see the arms are not as good as I thought they were. I knew something was wrong with the left one though, so I had made some changes (veteran5a).

I think one of the differences between your overlay and my attempt is that I had the camera higher up and looking down on an action shot (imagine he's speaking through clenched teeth, looking at incoming trouble, and gesturing with his left arm), while your camera is level and looking at a more neutral pose. Since a level, neutral portrait is better for all occasions, I should make those changes. However, if I make this the lead character portrait, I can use both poses/images.

Even though I have yet to actually finish anything, I'm submitting another portrait (regular1b, the level 1 fighter, armor is supposed to be cheaper and not as good as the veteran's.). While it would be best if everyone in the faction had a finalized portrait, that won't happen for a long time. So, I'd prefer everyone have some sort of portrait - as long as it doesn't look like total rubbish.

The veteran gets priority for now, but any thoughts on the regular are appreciated. Thanks.

Post by **kitty** » February 21st, 2008, 10:27 am

i hope i don't start to annoy you, but i'm still nitpicking about your portraits anatomy...

you were right about my last try's standing - it was much more relaxed than in your portrait.

this time i did a little overpaint and tried to adress the arms, neck and shoulders. he needs muscles! his arms are to narrow and not attatched to the shoulders and the problem with the neck is similar.
right now he has a cat's pupils - i rounded them. and he is wearing lipstick! i don't think that this is adequate for a veteran

. i removed it and darkened his upper lip (which is under normal light circumstances always the darker one)

on to the regular. he has a lot of character! he appears to be a bit afraid and dumb. i like it!

but his facial features a misaligned...
some simplistic rules:

- eyes are in the middle of the distance chin to the top of the head
- nose is on the half between eyes and chin
- moth is on the first third between moth and chin
- distance between the eyes is one eye
- you generally don't need lines one both sides of the nose
furthermore he has very little jaw.

i tried to adress these things roughly in another overpaint.
and i would question your descision to leave his moth open. would that really be appropriate in all occasions?

after so many criticism i think i should mention again that you're on a really good way!