Character to go with my backgrounds

Dr. Scary · Mon 20/03/2006 16:36:32

So I have done some experimenting to draw characters to fit my newly aquired style of backgrounds. This is what I have so far:

Here's an image of the character on the background.

The pose is not the most exciting in the world, but besides that what else is wrong?

Afflict · Mon 20/03/2006 17:18:07

I like it, blend well with the background good job.

lo_res_man · Mon 20/03/2006 17:18:50

Call me a blind wombat, but its not the backround, but the charactor that feels wrong, maybe its too symmetrical, the stance is weird, or maybe it is its proportions. the legs seem too short. or maybe its too big, the face is qreat though, but as I said it seems to big. he looks too big for the door. these are my first impressions

Dr. Scary · Mon 20/03/2006 17:36:58

Afflict: Thank you!

lo-res: The scaling will be in-game, so he will fit through the door, but you might be right about the length of his legs... I'll see what I can do.

big brother · Mon 20/03/2006 17:41:19

Isn't the character a paintover of Eric's template?

Dr. Scary · Mon 20/03/2006 17:48:16

No, this is mine from scratch, but I had the proportions of it in mind when I made it, though even to say I used it as a reference would be a stretch.

EDIT: I just compared the two, and yes they are actually quite similar. The template is thinner and taller though.

Afflict · Mon 20/03/2006 17:59:49

I dont think the legs are too long.. IMO

Still a good character to me.

Khris · Mon 20/03/2006 18:35:10

Quickie, to give you some ideas.

x2

-shoulders were too round
-minor changes to legs and jacket
-new head, though he looks a bit cross-eyed now

Dr. Scary · Tue 21/03/2006 00:59:46

Nice edit, Khris!
Took some of your pointers to heart.
- Squared off his shoulders more and gave him a more normal leg position and relaxed his arms some.
- Also fixed his chin a bit, but I decided that I would leave his head the same width as before. The crossed eyes and the wide nose may work on another character I plan to make, but not this one.

The head might still look a bit big for the body, but the extra 3px I added to the length of his legs helped some.
The pose is very static and symmetric, but the sprite is really just for finding my style. Will still take some more characters before I'm comfortable.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Tue 21/03/2006 05:45:54

I did an edit to show you how lighter contrast on the inside shades will help your character to stand out more.

1. Adjusted leg pose
2. Altered contrast and added additional shade for jacket and pants
3. Altered face and made neck wider
4. Made shoes and hands larger.

As you can tell even zoomed out, his features are easier to read when you have lighter colors against dark. The details of the jacket in particular stand out.

Dr. Scary · Tue 21/03/2006 12:50:46

Hah!
That was very helpful indeed ProgZ. It sends me back to the drawing board somewhat, but very helpful!

Dr. Scary · Wed 22/03/2006 23:11:06

OK. Taking ProgZ' edit to heart I remade the sprite once more. However I tried to make it as much my own as possible. (Ripped the shape of the shoes though...

)
What do you all think now?

EDIT:
Added a screenshot just to show that it is not as hopelessly dark as the forum backgrounds makes it seem. How about changing the background colour to a neutral grey one of these days?

biothlebop · Thu 23/03/2006 05:46:38

I like what you have done to it so far, except for two things:
-It's very symmetrical
-He looks like he's wearing diapers underneath in yours and like he has a thong in ProgZmax edit

I tried one of my own, to change those both things. I used progZmax version as a statring point cause I liked the colors better.
This pic has all three side-by-side, from left to right: You, me, progZmax. I tried to change as much as possible partly as a learning thing but to give you ideas if you like it.

Offtopic:
Is there a brower that allows you to zoom in on pictures (or the entire page) like changing the resolution in windows?

Dr. Scary · Thu 23/03/2006 06:06:21

Interesting that you went for the "noise" shadowing on the pants. I Tried that out myself when I was redrawing but found out that when it comes time to animate it would be too much of a hassle.

The point is well taken about the groin, and it was one of the parts that gave me the most hassle. Also the symmetry is a valid point, but the problem is more in the pose than any of the details. This is the first time I have ever drawn a character in this kind of style, so I focused more on general look this time.

Offtopic: I use Firefox with the ImageZoom plugin.

MarVelo · Thu 23/03/2006 20:05:53

I think it is looking great.

He really looks like Steve Mcqueen.