Grim Reaper

[Captain Lexington]

So I finally got my act together, buckled down, and started some beginning pixel art tutorials. Worked all yesterday and some of today. This picture of the Grim Reaper was my first go where I wasn't really doing a tutorial, but applying what I'd learned. My apologies to forum browsers six months from now, but I am forced to host it on Imageshack.



4x:



The main thing I'm worried about is that it's too boring, but I could be overly critical? Any comments and criticisms are, naturally, appreciated! Thanks!


EDIT: Of.

[Babar]

Redder eyes, and a partially hidden (in proper dark) face.

Also, I thought Death was usually all bones, not a greenish zombie?
You could also try without the black outlines, instead using a darker shade of the filled colour. You might like the result!

[Captain Lexington]

4x:




Changes:
*Bones changed. I thought that the rotting green color would be more interesting, but I'm actually pretty pleased with the white.
*Outlines changed. I do like the look of it, but it is a bit cartoony.
*Upped the contrast on the belt. It was painful to look at in the small image.
*Face is shadier. Especially evident in the smaller picture.


I tried the red eyes, but I felt it was overdoing it a little.

But thanks a lot, dude! I think this was a real improvement!

Anything else, anyone?

[Matti]

I played a bit with the shading of the scythe and the skull, perhaps you'll like it:

[Captain Lexington]

I really liked how you gave the skull more definition, and I'm giving the glowing eyes a fighting chance this time.

Changes:
*Shaped up the skull.
*Redded up the eyes.
*Shifted Grim's position. (I just noticed it was really awkward-looking before, so I moved his hips.)
*Lowered the belt.

Thanks! This is really helpful!

[Tuomas]

Well at least he looks a lot cuter now, with the round cheecks. and the chubby mouth. I kind of liked the green skull that looked kind of rotten. And where does it really say, that the eyes have to be red? I think black eyes give the reaper a more hollow meaning, and are in fact a lot better in this case.

[Captain Lexington]

Way ahead of you Tuomas. I can tell what you had was good advice, because I did it last night







Changes:
*Dereddened the eyes.
*Adjusted the belt again.
*Made his skull more skull-like.
*Pulled the hood down over the top of his skull.

Thanks again, everybody.

[Mr Flibble]

I say increase the contrast on the shading, as the difference is currently quite subtle and hard to see. I like the changes you've made to the skull though.

[Captain Lexington]

Contrast on the cloak is up. I like the look of it so far.

I'm thinking the eyes are hard to distinguish on the small one. Is this maybe something I should be shooting for?

[None]

The biggest problem I found with the sprite was that the waist was too 'low' on the robe.
The torso is long, while the legs are short, making him seem less serious and threatening, like a midget reaper. (no offense to real midgets,..er or reapers...)

I reset his height, although I may have 'straightened' his back a bit much, made him too rigid compared to the original.

The robe looked a bit 'bunchy' so I smoothed it out, made it crisper. Did this by making the cloth fall straighter, and if you look you'll see the hood's "Link's Hat Hangy-Thing" for no better word to call it is draped more behind the hood, instead of sticking out stiffly.

By making the rope's 'tie' longer, it creates more 'length' and doesn't look as 'Tom Sawyer'.

The shading on the scythe has been changed with the idea that the top is thicker than the bottom, e.g. the inside of the curve is the sharp part.
blades are 'flat' so the shading is more flat... the 'dark'- 'mid' - 'light' shading makes the blade look as if it's thick, almost like button shading on the original.

[ThreeOhFour]

A quick but effective trick to make your scythe blade look groovy:

[Captain Lexington]

Dude. Intense.


ShonenAiGuy: The color changes are great, and that'd be great for Grim in a different pose. At that point it's almost a totally different picture, you know?