Frog-man sorta creature

PsychicHeart · Fri 03/03/2006 09:58:30

hey people,
this is part of a cutscene for a fantasy game i am developing in which the main character is swamped with a bunch of froglike creatures, called "amphibiax". Anyway, what do you thinK?

i think it looks alright but not freakish/scary enough. Any suggestions?

Saberteeth · Fri 03/03/2006 13:13:44

So wait. This is a frog? For a second there, I thought I looked at myself in the mirror.

Anywho, you should choose what kind of outlines you'll use. Currently you're using a black-none outline which doesn't look good. Either don't use outlines or use a black outline. Second, you're not putting any detail into it. It looks like it's been drawn in Paint for 10 minutes. Don't get me wrong, it still looks good but you didn't put any detail into it. I suggest you paint an armor or a necklace ar something. Oh and use several tones of a color. It adds a cartoony look. Define shadowy and non-shadowy areas and fill them with the correct color accordingly.

Waiting to see results.

Nacho · Fri 03/03/2006 13:56:37

Are you sure about the resolution? I think it would look better 4 times smaller, pixel art is cool...

DonB · Fri 03/03/2006 15:00:30

-Farlander is right, i dont think its made in 10minutes, but i understand what SbS is referring to.. its just too big for such simple and plain lines. If you try to make this on a far more smaller picture it will look much and much better when zoomed out!.. and really.. it doesnt look bad now too.. i really see a potential killa frog/croc in it, loads of atmosphere! I totally dig him.

Improval;
-Make the outlines a darker color of the inside color.
-Try to add detail inside him, like spots, marks or blends, this will make him more scary.
-Make dark eye-brows, you got good eyes, but no eye brows, thick eye-brows will suit this character and make him more scary.

Also, if i remember right, you used to draw much worser pictures, i actually dig this one, like said before, you improved a lot!

PsychicHeart · Fri 03/03/2006 21:18:18

Quote from: SBsLoVeNiA on Fri 03/03/2006 13:13:44
Anywho, you should choose what kind of outlines you'll use. Currently you're using a black-none outline which doesn't look good. Either don't use outlines or use a black outline.

I guess i'm showing my inexperience but i'm afraid i don't know what you mean.
a black-none outline? Are you suggesting i get rid of the outlines?

Nacho · Fri 03/03/2006 21:43:05

If you are going to outline a green area, use a darker green ountline.

Look at old friend Ben: See the jacket? Grey, and darker greys as outlines... Same for the rest.

PsychicHeart · Fri 03/03/2006 21:45:44

Oh, i get it. But what if the sprite was coloured black, would there be need for outline at all?

Nacho · Fri 03/03/2006 21:54:30

As Helm said once:

"Basically, avoid pure black"

Think. A totally black character might be totally awfull (no racial commentry here). It would look like a hole in the background. There are a plenty of greys, if you go for creatures, or browns if you are attempting to paint a black man. But anyway, if you want to go on, no, of course you wouldn't be able to make a darker-than-black outline... It's impossible to have negative figures in the alpha channels.

Maybe in photoshop 10, if they put the possibility of pixels which absorbe light, but I doubt they might be able to put little singularities in the screen of your computer without making the whole computer collapse. And maybe your room.

Evil · Sat 04/03/2006 00:29:41

Nothing is pure black anyway. There's always a highlight or a slight grey tone.

Another good rule of thumb is no gradients if everything else isn't shaded.

PsychicHeart · Sat 04/03/2006 00:55:55

okay, made a few changes:
+ Made outline dark green
+ Added in some more details
+ changed around a few colours around
+ changed background from blue to red

Grapefruitologist · Sat 04/03/2006 02:36:34

Why is his arm all pointy on the bottom?

hedgefield · Sat 04/03/2006 12:33:00

Maybe you should go for a more creature-like physique. Depends on what you want them to do ofcourse.

Razorback · Sat 04/03/2006 22:15:14

Just a quick paint over.

Squinky · Sun 05/03/2006 06:59:43

How does that add to this thread in any way?

Can you give Fluke tips or something, or is it just there so we can go "OMFG thats cool!"? If it's the latter start your own thread maybe?

Gregjazz · Sun 05/03/2006 07:06:32

Quote from: Razorback on Sat 04/03/2006 22:15:14

Just a quick paint over.

OMFG thats cool!

...

Well it would help if you gave some tips rather than JUST the picture, but at least it could give Flukeblake some ideas...

Evil · Sun 05/03/2006 07:07:58

Well, Fluke doesn't seem to respond positive to anything else. Might as well try, I suppose.

ildu · Sun 05/03/2006 09:00:24

I guess the tip for fluke would be to concept the image first and cleanly linedraw over it afterwards. That's a very good technique to use.

PsychicHeart · Sun 05/03/2006 09:08:30

...it's a great use of lighting?

Razorback · Sun 05/03/2006 14:34:59

Quote from: Squinky on Sun 05/03/2006 06:59:43
How does that add to this thread in any way?

Can you give Fluke tips or something, or is it just there so we can go "OMFG thats cool!"? If it's the latter start your own thread maybe?

Oh my! Aren't you a little basket of kittens. Are you always this charming?

So, you think I should have written some tips eh? Ok then I've got tips.

There are two situations to take into account fist:

In one case FlukeBlake is happy with his style and all he wanted was advice on how to improve his character with details.

For that case I'd say if he wants the Frog-man to look scarier I’d draw a mean pair of eyebrows over the eyes. Maybe add some more teeth. For more detail how about some scars or even some piercings. Maybe some body armor and a couple of spikes coming out of the shoulder pads?

Something like this maybe?

On the other hand, maybe he really wants to improve his art skills. And to that I'd say that learning how to draw is hard. It just is. Especially at the beginning where seeing few results may be demoralizing. But I'm sure FlukeBlake is probably still young, so he has that to his advantage.

Right now the best thing to do is to stop drawing from your imagination. You have to start copying other things you see. Like drawing from life, or pictures or other drawings. Pick a character. Pick Spiderman. Find pictures of Spiderman and try to copy them as best you can. Do it all the time. One picture a day for a month. Find pictures of him in tons of different poses. By the end you'll have a much better grasp on human anatomy. You will be able to draw him without the aid of pictures because you already memorized all the lines. Then you can adapt that knowledge to anything else you want.

Here's aÃ,Â quick sketch I made. (You can probably find better on Google)

From there you can go to faces then clothes and so on. It's all about practice. There aren't any magical tips that make you instantly better.

Cheers.

maryland · Tue 07/03/2006 11:21:36

This is very nice, but you probably want to fix his torso! It looks a bit crooked. Add some more flesh, make him more symmetric

then it would rock!