This is a sprite for a quick side project I'm working on. I've been trying different styles for a while. Any criticisms for this one?
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Meg.PNG)
How old is she supposed to be? In the fairy tale she is a kid, but your sprite looks like at minimum 20.
Probably about a 6th Grader. Any suggestions on making her look younger? I'm basing it off of a book so I got some Ideas from the cover art.
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Old_Title.png)
The sprite is large enough. The first thing I would crit is the fact that her arms are too long. check out those proportions! :)
Even on the book's cover she looks older than 10. Can't quite put a finger on it, but it might be the combination of rather dark clothes, dark hair, and a pretty stern face. To make her younger I'd try to lighten up the wardrobe a bit, and maybe go for a different hair colour, and reduce the shading of the face a good deal.
Arms are really extremely long, they almost reach the (invisible) KNEES!
Found some exactly one nice references on DevArt...
http://joysuke.deviantart.com/art/Little-Red-Riding-Hood-63065194 (http://joysuke.deviantart.com/art/Little-Red-Riding-Hood-63065194)
(the rest is teh nightmare fuel...)
(and pr0n)
Here is an update
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Meg2.PNG)
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Meg2.PNG)
2X
Ah- the face looks much better IMO. Subtle changes, but nice effect. The arms are also more natural now.
Arms are more like it now. Allow some minutes and I'll make something for you. I think you just need a push in the right direction and having visual reference is always better than words. hold on a bit.
(http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/8909/backinthehood.jpg)
I hope this is of help to you. Cheers!
Wow looks awesome. I see how adding good proportions and having a good pre-design could help. Do you mind if I try again with your outline or do you think it would be better if I tried my own?
oh if you want to use the outline to base the sprite on it DO go ahead. After all, I did it to help.
When you're lacking reference for how a character should be seen from several sides, Do the following: Check the internet for model sheets for animation. They're golden reference for this kind of character. Do a quick checkup on proportions. You can (of course) vary some of them like the head, or the proportional height of characters. But stuff like Short/long arms and legs stands out easily among other anatomical errors.
A good tip, proportions aside, is to check how the cape drapes around the girl. Use that cape for effect! Capes can look very dynamic done right.