Another shot at pixel-art

[Akatosh]

Against better knowledge, I've decided to go out and try giving (very) low-res pixel art a shot again, and thus created edit one of these free walkcycle images Eric was friendly enough to provide. Now I'd like to hear some crit about it, so I can improve and finally be able to do a game with at least semi-decent, not "Me Go Store!"-paintover graphics.

Anyway, meet... El Presidente! He lacks most shading right now because I couldn't leave that in Eric included (because it looked like El Presidente was wearing spandex) and I proved completly unable to do it myself.

1x


2x


4x


Soo... whaddya think? I know it's not too good, but at least it's not AS bad as my last attempts 

[markbilly]

I really like the style you use at the moment. It suits El Presidente! perfectly and creates a strong sense of character, so I hope you won't think of moving to pixel art. That said, this isn't a bad start. I'm not sure if low res is the place to start, I find low res harder myself...

[Akatosh]

Don't fear, it's just something I created out of boredom, El Presidente is fine as he is 

[TheJBurger]

- Try losing the black outlines and either removing the outlines completely, or replacing them with darker versions of the base colors.
- Even at this point, you probably won't be able to see the whites of the eyes.
- Try adjusting his posture. I know it's based on Eric's template, but take a look in the mirror and see how you stand.
- Try to add shading and perhaps more desaturated colors.

By the way, I liked your old style and thought it was quite unique and simple while being well executed.
But good luck on this piece!

[InCreator]

I second the pose suggestion. I second everything else too, but the pose is priority here.
While Eric's templates are nice, seeing that same figure again and again is nothing but interesting.

Same goes to almost everything you drew regarding to face and hands.
There's loads and loads of character sprite threads around Critics Lounge. Why not browse them?
You will find variety of different styles and ways to draw/shade characters. Pick what you like, and add a touch of your own.

Anyway,

* arms should be 3-4 pixels taller
* Everything looks ultra flat right now. Shade pants darker on foot sides, so they'd feel more cylindrical, same to arms

[ThreeOhFour]

Akatosh my man,

Not to be too harsh or anything, but the only things that even remotely suggest that this dude is a president is the hat and medals. I think the best place to start on this is to think of what you'd expect a president to look like and do a charicature. It may look stereotypical, but it should work. Things like shading and colouring will rarely add as much character as a good solid lineart as basis. To demonstrate (hopefully) what I mean, take this quick lineart I did of how I'd imagine your El Presidente:



I've given him a pose which I'd expect to see of a character like this, gave him a proper uniform (as opposed to trousers and a sweater with medals and a hat), made him a little portly and also kinda happy looking. I haven't coloured because I think lineart should be your focus right now - try drawing your own rather than using someone else's and then focus on colouring when you've got solid linework.

Hope it helps.

[Akatosh]

Alright, thanks for all the advice, people. I shall try incorporating it in a different image, with decent non-copied line-art, better shading and coloring and most likely a higher resolution.   

But for the games, looks like I'll be sticking with the "old" style 

[ThreeOhFour]

My honest opinion is that staying low res for a while is a good idea, to get the hang of shading, posture and animation because it's quicker to make changes at a lower res.

My advice for now would be if you want to draw pixelart keep it low res until your comfortable in low res, then move up to a higher level. Means you spend less time on details and more time on the form and style of the character.