Messin' wit Art

[Tarison]

Been trying to get back into the swing of things, and work on some artwork. At first I was using deluxe paint, as it's an old favourite of mine, but well, I can only get so far with it. I've never been that great at sprites, though recently I started trying something different. Recently, as in, two days ago. Basically, anime.

Started doing some work on anime style characters on paper, and felt actually comfortable working on them, so I thought (today) I'd try do a quick two faces.

This is the first and second face in this style I've ever tried, and would love constructive criticism esp. with the second (apart from with the eyes, as I love them on this one, and as far as they're concerned, ignorance is bliss




I also have a background I threw together in deluxe paint after 2+ years of not really using it. The styles don't match, and after showing one person, I know there is definitely conflict about what the subject matter could be.





What all of this leads to is, I'm in the process of trying to find a style that I feel comfortable with, and will flow. Any advice you can offer will be welcome, and hopefully my work improves from here-on, in.




Adding something I threw together in photoshop in 5-10 minutes. It was easier to create than it looks, though -- if only everything was this easy.

[Phemar]

No offense, but i don't like the heads that much, it's not your art, just the style. Not much of a fan. Still better then I could do, i'll give you that! Anyway, GREAT background, what program do you use?
Good stuff, just the floor is a bit messed up in places, if you know what I mean.

[Tarison]

Faces: Ultimate Paint (free version)

Background: Deluxe Paint Animation

Evil Eye: Photoshop

[SLaMgRInDeR]

That eye thing is awsome! thayt's all i can say!

[Tarison]

That eye thing is awsome! thayt's all i can say!

Thanks I've done another similar picture recently, and I'll try using both. Biggest problem I have is whether these ones set the bar too high for the rest of my graphics, which will have a different theme.

[Bruisied]

The original:

My first problem was the outline. You've got pixels doubled up, which is just ugly and messy looking when it's inconsistent, which it is in this image.

My second is the expression of the dude/ette on the left. It seems the person is appalled or generally upset. When  people are upset, they don't just adjust the eyebrows to convey their upsetness, their eyes will squint a bit.

Thirdly, in both faces, the noses are very generic. Noses are great for bland anime faces, because they can help convey personality. Nostrils flare when a person is upset. Noses seem small and cute on a coy woman. People with colds have snotty noses.

Both faces' features are out of alignment. It's a good idea to draw a center line, to show the relative center of all the features. This way eyes sit over the nose correctly, nose sits over mouth correctly, and mouth curves in the correct manner and is postitioned right over the chin.

The hair seems a bit stiff on both heads, though that actually works for the person on the left. It helps add to the sense of tension. I'd offer hair advice, but I have problems getting that manga hair thing right.

What did I like? I liked the style of the eyes on the female head (on the right).  The black outline around the iris is a bit much, but she's got that heavy mascara look that makes me squeel. If they were aligned a bit better, I'd love them to pieces.



A revision:

Well, I attempted to align the facial features a bit, clean up the outline, and kill some boredom. I'm afraid I couldn't work on the hair for either face, for my hair skills are sucky in this style. I also couldn't work as hard for the right-hand face, as I did that one after the left hand face, and had to quit because I couldn't focus on the screen anymore.

I'm not going to explain everything I did, what steps I took, or whose penis was in my mind. I'd just be repeating much of what I said above. Instead, revel in the example, and work on perfecting your leet manga-style.

[Andail]

Great feedback, Bruised! You should have had a go with the hair as well, although that'd take more time of course...

The background is interesting, especially since the technique differs enormously from the faces...have you retraced a photo, or just used lots of textures?
The soil field looks pretty computer generated, so to say.
The only thing that kind of bugs me is the way the mountain "ends" to the left. Try making the transition to the forest a bit smoother.
Also, including a sun is something that children do! Remove it and put some more energy in the clouds, and the image will improve vastly.

The eye picture is to me far too artificial to impress...try to make it less smeared out and more pixelated, that could make it more interesting to look at.

[Tarison]

Thanks for the feedback. It's been years since I've attempted to do a cartoon-like face, anime or otherwise, and this is probably the best I've come up with so far on computer. To be honest, I didn't go out of my way to clean it up, so it probably suffers a lot because of that. I like to think my hand-drawn stuff is better, but not significantly enough to scan it and use that instead (with touch-ups) yet.

With the mountain, I did this in deluxe paint (as I've said), and well, I neither retraced a photo, or use textures. I guess in a way you could say I used a type of texture, as I was using a combination of translucent, and funny polygon shapes over and over, then changed the colour. I hate how the mountain ends on the left, too, but love the part on the right. The side of the mountain itself is something similar, but it's all done by hand (spray and shapes aside)

What all this is about, is I'm trying to find a style that suits me, and i'm happy with. I don't want to go into specifics (well, I do, but I won't), but both pictures fit into my idea, even though they're wildly different. -- guess I need to bring them more in line with each other