Wanting Critique on Unfinished Sprite & Dialog Portrait

[ZacksQuest]

Some people may vaguely be aware that I announced that I would do a VGA adaption of the Zork Trilogy, about a few months ago really, but after several scripting tests and projects, I think I am up to the task, so, I want some critique on this character. I'm not good with animation, but the actual foward idle sprite and the initial dialog portrait I am good at. This is pretty much the main antagonist of Zork I (the Thief, who gets you to steal the treasures for himself). He is supposed to look cockney, with a crushed hat with a white scar down the side. So here he is for critiquing.



Thank you.

[Khris]

First of all, what's the resolution of the game? The sprite suggests a 320 game, but the portrait is 200 pixels tall which is pretty big even for a 640 game.

Regarding the drawings, both are a bit on the messy side. Even cartoony graphics should follow basic anatomy.

The portrait is very flat, the shading is barely noticeable and all over the place. It looks like you were applying lots of burning and dodging without really knowing what you're doing.

As for drawing somebody wearing a cloak, draw them without the cloak first, then add it in a new layer. That way you won't have to guess at its form.

I recommend using photos as references or even better, tracing over them.

[Anian]

Also, they don't really look like the same person - portrait shows hair on the side, the idel doesn't, the hat looks flatter/shorter and face looks rounder in idle than in the portrait. As Khris mentioned, try using references.

Of a personal experience, good cloaks are really weird to draw in side views (it's hard to make them look cool for some reason), so watch out for that. And hats are whole different level of trouble.

[InCreator]

Do not try to use textures if you don't know how to draw yet. It's like adding bad to bad.

I suggest tracing over a photo, so you'd learn correct proportions and shapes quicker.  Google image search is your best friend.
Also, color choice is really bad, just pick a photo and use eyedropper to get closer to realism. Games usually use realistic pink for skin with added orange tones and a lot less of saturation. Greenish yellow you used is WAY off.

As for shading, take a photo, and put treshold filter over it. Try different levels. This will show you how light and shadow really work. (if your painting program has no treshold filter, play with contrast until you reach very extremes or just download GIMP or anything free/similar)