Character Sprite in Need of Tweaking

[MoodyBlues]

For the most part, I'm happy with how she turned out.  However, her "hair" and trunk legs are bothering me a bit.  They don't seem to fit.

I plan on using this character in a game, so any suggestions are appreciated. 

[MashPotato]

Cool sprite, I like it!  The weeping-willow clothes are very nicely done
Design-wise, I think it would look nice if you made the bottom of her skirt ragged (like her sleeves) in keeping with the organic feel, maybe a longer skirt too to match the long sleeves (that's probably just my personal preference, though).
Her legs do seem a little overly stiff, and it may be because the rest of the character is quite soft with long lines.  Perhaps making the "roots" a little longer and interesting in shape might help .  As for her hair, the green may be a little saturated compared to the rest of the palette, and having some texture on the outside of her hair (so the outline is not so smooth) might make it more leafy
Hope this helps

[auriond]

I did a quick paintover, because the character appealed to me so much Can't wait to see her in a game!




On preview, what I did corresponds quite a bit to what Mash said, except that I straightened the hemline of the skirt because I'm not sure if you meant it to be that way. Personally I'd make it ragged too. I also shortened it to show more of the legs, and lengthened the feet to make it more root-ish (are you planning to animate this?)

As for the hair, it's not visible in my version, but you can try to make it more vine-y. Like vines curling over her shoulder or something?

[Andail]

It seems very common that when people try on low-res pixel pushing, faces come out like that. Surprised and, if you excuse my blunt language, almost silly-looking.

You can with very few pixels achieve a symmetrical and fairly good-looking face. I'm not saying all faces must look pretty, but in case you'd go for a pretty character, I made this little edit:



Changed her face, added some highlights and adjusted over all proportions. She now looks younger, but the head typically take a larger percentage of the total height among game characters and toons etc (compare rpg-characters for extreme cases) to make them more personal. Also, if you want to stay by realistic height proportions, you still need to add some width, as the original character was very thin.

[radiowaves]

I don't have much crit, its an awsome sprite! Only maybe add some blue to the shadows to brake up the green monotomy a bit.

[MoodyBlues]

Thank you all for your help.  I really appreciate it!




Here she is again with snakey roots.  Do they look root-y enough, or are they too tentacle-y?

MashPotato:  I went with the ragged skirt as you recommended; it does make the dress consistent.  I also desaturated her hair colors.

auriond:  Those roots are a big improvement on the original ones.  I love how you've done her hair, too, but it doesn't quite fit her personality.  (Let's just say she's not the sweetest diety around. )  Making her hair look like vines is a great idea; I'll consider adding that as the character changes during the game.  And yes, she will be animated, but I don't think she'll be walking much.  (Heaven help me if she does.)

Andail:  You really improved her face.  She looks much younger and prettier - just what I had in mind.  I followed your recommendation about the highlights and face but decided to keep her eyes and proportions the same.  Her eyes are supposed to be glowing; do you know how I could do that without making it look like somebody just goosed her? 

radiowaves:  The blue shadows are a good idea.  I might add them if the lighting calls for it.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Spent a bit more time on this edit than I planned but I think it was worth it.

1.  Altered the skin tones to be more reddish-brown and pleasing (imo).

2.  Made the face rounder and added blue tones for shadows/eyes.

3.  Altered the hands to make her appear more welcoming.

4.  Made the hips wider, the torso taper in more and the breasts more prominent.  This emphasizes a female shape without going overboard.



x2


The pose and design is very interesting, hopefully this will help!

_{Edit by Andail: Added x2 version.}

[Babar]

The roots and the rest of her seem to be disconnected. It's like you drew the greenish body first, and then added the roots underneath her. I cannot imagine the roots going up and becoming part of her body with the consistency that a trunk would. Maybe you can reduce the size of the roots? Or increase the size of the rest of her body? I'm not sure.

[Andail]

Progz, that's a beautiful sprite. Too much change of style, and hard to use for MoodyBlues, probably, but still a very pretty sprite.

[Hudders]

I like how Progz' edit is looking up towards the sky.

If you were part-plant, wouldn't you be looking at the sun all the time?

[ThreeOhFour]

A nice sprite to begin with, and Progz man - that edit is awesome!!!

Am I the only one who thinks there should be some more purple tones in the wood to help it blend in?

[MoodyBlues]

ProgZmax, that edit is gorgeous - especially her face.  She looks so sweet!    It's a shame that my character is too antagonistic to look quite that innocent and too young to look quite as well-endowed.

Okay, here's my third try:





1)  Used ProgZmax's skin/wood tones.
2)  Changed her bust according to ProgZmax's edit.
3)  Changed eyes and lips.
4)  Draped skirt over roots.
5)  Added purple shadows to the roots.

Eh, I'll keep trying with the roots.  I considered not giving her "legs" at all and just letting her float.

Thanks again!

[ThreeOhFour]

The eyebrows look kinda thick to me. Perhaps something like this?



She looks kinda angry now though...

[Andail]

I think her face is absolutely perfect now.
However, her breasts look like they extend one foot straight out from the body, while hit by a spotlight. You need to tone them down a bit.

[MoodyBlues]

Okay, I've changed her bust and added another character:





The guy on the left will be the main character.  He's a timid fisherman, but he kind of looks like Torgo. 

1)  How can I make his hands look more realistic?
2)  Is this character too big to animate?
3)  How can I improve the shading on his shirt and pants to make them look puffy?  (He's supposed to be fairly thin.)
4)  How can I improve his overall anatomy?

[Andail]

x2

backdrop:


Tried to be subtle in the changes. I hope he's not changed in style.

* Changed face. Brought up some highlights, adjusted facial features
* Adjusted posture a bit. He looks more relaxed this way. Note how your original pose was not really balanced. I could explain this further if you wish.
* Tiny changes in proportions.
* Tiny adjusted colours, to get rid of that sickly greenish hue.

[Jon]

Nice paintover Andail! This could really help MoodyBlues, but why is the shading on the nose yellow?

[Andail]

Well, first of all it's not yellow. It's the same colour as his shirt, as I didn't want to increase the colour count.
Secondly, well...would yellow be wrong? Which colour do you prefer yourself? Exemplify!

[vict0r]

I think it is an excellent sprite and a great edit. I think what might be wrong with the highlight, in my opinion, is the fact that he is wearing a huge hat! Otherwise I like it. Gives the effect of bright sunlight!

[Andail]

Well, logically, the highlight is wrong, as you say. Such a hat would probably produce a huge cast shadow most hours of the day. That's the artistic freedom you must allow yourself; in return you get distinguishable facial features and some sort of sense of shape.
To have any sort of lighting and shading will always be a matter of compromising, since the character will undoubtedly find himself in various environments with varying light conditions.