Trying out a new art style... sort of

[Anian]

Maybe the left leg could use a frame between it being bended and stretched out as well. It looks kind of springy like this.

[auriond]

Thanks, everyone who commented on the animation. I'll work on it.

Meanwhile, I redid the room. Here it is without objects, but it's well furnished, and I tweaked the colours as well.

[Jakerpot]

OK, but where are the shelves?

[Ryan Timothy B]

I really don't like the characters face.  He looks like Kevin Bacon in the movie Hollowman when they had made that rubber face for him.  
His face is pale yet his features are black.

About the background, I think your edges are too weak and undefined in some areas.  Mostly the chair and door.  Shadows are definitely needed.

I'm not a big fan of the bed.  The light sheets are fine if they are a silky smooth type fabric since the light and shadow is greatly noticeable on it.  But the blue sheet (which is usually thicker and a rougher fabric) is giving off glare and shadow like it's a thin plastic sheet laid over the bed.  Also I believe the base sheet would look better if it were tucked in under the mattress and a foreground element in the right hand space of the room.

I also think the cupboard unit should be moved over to the right so it doesn't steal from the beds horizontal space.  The edge of the cupboard meet up with the corner of the bed and it creates a room division.  Also, why not replace the right cupboard door with shelves and add some objects on them.

Edit: Also try to tone down the shadow on the right side of the cupboards.  Right now you have shadows on the left and right side of it and it's really stealing the contrast between the cupboard and wall on the right side.

[auriond]

The shelves will be added when I'm putting objects on them.

Thanks Ryan. Seems like my laziness is showing. I wasn't decided where to put the light source, hoping that it could work for both daytime and nighttime scenes. I'lll redo the shadows properly.

Would it help if I reduced the contrast on the character? Maybe make his outlines grey instead of solid black?

[Jakerpot]

I think the outlines are great IMHO, but i think the background could have the same painting style as the background. This would create a better immersion to it.

[Captain Ricco]

I dont quite like the shading of the room...
Why dont you try shading it like the character? Small number of contrasting(ligh/dark) colors, not "blended" with some gradient tool...

But the final one looks good, still it kinda looks lie a 2d character in a 3dish world

[auriond]

Because I'm not aiming for full cel-shaded. It limits me in ways that I don't quite like for backgrounds. That's why I made this thread - to see if there was any way I could integrate a 2D cel-shaded figure into a realistic-ish background.

With some objects added:



I turned the lights on, reduced the contrast of the black outlines on the character, and tweaked the colours again. I also tried to add faint outlines to the background where I thought necessary. I'm not changing the layout of the room though.

[Buckethead]

have a look at Borderlands and the lastest Prince of Persia. They have a more realitistic look to their characters. I'm not sure how to achieve this technically though

[auriond]

Those are achieved using 3D, I think. At least I know Prince of Persia was.

[Buckethead]

ohw I was under the impression yours was aswell.

[Chicky]

ohw I was under the impression yours was aswell.

Really?

I say just clean up the edges and fix the face.