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As selfish as it sounds, the first thing I did was to see if any of my games were considered worthy of a video walkthrough .

Needless to say, I really think these video walkthroughs you've done are very cool. Keep doing them !  8)

Oh sweet! This edit is really good!

I really like the shape of the eyes especially, I see where I was going wrong  . I'll have a shot at trying all these things you've mentioned, as soon as I find out what a "philtrum" is 

Big thanks, Mash!

Ok! I have done this to her smile and added the first attempt at hair. (actually it is the second, but the first is not worth posting)



I use mainly a size 2 brush for the hair and made sure I put the focus away from midtones, as suggested by Loominous earlier. Thoughts?

Depending on the style you are chasing, I would not point the chin, but leave it as a square jaw. Some suggestions about colour: Do not paint on a background where the darker hair shade is the same or similar as the backdrop colour, as it makes it harder to define your lines. Also, try using a darker shade of your skin palette (make another darker shade, that is) for mouth and nose - it often looks more natural.

Other than that, looking good

Oh sweet, thanks for the tip

I'll have a go at fixing her eyebrows, I hadn't noticed that

Thanks for the advices - all of them have been followed plus some cleaning up to create:



(and a smile as well )

We're ready for hair soon, hey?

Oh, I was using the Gimp. Now I'm using Photoshop Essentials (which I think is like diet photoshop )

I'll see if I can replicate the good eye technique onto the bad eye

Thanks again!

Edit: Is better now?



Thanks for helping me find the dodge burn tool. I wondered what the little arrows there meant 

Oh cool (and quick reply )

I couldn't find the dodge and burn tools, but I tried to make shining parts with my brush:



Thanks

I think that the graphics, particularly the first screenshot, are quite endearing indeed. Looks interesting, good luck with finishing the game

Interesting point there TwinMoon. Unfortunately, I painted the girl without doing any sketches or such (linework is not my strong point) so I spent little time thinking about posture. Thanks for the comment anyway

Anyhow, the other night I was looking through my tablet bundled software and realised it came with a copy of Photoshop Elements 3! Whilst it may not be the big expensive one (which is quite beyond my price range currently) it is still nicer to use than the Gimp, so I've made the switch.

While I spent most of my drawing time getting used to the program and mucking around blending colours and doing sketches, I thought it'd be good to do an actual image in PS as well (because all that practice stuff is terribly boring). Here is the result (thus far):



A reference photo was used, btw.

If I were to critique it myself I'd say the eyes look quite lifeless, however I'm not really sure how to "bring them to life" as it were. It obviously still needs quite a bit of cleaning up - I used a size 19 brush to do the majority of the skin tones and went back with a smaller brush to clean up. I've never really sat down and 'painted' a face in a "realistic" manner before (and don't plan to much in the future, but it's a good skill to have, no?) so I'd be interested to hear where I can improve.

Thanks all

Dualnames, auriond and Buckethead: Thank you for your lovely comments

Yaaaaay! Buckets for sale!

To put all your inventories in

[Loominous]

Loominous:

Firstly, thanks for posting your brush. Leaving watercolour style artifacts is something I've wanted to do for a while (mainly on backgrounds) so, if I can get it loaded into the Gimp, I will give it a shot.

Regarding use of hue, I understand the comment about the lack of variety. I found the linked to post detailing the Curves function (something that has always left me quite mystified as to it's purpose) a very useful explanation. I've given a quick shot at using this funtion to adjust the colour values (pushing shadow towards blue and highlight towards yellow):



It's given a lot more contrast to the image, meaning I decided to go through and adjust the background's values slightly as well. Whether this is an improvement or not is probably up for debate.

Regarding the dress, I plan to leave off on making the highlights any brighter as I feel it gives an accurate impression of the type of fabric I imagined for the dress (I do not know the name of the textile, but it does not reflect a white light so much as show it's hue in light). I'll have a shot at downplaying the mid tone in the hair though .

Interesting explanation of the woes of shading skin - are you suggesting that anything here needs changing? I've left the skin looking quite flat as I didn't expect the quantity of light from the imaginary lightsource to be harsh enough to leave enormous highlights or shadows. I agree it's lacking in contrast, but is this a problem?

I will spend some time on trying to emulate a more 'dynamic' lightsource - I went with this for simplicity's sake as I'm inexperienced with using soft brushes for images. I think I will avoid studio style lighting for now, again for simplicity's sake.

Anyway, I really like it as is, and incidentally, if it wasn't for the more realistic facial features, I would've thought it was a Mashpotato pic.

- this may be the nicest thing anyone has ever said about one of my pictures

Thanks for taking the time to write the post and the useful advice

Paul:

Thanks for the nice words

Edit: Aaaand another version with the lighting set just off to the girl's right (and smoother brushstrokes)



Is nice?

Hey all,

I haven't posted in here for a while, but it's time to give Ben more advice .

Drew this last night as tablet practice:



The background isn't meant to be anything special, just something nicer than a white one to draw on.

I'm not too happy with the brushstrokes here. I found that I'd either make them too sharp or to blurry and had trouble finding a happy medium. I'm guessing that this could be fixed by moving to a higher resolution, which is something I'm planning on doing soon-ish.

Anyhow, any advice with regards to colours, the posture and general anatomy of the girl, that sort of thing would be appreciated .

Cheers

Actually by "pixel by pixel" I mean with full control over the colour value of each pixel. Obviously one can draw an outline and then use the fill tool or use a larger but full solid brush to do this faster .

I would definitely assume that Guybrush was drawn pixel by pixel. He's a very simple character to draw in MI1 - I would not even bother doing a sketch before going in to pixel a character like that.

MSPaint isn't a very advanced program to draw pixels in, but it is functional enough. I've used it for a bunch of my backgrounds.

Your screenshot looks like a workable style for a game. As auriond mentions, it is important to match your character style somewhat, but I can see this working in a game.

Have fun with your drawing

You're talking about 2 different methods of painting entirely .

Take your avatar for example. Drawing sharp graphics like these is generally indicative of individual pixel placement (or at least brush tools with a hard edge). This means that you lay down a single tone at a time, and "build" your image as it were a mosaic. To achieve this all you need is a basic paint program (even MSPaint will do), the zoom tool and a bit of patience.

Backgrounds such as those found in the Ben Jordan games you are interested in are generally achieved by using brushes with a soft edge, usually larger in size than those used in pixel by pixel works. This gives shading and texture a more blended look. Programs like Paintshop Pro, Photoshop and The Gimp (a free alternative) are generally favoured here.

If you're interested in feedback, create some art and then post it in the critic's lounge. There's generally a bunch of good advice to be found in there.

Good luck

I have no 2D skills. I get by.

LimpingFish "getting by" would be an understatement.

What should be used for 2d art is quite dependant on the style you are aiming at achieving. Tablets do make drawing on a PC easier (for some) but it is not impossible to do without.

Have you an example of work you'd be interested in trying to replicate?

"int xvalue" should be defined within the dialog, not the global script.

In the global script, place the function exactly like this:

Code: ags

function dialog_request (int xvalue){
  if (xvalue == 200){
  //code
  }
  else if (xvalue == 300){
  //code
  }
}

Then in the dialog itself, place:

Code: ags

run-script 200

At the spot you want the action to occur. Do not specify "int xvalue"'s value in the global script - this is obtained from the dialog's run-script x function.

Makes sense?

The sprite looks nice. I'd comment on your pillowshading but have given up trying to convince you to abandon it, and it works quite effectively here anyway - I find this quite reminiscent of the sprites found in Tropico.

One suggestion I will make is some further attention to antialiasing, which shouldn't require expanding the palette:



And yes, depending on your browser, the image may be blurred when rescaled.

Depending on the colour of the background you intend to place the character against, the dark edges of the areas of visible skin could need adjusting as well.

I've been waiting for a hint from TheJBurger about his next project and am not disappointed.

I look forward to seeing further information/playing the game .