Is This How You Sprite?, [Updated: Running Sprite C&C Time]

I'd put an outline on the armor; the light grey blends with the skin a bit

The helmet's shading could use work

But its very good for a first sprite

like i said on dA, ears look like they're made of metal, unless that was intentional in which case i am a ***

Reminds me alot of CaveStory for some reason. Besides what's been said, it's pretty sweet work.

try to add some outlines ont the helmet and you'll do fine

Update.

that hair is lookin' a bit square on the new one

Like I said on AIM, the intention was for it to be sort of like a rounded-off rectangular shape. I'll keep your critique in mind, though; I may change it a bit later.

This post has been edited by Mrs. Aforcer on Nov 3 2009, 09:36 PM

I personally think it's done pretty well, adds a simple yet cartoony feel to me, which I'm a fan of. I do kinda want to see a bit more shading for clothes, the colors you picked are kinda hard to tell apart without looking at up close for the shirt.

Medaf agreed with Ashimura that the hair is a little blocky. I may go in and alter that later (as in after I finish my work for the night).

Yeah the clothes need work admittedly -- I'll get to that too. It doesn't help that my laptop's monitor displays colours rather... wonkily, though. I may have to go to the computers downstairs to get the colours just right, but thank you.

The new one looks good, but two things bother me a little. The first is the skin tone color, it's really... dull, I guess. I can understand if that's what you're going for, but it seems very out of place in the sprite, considering how saturated the yellow of the hair is.

The second thing is the hair. You have a good idea of how shading a sprite should be done, but it isn't precise enough. What you have is a lot of jagged lines, which you can't really claim are a style when fixing them would obviously look better (not saying you did, but that's really the only way I can think to explain it). Basically, things seem to have bumps in weird places.

For example


This improves how smooth the line looks. I'm sure you understand that gradually increasing the number of pixels placed when making a curve would make it look smoother, so you should use that more often in the sprite. It'll make everything smoother and prettier.


so yeah

That is what I'm going for, but the contrast between the hair and the skin may actually be greater than I think, 'cause, like I said, the display on my monitor is rather dull in and of itself and could be taking don the value of the yellow. Bright blonde on pale skin is what I'm going for; I may increase the value of the skin a bit, though -- make it pinker.

No, I see what you're saying. Really this is the kind of advice I'm looking for. I'll try to fix it after I finish my work.

Like I said, I'm not over-exaggerating when I say I'm a complete newb to spriting. I'll see what I can do about improving the line quality though, thanks.

That's really nice, especially for a first sprite!

Really, everything that'd I'd say about has pretty much already been said. Though I do think you might want to fix some of the other jagged lines, too. The first set of sprites have somewhat jagged looking arms.

This post has been edited by Sploder on Nov 3 2009, 10:41 PM

It's actually really, really good for being a complete newb to spriting. You're a good artist though, and it seems they pick it up faster than a lot of people. I didn't know anything about shading or drawing when I first started trying to sprite, but over time you kind of pick that stuff up, and how to do it well.

The best thing you can do is practice though. Keep trying to sprite things in different styles, seeing what looks good in them, etc. You already seem to have gotten the basics down so now it's only a matter of learning all the techniques.

Here's a nice general thing that should help: Smaller sprites = Higher contrast. You could've used just two shades for the hair but make the darker one contrast the skin enough to seperate it. Adding a third colour with a deep amount of contrast tends to seperate things even more.


Higher contrast on smaller sprites is good because you'll want to use less shades on smaller sprites to begin with-- there's no point in using a ton of shades if you don't have a high enough resolution sprite to add that level of detail.

Reworking the base a little with what you guys've said in mind:



Not really deserving of an "official" update, but... comments?

The jagged lines are pretty much non-existant now, it looks really good there.

The hair kind of blends in with the skin, though. You should either outline the hair as when it's next to the skin color or make the shade darker, anything to increase the contrast.

Don't completely outline the hair from the skin though, as it tends to give a look of pillowshading.

I like it if not a bit too flat chested, granted, I like anything that isn't crap on the Art Board...

So, take this as confirmation that the art is not crap.

This post has been edited by Kevin Rudd on Nov 4 2009, 12:24 AM

Does this fix the problem at all of the hair and the skin blending?

This post has been edited by Mrs. Aforcer on Nov 4 2009, 01:14 AM