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RheaZen

Rhea's Art

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This thread is AMAZING, Rhea! I've been reading through it, and you seem very astute.

 

So I would like to ask for some of your expert advice (and I should mention that this may or may not end up being just a practice run, as the concept and pose haven't really been approved. Either way, though, I do need the practice.)

 

user posted image

 

Idea credit for the Ashborn Wyvern goes to smile-or-die, by the way.

 

P.S. I'd prefer if you didn't redline without asking me first. It's just one of those weird little things that I get touchy about.

 

EDIT: Yep, turns out this is just a practice run.

Edited by Tobey

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Did this for fun and practice, since I eventually need to learn shading. Plus the hatchlings were really frustrating me.

 

This is my first time shading. Can't you tell. xd.png

 

user posted image

Edited by tikigurl91

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I really have no clue what type of dragon it is.

And how would I make the chest distinct?

/bad at anatomy

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Tobey: Obby. Okay, first off the proportions are all odd. The head is huge compared to the body, and you'll need to make the chest and waist more distinct (well, the waist less so). The legs are in an awkward position and don't have proper anatomy. Overall there's little flow to the sprite and it lacks realism in its pose (it seems like it's stuffed and mounted). Fix the proportions and get rid of the legs to start. Check the wyvern skeleton picture in my OP for reference.

 

tiki - Hmm. Check out the Zmey dragon on the completed list () for how to shade the wings, as you're getting the general idea, just not applying it quite properly. You've got highlights on the belly and then highlights on upper thigh, so the lightsource is conflicted. You'll also want to increase contrast (comparing the front leg and the back leg, the back leg looks flat and not shaded) and add in some muscles.

 

wonton, depending on what kind it is it may show different characteristics. But as for the chest, deepen it a little - look up pictures of greyhounds, they have very deep chests/thin waists, making it very visible.

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Contrast, Sandface, I can't really see much. Don't give up, it just takes practice. Wings are especially difficult.

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Orz ~ My first attempt at spriting on my own with no tutorials or help *though I should be >BV But internet wasn't working until today ~ *

Its for a dragon species Im making ~

 

>BV Im terrible at spriting so I ask you, Rhea , do you see anything wrong with this thing ~ xd.png

user posted image

:3 btw Its a wyrm/wurm ~

 

edit : Its the same sprite just the tails differant >.>;;

Edited by Shadowfox16

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Hm... I prefer the first, as it's got better curvature and such. You just need to adjust the position of the end of the tail so that it looks like it's on the same plane as the rest. The shading isn't bad, though it looks like you're not done, so I'll hold off much crit for now. Keep at it, you're doing pretty well.

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Hi Rhea. I can sprite well with pokemon but well not with dragons. laugh.gif

Here is my first fail of a dragon recolor egg.

user posted image

Here is the second:

user posted image

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Sfox: Sure thing.

 

Sky: The first egg, I suggest using the DC base. That egg looks really blocky.

The second, I suggest you use DC's base shading. Grab the image of something like a fog or pebble egg and base your shading off that. Right now your shading is flat to nonexistent.

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Okay, I shrank the head, got the legs out of the way for now, and deepened the chest. And, yeah, now that you mention it, it does look rather 'stuffed' in that pose, but I wasn't sure how I should fix that, so I just moved the back wing up a little and tried to make it look more like the front wing. Is that an improvement, or did I make it worse?

 

user posted image

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I would suggest curling the tail forwards instead of backwards, as currently the unnatural curve is what's throwing it off a lot. To go with the tail, bend the right wing (our right) forward a bit so that it's curving. Hopefully that should do something. Although honestly figuring these things out on a sprite can be difficult. You might end up starting from scratch and a ball-and-stick figure just so that you can better understand the anatomy and such..

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That's better, you're getting the hang of it. I'll have to check the color count when I get home to make sure you're doing it right, but it looks good. D'ya mind if I also add redlines/arrows to point out certain areas?

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Don't mind at all, go ahead.

 

user posted image

Edited by Sandface

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bump blink.gif

Edited by Sandface

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Sorry, haven't gotten around to PS yet. Midterms coming up soonish. Bio test and possible chem test. I'm actually spending too much time on the internet as is :B

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Sorry it's taken so long for me to get around to those changes you suggested, but here's the updated version, with the tail curving forward and the wing changed. I'm pretty sure the tail still doesn't look right, though.

 

user posted image

 

You also mentioned something about possibly starting over from scratch to get the pose right, and I'm just going to say right now that I really don't think I want to do that on this particular sprite. Like I've said, this is just for practice, so if I have to start all over again anyway, I'll probably just come back with a completely different project that I might actually use.

 

Anyway, good luck on those midterms, and please don't worry about having to critique this again anytime soon, I'm very patient and school should always come first.

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Okay, it's been a while, but just went back to school, and it's been hectic.

Anyhoo, this is my revised dragon:

 

user posted image

 

I had great difficulty with the feathers, there are a lot of straight lines in there now, but not sure how to change that. Also there is something bugging me about the line of the secondary feathers, but I can't put my finger on it.

The arms look really bizarre as well I think, with one spread like that and one down. Maybe move it back down again? Yes, no?

I put a line along the top of his head to show the right fin- even just one pixel space in between looked silly, so this seemed to work best. Might come out better in colour that bit.

I revised the chest plates as well, but not entirely sure what you mean by directionally cosistent.

 

Right, away we go again happy.gif

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Hello, I was hoping to get some critique for this sprite i made. Id like to know what you think about the lighting, I tried to get it right, but its my first time testing it. :/

I also can't figure out what to color the breast plating, White seems alittle bland.

user posted image (Also, would like to know how to get rid of the white backround.)

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Alright, the weekend's here so I'll be trying to work on some stuff here (I feel bad for neglecting you all) but between school and a camping trip (yes me and my friends are crazy, but so's the weather) I might not be able to get much done.

 

Sand - Going to work on yours.

 

Here we go: user posted image

 

Before getting to the numbers... 101 colors? How? Next time around (yes you will have to redo it), use the colors I put inside the 0 of the red 101. Those colors only.

 

1. Wing shading is good. Thumbs up!

 

2. Be wary of stray pixels.

 

3. You've got an isolated shadow next to a highlight. The entire area should be in light to moderate shadow rather than a sort of oval.

 

4. Straight lines, and a bit to the right of the arrow you'll see I put some highlights in where there should be some. On the top of the belly, see?

 

5. The shadow there is fine, but it extends out a bit much. Have it wrap closer to the body, that's all.

 

6. You shouldn't highlight there, as that's pillowshading. That particular area also seems to be a major culprit in regards to your high color count, as you have a lot of excess similar shades.

 

7. The shading there makes your sprite look unrealistic and flat. I've put up a couple of examples of shading that show how to make it look more real. Basically, don't stick the highlight straight up against the outline of the sprite. The ball example is better than the weird one off to the side.

 

Tobey - The pose is better, especially the wings, though the tail could use a bit more work - extended outwards more, so that it's a bit like this. Not as extreme, of course, but it would help with the dynamics of the sprite. You may have to bring the hips/waist to the left and slightly up.

 

Xan - Yes, the arms are a pain :> If keeping them tucked away helps in the meanwhile, feel free. The feathers keep getting better - practice is just what's needed to tweak everything just right. That goes for the straight lines mostly, though those should become less obvious with color/shading. The secondary feathers... they've got pretty blunt/straight edges there, so giving them a bit more of a curve/point might do something. As for the chest plates, from our perspective the line denoting the plate should go down slightly (one pixel perhaps) and then up, as we're getting more of a three-quarters view rather than a profile.

 

blargh - Okay, first off, SATURATION MY EYES. Tone the head down a lot, I can hardly look at it to critique @>@ You could try yellow or green for the breast plating, to cut down on colors, or try adding another strong color in - red, maybe. The lighting is very odd. I can tell that your lightsource is to the left, but your shading isn't consistent. The wing closest to us should have more dark shades on the membrane between the "fingers" we can see (since the light is blocked) and the legs... I can't really tell what's going on there. You should have a highlight on the "top" of the thighs. Highlights should also be on the "top" of the tail. The anatomy needs some work besides, but since you only asked for crits on lighting I'll leave things at that.

Edited by RheaZen

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Thanks, perhaps I should call it more of advise than a critique. I tried to fix the saturation, but i might have made the wings alittle too dark, and I fixed the lighting a bit. I tried red as a breast plate, but stood out alittle too much, so i settled for a green. you could also point out flaws with anatomy and others, if you would like (i tried to hide the back farthest leg behind the tail).

user posted image --> user posted image Hopefully im making some progress.

Edited by blargh

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If you're planning on continuing to work with this sprite, it would be easiest to start from mere outlines and to fix those, than to move onto coloring and shading.

 

Anatomy: The head's rather large (compare it to the body's size) and the chest and lower body sort of look... lumped together. The legs have an odd line on them which I'm supposing is supposed to be muscle but really it looks very odd. The wings lack the size and anatomy of something functional for flying (see the picture in my OP).

 

Shading: It's good you dulled stuff down, but you didn't fix the shading on the back of the wings (you just made everything uniformly darker). A lack of a distinct/dark outlines makes things hard to see, but for the legs the outline shouldn't be the same as the highlight (see Sandface's crits in the post above). The belly scales should start from the neck, as otherwise it just looks very disjoint. Your lightsource appears to be from below and above simultaneously, so you'll want to check your directionality (ex. lower part of the neck).

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