The sprite practice thread.

[Sasstrek]

Looky!

 

 

Well, this is the best I can manage... Not very good... Do you think the feet should move back a bit more?

[steph1331]

na, i dont think the feet should move back farther, i think how it is perfect ^^ infact i love it lol and i edited my sprite so it has the same leg as yours but with the normal outline color..

 

[floari]

@Elena: I think your limbs look okay, the anatomy is good. But they are positionated strangly. And I agree for the stomach thing. Also, the base of the tail is very thin. Otherwise, it's very beautiful!

 

Edited October 13, 2009 by floari

[Sasstrek]

Well, steph, now the tail looks like it's thicker than the body. Try mking the start of the tail thinner then move on to making the whole tail thinner.

[steph1331]

okie, do i redid the tail, how does it look?

 

[Sasstrek]

Better. Just after the leg, there's a very straight line though. It's also somewhat rough at the end of the tail; try smoothing that out. The dragon's front arms need some tweaking as well. Right now, you have only one hindleg and one ear.

[Zovesta]

Steph, ya mind if I redline?

 

Rose: Coolness... and, not really sure how to help!

[Sasstrek]

Ooh, that's good to hear, Zovesta! Thanks for the help!

[Stealthypugs]

I have attempted coloring. No shading yet, but thats next after I get all this fixed up. I might add some sort of markings on the back and tail, but not sure yet...

 

Comments?

[Sasstrek]

Well, the lines are good. But the stomach's really weird. It looks like there's too little wing membrane... Maybe making the end of the tail wider? Maybe you should try the markings.

[Stealthypugs]

Yea, the stomach does look weird now that you mention it... I'll go try and fix it up.

[steph1331]

Steph, ya mind if I redline?

yeah u can redline.. i dont mind

[skinst]

Me practicing with colours on the unfinished Zinc sprite.

 

[Sasstrek]

Huh, I was pretty much comment-less on your zinc dragon... Other than the fact that it looks ao great.

 

But I noticed something when I looked closer. One of its breast plate is coloured the wrong colour. The one right under its head. Is the hgihlight around above the stomach a bit odd? I don't know, probably just me. Maybe the wing should look more like it's more attached to the shoulder...?

[Zovesta]

kk, let's hope I can redline with a tablet. *curses*

 

Omg, mah poor dragon sprite wuz bein' used! I do like the colours... but maybe the horns should be a colour that doesn't draw you to them as much?

[Sasstrek]

 

*Probes far wing. It's broken. Advice on fixing it up?

[Zovesta]

Make it bend in the same direction?

[waterspirit07]

I will redline to show you rose.

[Pandagal91]

Well, I tried to fix it a little, but I think I might have made it worse. >_>

I tried making one with the mouth closed, to see what it would look like.

[skinst]

But I noticed something when I looked closer. One of its breast plate is coloured the wrong colour. The one right under its head. Is the hgihlight around above the stomach a bit odd? I don't know, probably just me. Maybe the wing should look more like it's more attached to the shoulder...?

Yeah, the breast is supposed to be grey like the stomach.

 

 

Still playing with this to get it to look more metallic, and to fix up the colours in general on the lines and some areas. Concrit appreciated :3

[Stealthypugs]

Okay, I changed the horn color, added some stripes, changed the stomach a little, and deleted a pixel or two. I attempted to thicken the tail, but it didn't turn out to well...

 

Comments?

[Passii]

Hand made sprite. UNFINISHED, will finish tomorrow afternoon.

 

I pretty much made it on the spot, nothing to look at or anything. So I apologize for the, not... well... ness. ahaha,

 

Comments? Ideas? Criticism?

 

stealthy, I really like the colors your using so far! Try not to make them blend too well, or it will look like it will have no contrast! D=

 

I really like it so far though, can't wait to see it all shaded up! =D

 

 

[Zovesta]

Better... maybe dull down some of the base colours so that the neons really jump?

 

Passii: It's alright... try looking at pictures of dogs, though, and watch how they move.

[Sasstrek]

Bend the same way...? Oh, you mean something like this?

Well, this is wrong since it apparently looks as though the wing split into another...

 

Thanks, waterspirit!

 

 

@Panda: Well, the one with the mouth closed looks better. There are still a few kinks here and there like uneven lines. Look, there's one at the top of the neck.

 

 

@Stealthypugs: Hm... Stomach still looks odd... Mostly, it's around when it connects with the arm.

 

 

@Pasii: It looks nice. Since it's not finished, I can't really say much.

[RayneKitty]

Rosella, the dragon is still has the far wing wrong. I know that you are trying to show that it is bending in the opposite direction of the hear wing but it is the entire placement of that far wing that is the problem. It isn't there. There is just a random tip bending in the opposite direction from the first. The wing on om the nearside wing appears to be broken and glued on from different sized birds as the lengths of the bones are off.

 

The head looks to be too large to be supported on that sized neck and body. Especially since the neck slims down so much on the arch to the back of the head.

 

Now for structure and anatomy, is this a dragon that is supposed to be able to actually fly? If so then the wings need to connect further in at the shoulder and there should be enough feathers to cover that wing arm to the middle of the torso. If you look at the structure of a birds wing you will notice just how thick the upper arm portion is of their wing and that it goes from their shoulders to just about the bottom of their rib cage. As for the shoulder of the forelegs it needs to be moved down and forward and made deeper to explain the depth of the chest. Shoulders on land mammals are large again because they have to house a lot of muscles that are going to do tons of work in movement and propulsion of the animal.

 

My last comment is about shading and light source. Due to the shading upon your wings the light looks to come from the direct right hand side of the sprite ad you look at it. But then if you look at the body, it appears to be coming from the top right corner and as you move across the body you have the paws appearing as if the light is in the top left corner.

 

It is actually easier to fix sprite lines when there is no color fill.

 

Some tutorials on bird wings but the anatomy can be used for any kind of wing really:

Liz Kay's wing movement sheet 2

Sheil's wing drawing tutorial

Cactusart's Bird wing Tutorial

Unkraut's Bird wing Anatomy

Falcoline's wing Walkthrough (this isn't just bird wings and is by far one of my favorites)

For realistic bird wings

part one of blue fish's tutorial

part two of blue fish's tutorial

And another tutorial but this one explains what I mean by shoulder muscles look at the part about Angel Wings and placement.

 

And Dragon Anatomy and bat wing anatomy tutorials:

Bat wing structure 1 of 2

Bat wing structure 2 of 2 This gives and explanation for why wings join the body where they do.

Understanding the structure of Bat wings and what the most common mistakes are

 

Skeletal Dragon Anatomy

 

 

There are other great tutorials out there. These are just a few of them. But when drawing any creature that is going to be walking upon all fours or even always in flight, look at some corresponding skeletal anatomy references to make sure that you put things in the correct place. Yes, dragons may be fantasy creatures;however they still hold to the laws of physics in that if it is going to work correctly and even be plausible then the structure must be sound.