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[thedaemon]

You keep the same palette each time you redo the sprite. To me that is forcing your brain to basically keep at what it has been doing. I suggest some new shades or colors to throw your brain for a loop allowing you to get more creative. I sometimes draw in shades of gray and color when I'm done.

[Relix]

Gah...



I've to try something else.

Edit:

Well, I said I like outlines, so I started doing only a black outline...



...ended with this.

I actually like this, needs improving though.

[Kevin]

The black outlines work, and the flat shading is, I think, a step in the right direction. The problem now is in the anatomy. The legs are very short, and the feet are a bit big. I think it's a little too angular in some places as well. The middle sprite tries to remedy this stuff a bit. The rightmost sprite is just me playing. Both are a bit stiff, but proportion-wise, I think they get the job done. One last suggestion, about the palette: if you're going to go for flat colour (as in no shading), I'd go with brighter, more saturated tones to make things 'pop' a bit more. Or at least lighter ones. Or something. Now that I look at it, maybe you're good as is. I'm not known for my decisiveness.

Either way, stylistically, I think you're moving in the right direction.

[MaloEspada]

how did i miss this thread.

and more importantly, why doesn't this exist since years ago? best thread in the entire forums.
it's nice to see pixel masters helping those in need. i'll surely post stuff here in the future so i can improve, too.

[JoGribbs]

What is wrong?

[Ishi]

Thought I'd get in on the action
Kevin's versions are nice. Thought I'd go back to the original though as I like the pose in that more than any of the revamps. Plus I think prominent character features like the ponytail are better when they're as big as possible.



I reduced the colours; often you can get as good a sense of shape across with two colours as with three. On the hat for example, your three evenly spaced bands of shading don't provide much shape information, and the lighting direction is a bit odd anyway.

Also sometimes a single colour does the job, for example I've done the arm at the back as a solid dark shade. It helps add some depth to the sprite, and make the light-coloured hand much more obvious.

The frontmost hand and arm also have very light colours compared to all the surrounding things (belt, trousers, coat) so that it stands out.

I also tried to focus on the silhouette of the sprite, your original has quite a lot of close 45 degree lines which are hard to tell apart. I gave the ponytail a bit more space by sloping the coat downwards more. And some little details like the heel on the boot can be added without cluttering things up.

So that's what I had in mind with simplifying things. The sprite is actually slightly bigger than the original, it makes it easier to define shapes with fewer colours. And fewer colours makes editing and choosing palettes much faster.

[caffeine]

What is wrong?

everything! and yet nothing..

[JoGribbs]

It looks off but I can't pinpoint out why. Usually happens when I spend so much time zoomed in fiddling about. Maybe if I go away and come back to it I'll figure it out.

[Adamski]

What kind of deer is it supposed to be? It's legs surely need to be longer, it's head more upright for a start...

[JoGribbs]

It's an Elk, or Elk-like thing.

[Adamski]

Oh, well it's not too bad then. Perhaps the legs could be a little taller, the head needs to be less camel, though.

The antlers also seem too fidley and kinda small IMO,

[J. R. Hill]

What is wrong?

Legs and neck a little too short, also elks are brown dude.

[Kramlack]

An edit of Kevin's edit. I'm posting it like this because god knows I'll never get around to finishing it.



I used the NES palette and I really think, the saturated colours helped breathe some life into the character. I felt the pose needed a lot of work (mostly the arms), since it looks a bit stiff, your older pose actually had a lot more character to it. I pretty much agree with what everyone else said early on about using a more basic style of shading. It should make the character more readable and generally easier to animate. Anyway, hopefully this will help.

[Xion]

*hops on the trainwagon band*

also using older version for basis, as, for all its flaws, it felt the most solid to me.

Simplified shading
Increased contrast
Modified pose
Easy-to-read color forms

Got rid of the flaps on the pants because, while an interesting piece of costume, they seemed like a bit much to me.

[Relix]

Yeah it was more like quick doodle that I did before The Simpson were on. The middle one would be something I could make, maybe with a different palette.
Your third edit gives me a sort of piraty vibe, btw.

This manages to keep all the features that I want intact, and is closer to my main source of inspiration (Zelda&Megaman). I think I'll try something like this next.

Same thing as with Kevins edit, expect this looks much cleaner. I'm not fan of overly bright colors tho. But, the simpler shading really helps there.

Looks like that would even harder for me to animate.


I'll try something like Ishi made next, as it's closest to the original - but million times better. If that doesn't work, back to the black outline stuff.

[ANtY]

*hops on the trainwagon band*

also using older version for basis, as, for all its flaws, it felt the most solid to me.

Simplified shading
Increased contrast
Modified pose
Easy-to-read color forms

Got rid of the flaps on the pants because, while an interesting piece of costume, they seemed like a bit much to me.

Best version

[JoGribbs]

What is wrong?

Legs and neck a little too short, also elks are brown dude.

But sprites are blue, red and purple before you put colours on them.

[Relix]

Might be a little worse.

[Ishi]

I like the emphasis on the shoulders. I think the best place to go from here is to try applying the style to different things in the game to see how it works out for you, that's what this is all about after all.

[Ninja Disguise]

I actually like the one on the left and tinkered with it a little bit. It's rough because I didn't spend much time on it but I addressed some of my issues:



- Reshaped the face
- Changed the stance
- Shifted the hues in the colors