MagiStream

ML1201 wrote: I only did the tufts to show as an example, but I will do another with all the shading done that way as best I can. Afterwards I'll post it up. :3

Edit: Here's another one. I think I did better this time.

graveperil wrote: I think what Munin is trying to say is that you need more fur texture. I went ahead and used your outline and did a sprite type (pixelized) version so you could zoom in and see the color differences. Keep in mind that this was done quickly and is by no means perfect. Like if I had more time, I would add better texture down the middle.. but I was just doing a down and dirty version for ya

What graveperil did goes in the right direction, just the lighting needs to be a bit different...in that example the light comes directly from the viewer which is quite unusual... but the overall texture is what I meant, yes.

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Kael wrote:Here's a digital 'painting' I've been working on recently. It really just started out as a sketch, but then I started adding more to it until I realized I didn't know how to continue

Spoiler

I've tried looking for some water/ocean tutorials, but I didn't find one that really helped. I'm thinking of going for a stormy ocean, but I'm not sure ^^; And it's..uhh...all on one layer.

To prevent me from rambling, I'll just say that I was just wondering if it looks good so far and if you had any advice on how to do the water, thanks

Mhm, so far it looks good but very pale. If you did a stormy ocean around it it wood look ghostly as stormy water tends to be quite dark...not sure whether that´s what you were going for. A stormy sea would definitely fit the dynamic pose though. Generally the fact that it is all on one layer makes adding a background much, much more difficult because you´ll have to paint around the creature...next time at least use a transparent background to avoid that problem.
I cannot give you a real explanation on how to paint the water just now I am afraid...I´d need to paint an example for that and the earliest I will have time for something like that will be next Friday. =/

All in all it looks very good so far though but a bit more contrast (more dark tones) would help with the ghostly appearance. The head could use a tad more differentiation, it is very sleek right now and shows little underlying bone structure which I would expect to be visible with all those spikes protuding from the skull.

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wolfeyedangel wrote:I'm always looking for suggestions on improving my art so here's one for you.

First a caveat: This is a finished piece rather than a work in progress. I am looking for a critique with an eye to the next piece rather than suggestions for this one. Beyond (maybe) touching up the tear ducts and a few details around the eye, nothing's changing on this one.

It is rather large so Here's a link to the gallery it is currently at. (It should be entitled "Alleyna" with username Ambermoore there. Occasionally their gallery will 'offset' if so I can upload it somewhere else. I just haven't gotten it up in completed form on my deviant art account.)

http://www.runtimedna.com/gallery/displ ... pos=-44948

~Wolf

Ok, I´ll stick to more general things rather than critiquing the actual image then.
First of all, the pic could use more contrast. I am not sure if that is an effect of digitalizing it but most of it is in the medium range of the scale between pure black and pure white. If you use the whole range a picture will have more depth and be more life-like.
You put quite a bit of effort in the hair, there is a lot of structure there that draws the eye away from the face which looks flat and "uninteresting" in comparison.
Try to create less texture on areas like the face/skin, it is a bit confusing/distracting to have lines where they do not have a "function" while you have them in the hair to show the texture.
Even if you do a complex texture like the hair in this pic keep the overall shading in mind. Each strand is beautifully shaded and textured but the shading is the same regardless of the position in relation to the lightsource of the picture.

I hope this is the kind of pointers you were looking for, if I understood something wrong please let me know.


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pearlevil wrote:Hey Munin, I made these while looking at 1st part of "Basic Techniques" in your tutorial, how do they look?

First one I made.
The second one I made.

Also, I included the pallate of all the colors I used, the very last color on the pallates are the outlines' color.

They look very good. You almost used too many colours though, it is hard to discern some of them from each other and using 18 colours for a sphere that small seems a bit... unnecessary. Spriting is always a balance between creating smooth transitions and keeping the number of colours as low as possible.

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Metakit and Bluestar21, I hope you don´t mind but I´ll reply to you two tomorrow or the day after, I unfortunately do not have more time right now and don´t want to rush your critiques.

Munin wrote:

pearlevil wrote:Hey Munin, I made these while looking at 1st part of "Basic Techniques" in your tutorial, how do they look?

First one I made.
The second one I made.

Also, I included the pallate of all the colors I used, the very last color on the pallates are the outlines' color.

They look very good. You almost used too many colours though, it is hard to discern some of them from each other and using 18 colours for a sphere that small seems a bit... unnecessary. Spriting is always a balance between creating smooth transitions and keeping the number of colours as low as possible.

Oh, ok! I get what you mean! Thank you!

Munin wrote:
Silentstarelly ->

I would like this only purple

vivi wrote:]I would like this only purple

I am not sure that I understand what you are trying to tell me I´m afraid.
I do not currently take requests and even if I did I could not recolour a sprite I did for someone and allow someone else to use it.

Munin wrote: I am not sure that I understand what you are trying to tell me I´m afraid.
I do not currently take requests and even if I did I could not recolour a sprite I did for someone and allow someone else to use it.

no problem all the same

Metakit wrote:I drew a winged wolf for a request some time ago..

Spoiler

I know the coloring is a bit bad, but i had a lot of trouble with the black coloring pencils. How is it, anatomy-wise? I never drew a wolf before..

Thank you for taking your a bit of your time to help :>

Anatomy-wise it does look quite good. The legs and paws are a bit too thick, wolves have more slender and slightly longer legs. The hind legs are bent a bit too much, the upper part of the leg is usually almost straight on the side coser to the tail. Here is a random pic found on google that has a similar pose which shows nicely what I am trying to explain:

Spoiler

The thickness of the neck looks a bit odd the way you coloured it, if the fur was a bit more random it would be obvious it mostly consists of "fluff" but as you already mentioned you had trouble with the pencils I guess you know the colouring on that part is not ideal.
The near wing looks good while the far wing does not show a feather texture at all which seems a bit odd.
The length of the muzzle looks good but the head is a bit too rounded and massive overall, that might again be a matter of colouring though as with a different texture the fur at the throat would probably be fluffier and not look like a solid part of the head/jaw.

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Bluestar21 wrote:
How is this? it was a request for a little Sonic Light Gaia and I drew her very quickly because I was in a rush.

http://nazo21.deviantart.com/art/Flutte ... -214472094

What do I need to fix on her?

Well, first of all something general: art needs time and patience. Rushing things is seldom a good idea.
In your pic that shows in the form of very shaky lines. There are unexplained bumps, variations in thickness, "loose ends" where lines do not meet exactly and so on. All of that makes a pic look unfinished and busy, if you want to leave the lines in a pic always make sure they are as close to perfect as you can get them before you do anything else.
Your shading is a bit inconsistent, some parts having a shadow, some things one would expect fo have one don´t and sometimes a shadow ends suddenly. Try for a more consistent shading with cleaner boundaries.

I do not know what these creatures usually look like but to me the head seems a bit too large to fit the body but that might be a matter of their original design.

I need you're help =P Im working on a sprite for my friend's new website. What can I do to fix the egg?

Munin wrote:

ML1201 wrote: I only did the tufts to show as an example, but I will do another with all the shading done that way as best I can. Afterwards I'll post it up. :3

Edit: Here's another one. I think I did better this time.

graveperil wrote: I think what Munin is trying to say is that you need more fur texture. I went ahead and used your outline and did a sprite type (pixelized) version so you could zoom in and see the color differences. Keep in mind that this was done quickly and is by no means perfect. Like if I had more time, I would add better texture down the middle.. but I was just doing a down and dirty version for ya

What graveperil did goes in the right direction, just the lighting needs to be a bit different...in that example the light comes directly from the viewer which is quite unusual... but the overall texture is what I meant, yes.

So instead of having the tuffs like I currently do, you suggest that I texture it like graveperil did, making it look like tuffs like that?

ML1201 wrote:
What graveperil did goes in the right direction, just the lighting needs to be a bit different...in that example the light comes directly from the viewer which is quite unusual... but the overall texture is what I meant, yes.

So instead of having the tuffs like I currently do, you suggest that I texture it like graveperil did, making it look like tuffs like that?[/quote]

Yes, similar...so basically not more tuffs but including those that are there in an overall shading. The light does not end at the end of such a tuff, it still hits the tail, same for the shadows. Does that make sense to you?

lenalee96 wrote:I need you're help =P Im working on a sprite for my friend's new website. What can I do to fix the egg?

Well, if it is to be for another person´s website, the first step to fix the egg is creating your own egg base. That´s the magistream egg base which is copyrighted to this site and may thus not be used elsewhere.
Generally for a sprite it is much to busy and the colours have too much contrast. See the "basic techniques" part of my tutorial (linked in the first post of this thread) on how to choose a suitable palette for a sprite, I explained it in detail there and also have some examples which should make things easier. =)

Munin! I need some pointers! I've been trying to do more art basics lately, but I don't know where to start. I downloaded all the Andrew Loomis books and skimmed thru them a bit .. what should I do, just draw a lot? go through the loomis books and redo every exercise one by one? Where should I start, perspective? hands/heads? should I draw random still lifes in my room? I can't really draw people from life tho cuz theres no one around. Aside from that I already know the 'basics' of the basics (all the point perspectives .. basic people/figure drawing, some portrait/rl still life, lighting.. etc) but I'd like to know how to proceed further and I have no idea where to start..thanks.