I'm starting work on a character addon for a certain Sonic fangame. I was originally posting progress on that fangame's forums, but very little people there were spriters and I didn't get the criticism that I wanted.

One of the few spriters there, thought that it required much more work, so I am redoing it. He also referred me to this site.

This is the head of the new first sprite, I'd like to know what to change on it before I add the other features. Shading isn't 100% done either.



Thoughts?

It looks like his head is facing down. His eyes should be moved further up and the top of the muzzle area should be straighter.

How's this?

Maybe there should be some green on the outsides of the ears.

I also toned down the ears shading.



Another thing, what expression should I give him? A cute one, like Generations, or a cool one, like the official artwork?

Oh you came~

I think firstly, you should get a bit more progress done on the actual sprite. What I'm currently seeing is a bit too WIP to judge. I also propose that you make him totally symmetrical, horizontally so it doesn't end up with wonky lineart like the last attempt. I will say this though, the anti ailising on the eyes is a bit too low in contrast, and even banded around the corners of the eye; giving it a pillowed sort of look to it.

Make sure to check our spriting dictionary incase you don't know what I mean:
http://www.vg-resource.com/showthread.php?tid=13868

It's good that you're starting with an actual skull though this time. Ensures more actual consistency, always start with a good base!

I am working on the other parts, I just wanted to make sure the head looks good. By the way, did you find any imperfections on the old sprites other than the head? I want to keep those in mind while creating the new parts.

I've added new shading (still not 100%, probably will change when I add quills), and made it symmetrical. I don't know how to make the nose look good symmetrical.



Edit: Belly and quills added.

To make the nose look good symmetrically you're gonna need some anti-aliasing, son.
The master skill.
That only the masters can use.
And by masters I mean anybody that puts their mind to it.
So yeah get out there and anti-alias that bad boy

All of the parts put together.

I would add anti-aliasing to the nose, but I wouldn't know how to fit those colors on the palette (16-color including transparent - some colors are for later frames ).

Any particular reason why he's green?

Characters are colorchangeable for the fangame he's creating this for, and the default acceptance by the system is green. He really should've started off explaining this himself.

Oh...

Well in that case it's his own original character, we can't steal.

But on a serious note I'd have to say I don't really like the shading on the bottom of his head, it just feels like you've banded the chin which kind of makes it stand out more in a not so good kind of way. Other than that it's fine.

Everything on the sprite is sorta banded and just made up of balls with no figure. His legs have no bend or shape, they're just sticks coming out of another ball. His arms are like noodles, with no real elbows, and they just lead to two more white balls yet again. They also come out of the side of his torso, rather than his actual shoulders. The shading on the sprite is pretty inconsistent, I'm seeing dithering on the torso, banding on the head, and pillowshading in some places. A lot of areas are banded and the whole thing lacks anti ailising, which it needs for how many rough edges there are.

His pose is also very stiff, and the head is too big proportionally compared to the body. Or vice versa
Edit: I don't get the joke about the above comment. This IS Sonic, but he needs to be this specific shade of green technical wise to be put in the game properly.

it was a joke about how recolored sonics are usually 'original characters', hence 'don't steal'

as for C+C, see Iceman's post.