I again must ask for assistance

[golbez22]

Hey everybody I came here a while back seeking help on the models from my game project...as I am not a good artist and such...

here is what I had accomplished


since then the game has moved to 64x64 and I have been unable to find an artist who can or will help me so I started working on roughs that could pass as dev textures and this is a little test piece were I tried a few body types trying to get an anime chibi style

[Paladin]

They could do with a tad more contrast. It also seems kinda weird that their legs are so thin in comparison to the rest of the body, but I guess that's the look you're going for?

It just seems like the legs wouldn't be able to take the pressure...

[golbez22]

well this was my first attempt at "chibi" and I'm not the greatest artist to begin with that's why I am here

[Gors]

and that's why you received critique: we know you aren't great, and that we aren't either. We're at constant learning here so don't sweat it if your work isn't up to your standards.

As for your sprite, it's passable for dev graphics, but I want to teach you some art techniques in case you're interested. Notice that the edits that I'll be making upon your sprites are merely for didatic purposes, you may or may not use it as base for further edits.

I'll work on the first sprite; the rest human bases are up to you.

Three steps:
1- Anatomy. Chibi is stylized, okay, but that doesn't make people's heads perfect spheres. There's still some base to follow, and since it's supposed to look cute, some os its esthetics are made to look neotenized (that means, look kinda like a kid).
2- Perspective. It's easy to get confused and end up making a standing guy looking at the screen, but here you are supposed to see everything a littlefrom above. This includes the pectoral lines and all the details you've added. Additionally, from this view you probably wouldn't see the details of his collarbone as they'd be below his chin.
3- Colors. They seem really washed out and it makes it kinda boring; try playing with the pigments more, and don't forget contrast.



I didn't change the colors here, but I tried addressing some of the points stated above. Have fun spriting!

[golbez22]

about the head...yeah I've been trying to figure out the best shape for that...


and as for the pose, I was planning on stylizing it when it's animated

and I'll try adding another highlight and darker color

thank you very much for the help so far all... this is great

[Vipershark]

The only "shape" you need is that of a regular head.
As gorsal pointed out above, chibi does not turn characters into some sort of sphere-headed creatures. Chibi still uses regular human anatomy but with exaggerated, more childlike proportions.

[golbez22]

yes but the exaggeration of the head is a problem for me I can't quite get it the right size for the body

EDIT: here is my best attempt so far (it's a little sloppy sorry)

[GaryASPG]

Any questions just ask.

[golbez22]

uhm the head is the interest for me.

as I think the huge problem is the head proportion and lack of contrast

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

I won't reiterate what Gors has said, but here are a few more points:
-the lighting you have is putting half the face in the shade, which doesn't make sense if you want to emphasise on the face/head
-keep your bases simple and neutral: it'll make them easier to edit and allow for more diversity
-asymmetry can make some characters more interesting to look at - too many small details will however make the design look cluttered

Here's an edit of the base and some ideas of what can be done with it:

Hope it helps!

[GaryASPG]

[Gors]

GaryASPG, I'll tell you not to do such things without actually helping the original poster. While your artwork is good, you are not helping at all.

If you have something to share, then spend some time actually writing what you did in order to teach, not just showcase what you know.

[GaryASPG]

I was just giving another example of how versatile a good base can be, cool your jets Gors.

Aaaaanyway, real critique:

First off, you'll want to make it past the base before you can really get anything going. Right now you've just got a base for an rpg character, which is fine, but there's not much to really critique. I would like to suggest not going 64x64, though, because once you reach that territory you might as well not use sprites at all and just go the digital art route (SAI, Photoshop, etc.). It's also a lot easier to mass produce small rpg sprites rather than big ones. I'd say stick with your original idea and go small.

Here are some examples of easily readable RPG sprites:



Right now you've just got a bald dude who looks kinda Minish Cap-esque, which I think will work well but it greatly depends on what kind of character you're making, what style you're doing the rest of the game in, etc. etc. Try using your base and making a character out of it, as that will help a lot in giving feedback - IE:



Your original base is fine as-is, there's very little minor tweaks I would change personally but they're honestly just nitpicks. Make something out of those and I can help more, otherwise I've got to critique a tiny naked bald RPG guy which is a bit hard to do. The only thing I can really suggest is make sure to use a lot of references when creating your animations as RPG sprites have been fine tuned over many years and they've basically got it down to a science. If you do decide to stick with the larger size sprites, you should definitely considering going the digital art route as giant RPG sprites look a bit strange.

[Gors]

that's more like it.