Askeladden

[Paladin]

New sprites. Style is kinda boring, technique is unimpressive, but I hope they aren't terrible.

[E-Man]

Dang! When I saw the name of the topic, I almost thought that you were going to do a sprite request topic or something…

Aw well! Anyway, your sprites look very good, but maybe it would look better if you increase the area of what is shaded? I am not sure if this is what you have intended, but the sprites look mostly flat. Also, maybe you could benefit better if you give the kit, boy, and girl more defended lines of action?

[Paladin]

Okay, thanks for the advice, but...

When I saw the name of the topic, I almost thought that you were going to do a sprite request topic or something…

I don't see why Askeladden makes you think that

Edit: This was my 100th post!

[E-Man]

Well, at the risk at sounding like Captain Obvious, the word sounds like a mix between "Ask" and "Aladdin." As a result, I was thinking that we would ask for requests from you and you grant them like the Genie from the Arabian story.

[Paladin]

Ok, now I get it. But I was confused because Askeladden is a character from Norwegian folklore.
It might seem weird, but I really like the stories and I think he is a great character.

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

Perhaps you could try doing a scene from one of Askeladden's stories! It can help you find a mood (which you can convey through your palette) and make your characters interact with each other.
Also, I noticed the reference to Kittelsen with the troll's portrait!
If you have difficulties with the style, you can always try downsizing the sprites.

Looking forward to more!

[MotorRoach]

Really digging the sprites, specially that big face on the left. Only thing that seems off for me is the girl's dress, it just feels like somewhere there could be shaded some more to have more depth.

[Iocus]

Please don't be so self-deprecating. It's fine to be critical of one's own work, but if there are things you don't intend to change, or you aren't sure of how to make them better, just ask others how you could improve on that particular aspect instead of beating yourself over it. Chin up!

About the sprites themselves:

-The troll (right?) looks very scrunched up around the lower torso and the pelvic region. I understand if you might be wanted him a zombie-like posture, but I still think his abdomen is much too short.
-Ok, that king is way too round. I mean, I imagine you're going for some sort of stylized body shape, but there is really no indication that he has any arms or any form of appendages to the upper torso. Even if that was the case, the cape thing should show volume on its contour, whereas here it seems to be glued to the body.
- I think the girl is pretty cute! Though at that angle, I don't think you should make the further eye look foreshortened, it's making their faces look a little funky. Agreed with MotorRoach, too, the shading on the dress folds is kind of jittery also and the outline really doesn't go along with what those folds suggest.

[Paladin]

Yeah, the dress was kind of a challenge to me, and I forgot that I should look up references. The king is supposed to have an owl-like body, but I definitely agree with you. Troll was supposed to be worked more on, but I forgot to. I'll fix the faces, thanks for all the advice everyone.

(Also, Chris' suggestion of drawing one of the scenes is a fantastic idea)

I'm a bit tired now after standing in the rain for 40 minutes, so I'll see what I can do tomorrow.

[Level 1]

Are the feet supposed to be one pixel up, and one pixel down? Because if so, they look kinda funny because they all seem to be in a flat platform, but having one foot up, and the other down would contradict that.

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

I latched onto the owl idea, so I worked on making the king's face more owl-like: face widened, eyes bigger, small pointy nose... I also brought his shoulders up. The posture is something else to look into if you want to give him a bird-like impression.
I hope it helps

[E-Man]

I like the way you think, Chris, but considering that Paladin knows the story of Askeladden better than most of us here, I think it'll be up to him if this suits the character of the king. While you did nail the owl look for him, I am concerned that he looks unintentionally evil when the actual king might b a kind ruler in the story as opposed to a wicked one.

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

Does it matter? My point was to show how you can exaggerate the features even more, to give more personality to the characters. Whether it portrays the king the way Paladin wants is up to him to do it, not up to us to find it for him.

[Paladin]

The king isn't a bad person in the stories, but sometimes a bit unfair, perhaps.
I wanted to design him as a purely good person, but that makes him more one-dimensional, so I guess I prefer his original character.



This is his new sprite, added arms and redid the head. I think it looks better now.



I also started some tileset sketching. I'm going to give the backgrounds their own palette soon, by the way.

Edit: just realised the typo. Dammit

[Level 1]

I am very unfamiliar with the story, but if the character is supposed to resemble an owl, I say you have a good start here. Though the legs are kinda bothering, because with an actual owl, you barely see it's legs, just it's feet (Here is a picture). That is, unless the owl is flying. Maybe giving the character a belt and lowering the clothing a bit down would help that.

Now like I said, I am not familiar with the story that you are basing this character off, but to me, the head look great, but the body throws off the effect of any owl features.