Pixel Joint Forum: Kiara Vs. Cragrog

Message

   I uploaded this to the gallery last night:

Based on the critiques I've gotten in the comments section, I'm going
to try to improve it.  I did this piece to try to improve my
shading, and I've been told that I need to improve it a lot more. 
  Problems are pillow shading and over anti-aliasing on the girl, one seriously screwed up hand, and inconsistent lighting.

First revision:

Attempted to define the breasts, ribcage, and knees more by shadows
than by lines.  Tried to tone down the ambient lighting on the
right side of the crab.  I redrew the girl's left hand to make it
look more like she's pressing the palm of her hand against the monster,
but I still don't think it looks right.  Attempted to remove
pillow shading in the hair, but probably didn't succeed.

I probably need to ramp up the green lighting on the girl yet and fix areas that are too blurry looking.

Any criticisms are welcome.  Help me figure out exactly what the
problem areas are offer any suggestions at all as to how they might be
fixed.  I really want to improve my shading skills.

Author	Message
venstor Seaman Joined: 11 August 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Topic: Kiara Vs. Cragrog Posted: 31 August 2005 at 5:38pm
	I uploaded this to the gallery last night: Based on the critiques I've gotten in the comments section, I'm going to try to improve it. I did this piece to try to improve my shading, and I've been told that I need to improve it a lot more. Problems are pillow shading and over anti-aliasing on the girl, one seriously screwed up hand, and inconsistent lighting. First revision: Attempted to define the breasts, ribcage, and knees more by shadows than by lines. Tried to tone down the ambient lighting on the right side of the crab. I redrew the girl's left hand to make it look more like she's pressing the palm of her hand against the monster, but I still don't think it looks right. Attempted to remove pillow shading in the hair, but probably didn't succeed. I probably need to ramp up the green lighting on the girl yet and fix areas that are too blurry looking. Any criticisms are welcome. Help me figure out exactly what the problem areas are offer any suggestions at all as to how they might be fixed. I really want to improve my shading skills.
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EyeCraft Commander Joined: 07 July 2005 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 425	Posted: 31 August 2005 at 9:44pm
	Looking pretty awesome, I find the texture and lighting on the crab to be very impressive. This is a really big piece, which can make it tough to keep your shading/lighting really tight, it starts to wander and turn into pillow shading very easily, I find. My suggestions are look at the shadows on the crab and look at the shadows on the girl, I don't know it seems to me like there should be more shadow on the girl, perhaps. Though it really is hard to tell...hmmm, perhaps remove some of the shadow tones you are using to create detail on the more lit areas of the girl, for instance on the belly and her left ribs and use lack of highlight to imply shadow instead. Wouldn't she cast a shadow on the retreating sections of her tail? Also, the shadow on her head doesn't seem to be present in her hair. Her palm doesn't seem long enough on her left hand. Have fun Edited by EyeCraft
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venstor Seaman Joined: 11 August 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Posted: 31 August 2005 at 11:14pm
	Thanks for the suggestions. I've moved the green-tinged shadow in a bit and tried what you said about using the lack of highlights to suggest shadow on the belly. I also extended her left hand by a couple of pixels. Is this getting better, or am I making things worse? I'm trying to do this lighting more realistically, but it's hard for me to picture how to do that in many areas of this piece.
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EyeCraft Commander Joined: 07 July 2005 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 425	Posted: 01 September 2005 at 1:39am
	Good progress! I think its certainly improving, you just picked a pretty hard piece to work on, thats all... I think the main thing you have to watch is how things cast shadows on themself. The bottom left areas of the crab, I think they could possibly be more shadowed than they are, as well as the areas between the crabs spikes on its head. The girl's skirt might also need a bit more shadow on the left parts.
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WIP (Work In Progress)
Pixel Joint Forum : Pixel Art : WIP (Work In Progress)