Pixel Joint Forum: Davy Jones

Message

   My pixel art:

My reference:

I feel this looks kinda messy, but I don't know how to fix that. And I'd appreciate any feedback on how to make him look more realistic as well. I was having a bit of trouble with his wrinkles... Thanks in advance! :)

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CosmosCentric Midshipman Joined: 10 January 2024 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20	Topic: Davy Jones - Critique Request Posted: 18 January 2020 at 3:27pm
	My pixel art: My reference: I feel this looks kinda messy, but I don't know how to fix that. And I'd appreciate any feedback on how to make him look more realistic as well. I was having a bit of trouble with his wrinkles... Thanks in advance! :)
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CosmosCentric Midshipman Joined: 10 January 2024 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20	Posted: 19 January 2020 at 10:46am
	Some improvements on the forehead mainly.
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NancyGold Commander Joined: 27 October 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 526	Posted: 19 January 2020 at 11:36am
	Your version is smiling and has large childish eyes.
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CosmosCentric Midshipman Joined: 10 January 2024 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20	Posted: 19 January 2020 at 12:57pm
	You are right. Better?
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Greycloak Midshipman Joined: 12 May 2025 Online Status: Offline Posts: 59	Posted: 19 January 2020 at 3:37pm
	That is an improvement. The shape and perspective is a bit off, so I would work on fixing that first. Notice that in the reference image, his right eye (left on the screen) is foreshortened; that is, it is not the same size as the other eye because it is not directly facing the camera. Whereas in your image, they are about the same size and do not portray the perspective properly. This might help show what I'm referring to: The space between the lines should not be equal, since the perspective is not directly face-on.
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Limes Commander Joined: 15 September 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 683	Posted: 19 January 2020 at 7:23pm
	I wanted to help you get those eyes right.. Here's a little edit hopefully you can subtract from it. And heres a video that might help you
	I use GraphicsGale
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NancyGold Commander Joined: 27 October 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 526	Posted: 19 January 2020 at 10:40pm
	Other thing is his facial muscles, in particular eyebrows muscles in your version appear to be more friendly, in the movie shot he is not that happy to see you. Generally, properly drawing human faces is hard as it is, and drawing pathological deformities of them is order of magnitude harder, especially when they imply complex octopus anatomy. So I suggest you starting with simpler stuff, like drawing normal faces with different facial expressions, and only then transitioning to drawing hard stuff, like Davy Jones.
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Limes Commander Joined: 15 September 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 683	Posted: 20 January 2020 at 12:37am
	Yes, This reference is not one I would choose as it is an extremely difficult and complicated face with varying textures and intricacies. Let alone attempting it in pixel art is a very ambitious goal, but I don't want to tell you you can't achieve it. I believe you could but it would take a lot of work and it may prove more frustrating to you then fun. My advice would be to A: finish the piece as best you can give it your all. hard work and dedication. B: try something a little more fun, light hearted and a piece you would care less about ruining, giving you more confidence ultimately outputting something you enjoyed. any way you go you are not wrong, any line you put down is not wrong. Whatever you do ditch the project or not.. There is no wrong, and that's the beauty of art. Good luck! [edit] just something I noticed about the face, his expression gives of a sense of wonder to me like a kid looking at a faerie in the woods. He needs to be menacing and devious, its usually all in the eyes or brow's. in this case brows.
	I use GraphicsGale
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CosmosCentric Midshipman Joined: 10 January 2024 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20	Posted: 20 January 2020 at 8:04am
	Thank you all for the good advice! I think I'll give him a few more edits, and then call it good for now. My art plan is to study some perspective first, and then try to do some more portrait studies, maybe from Faestock's images on deviant art. Do you guys know what that method of drawing portraits starting with a box is called? I wanted to try that, but I forgot who came up with that method. I have to learn how to properly draw boxes first, anyhow, so it's okay if it take me a little bit to find a tutorial on that method. I've tried the loomis method, but I was thinking that using boxes might be a bit easier. Again, I really appreciate the help! I have a tendency to try things a bit beyond my ability. Heehee.
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CosmosCentric Midshipman Joined: 10 January 2024 Online Status: Offline Posts: 20	Posted: 20 January 2020 at 1:18pm
	I feel like my shading of the details could be more 3d somehow. Any suggestions or tutorial recommendations on the subject?
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Limes Commander Joined: 15 September 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 683	Posted: 21 January 2020 at 4:59am
	I am actually a portraiture artist, I do pixel art for fun and for practice but I am not very good at it. Anyways, I'm unsure what method you are referring to with the box method. When I was first learning portraiture I would use a grid method. But after that I used a method a professor I knew made up, it worked for pastels but I found transitioning it into graphite pen or pixel it didn't really work. But once I really got good at the Loomis method Its unlocked lots of potential. The reilly method might be worth looking into if you haven't heard of it, it can be more realistic then the loomis method. I find the reilly method harder personally. I really believe you've fixed most of the problems with the eyes and the drawing looks soooo much better now, with those tentacles I would just think of them like fingers. be patient and deliberate.
	I use GraphicsGale
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NancyGold Commander Joined: 27 October 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 526	Posted: 21 January 2020 at 8:00am
	Yeah. It is going somewhere. Other thing to keep in mind: octopus tentacles are round, while you got a few flat ones. The movie texture also had this specular component, making the skin look sleek, compared to human skin, which has totally different texture.
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WIP (Work In Progress)
Pixel Joint Forum : Pixel Art : WIP (Work In Progress)