Pixel Joint Forum: Gangster

Before I begin, I want to say that I like the overall design and think you have a good start here. That said, here comes some criticism.

Anatomy-wise, Micky's chin looks a bit too long. Shortening it up might do some good to the overall image, but I recognize that this is more subjective than everything else I'm going to tell you. Feel free to keep it if you think it works.

The shoulders look too large for his head/neck in terms of proportionality. Maybe it's the suit, maybe not, but I feel like shortening the right shoulder (the shoulder on the left-hand side of the image from a viewer's perspective) might do wonders in alleviating that issue.

Color—well, more like shading—is where things seem to hit a snag. The primary issue here is how the shading seems to defy, rather than define, shapes and space. At least as it regards Micky's face/head, the shading feels "off" in a way I can't quite put into words. The hair doesn't suffer from the same issue; if anything, I'd call it the best-shaded part of the whole pic.

Then we get to the clothes, which is a far easier problem to diagnose. While it isn't pillow shading per se, it looks like a similar issue in that the shading doesn't take the shape of the cloth into account. If the light source is coming from the top-left side of the image, the flaps on Micky's coat/jacket/whatever should look that way. But the light on that part of his clothing looks more like it's coming from two small lights straight in front of him on either side of his shirt and tie. (The shading on the shirt and tie look good, by the way.) The shoulders would also have some highlights in places where the light would bounce off them, especially on the right shoulder (again, left-hand side from a viewer's POV).

You have the makings of a good piece here. You know the design you want to express and you've created a good base for it. I suggest looking up some portrait pieces here on PixelJoint so you can study how other artists shaded works similar to what you're making—in terms of both shapes and colors. Think about studying black-and-white photograph portraits, too; they can teach you a fair bit about how to work with values (i.e., light and dark) and how to best express shading without getting colors involved until necessary. Your color choices are generally okay, by the way—they have a fair amount of contrast that makes the whole image easy to read. If you can work on the shading and the minor anatomical nitpicks I mentioned, I think you'll end up with something remarkable. But don't think I'm trying to put you down by saying that. Feel proud of what you've done to this point, because you’ve made it this far and that’s a win of its own.

Author	Message
Ddawg3000 Midshipman Joined: 10 March 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 19	Topic: Gangster Posted: 05 April 2020 at 9:21pm
	It's a character in a short story I wrote, name's Micky Dice. Any critique is very welcome, thanks!
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StoneStephenT Commander Joined: 08 April 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 252	Posted: 07 April 2020 at 1:27pm
	Before I begin, I want to say that I like the overall design and think you have a good start here. That said, here comes some criticism. Anatomy-wise, Micky's chin looks a bit too long. Shortening it up might do some good to the overall image, but I recognize that this is more subjective than everything else I'm going to tell you. Feel free to keep it if you think it works. The shoulders look too large for his head/neck in terms of proportionality. Maybe it's the suit, maybe not, but I feel like shortening the right shoulder (the shoulder on the left-hand side of the image from a viewer's perspective) might do wonders in alleviating that issue. Color—well, more like shading—is where things seem to hit a snag. The primary issue here is how the shading seems to defy, rather than define, shapes and space. At least as it regards Micky's face/head, the shading feels "off" in a way I can't quite put into words. The hair doesn't suffer from the same issue; if anything, I'd call it the best-shaded part of the whole pic. Then we get to the clothes, which is a far easier problem to diagnose. While it isn't pillow shading per se, it looks like a similar issue in that the shading doesn't take the shape of the cloth into account. If the light source is coming from the top-left side of the image, the flaps on Micky's coat/jacket/whatever should look that way. But the light on that part of his clothing looks more like it's coming from two small lights straight in front of him on either side of his shirt and tie. (The shading on the shirt and tie look good, by the way.) The shoulders would also have some highlights in places where the light would bounce off them, especially on the right shoulder (again, left-hand side from a viewer's POV). You have the makings of a good piece here. You know the design you want to express and you've created a good base for it. I suggest looking up some portrait pieces here on PixelJoint so you can study how other artists shaded works similar to what you're making—in terms of both shapes and colors. Think about studying black-and-white photograph portraits, too; they can teach you a fair bit about how to work with values (i.e., light and dark) and how to best express shading without getting colors involved until necessary. Your color choices are generally okay, by the way—they have a fair amount of contrast that makes the whole image easy to read. If you can work on the shading and the minor anatomical nitpicks I mentioned, I think you'll end up with something remarkable. But don't think I'm trying to put you down by saying that. Feel proud of what you've done to this point, because you’ve made it this far and that’s a win of its own.
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Ddawg3000 Midshipman Joined: 10 March 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 19	Posted: 07 April 2020 at 4:15pm
	Thanks so much for your detailed input! You're totally right about the shoulders, I hadn't noticed that. I made them a tad smaller and rounded them off, hopefully it looks better now. (I think so) Also, yes, cloth has always been super difficult for me to shade I looked at some examples, tho, and I think I made some progress. But it still doesn't look right, and I'm gonna need some help on improving it As far as his face goes, I'm not really sure what you mean. I think it looks okay. I know you said it's hard to describe, but could you try explaining it a different way? Also, I see what you mean about his chin, but I think it just looks longer than it should because of his beard. And I guess it's worth mentioning that the light source is hitting him from the direction he's facing. (slightly to the left and behind of the viewer) Anyway, here's what I ended up with: Thanks again for the help! (also, I forgot to mention in my first post, I'm using a 16 color palette)
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WIP (Work In Progress)
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Topic: Gangster