Pixel Joint Forum: Otter

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Aleiav
Commander

Joined: 08 April 2016
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2380

Topic: Otter
Posted: 04 February 2007 at 11:26pm

I've got a new favorite animal - otters. :D they're cute.

So I decided to pixel one... and I found a decent picture of one and drew some line art:

I'm semi-pleased with that, but I tweaked it some more... I utterly however, FAILED at trying to do fur texture and thus came up with this:

At this point I feel like I'm just fiddling with messy shading. I want it to have texture but something's definitely telling me I'm going about it the wrong way.

So... any ideas?

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Larwick
Commander

Joined: 18 July 2024
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4015

Posted: 05 February 2007 at 6:00am

Lovely lines!

Pick a lightsource, coming from below might be cool, or you could have the appearance of moonlight/sunlight from above and the reflection from the water from below.

Next, block out general shading. I think the light from above would catch on his nose, head, ears, maybe on the cheek bits and some areas on the side of his face. Then the reflection would hit the bottom of his chin, and his neck area and stuff.

One problem with what you have now is that the fur texture is too contrasted, and the general forms and depth is not contrasted enough. That's why i suggest blocking out shading first. Perhaps try something a bit less random in terms of texture, and try adding actual furry kinda shapes? Like you would for very short hair or such.

Some other ideas would be to add sparkling droplets of water on his hairs... and make an entire moonlit scene... lols.

Good luck!

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Ensellitis
Commander

Joined: 19 June 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 10099

Posted: 05 February 2007 at 8:50am

great lines... but i HATE otters with every ounce of my being... those blooming bastards :(

ಠ_ಠ
There's a pubic hair on my keyboard. What the f**k?? I "mow the lawn" so it's not mine. Gross.

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Aleiav
Commander

Joined: 08 April 2016
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2380

Posted: 18 February 2007 at 12:17am

So I went ahead and recoloured it..

Bah, it sucks ass. Maybe more contrast? I dunno This shading is confusing...

bah. I'll work on changing the colors.

Edited by Aleiav - 18 February 2007 at 12:16am

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Monkey 'o Doom
Commander

Joined: 24 September 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2994

Posted: 18 February 2007 at 9:35am

Your shading wasn't too bad, but your brown ramp needed an overhaul. Here's an edit of only colors:

Basically, I increased the saturation of the highlighted areas and lighter colors and decreased that of the darker colors. This makes the face (with more of the lighter, more saturated colors) stick out as brighter and more interesting than the dark and desaturated neck, whereas your last version had the most interesting area on the neck, probably not where you're trying to lead the viewer's eyes.

Technically, to keep a set of colors looking like it's varying purely in luminance, you can increase saturation towards the extremes of luminance without ill effect, but in this piece it was more to your benefit composition-wise to have a linear light-dark and saturated-desaturated gradient for the browns.

EDIT: Typo.

Edited by Monkey 'o Doom - 18 February 2007 at 10:14am

RPG is numberwang.

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WIP (Work In Progress)
Pixel Joint Forum : Pixel Art : WIP (Work In Progress)

Author	Message
Aleiav Commander Joined: 08 April 2016 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2380	Topic: Otter Posted: 04 February 2007 at 11:26pm
	I've got a new favorite animal - otters. :D they're cute. So I decided to pixel one... and I found a decent picture of one and drew some line art: I'm semi-pleased with that, but I tweaked it some more... I utterly however, FAILED at trying to do fur texture and thus came up with this: At this point I feel like I'm just fiddling with messy shading. I want it to have texture but something's definitely telling me I'm going about it the wrong way. So... any ideas?
	IP Logged

Larwick Commander Joined: 18 July 2024 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4015	Posted: 05 February 2007 at 6:00am
	Lovely lines! Pick a lightsource, coming from below might be cool, or you could have the appearance of moonlight/sunlight from above and the reflection from the water from below. Next, block out general shading. I think the light from above would catch on his nose, head, ears, maybe on the cheek bits and some areas on the side of his face. Then the reflection would hit the bottom of his chin, and his neck area and stuff. One problem with what you have now is that the fur texture is too contrasted, and the general forms and depth is not contrasted enough. That's why i suggest blocking out shading first. Perhaps try something a bit less random in terms of texture, and try adding actual furry kinda shapes? Like you would for very short hair or such. Some other ideas would be to add sparkling droplets of water on his hairs... and make an entire moonlit scene... lols. Good luck!

	IP Logged

Ensellitis Commander Joined: 19 June 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 10099	Posted: 05 February 2007 at 8:50am
	great lines... but i HATE otters with every ounce of my being... those blooming bastards :(
	ಠ_ಠ There's a pubic hair on my keyboard. What the f**k?? I "mow the lawn" so it's not mine. Gross.
	IP Logged

Aleiav Commander Joined: 08 April 2016 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2380	Posted: 18 February 2007 at 12:17am
	So I went ahead and recoloured it.. Bah, it sucks ass. Maybe more contrast? I dunno This shading is confusing... bah. I'll work on changing the colors. Edited by Aleiav - 18 February 2007 at 12:16am
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Monkey 'o Doom Commander Joined: 24 September 2005 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2994	Posted: 18 February 2007 at 9:35am
	Your shading wasn't too bad, but your brown ramp needed an overhaul. Here's an edit of only colors: Basically, I increased the saturation of the highlighted areas and lighter colors and decreased that of the darker colors. This makes the face (with more of the lighter, more saturated colors) stick out as brighter and more interesting than the dark and desaturated neck, whereas your last version had the most interesting area on the neck, probably not where you're trying to lead the viewer's eyes. Technically, to keep a set of colors looking like it's varying purely in luminance, you can increase saturation towards the extremes of luminance without ill effect, but in this piece it was more to your benefit composition-wise to have a linear light-dark and saturated-desaturated gradient for the browns. EDIT: Typo. Edited by Monkey 'o Doom - 18 February 2007 at 10:14am
	RPG is numberwang.
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Topic: Otter