Pixel Joint Forum: Skull (Death)

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Okay. So, I'm making a Death for my husband's new game and I'm not really happy with it. I'm been playing around with it on and off for a couple of days, but I really can't seem to get it right. I'm pretty much happy with the skull, apart from the lower jaw. Something's just off about it, but I can't work out what. Could be the shading?

And don't get me started on the damn cloak! The hood isn't too bad, but it could still be greatly improved, but the body is the worst of it. As if it isn't obvious, I'm terrible at pixelling folds in clothes. I used about 3 or 4 different refernce pictures, but I still couldn't get the cloak to... hang! 

Here's what I have so far:

                With cloak                            Without Cloak

And here are the references I used:

 The shape | Basic  shading and detail | General structure of the hood and folds  | More folds reference

So, basically, where am I going wrong? What advice or critique can you give me? 

PS. I realise there's very little contrast in the cloak, but it's kinda hard to convince yourself to make your mistakes more obvious by upping the contrast 

Edited by ms_r_simpkin - 15 July 2008 at 12:40pm

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ms_r_simpkin Seaman Joined: 22 January 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4	Topic: Skull (Death) - Need help with shading. Posted: 15 July 2008 at 12:39pm
	Okay. So, I'm making a Death for my husband's new game and I'm not really happy with it. I'm been playing around with it on and off for a couple of days, but I really can't seem to get it right. I'm pretty much happy with the skull, apart from the lower jaw. Something's just off about it, but I can't work out what. Could be the shading? And don't get me started on the damn cloak! The hood isn't too bad, but it could still be greatly improved, but the body is the worst of it. As if it isn't obvious, I'm terrible at pixelling folds in clothes. I used about 3 or 4 different refernce pictures, but I still couldn't get the cloak to... hang! Here's what I have so far: With cloak Without Cloak And here are the references I used: The shape \| Basic shading and detail \| General structure of the hood and folds \| More folds reference So, basically, where am I going wrong? What advice or critique can you give me? PS. I realise there's very little contrast in the cloak, but it's kinda hard to convince yourself to make your mistakes more obvious by upping the contrast Edited by ms_r_simpkin - 15 July 2008 at 12:40pm
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Larwick Commander Joined: 18 July 2024 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4015	Posted: 15 July 2008 at 4:56pm
	Hey, i actually quite like this. One thing i wanted to help you with was the lower jaw though. I think what's wrong here is that you've shaded it in a way that signifies the sides of the jaw as / \ rather than \| \| (with top edges) if that makes sense... it's too bulbous and needs a stronger form. I'm finding it hard to explain, so here's a pic that might help: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/jfrancis/skulls/mugshotSkulls_hiRes.jpg (sorry for not linking, doesn't seem to be working) Another quick thing i notice is that he has very large bunny-rabbit-like front teeth. Although since the drawing design itself seems quite cartoonish it might not be a bad thing. Anyway good luck with the piece! Edited by Larwick - 15 July 2008 at 4:58pm

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ms_r_simpkin Seaman Joined: 22 January 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 4	Posted: 25 July 2008 at 7:39am
	Larwick, I'm sorry for the late reply. Thank you for the compliments and advice. I think I see what you mean about his lower jaw, but I'm having a hard time trying to correct it. I've had a shot at it, but I can't seem to get my head around it. And as for the teeth, they weren't intended to be big, but I competely see what you mean now! I think they look a little more normal now :P Edited by ms_r_simpkin - 25 July 2008 at 7:41am
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