Pixel Joint Forum: Making my puppy cuter

Message

   Im trying to make a 64x64 doberman puppy sprite for fun. I was wondering what I could do to get it to look more expressive, and just cuter in general?

My current puppy

Ideal Puppy faces

Author	Message
tiffybits Midshipman Joined: 05 July 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 11	Topic: Making my puppy cuter Posted: 18 March 2018 at 10:15am
	Im trying to make a 64x64 doberman puppy sprite for fun. I was wondering what I could do to get it to look more expressive, and just cuter in general? My current puppy Ideal Puppy faces
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Hapiel Rear Admiral Joined: 30 June 2023 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3266	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 10:44am
	Hi tiffybits! Nice start already :). Some suggestions of mine: Make his skin a bit brighter, that might make him friendlier and allows more contrasts with the eyes. Make those eyes huge! The head is already out of proportions, but if you want it cuter you can shrink the body and stretch the head even more! What do you mean by "more expressive"? What does this pupper need to express?
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eishiya Commander Joined: 04 August 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1109	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 10:45am
	Your puppy currently has a very large muzzle relative to the size of the head, which isn't puppy-like. It's also very wide. Work on that. Looks like you've got some good ref already, and there's always more out there. It also looks like you have a lot of space between the upper lip and the nose, which is odd for a puppy, and no chin, which just looks unintentional.
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tiffybits Midshipman Joined: 05 July 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 11	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 10:55am
	Thank you both for the advice! I agree with the brighter color , as well as getting the anatomy accurate (minus ofcourse the bigger head) :-) I will return with edits!
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tiffybits Midshipman Joined: 05 July 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 11	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 10:57am
	*Originally posted by Hapiel* Hi tiffybits! Nice start already :). Some suggestions of mine: Make his skin a bit brighter, that might make him friendlier and allows more contrasts with the eyes. Make those eyes huge! The head is already out of proportions, but if you want it cuter you can shrink the body and stretch the head even more! What do you mean by "more expressive"? What does this pupper need to express? Resting kawaii face
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tiffybits Midshipman Joined: 05 July 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 11	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 12:40pm
	I dont think Im doing something right :-/ It looks better I think, but not "cuter" . Also, I think I need to work on my color selection all together, I cannot tell if this brighter color is right... Newer Older
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eishiya Commander Joined: 04 August 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1109	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 12:49pm
	I think having the eyes further apart in the old one looked cuter. Consider having the eyes smaller and lower on the head (=bigger forehead), so it's more of a chibi thing. As an exercise, compare puppies to adults. What makes them look different, what makes the puppies look younger and cuter? Exaggerate those features.
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tiffybits Midshipman Joined: 05 July 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 11	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 12:50pm
	The space between the nose and upper lip did alot!!!! Thank you for the puppy anatomy tips :-)
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tiffybits Midshipman Joined: 05 July 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 11	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 12:58pm
	Eyes spaced out more :-) Smaller eyes spaced
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eishiya Commander Joined: 04 August 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1109	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 1:58pm
	A few ideas, using your smaller-eyed version: Made the snout narrower. Made the nose a little smaller, too. Put some light on the lower jaw/lip so that the upper jaw looks smaller, and so that there isn't the appearance of an underbite. Defined the chin a little more, gave it a rounder/bubblier look. Made the torso rounder and a little fatter. Baby fat :3 Defined the ear shape more. This doesn't help with cuteness, but it makes the ear look more like a Doberman ear. The too-smooth look from before looked more like hair to me. I wanted to change the purple parts but ended up not touching them because I don't understans what the purpose of them is. The value is almost the same as that of the main grey coat colour, so the purple's barely visible. You also seem to have two outline colours that are almost identical.
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JerryPie Rear Admiral Joined: 01 October 2024 Online Status: Offline Posts: 232	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 1:58pm
	I'm gonna agree with everyone else. The colors are very hard to read. I turned your purple light into a blue/grey which contrasts better since the general color of your pup is all shades of red/purple. IMO a great way to depict a baby: - Tiny body - Tiny nose - Tiny chin - Tiny mouth - Big sparkly eyes - Big round head Also maybe some small touches like scruffy hair on top of the head. or a collar with an over sized name tag. I made your puppies paws rounder, and the tail stubbier as well. Less pointy angles and lots of round soft things everywhere.
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tiffybits Midshipman Joined: 05 July 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 11	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 2:02pm
	I love the edits :-) Thank you guys!! arigatou gozaimasu indeed :3 ! Im gonna work on it a little more, I love the help!!!
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tiffybits Midshipman Joined: 05 July 2017 Online Status: Offline Posts: 11	Posted: 18 March 2018 at 2:10pm
	*Originally posted by eishiya* I wanted to change the purple parts but ended up not touching them because I don't understans what the purpose of them is. The value is almost the same as that of the main grey coat colour, so the purple's barely visible.You also seem to have two outline colours that are almost identical. I made a palette but I wasnt sure if it worked. I was using the purple as a background leg color I suppose. Here is the palette I made
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WIP (Work In Progress)
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