Human Sprite (from a newbie)
Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: Pixel Art
Forum Name: WIP (Work In Progress)
Forum Discription: Get crits and comments on your pixel WIPs and other art too!
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25112
Printed Date: 07 September 2025 at 1:05am
Topic: Human Sprite (from a newbie)
Posted By: Lucid Harbour
Subject: Human Sprite (from a newbie)
Date Posted: 04 May 2016 at 12:46am
|
Hello!
I'm new to the forum; I've read the privacy policy and I skimmed any FAQs that came up but if I do anything taboo please don't hesitate to let me know. 
http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/104376.htm - Click here for PixelJunk page This is my first attempt at a basic human character. The idea is a customizable human: one that I could add clothes/hair/etc. when needed. I have other skin palettes ready and I'm currently fiddling with different hair styles. For the first batch I used my own skin and eye colour because... I d'unno. But how does this look so far? I'm looking at pixel tutorials fairly often, but they only help so much without specific criticism, so your advice is always appreciated. Please help me improve! 
|
Replies:
Posted By: Lucid Harbour
Date Posted: 07 May 2016 at 3:09am
Made hairstyles for the sprite above.
A kind user pointed out that his run looks like its from an isometric / angled bird's eye view and his head and side view should represent that better, so I'm not going to work on that. His whole body is probably going to change actually... Coming soon. |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 07 May 2016 at 1:24pm
|
You are doing nicely.
Up the contrast a little ;) ------------- |
Posted By: heyguy
Date Posted: 08 May 2016 at 4:40am
| Agree with poster above. Add some secondary detail like clumps or strands of hair. |
Posted By: Damian
Date Posted: 10 May 2016 at 10:38am
|
I can't say I agree with adding anything like secondary detail as suggested. Sometimes adding loads of what you think is minor "detail" at this size, will only makes the image noisier visually. So be careful.
There are some issues right now such as banding and pillow shading, but short term worry more about producing the art and just have a think about these more longer term. |
Posted By: Lucid Harbour
Date Posted: 10 May 2016 at 3:30pm
Thanks for the advice folks! I changed it to fill in a little more and made the body match the perspective a little better.
http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/104505.htm - Click here for PixelJoint page. Also, I wanted to test out different skin tones. I see what y'all mean by issues with the contrast now, but please keep in mind these are blank sprites meant to add detail and clothing as you go (think an rpg game). This new torso clothing is meant to be unisex. A robe that would just cover breasts but also looks like it could be man, and the only thing that would change the appearance of gender would be the hair and clothing. Does this work? Although, maybe I should focus on making some tiles first and make sure the contrast works with the background... More to think about. Thanks so much for all the advice; keep it coming! :) |
Posted By: NancyGold
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 8:38am
| The colors are so close and flat that you can throw out a few of them and nobody will notice. |
Posted By: Lucid Harbour
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 9:40am
Some minor changes and a few prototype costumes:
http://pixeljoint.com/pixelart/104601.htm - Click here for PixelJunk page. Took the advice of many and upped the contrast. Wow, that's better! Damian and eishiya, took your advice and fiddled with the shading. How's that? I'm trying to convey a light source above them, but also I'm trying to use the shading to add shape (like I see in the tutorials I've been watching). snv and eishiya, you both gave some great advice for the different skin tones but I didn't read them until after I finished this image. I will experiment with your suggestions the next image! :) Thanks again for the valued criticism! |
Posted By: NancyGold
Date Posted: 11 May 2016 at 1:26pm
Here I have edited one of your sprites to make it look less flat.
|
Posted By: Lucid Harbour
Date Posted: 20 May 2016 at 10:19pm
|
Thanks snv!
Your advice is super-appreciated. I like what you did with the jaw and nose. :) I don't mind a little bit of flatness to the characters, considering it makes them stand out a little more in a landscape that has very different colours. That's hard to judge right now though, as I'm still fiddling with how the backgrounds will look, hah! I may end up outlining all the characters to make it even more clear. Still experimenting... Thanks all, again, for all your help. I will post some updates soon! |
Posted By: Lucid Harbour
Date Posted: 08 June 2016 at 8:38pm
|
Hey, I've recently moved to a different city, that's why I've been away for a while!
Thank you all so much for your feedback. 
I fiddled with colours more and I made a full skin-tone grid for later use. Decided to make a couple other fantasy species for kicks and see how different I could make the heads. Also, I upped the contrast even more! The two-tones that are lighter are still fairly close, but I like it that way. Its sort of meant to be seen at X2 or X3 scale. Any more feedback? I'm going to start making background tiles soon. Thanks again! |
Posted By: Lucid Harbour
Date Posted: 08 June 2016 at 8:48pm
As for the colour spectrum for human skin...
How is this colour grid for human skin? It's based off a makeup guide I found online, then altered to be a little more vibrant and work with my characters. I also made a colour grid for the elves and the lizards, but they're made up, so I don't care much for criticism with those. |
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 09 June 2016 at 8:30am
|
The three middle columns are nice, but the lightest and darkest columns aren't very varied. I'd merge them, or really push the undertone differences. I think all of the rows feel a bit samey though, and could use some exaggeration to make them more distinct. The middle colour in each square doesn't seem very useful to me, it's very low-contrast. I think you could either get away without it, or darken it a little. The darkest colours in some of the squares looks rather dull/muddy, hue-shift them towards red (on the lighter tones) or purple (on the darker ones) a bit to look like human skin. Human skin reflects onto itself, which causes the shadows to be more intensely coloued (and more saturated), so boosting the saturation a little might help too. |
Posted By: Lucid Harbour
Date Posted: 19 June 2016 at 8:37pm
|
Thanks again for the great advice! The skin looks so much better.
New skin: 
New sprites: 
|
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 20 June 2016 at 5:20am
|
Now those middle colours are working well! ...to the point where I wonder if you need both the darkest colour AND the black outline. Since you're using the darkest colour so sparingly, why not also use it for the skin outlines? The shadow colours on the bottom row feel a bit dull, while the top two look good. I think the bottom row could use a little tweaking. |
Posted By: Yuran
Date Posted: 20 June 2016 at 8:59am
|
Originally posted by eishiya You mean - shift color tone in warm or cool hue? If it lighten up, the volume of sprites is lost.The shadow colours on the bottom row feel a bit dull, while the top two look good. I think the bottom row could use a little tweaking. |
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 20 June 2016 at 6:42pm
|
I meant shift the hue, yes. The values are fine. I think Lucid's pretty good at figuring out what I mean. |