Standing Male "Base" Sprite
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=24628
Printed Date: 06 February 2026 at 10:55am
Topic: Standing Male "Base" Sprite
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Subject: Standing Male "Base" Sprite
Date Posted: 12 October 2015 at 10:08am
 Just a little something I'm working on for an idea I had. The feet are intentionally left off until I get the general pose right. I'm horrible when it comes to anatomy (mainly proportions), so any tips would be appreciated. (Colors are from Dawnbringer's DB32 palette, by the way.) |
Replies:
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 12 October 2015 at 5:52pm
|
Looks nice but either the torso is too long or legs too short.
Why no feet? For clothing options? ------------- |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 12 October 2015 at 6:04pm
|
No feet just yet because I want to get the rest of the sprite looking
good. I figured the feet would be the least of my problems here. Been working on the sprite a little more and looking at other similar sprites, I figured the torso was a bit of the problem. My big problem is getting the positioning and size of the legs right. (Tangentially related: getting the crotch right.) |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 12 October 2015 at 7:16pm
|
Follow the 'head' rule http://realcolorwheel.com/96.htm
------------- |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 13 October 2015 at 6:52am
 Went with a seven-head proportion for now (I want some wiggle room to work with in future edits), so I imagine the torso is still a bit long/the legs are a bit too short. |
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 13 October 2015 at 10:45am
|
Seven heads is quite realistic, adults tend to be 7-7.5 heads tall. In art, people are often drawn taller because it's closer to the "ideal", but in sprites shorter characters tend to read more clearly. Now the problem is just the internal proportions - you're right, the torso is too long and the legs are too short. The crotch area is usually around the halfway point from the top of the head to the heels, or a little below the halfway point. In your sprite, it's way below the halfway point. Try to move that without changing the overall height of the sprite. |
Posted By: Mandrill
Date Posted: 13 October 2015 at 11:33am
|
Much better! Arms and legs are still a bit too tubic though. |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 13 October 2015 at 11:53am
|
@eishiya — Thanks for the heads-up (pun not intended I swear) on the proportions there. I’ll see what I can do about that in my next round of edits. @Mandrill — I figured the arms still needed some work, but the leg shading is giving me some trouble, too. A sprite of this size doesn’t lend itself well to large amounts of details. I’m still getting the hang of anatomy and shading, too. (Yay for learning “on the job”!) I know the pose looks awkward, which is probably contributing to the way the legs look (and the sprite’s other anatomical issues). I came here to get some help rather than trying to get it “right” on my own (like I’ve done so many damn times in the past), and I appreciate all the pointers I’ve gotten thus far. I’ll try to have another edit up later tonight or tomorrow. |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 13 October 2015 at 4:54pm
 Latest update: lengthened the legs according to eishiya’s advice; head width was expanded by 1px; arms still wonky. |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 14 October 2015 at 7:49am
|
So much better. ------------- |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 14 October 2015 at 8:36am
 Latest update: expanded the width of the upper body/torso by 1px; tried removing or diminishing the outlines (mainly on the arms and upper body) to see how that might look I'll probably go back to having the darker outlines around the arms and such, but I at least wanted to see how that might look and whether it could work for this sprite. |
Posted By: jalonso
Date Posted: 14 October 2015 at 9:30am
|
Well you've messed up the whole neck area which is now totally undefined. ------------- |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 15 October 2015 at 9:44am
 Latest update: changed the color palette (for now); changed the pose because the arms were giving me too much trouble; re-added the outlines So much happier with this version. |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 16 October 2015 at 11:09am
 Latest update: slight cleanup to the original “muscular” version (on the left); created a slightly slimmed down “regular” version (on the right) I wanted to see if I could create different body types, so I tried creating a less muscular version of the same base by slimming down the arms and altering the torso a bit. Still unsure of handle the legs, but I think they look better on the “regular” version than the “muscular” version. |
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 16 October 2015 at 12:13pm
|
I think you should focus on the neck/neck area next. Neither sprite has a neck, and the shoulders are a bit undefined. I think the source of the problem is that you started with a heavily muscled body right off the bad, where the area is often hard to make out because of the large muscles covering it up, instead of starting with a thin body and adding muscle to it. Until you get the hang of anatomy, I recommend starting with something like a skeleton (simplified minimal forms) and adding muscle and fat on top. That'll help you make sure your sprites make sense and make you think about and learn the structure of the body. |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 16 October 2015 at 4:23pm
Latest update: Comparison with prior update: 
|
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 17 October 2015 at 11:42am
Latest update: Comparison with prior update:  Extra:  (Regarding the "Extra" image: I got a bit of a Justice League vibe from my sprite, so I altered the “regular” version based on the general look of the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited character models to see how it’d look.) |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 19 October 2015 at 5:44pm
I kinda let the proportions and such of the sprite get away from me with successive edits to the last update, so I took some time today to “redo” the sprite with improved proportions and a bit more detail. Thank God for reference material (in this case, sprites from the DS Castlevania games).  |
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 19 October 2015 at 7:11pm
| This newest one is a massive improvement! Are you going to do a skinny version as well? |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 19 October 2015 at 7:34pm
| I might if I can properly slim it down without losing the proportionality or shape. The troublesome part (as it has been since I started working on this) is going to be the legs/hips. |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 20 October 2015 at 1:00am
|
Blurgh. Not gonna post another version of this thing yet because I keep having the same damn problem—the legs and hips, specifically the right leg and hip (left side of the pic) in relation to the torso. I may end up doing an entirely new pose if I can't get this one to work.  |
Posted By: Limes
Date Posted: 20 October 2015 at 1:41am
|
. ------------- |
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 20 October 2015 at 7:22am
|
Try to think in terms of form (i.e. "3D") rather than shape (2D). You can make the legs slim without changing their shape at all, and slimmer still by changing their shape just slightly, but perhaps not where you think you'd have to change it :] |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 20 October 2015 at 12:46pm
Latest Update: Per usual, the legs and hips are giving me trouble (notably the left leg [right side of the pic]), but I feel as if I’ve gotten everything else to a good spot. Won’t need any more major revisions, just small tweaks and such from here on out. And yes, I did change the palette again. |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 20 October 2015 at 7:36pm
Latest (and possibly final) Update: Barring any further suggestions or tips, this version is probably as good as this thing’s gonna get. |
Posted By: eishiya
Date Posted: 20 October 2015 at 7:52pm
|
I think somewhere along the line, you made the legs too short again. Edit: I think it's because you added shadows to the tops of the legs, making that area read as the waist/abdomen area rather than the pelvic area, which tends to have highlights instead because it sticks out. |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 20 October 2015 at 8:01pm
I have no idea how to fix that aside from just lengthening the legs, which means trying to get all the proportions right on those all over again. Like I said before, the hips and legs have been giving me the most trouble on this and I can’t get a handle on how to do them right. It’s legitimately frustrating as hell. 
|
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 22 October 2015 at 2:17pm
I tried for hours to get the legs and hips looking better without destroying the proportions or totally changing the pose, and I just can’t get it right. I think I’ll end up abandoning this and trying a different pose.  EDIT: Never mind! I actually figured out one of my major problems from looking at reference materials: I screwed up the perspective/width on the chest! I’m reworking that, redoing everything below the chest, and even redoing the left arm (right side of the pic) to better fit in with the pic. Amazing what a little break, some fresh eyes, and some quality reference material will do for you.  |
Posted By: StoneStephenT
Date Posted: 24 October 2015 at 7:33pm
Okay, I tried my best to “fix” this sprite, but I can’t get it looking right no matter what I do, so I officially abandon this piece and relegate it to my “sketch bin”.  If anyone wants to take a go at “fixing” this and claim it as their own work, consider this an open invitation; I treat anything I create as a public domain work unless I am forced to claim otherwise.
|
Posted By: Iscalio
Date Posted: 28 October 2015 at 8:21pm
|
Here, I took a sec and tried to "fix" it in photoshop to match the best anatomy I could do. Still maybe not perfect but I think an improvement?
I think one big problem was your feet were splayed too wide for the stance, nobody would have legs that bent open. Fixed the legs mostly. 
|