ID:258490
Jun 10 2009, 10:26 am
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Well, after spending days playing WOW, and a mixture of being stuck at home due to rain and lack of gas, I felt it was time to do some Pixel Art. Being inspired to get better at larger forms of pixel art, I decided to try something stationary, and what could be more still than a dead thing, right?
 Reference: http://img132.imageshack.us/i/redr.png/ Now, there is obviously more work to be done here. Right now I am working on fine tuning the shape, and looking for major screw ups. So, help me shape my skull. Tell me what could be fixed or fine tuned more. Note: I KNOW the lines need to be thinner, right now I am working on shape. | |
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Jun 10 2009, 12:12 pm
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W1ldr3x
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Cleaned up the lines.
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 Nice job especially on the line clean up - some people don't even know how to do that step. The section of cheek just under the eye seems like it could use a bit more space, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. Coloring will be a good test of your shading skills. | |
Thank you.
And I know what you mean about the coloring. I've just about hit a brick wall. My idea is to start with about 4 shades of gray, and slowly define the piece. I can already tell this is going to be hard. | |
Update:
I really cannot think of any way to go at this. The shading is way beyond my level right now. =/ But, I think my problem is that I am trying to make the shading exactly like the picture. Its very hard to do that, so if I just went by instincts and made my own light source I may be better off. | |
Alrighty then. :D
Lets look.  to....  to....  Ive been working on this for Hours.... On the bigger spots, Ive been thinking about dithering, but I want to see some CC for now. :) | |
I've noticed something about the shape of the skull, and it's bugging me.
 The mouth and jaw don't come out far enough, and the jawline seems a bit too thick. I think the problems with the lower bottom right of the skull would be fixed by moving the jaw forward a bit, and then making it a bit skinnier. As for your shading and coloring, the skull seems kind of flat, no? Like it's a flat board with some features coming out it, not a round skull. I tried making my own edit of the shading, and geeze, I'm trying to figure out how to make it work out. I guess it's the light source in the source image. It's very difficult to make such a light source work out. Pillow shading comes from this light source. Hm, very tricky indeed. I'll mess with this in more detail over the weekend. As for your pink Skull. You used too many colors that are too similar. The features are very hard to make out because everything such a similar tint. | |
I see what you mean. And yes, that light source is very very tricky. Hehe.
I guess it was taken by a camera from a side angle, and the glare from it created that shine from that angle. Makes it very hard not to pillow. I am tempted to just use a different resource for shading if I can find one. Trying to copy that resource is killing me. :P Though, I will take a break for a bit from that piece. I've been trying to figure that light source all day. I do plan to pick it up again. ;] | |
Maggeh's got a good point with that jawline.
W1ldr3x wrote: I am tempted to just use a different resource for shading if I can find one. Trying to copy that resource is killing me. :P I wouldn't sweat it too much. I'm not sure that illustration has an actual light source. I think they tend to do shading to illustrate and highlight the structures than actual light from any particular angle (BTW, medical illustration is a good, paying job for artists). Seems like, from the cheek bone below the eye, the light is from the top - but from the spherical portion of the head the light is behind the artist. I think finding another ref would be worth it. Either that or don't look at any ref and see if you can successfully shade it after picking your own light source. After all, it's a set of simple shapes (planes, spheres, etc.) all interconnected. | |
I believe searching for that other resource was worth it.
http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/1685/red2.png With a little imagination there, I believe I could get a better idea how how to shade this skull. It does seem to have a completely different texture than the skull I linked before. It also seems to give off a different shape at the back of the head. Could the other have been damaged? It looked much more rough. Also, the words are backwards because I flipped the image to fit the pose of my current skull. | |
I changed my line art up to match my new resource.
 There might still be a few flaws, so im going to wait for some feedback before I continue. :D | |
You keep making the nose area come out too much/too pointy. Around the back of the head, whatever that is sticking out, is coming out too much, and its too far out. The space you have to the right of the teeth is too much. In the nose area, again, youve got the nose too high and the forhead curves in when it shouldnt.
Try fixing that stuff and keep at it. | |
If you look at the enlarged version, the noise is pretty pointy. i see what you mean about the other things, though.
EDIT: I think I am getting there..  | |
Sorry to bump a Oldie, but I finished it.
 Quite a bit of Colors, I know. Edit: I got WIP frames if you want to see them. | |
