ID:890976
 
I tried making a portrait for an icon I did not too long ago, My first try at a portrait so please give me advice or any links you might have as to how to make it better.

The base icon:
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The potrait:
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The tongue needs to be smaller on the portrait. Also, why are his eyes so far apart?
To- Are you an idiot? It needs work, but it's a good start.
In all seriousness though, the base is perfect. However, the portrait could use some work, such as the distance between the eyes.
In response to BeignetLover
The base is far from perfect. It's good enough not to complain about, but not even close to perfect.
In response to NNAAAAHH
So what would you say I need to fix to make it perfect?
In response to Rylentless
The forehead is too large, the eyes are too low down, I don't see where the mouth would be on the icon, the legs are really skinny, the feet are placed oddly, the back's shoulders look way buffer than the rest of the body, the arms are alttle skinny but it's fine, the body's back loses a lot of shading compaired to the already low-shaded front.

Plus; the dark rectangles over the more private areas are pretty ugly.
First of; you did a fantastic job on the outline!

Second; there are a lot of things that just aren't quite right. Lets start with the eyes, they're too far apart and they honestly look like they're not even eyes but just thick eyebrows.

or even a step further

Above you see the edit i made; See how I made the eyes at the same height as the ears? and gave it the illusion of being oval shape despite being rather straight-lined?

Next is perhaps one of the most important things in making portraits. the human head isn't round! the sides of our heads are relatively flat (just look at your own head in the mirror; you'll probably notice how it is not perfectly round, if it is you might want to call the hospital,) That means you have to shade them as such, I used a top/down lightsource as if it was in the middle of the afternoon, see how i made highlighted the cheekbones? thats because they stick out!

I hope this explains a little bit what I am trying to convey, if not feel free to ask; thyough i believe4 the edit speaks for itself.
As for the portrait; the eyes are too far outward, the nose is bigger than the mouth, the nose is too low down, and the forehead is still alittle large.
You could fix most of that by moving things up a pixel or so.
I took both your suggestions and I tried my best to incorporate them into the base without losing the 'cartoon-y'
theme I had in mind(atleast I -think- they look cartoon-y)

Here it is:
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In response to Rylentless
The base looks much better, but try adding some shading to simulate a nose and mouth.

The forehead on the portrait still looks alittle big when you zoom in, and the nose ends at the same point as the eyebrows. You should try raising just the eyes up a tiny bit and seeing how that looks.

[EDIT]
Uppon further inspection; the base's legs still look off.Posibly it's the sudden growth around the thighs.
[END EDIT]
In response to NNAAAAHH
The problem I have with the legs is that fact that there is a 2 pixel space between them and if I was to make it any larger it would cause that unsightly look just like the one in the private area.

Here's what I mean:
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In response to Rylentless
I understand, but the growth in the thighs is that I was pointing out. You gained a pixel on either side of the icon around where the thighs start.
The base is lit from the opposite direction than the portrait. If I saw them both on the same screen in-game, I would be pretty confused. Also, eyes are indented on your face. You may want to add some shading around the eyes, which will in turn highlight the cheeks more.
If I saw them both on the same screen in-game, I would be pretty confused
That doesn't invalidate my opinion.
The Wee-wee, looks weird.