General Character Art

Yea, after what Vincent said and the shading like test-object said, I think the chicken could possibly be completed.

So, who hates double posts? Sonuw, I also think that the chicken needs a better color palette.

 

So sorry, I got a bit caught up on this Sonic 4 stuff. I had to re-make my last edit on the chicken because for some reason it didn't save.

I'll get to shading here REALLY soon. This time, I promise. Oh, and also, the color palette used was only for me to see what I am doing. I will definitely fix it when I finish the shading.

EDIT: Here's a WIP of the shading for the head. Man, I am not used to Illustrator...

 

Looking pretty good thus far, except the cheeks look a little "sooty" and uneven. I take it you haven't begun the body shading yet.

 

That's looking really close now. Keep it up.

 

Hey, not to nitpick, but why not shade the red feathers as in the illustrations?

 

I would think the beak should look something more like this:

 

I wouldn't think so. Remember that these cute and cuddly animals are those that appear after one destroys a badnik. This one frame is the one that displays instantly after the badnik explodes (Or more appropriately, *pops*) and thus the beak was made to reflect the surprise the animal feels at this moment. But hey, if I'm not mistaken, the beak does look like that, at least in the other frames of the animation.

 

Alright, tomorrow I will put up a completely shaded Chicken. Lots of stuff has been happening lately, (NOT counting Sonic 4 leakage) along with laziness, but now that it's all over with and I got my motivation back in order, I shall get back to work on the shading. I'm almost done with it, and I'm also going to try to fix up some tiny issues that have been bugging me. Obviously I will add a reflection to the red top, I shall do what I can about the uneven cheek, and I guess I can make a copy with a closed beak.

Sorry I haven't been working too much on that chicken, but I will do the best I can do with the time I have.

 

Huh, didn't think the mouth was supposed to be open. It just looks like a black circle on his beak how it is now. Needs more detail so you can tell what you're looking at.

 

I would though.

Considering that the mouth is a single black pixel in the original game, and only a pixel thick peachy colour bordering that, there's plenty of room for interpretation. And to be quite honest, the way Rika has proposed is the way I would see it too.

 

The best reason I can think to add characters is perhaps to extend the VS mode into a four player split screen. As said though it's the developers' decision on what additions they make and it's probably best they don't make things too cluttered, the 'add-on/add-off' download idea you have is interesting though.

EDIT: Wait a minute, why did the link take me so behind in the conversation? The small animal art looks nice though, I dares ya to put a pink bow on Ricky. lol

 

Okay, well, ANYWAY, I finished what was left of the shading, I added a reflection to the red top, and made a second pic with a closed beak. Now I just need to know what should be fixed up.

 

Looking better!

Still, the beak looks someone off when it's open like that. Maybe something like this?



Or not. I suck at editing pictures.

 

@Sonuw

For some reason the shading doesn't look right. With the shading it looks dirty. Instead of making it grey, why not try something like Magnolia. I'm liking the new beak even though it's not the same as the original. Maybe both versions could be used in the game.

 

I always saw it as a sort of ":o" face, as if it was shocked/relieved from being freed. Even if it wouldn't make sense for the bird to be able to do that with the standard beak shape, cartoon characters could get away with it.

 

This, you stole the words from my mind. I like Sonuw's approach very much, and I'm sure that with Vincent's experience they can make another very good sprite

 

Rika Chou: Tried the open-beak out. It looks rather strange in my eyes. Nonetheless, I'll post it when I have more time.

Steveswede: I only used grey because that's how the original sprite was shaded. Otherwise I would've used a dull-blueish color.

Vincent: The lighter shades was actually due to me making the colors more transparent. I shall fix it. Also, when it comes to shading I do not like gradients at all. So yeah, it's just a massive use of in-between shades.

Clutch: This. I thought about going the realistic approach at first for the beak, but because this game is supposed to be a bit cartoony, I just couldn't resist an O-face. How can you say no to something as un-proportional as an unrealistic beak-formation?

EDIT: Okay, I meant when I was working on the chicken in Illustrator for the O-face. I obviously chose a different beak formation when I first made it in Flash, but I forgot about that version, so my bad.

 

After seeing these faces together it reminded me of this;