saifors' genericly titled generic sprite gallery

[saifors]

So yeah hello guys it's me DudeWihoutAvatar saifors, you might have seen me post a few times around the forum (mostly in the creative, sprites, and rom hack sections) and I make custom sprites including FE ones, also before anyone considers to make a post about splicing and not customing, sorry but customing has always been easier with me because the results always are better then when I splice so those kind of posts will just be ignored unless they have something of use to me like critique I can actually work with. Also I'd apreciate it when critique is the critique is as clear with it as possible and maybe post an image with circles showing where a problem is and how I could fix it (suggest how). Also do note that these are based on FE8 sprites not on FE6 or FE7 so it will possibly not fit in with FE7/6 sprites but with FE8.

Just said that so most of the replies will be useful and help me understand the style more. (So I get constructive criticism)

So here are the sprites:

Mugs:

Battle sprites:

Still a big WIP and I know he leans too much forward I'm going to fix it later

Also still a WIP

[Alabaster]

I'd say then, if you don't want to splice, just reference FE mugs! for the shading ^w^

Because I see a lot of pillowshading in there °w°

Anyway I love the design of these sprites to bits: the dog is so cute <333333333333

[deleted35362]

Actually, that's not real pillowshading.

[CT075]

if your splices are worse than your customs then i'd really like to see how bad they can get

[Shaman]

To start things off, you should try splicing. Why? Well, you learn quite a bit about shading, and shape. Your mug definitely looks like a character, with long shaggy brown hair, but if you are going for something that is closer to the original FE style, then please look at the following:

Disclaimer: Please, try to ignore the green dots. Iaza has failed to make the image completely transparent. I believe it is due to the size. I do not know who the mug who the far right belongs to, but it is not mine. It is being used as a reference, for the purpose of this lesson.

Yellow: (1) I think your shading technique does resemble pillow shading. Firstly, you want to create a line with the correct shape, with your darkest color. Next, you take the mid-tone and accent the lines where the it is lightest, and make them thicker where it gets darker. (2) Shade the strands of hair that come into contact with the clothing, they should cast small shadows on the robes. Take a look at the mug on the far right, to see a comparison.

Pink: (1) I understand why you shaded the forehead this way. Keep in mind that it is not always necessary to make this half of the forehead darker, simply because the cheek below it is shaded darker. They shade faces this way to accentuate the cheekbone, as the cheek is usually concave, and the bottom eyelid creates a shadow. Feel free to push back the darker colors back towards the hairline on his forehead, and away from the bridge of his nose. (2) Eyes are tricky to draw at first, but there is a simple formula to follow. You want to create the pupil with the darkest color in your 16-color palette, and maybe the a few for the top of the eyelid. Next, you want to place some dark pixels, and mid-tone pixels around the pupil. Lastly, you'll want to use the lightest shade to accent the cornea. Also, remember you can use the lightest shade of the eye color to highlight the father eye. You will notice that most mugs do not use very much white to create the eye, and the farther one usually has none at all. (3) He appears to have a slight under-bite. My suggestion would be to move the chin back by 1 pixel. This is up to you, however.

Red: (1) It appears that you are trying to create a middle part for you character? If this is so, try using the darkest color to create the outline of the widow's peak, and then shape the emerging strands with your mid-tone. The lightest shade should be used for highlights. (2) Make sure that you outline your entire mug with the darkest color, and define the where the hair breaks, and parts. Again, refer to the mug on the far right, to see a comparison. Do you notice how the strands cascade, and frame the figure? Try to emulate a similar effect, when drawing long hair.

Just the a tip: Color, when placed properly, can be used to create the illusion of depth or form based on the placement of the pixels; and not just shading general features.

General Comment: I like your character design, he reminds me of Tarzan. Please continue spriting, because it is clear that you have different ideas, and a big imagination.

TL;DR: Try to look at the original FE8 mugs, and observe the way they shade and shape similar hairstyles or faces. The fastest way to progress is practice, and try different techniques.

Edited August 20, 2012 by Shaman

[raxistaicho]

You should probably try splicing a bit more to get a better hang for shading and such. Some of the shading is kinda grainy on this.

[saifors]

hopefully it looks better now

by the way this mug is of me how I look in real life

(I also don't really like Tarzan because people at school call me tarzan just for my long hair :c )

[Agro]

Why are you using 4 shades for the hair? It just seems completely unnecessary and gives your mug weird colouring.

[Shaman]

hopefully it looks better now

by the way this mug is of me how I look in real life

(I also don't really like Tarzan because people at school call me tarzan just for my long hair :c )

It does look better, I can see how you changed the shape of the face. Perhaps you could try using 3 colors to shade the hair? I also encourage you to make more mugs, try different styles, colors, and shapes.

On another note, I also have very long hair *hair flip*. Once you leave school, people will be a lot more accepting of the way you choose to express yourself (keep in mind, it also depends on where you live. I am assuming a large city in a liberal state or province, in this case.). In the meantime, ignore people's comments in high school, because most of them will be completely different people when/if they graduate. That also goes for criticism that you receive from others. If you cannot find anything constructive in someone's feedback, simply ignore it. The people who are actually trying to help you will try to give you suggestions, and encourage you to ask them for direction.

Edited August 28, 2012 by Shaman

[SgtSmilies]

I don't see the problem in using 4 hair colors, the original games do that a fair amount.

[Nanami Touko]

I don't see the problem in using 4 hair colors, the original games do that a fair amount.

The problem with 4 colors is that it's more difficult to get it looking right. Obviously Saifors doesn't have the skill to make 4 shades look good, yet.

[Teapot]

Generally, 4 shades are only used for characters with very light-colored hair, like Selena's platinum blond, or Lyon's misty purple. It's used to show depth and sheen because 3 would have too much contrast, otherwise. 3 is generally used because it conserves colors for a limited palette and the amount of contrast between each shade is sufficient for normal colors. Using 4 hair shades is also like setting up to shoot yourself in the foot later on - it's a pain to clean and recolor.

That aside, I'mma be honest and say that mug's pretty much a huge, messy clusterfuck of pixels. It's haphazardly shaded with no regard to light source or form, and everything just kind of looks like a knotty, blobby mess - face and clothes, included. It'd probably be safer to remake the entire thing from scratch and attempt to iron things out from there. I'd hate to be the janitor who cleans that up.

Edited August 28, 2012 by · j e a l o u s y ·

[saifors]

reduced to 3 colors and shading edited

(also is it weird everytime I fix something I look and compare it to the old one and the old one looks really bad when before I thought it looked ok?)

Also I think the old hair palette was from either Rennac or Carlyle (swordmaster guy with mustache)

[deleted35362]

That border color is dark as what the wha

When you sprite hair, you gotta keep track of every strand of hair. Give them their body, and splits if desired, from start to finish. Every strand needs to be consistent in thickness, kinda like passageways. strands of hair thin at the tip, as I believe you can see.

I'm no teacher, so I can't explain it any better...I guess you should use Natasha for reference.

Edit:

if you are going for something that is closer to the original FE style, then please look at the following:

http://www.iaza.com/work/120821C/iaza17975147948500.gif

>"If you wanna see FE style, look at my mug"

I can say something about "hijacking threads to show your own work", but would anyone listen? k, moving on...

Anyways Shaman, this is art. You're not "perfectly" imitating the FE style of spriting, because you have your own interpretation. Don't go pushing new spriters to copy your style just cause you think it's "the right way".

Edit 2: inb4 I'm scolded by eCut

Edit 3: inb5 warn

Edit 4: inb6 fondled and banned

Edited August 30, 2012 by ಠ_ಠ

[Loki Laufeyson]

^to be fair...

do not know who the mug who the far right belongs to, but it is not mine. It is being used as a reference, for the purpose of this lesson.

Its not his mug.

[Teapot]

Ew, Natasha. Why would you ever recommend anyone to look at those clumpy masses of yellow seaweed. T_T Bonesy, you should know better than that. Natasha's entire mug is shit.

[deleted35362]

^to be fair...

Its not his mug.

Well shat. Oh well, I still think work from other spriters should be hidden in spoilers in gallery topics, unless there's a comparison for cosplay or something. lol

Ew, Natasha. Why would you ever recommend anyone to look at those clumpy masses of yellow seaweed. T_T Bonesy, you should know better than that. Natasha's entire mug is shit.

I dunno, I just suggested some random FE mug with curly hair!

Curly hair is just hard man. I used photographs instead. Good luck saifors.

[Shaman]

reduced to 3 colors and shading edited

(also is it weird everytime I fix something I look and compare it to the old one and the old one looks really bad when before I thought it looked ok?)

Also I think the old hair palette was from either Rennac or Carlyle (swordmaster guy with mustache)

Carlyle is correct, I think. It is a good sign if you see an amelioration in your own work; I also see improvement. Is your hair heavily layered? Or are the strands all around the same length? Also, what kind of robes is your character wearing? Have you tried splicing yet? It would be nice to see some more work. Keep it up.

[seph6969]

I like the style! It's not very FE esque, but in of itself it's a very interesting technique and it's very unique. Although the quality may be a little lacking for now, your works have quite some soul in them. Mainly, the shading could use improvement, and some proportions and angles are slightly odd, but it's very cool. Please, continue in your style! Just refine it, and I'd love to see what you can pull off in the future this way!