ErrantDShepherd Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 The birds need more reference on the actual birds themselves. Real Ravens, Hawks, Herons all look very distinctly different. The base bird body as well has some awkward proportions. The legs on the big bird look... Kinda like they belong on foghorn leghorn rather than any of these bird types. :\ What did you use for the references on the bird design? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoncat Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Well real tigers don't have saber fangs, so who says they have to look exactly like the real world animals... http://www.spriters-resource.com/other_systems/pocketkingdom/sheet/5711/< Tier 1 base http://www.spriters-resource.com/other_systems/pocketkingdom/sheet/5703/ < Tier 2 base Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kon Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 They don't have to look exactly the same, but it helps to differentiate them a lot more than what they currently are. As it stands I had to take a few moments to tell how each one is different from the other, which is not a good thing. And even if you don't want to reference real birds, at least reference the in-game models so your designs are more consistent, if nothing else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghast Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Echoing what everyone else is saying, they hardly differentiate from each other. Also they really do not look like their real world counter parts. I really suggest you try and make the birds look more than what they typically look like in real life. As opposed to recoloring and slightly editing the heads of each. that's a legit challenge and one that you'd benefit a lot from if you are serious about improving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErrantDShepherd Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) Well real tigers don't have saber fangs, so who says they have to look exactly like the real world animals... http://www.spriters-resource.com/other_systems/pocketkingdom/sheet/5711/< Tier 1 base http://www.spriters-resource.com/other_systems/pocketkingdom/sheet/5703/ < Tier 2 base ...even though some of their body has been tweaked, a saber tooth tiger is still distinctly a tiger in its proportions and body shape. Whereas, putting the saber teeth on the cat body that Lethe has would look wrong and off... As that body is not large enough/not proportionate for a Tiger.In the same way, the bodies used here for the birds are just not quite right. The base birds used here are fantasy birds so the shape and proportions are not going to be the same as actual birds... Whereas the Hawks, Herons and Ravens are based upon the actual real life birds... Just supersized. The wings look worth using, and the base body isn't too bad... It just needs to be edited/tweaked more for each individual body. Herons are longer, slimmer... Kinda lanky yet graceful. Ravens/crows are kinda compact in comparison and scavengers. Hawks have a more built build, they are top predators... Birds of prey, with a graceful form that is built for death... Their genus is called Raptor, and they are thought to be descended from the Raptor of dinosaur fame... So definitely think svelte/built killer. ;) ---- ...anyways yeah. Some good advice/tips from Kon and Ghast too. Ultimately you decide how far you will go, how much you will improve... But I assume since you post your works here you are wanting to improve/get better? ...only way to do it is to keep working at it, keep learning. We'll do the best we can to try and help you with that, but its up to you in the end. Art is fantastic, and rewarding... But the best way to really grow, is to get outside our comfort zones... Challenge ourselves and learn from each and every critique... Hell look at my thread right now to see some examples of my old, kinda crappy works... We can all improve/get better if we try hard, and stick with it. ...its not easy, but nothing worth doing really is... And the reward of seeing yourself improve, is fantastic! :D --- ...so keep at it Dragoncat. The more you put in, the more you get out... And the more we can see you putting into your works, the more we'll wanna help/encourage you too! Edited February 1, 2015 by TheErrantShepherd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoncat Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 Your advice is appreciated, guys. Even though thinking about doing that much editing is overwhelming xD I'll get there someday. To go with the bird laguz, here's the hawk girl who appears in the latest WoC chapter. Mug is old mostly, touch ups were done. I thickened the neck on the hawks and ravens...hard to tell unless they're next to the herons though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 You forgot her wings. lol Otherwise, she looks good! If you don't want to draw wings, I can loan you the wings off of one of my bird laguz. Their shading still needs some improvement, but otherwise, I got positive feedback on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoncat Posted February 7, 2015 Author Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) I used to put wings on bird laguz mugs but I don't anymore. They take up space and look weird. Won't fit on a statsheet. The statsheets in RD don't show the wings anyway... Edited February 7, 2015 by Dragoncat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I don't think they look weird, but your choice. :P I never noticed that RD statsheets didn't show the wings though... Huh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoncat Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) I worked on the face stripes on my beast laguz OCs so they look more natural instead of "Hi, I'm a stripe!" Markings on vanilla mugs have anti aliasing and stuff. There's no face stripes, but yeah...in the process, I forgot I had saved Torrel as a transparent gif and I edited her in paint then saved again...the result looked like an ugly jpeg. To make matters worse, I didn't have that mug saved anywhere else so there was no way to recover it. BUT I went ahead and made her again. She looks more like a tiger now. Tigers are usually bulkier than cats. I like this one better, so there's a happy ending. Newcomers to my sprite thread: Torrel's on the left. The other one is Samba, a cat. Edited February 8, 2015 by Dragoncat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) Huh, Torrel is new to me. But not bad at all. I would anti-alias the ears more though. Samba's hair looks a bit pillowy too. But it's not really bad. Torrel doesn't look female at all though. Edited February 8, 2015 by Anacybele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoncat Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Yeah she's more of a minor OC. I think that base I used was a female villager...used Natalie's eyes. Might edit the nose and mouth, but there are females that look like males and vice versa, I tend to be one of them -_- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 It's the hair, really. :P But yeah, irl there can be males that look like females and vice versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghast Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 the ears on the blonde one are reeeally really off. they are placed on his face as opposed to the side of his head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoncat Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 the ears on the blonde one are reeeally really off. they are placed on his face as opposed to the side of his head. Yeah I figured there was something wrong with those ears...and it is a female, like I said. She doesn't look the most feminine, I know. Care to expand on that? Like which ear looks off, one or both, and should I move them up down etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt.Smirks Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 The top of the ear should generally be at the same height as the top of the eyes for a human but I'm not quite sure how it should work on a Laguz. They should probably be pulled out from the face a pixel or two as well. Samba has a very strange skin palette and his neck needs better shading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoncat Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) A glimpse of WoC's generation 2...and Amiel. What is he doing there, you ask? I hadn't made a mug of him yet so I threw him in as well. Also edited his battle sprite to reflect the mug. From left to right: Amiel, Ciara(Boyd x Cerai daughter), Milo(Leo x Eloin son), Naroc(Boyd x Cerai son). Milo got the birthmark gene from his dad, only it's on his cheek instead of directly under his eye. And yes, there's an explanation for Naroc's eyes being blue when both his parents' are green. My headcanon says green hair/eyes in FE is incomplete dominance, where the two traits mix. So he got two blue eye genes. A similar situation can be seen on Milo. His mom has yellow eyes and he got two yellow genes. And Oscar might have blue eyes but we can't tell because he's always squinting... Most of the mugs are old, Naroc and Milo required a few touchups. Amiel I just finished today. Edited February 27, 2015 by Dragoncat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Ooh, you're getting better! I'd choose a different green for Naroc's outfit and Priscilla's head on Echidna's body looks mismatched lol, but other than that, I don't see any issues. Besides, the latter is really down to personal opinion anyway. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoncat Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Like lighter or darker green or what... And Echidna is the closest to a female axe fighter there is, so...I suppose I could just use a different body and throw the shoulder pads on but meh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 A less bright green. Right now it's kind of clashy and eye-burning, no offense. xP Yeah, true. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoncat Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 Fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anacybele Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Ah, MUCH better! Perfect. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singularity Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I honestly thought Leo's birthmark was a case of bad shading at first, sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt.Smirks Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Ameil's collar sticks out from his neck strangely. And this may just be a personal opinion but Milo's hair looks strange to me. It's like, on the back and top his hair is in big chunks and then in the front it turns into little strands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoncat Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 I honestly thought Leo's birthmark was a case of bad shading at first, sorry Haha, nope! Leo: Quit dissing on teh mark. Chicks dig it... Eloin: *rolls eyes* If it was bad shading I'm pretty sure it would be on all my mugs... And this may just be a personal opinion but Milo's hair looks strange to me. It's like, on the back and top his hair is in big chunks and then in the front it turns into little strands. That's because I had to paste some on from Wil when I retouched it. When I originally made it I had left an ugly straight edge... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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