My first sprite. Advise for improvement please?

[sephiroth_with_a_gun2]

This is my absolute first sprite. I know its a bit crap but I'm aiming to do a better job when I get a scanner for my computer. Here is the sprite:

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/9628/bryan3ff1.png[/img]

Its just a little sprite of a long haired guy.
Can you guys recommend some details or improvements I can put into this? Any comments are greatly appreciated, for I want the player to actually enjoy the game.  :P
Thanks guys!

 

[|3_32]

OK, heres a list

• Hair: Its flat, and moves too much.  Solution: Add 3-4 shades after reading the tutorial on HK hair in the tutorial section.  It'll show you the basics, it's the same for RTP as it is with HK, only using less shades and obviously, don't try to cram loads of detail in, as this will not work.
• Colours: Pure black, or near-too pure black is a no no.  It shows up a lot against most other colours and creates ghastly sprites.  Solutions: Lower the saturation on the blue, and use 3-4 shades. (1 Outline, 2 actually shading the piece, and one final highlight.
• http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a327/BrokenPixals/RMXP%20Design/Shirt.png[/img]

Do those and follow the step by step guide, and you should be fine.

 

[Samboy]

Um... well...

The shirt is just plain black. Don't sprite with black to start off with, it's too hard to shade. The pants are too bright, try to desaturate a little. And that big ugly-ass outline around his head isn't helping too much. Make it a lighter color/not black.

Oh, I guess |3_32 summed it up for you. Just a bit of reinforcement then.

 

[|3_32]

Don't sprite with black to start off with, it's too hard to shade

Its not that its hard to shade, admittedly I got help from Showkaizer about it, its just using pure black doesn't work on sprites very well.  Use this if you want, obviously all 6 colours won't work well, so try every other, or mix it up yourself. http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb13 ... Black2.png[/img]

 

[sephiroth_with_a_gun2]

Thanks for the adivse guys.
So here is the deal, |3_32, I followed some of your advise and made a few minor adjustments. How does it look now? How much more of it can I improve?

Sorry. I just want my sprites to be flawless. :P Thanks guyz.
Before your tips:
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/9628/bryan3ff1.png[/img]
After your tips:
http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/3087 ... ealwy7.png[/img]
I darkened the pants to fit more into the character, added a LOT of shades to it, amplified the details, and played around with the colors.

 

[Samboy]

Looks awesome. Much better than the last... however:

      - The ass of his pants has a heaps dark shadow.
      - The hair outline is a tad dark still... but a lot better.
      - The pants still have a pretty dark outline.
      - I doubt it animates well. Have a look at what stands out when you animate it... this might save us 
        having to say it.

Much better, however. Colors are spot on.

 

[Jason]

Looks good man, but from what I can see, the shirt seems to be a gradient, it fades from light at the left to dark on the right, looks like a straight piece of dark metal thats been cut into a shirt (Does that even make sense !?), so what I'd suggest is to make the shirt all one shade, and then add highlights such as creases, and where the chest would be, and then follow it up with shading around them, trust me, it will look much better.

Nice work so far though.