Need some criticism on my template

[Markolainen]

I started making my first template today. So far I've only drawn a non-animated front.
I'm trying to get a somewhat realistic look on the character.
I would like to know what I should improve to make it look better.
The size is 24x46 at the moment at least.

Spoiler

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/2561/templatevh0.png[/imgzoom]
I have now added 4 different templates.
Short legs is 1 px taller than before and long legs are 2px taller. Short arms are 1px longer and long arms are 2px longer.
In order: Long legs long arms, long legs short arms, short legs long arms, short legs short arms.
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/9920 ... te2gr9.png[/imgzoom]
I modified him a bit more now.
* Lowered the head by 1px.
* Shrunk the width of the skull by 2px.
* Added 2px width on the body.
* Removes some shading on the shoulders to make them lighter.
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/6395 ... te3ja1.png[/imgzoom]

/Markolainen

 

[dadevvtsvre]

For starters, try lengthening the legs a little. They seem too short right now. Adult human's legs are about half the length of the body, but of course it depends on the age of the character to get the proportions right. If you're going for a realistic character, then you should also maybe shrink the head a bit. Heads are usually only that big on young people, like kids.

The arms wouldn't hurt being a tad longer, either. Most people's arms reach down to about their hips or even a bit longer. I can't comment about the shadings because I'm not so good at that aspect of pixel art but if you fix those proportions a little it will improve.

 

[Markolainen]

Thanks for the reply.
I'll add a little length to the legs and see how it looks.
I think I'll keep the head the size it is. I want the player to be able to see what the character looks like just by seeing the face and not by seeing a portrait picture. I know it's a little unnatural in size but I'll keep the head that way.
I'll lengthen the arms a bit too.
I'll add the new version here a little later.

 

[Emtch]

Perspective is WAY off. It's like I'm looking at it face to face, where rpg sprites are ususally in 3/4 top down or something similar. I mean, this guy would look like he's laying down on the ground.

 

[Markolainen]

Perspective is WAY off. It's like I'm looking at it face to face, where rpg sprites are ususally in 3/4 top down or something similar. I mean, this guy would look like he's laying down on the ground.

Thanks for the reply.
How do you think I should fix it?
Should I just shrink him? Lower the head a little?
This is my first attempt at drawing a character so I have no clue on how to do things.
3/4 is it like 30 in width and 40 in height?

 

[Emtch]

I can't do an edit now, but I'll try to explain what I mean.
You could add more light to the top of the head, the shoulders and maybe the chest, for starters, that will help with the volumes, you probably will have to reshape some parts too.
Just look at some other templates, like HK or some shit, and you will see where the light is supposed to fall, if you're using the same light source that is.

 

[Markolainen]

I can't do an edit now, but I'll try to explain what I mean.
You could add more light to the top of the head, the shoulders and maybe the chest, for starters, that will help with the volumes, you probably will have to reshape some parts too.
Just look at some other templates, like HK or some shit, and you will see where the light is supposed to fall, if you're using the same light source that is.

I don't exactly know what you mean by adding light to the head. But I removed the "hair mask".
I removed some shading from the shoulders too to make it look lighter.
I don't know what you want me to reshape so I edited the things I thought needed editing.
Thanks for the help so far, it's been very helpful.