Panda's HKCP Contest Workshop ^_^(Updated 9-28-08!)

[The Panda]

Alrighty, starting this up again, though Imma hold off on tiles this time. Instead I'll do up bunches of poses since they're not all that hard and lots of people like using them rather than just editing the template themselves.

WIP: More poses ^_^

Finished Work:
http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/7671 ... estpl5.png[/IMGZOOM]

Spoiler: The originals, so you can compare em and such

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4269/halfkaizerposesoriginaliv2.png[/IMGZOOM]

These are Tana's outlines(slightly edited) and my shading, I hope that's alright. If not lemme know and I'll try to do the outlines myself, I just didn't see the point of making my own when Tana's are already there and perfect if you just adjust the arms a bit.

C&C? I wanna try and get at least one perfect and submitted before October so that substantalicious doesn't win the September contest for just doing a face xD

 

[Despain]

j street?

 

[Jstreet]

Err... Nope.
An impostor I say!

 

[The Panda]

They is on to me!
XP I just reallylike Pandas..

Added 4 recolors of the Female Dress01, but I don't think I'll do any more dresses(at least for now). Something about them always looks really off to me even though they're completely fine and it really bugs me. -moves on to something else-
I'll save the dresses for when I'm done with everything else I guess ^_^

 

[Venetia]

The recolors aren't bad, but actually a lot of those already exist. You happened to recolor a few of the things that have the most recolors of everything.

I'd really prefer not to have to cross reference them with existing things right now, but since it's your points you're shooting for, I'd recommend you cross ref yourself ;3

 

[The Panda]

Okie, checked the gallery again and found that all of the dresses and the pink shirt were already done(the shirt may have a bunch of recolors, just not those ones exactly..some are kinda close though, just lighter or darker shades of ones that are already there... )

Also trying out some fences, my first tileset piece and it looks a bit off so some help would be awesome!
^_^

Edit: Decided to do a window while waiting for critiques. Just wanna make sure I'm doing it right before I try any bigger ones..

 

[The Panda]

Okay, added some stairs that I started working on today(like maybe an hour ago? so they're not very awesome yet xD).
These are my first tiles and I know they look a little off so I'm gonna stop making more WIP tiles till I get these ones right. So C&C would be great ^_^

 

[Venetia]

http://pixelcocktail.com/HKCP/Working/T ... help01.png[/imgzoom]

Hopefully that will help :3

 

[The Panda]

Thanks Ven that does help!
Just a few things, the fence does only use 5 colors..I used the palette on the Tileset Templates so I don't know why you're picking up 10.. But I could come up with a 10 swatch wood palette and edit it I guess.
Second is just a question about the stairs.. I used Gratheo's wood palette in the gallery because I ended up needing more colors.. since it's in the gallery I'm gonna assume it's good so am I just using the palette wrong?

I'll get back to work on these right away! But an answer for that last question would be wonderful ^__^

 

[Venetia]

Hmmmm ... You know, those palettes are fine, we did test them on multiple objects.

Just try shading like colors next to like colors to make it more smooth. Remember to shade outlines!

 

[The Panda]

Okay, been SUPER busy lately but I've managed to update a few bits today ^_^
I've redone the window's wood and did a second window, started my first HK Hair, and started on a rat(I know we all hate em but that doesn't mean the Half Kaizers shouldn't have to deal these evil little vermin too!)

I've tried to make the fence and stairs work but every time I try to fix em they turn into a big pile of crappy mush!  So no updates on those yet, but I'm sure I'll get it eventually!

C&C would be lovely ^_^

 

[Grathea]

Wow, that rat's pretty small... it's like the size of her foot or something!

But it'd make a great mouse, though. The shading's pretty good, or at least so far.
Remember to shade under the hair!
Also, it shouldn't be that dark all the way through. Sure, there's a part in the hair, but you don't need to overemphasize it. Take a quick look at Venny's HK Hair Tutorial and you'll see what I mean.

 

[The Panda]

Alright so that's a WIP mouse then XD
So I'll need to make a bigger one for a rat, about how much bigger?
And I'll go check out vennie's tutorial now ^_^
Anything to say about the windows? I know the panes are fine but the wood's been giving me trouble..

Thanks bunches Gratheo! I'll get fixin right away ^_^

 

[Grathea]

Hmm, I think your problem with the wood is that you haven't been messing with the original palette - those were originally meant to be a bunch of good starting points, but not the be all and end all.
Here, look at this piece of mine. http://bb.xieke.com/files/wall0.3.png[/imgzoom]
Take a good look at the palette - I did a lot of messing around with it in order to tweak the shading. The original palette was MUCH yellower than that, but it didn't really fit the environment, so I kept on tweaking it until I found what I wanted.
Hell, I generally spend about fifteen or twenty minutes on each swatch, fine-tuning it to perfection, because if you do THAT, then the shading becomes much easier.
When I look at your windows, the first thing I notice is that the shading's all but invisible. Either up contrast or use slightly further away colors on the palette - don't feel restricted to using say colors 10 through six if 10,8,6,4 and 2 would work better, y'know? The palette you're using is fine, but it doesn't ...sparkle. It's just that palette next door, when it COULD be some gorgeous supermodel palette, and the potential is JUST right under the surface.
The panes are excellent, and the shading on the wood's not bad either, but that palette is stopping you from getting your full potential.
Take a look at all of SK's stuff, and study the colors - he shifts to a deep purple as things get darker, and builds in some yellows and ivories as they get lighter. So basically, just take a leap of faith and pick some colors, then tweak 'em 'til they sparkle.
It's all about the sparkle.

 

[The Panda]

Okay, upped the contrast a little bit and added more violet shades as it gets darker. Any better?

Edit: Mouse is done and awaiting approval!(along with those recolors still >.>[and I checked em, none of those exact colors are already in the gallery]) ^___^

 

[Venetia]

Right now I think your biggest setback is that you're trying to duplicate the XP RTP style of shading too much. Very light, not very much contrast, very linear and low-color shading techniques.

http://pixelcocktail.com/HKCP/Working/RTPHKCompare.png[/imgzoom]
Here's a sample based on some work I did on a wooden wall. See how the one on the right is blended, soft, and natural-looking?

The mouse, we can't really use it. It's too small, looks like a bug at 100%. It looks even smaller than the XP RTP mouse :P. Also the sideviews aren't the right perspective. Don't worry greatly about making it correct proportionately.

That's not to say it's not cute, but I think you need to work a little bigger, a little fluffier, a little more contrast.

The hair is a good start, but it needs some work. I did some work to show you what I mean, but I left it unfinished

http://pixelcocktail.com/HKCP/Working/T ... help02.png[/imgzoom]

 

[The Panda]

Ok so I need to work on making my palettes pop a little more, I need to add more contrast, make things not so linear and shade more like the HKCP and less like the RTP(I think I'm just doing this right now because RTP and Breeze is all I've done up until now, I'm just used to doing it like that.. but Imma work on that!) And I need to completely redo the mouse.
On the hair I need to add volume, and blend the shading more. Okay I'll get right to it!

Thanks a ton Ven ^_^

 

[The Panda]

Updates!
I stopped doing this for awhile to work on them chibi templates but after seeing that substantialicious was gonna win the September contest for doing one little face I decided I HAD to get back to this. I've put the tiles on hold for now to do some poses, how they lookin?
^_^

 

[Substant]

I was? Well, damnit. I need to pay closer attention to these things. :lol:

They look good to me, I was wondering when someone was going to do those for the new version.

 

[The Panda]

haha yeah, you're the only one with any points!
And I was too, then was just like "eh, I'll do em" xD

Anyway, added a new one, first female pose ^_^