xoferew 261 Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) So I am working on my first face ever. I THINK it's going in a good direction but I don't know where to go from here. This is a boy about four years old. His default expression (this one) is supposed to be between confident and cheerful, and neutral. That is, not TOO confident and cheerful. I feel like the outlines should get thicker in some places but where? What to do with the hair? I think not too many highlights because the sprite doesn't have much, but I'm unsure of placement of shadows and light. Do the eyes match? Are they placed okay? I have no confidence that the shading is placed logically. How the heck do you make ears not look weird? I am using Game Character Hub so I don't have any fancy brushes and filters. Thanks for any input!! Edited to add: Non-faceset-artists, of course feel free to advise too! Edited August 19, 2015 by xoferew 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Whiona 310 Posted August 19, 2015 This is a well-done face sprite, especially considering it's your first! The placement of the eyes looks fine to me, and they match well enough. The jaw has a bit of an odd shape, though - try to remove that upward bump just to the left of his chin. As far as highlighting and shading goes, the key is to identify a light source. If you don't know where the light is coming from, then you won't be able to place the highlights and shadows logically. This Deviantart tutorial shows a few different examples of how the shading on an image can change drastically depending on your light source. Once you have your light source, try to visualize which parts of the face would either catch or block out light, and then shade accordingly. When I begin colouring, I like to draw a little sun on my canvas where the light is coming from, and then I erase it when I'm all done. It helps me remember where my light source is located, even if I put the drawing down for a few days. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PastelPopPrince 6 Posted August 19, 2015 Since lighting has already been covered, from the emotion - Try lifting the corner of the mouth up a bit more (not to drastic and evenly on both sides can make them have more of a cheerful demeanor , while make it more drastic on one side can make it a smirk which is more cocky than confident, and I'm not sure that'd be useful for a four year old) The height of the eyebrows can determine their expression too. Higher = more excited and cheerful, Lower = Upset/Serious And the angle and spacing can determine if they're more relaxed. (far apart = relax) (Closer/more furrowed = stressed/serious/ more intense) I hope that helps a bit, 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EpicFILE 200 Posted August 19, 2015 It's good, the hair looks a bit strange, though. The face is well done! I know one character who have cheerful, confident, and neutral personality. It's Yu Narukami from Persona 4 (only watch the anime, but more or less, he's like that). I think the expression is just fitting for such personality. Good sprite too! It looks cute! XD Keep drawing and you'll get better! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xoferew 261 Posted August 19, 2015 Thank you all for the feedback so far!! Whiona: The jaw shape was my attempt at a pudgy baby face. I will study it further. I will definitely check out the tutorial mentioned. PastelPopPrince: Thanks for the tips on emotion. I'll work on it with your suggestions in mind. EpicFILE28: The hair is not as far along as the rest of it. I know it is weird. Hair, blah. Sprite: Thanks! It's hard to draw sprites so short! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xoferew 261 Posted August 23, 2015 Alright! Improvements have been made thanks to everyone's suggestions. Default face Cranky face A friend, about 9 years old I want to make three more faces for the boy: really happy, disappointed, and battle face. I'm not sure how to do the features for the last one. What I mean is an expression that's not angry or happy but really focused and a bit excited, poised for action. Any advice there? Another question, I don't want to put clothes in the face pic because I'm awful at clothes but I don't want the charas to look naked. Should I cut off their necks higher, or maybe do some kind of fadeout so they don't look like severed heads? I made them at 250 pixels square and then shrunk them down but maybe there are tricks to preserve resolution more? Should I cut off more of the hair so I can show the face at a slightly higher resolution? Thanks for any feedback! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RetroExcellent 369 Posted September 21, 2015 You are putting a 4 year old into battle? You monster! Who are you Akira Toriyama? All kidding aside, the faces have a great start, way better than my art when I started (or even now lol). What I found very helpful was to look at a similar art style that you are going for, you'd be surprised at how much you can pick up just by looking over an existing face. That being said, try to adapt it into your own style and not just mimic it, otherwise you'll never improve without looking at a reference. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xoferew 261 Posted September 21, 2015 Ha ha, thanks, I think. Even worse, I'm a preschool teacher in real life. Violence aside, the kids in my class are all starting off on the epic quest of their life, exploring the world, gaining reputation and experience points, and leveling up in lots of ways. So yeah, the violence is metaphorical. I haven't had the chance to get back to these faces in awhile except to crop them because it involves scanning in paper and pencil drawings and I haven't had a scanner handy lately. But soon! Yes, I agree with your advice about looking at existing faces. I need to do more of that. Thanks for your comment! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EpicFILE 200 Posted September 22, 2015 At first I expect the dialogue will gone like this... Boy : I love the pancakes so much! Girl : What is pancake? Boy : It's some kind of cake Girl : I know Boy : O_O *Then the girl laughed maniacally because she successfully trolled the guy. xD Just kidding. ^^ The improvement is really good. I love the shading, especially on the blue haired guy's hair. My imagination tells me that they're wearing clothes, even without thinking about it. So I think you don't have to fix the pictures. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
xoferew 261 Posted September 22, 2015 Boy: Want some pancakes? I bought them myself with money I looted from a corpse! Girl: Wh-where did you find a corpse? Boy: Under your bed! Ha ha, just kidding. Up in the mountains. He was wearing a green hat. Girl: D-Daddy...? Boy: So, want some? (NO! Bad xoferew! That's completely out of character, don't type things like that just because it's before 6:00 am and you haven't had your coffee. Type something on topic since people have been nice enough to revive this thread!) I think they look better now that I've zoomed in on them for the portrait but it was painful to crop all that hair I worked so hard on. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
