Art Suggestions

AppTekAppTek Member Posts: 152
edited January 2013 in Art, Graphics, Music and Sound
Hi,

I am not artistically talented at all, and I am trying to make some art for a new game of mine. Could you give me some suggestions as to how to make this better. Sorry, but I had to watermark it.

http://www.apptekgames.com/cowOK1.png

Comments

  • kinzuakinzua Member Posts: 554
    What is it.. a cow or a hippo or a teddy or something.. :P
  • mrpacogpmrpacogp Member Posts: 400
    Really you want to feel like a cow? Make more spots white then..
  • famekraftsfamekrafts Member, BASIC Posts: 834
    It's a cow alright, you need to understand how lighting works, and if it's falling from one angle how it will create the shading and highlights on an object.

    Start with a ball or apple, and practice, search google on drawing and lighting
  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    Well ! It's certainly been well protected from image rustlers ! :)
  • sparkaniasparkania Member, PRO Posts: 300
    Well ! It's certainly been well protected from image rustlers ! :)
    you beat me to it... :D
  • SpriteAttackSpriteAttack Member Posts: 524
    Well ! It's certainly been well protected from image rustlers ! :)
    and me... This overkill if I have ever seen it... but hey... One big issue with the animal (whatever it is - as it's neither a cow nor a hippo) is the light (as mentioned above) and the lines/ stroke. You use think lines on the animal (which works fine for me) but no lines on the parachute and monster thick lines on the 3 strings holding the animal (where/ attached to what?).
    It hard to see the true colours with all the watermarks making it look a lot darker but the colours seem too dark and not vibrant enough for a game object that I assume should stand out.

    Good luck with the game and 'art theft protection'.
  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    edited January 2013
    Good luck with the game and 'art theft protection'.
    :))

    SpriteAttack, you should be more careful with your posts, people can steal them if you are not careful, especially some of the high value words you use.

    Here, I have redone your post for you:

    One big issue with the ▮▮▮▮▮ (whatever it is - as it's neither a ▮▮▮▮▮ nor a ▮▮▮▮▮) is the ▮▮▮▮▮ (as mentioned above) and the ▮▮▮▮▮. You use ▮▮▮▮▮ ▮▮▮▮▮ on the ▮▮▮▮▮ (which works fine for ▮▮▮▮▮) but no lines on the ▮▮▮▮▮ and ▮▮▮▮▮ ▮▮▮▮▮ ▮▮▮▮▮ on the ▮▮▮▮▮ ▮▮▮▮▮ holding the ▮▮▮▮▮ (▮▮▮▮▮ ▮▮▮▮▮ ▮▮▮▮▮ ▮▮▮▮▮).
    It hard to see the ▮▮▮▮▮ ▮▮▮▮▮ with all the ▮▮▮▮▮ making it look a lot ▮▮▮▮▮ but the ▮▮▮▮▮ seem too ▮▮▮▮▮ and not ▮▮▮▮▮ enough for a ▮▮▮▮▮ ▮▮▮▮▮ that I assume should ▮▮▮▮▮ ▮▮▮▮▮.
  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    Hi,

    I am not artistically talented at all . . .
    I think it's not a bad start to be honest, no bad considering you feel you have zero artistic talent, I'd listen to the suggestions others have made . . . and I'd also look at the teeth, they look at bit odd to me, it's the angle, they are starting to look a little vampire-ish like that!

    Also the legs are a little uniform, you might want to darken the rear legs (the legs furthest from the viewer).

  • JamesWEJamesWE Member Posts: 19
    Hey man, I wont go deep into details - I did a super quick sketch for you to explain how basic light and shadow can help:

    image

    Basically, if you utilize a simple top left source light, you can then add a simple, single color shadow to your bottom right. This is give a little volume to the character. Its simple, but its a start.
  • AppTekAppTek Member Posts: 152
    http://www.apptekgames.com/cow1.png

    Thanks for all of the help guys, I wanted this to look a lot like a cartoon cow. I have decided to focus on just the cow and remove the parachute. I fixed the teeth, back legs(I think) and the colors. I have no idea how to do the lighting, and I did not completely understand @JamesWE

    Thank You SOOOOO Much For Your Help!
  • cartoonscottcartoonscott Member Posts: 78
    I think changing the colour will help a lot. First of all make the cow white and change the spots to black, or for a softer approach, a darker grey. The make the area around the nose a lighish pink. Move the ears out a little and give them more of a leaf shape perhaps. Try putting in some horns on the inside of the ears, just little ones. See how they look, they might work, I dunno, you just have to play around with it. Make the bottom of the feet back, so they don't look like teddy paws. Make the tail slightly thinner with a bushy hair bit at the bottom. See how this looks
  • JamesWEJamesWE Member Posts: 19
    Ahh, sorry dude I was in a bit of a rush. As it stands, your image has no light or dark... no shadows (as far as I can tell, the watermark is a bit distracting).

    So what I mean is that if you choose a light source - lets say the sun up in the top left area of the screen - you can then determine where to put the shadows based on the direction of the light. Adding shadows is an easy way to get more detail and form in the art.
    The same as what you have done with the highlight across the top of the character, but with a shadow rather than a highlight.

    For the style you are going for, I would keep it to a simple one tone shadow - but, a rule with shadows... never ever use black in your shadows, use a deep blue. Black will make it muddy and messy.

    infact in general, avoid black in all of your art, even the outline. It can be close to black but should never be pure black.


    Anyway, what you will end up with is a nice 3 tone system (a highligh, a midtone and a shadow). This will help your art have depth.

    I did a quick paintover, these are just suggestions so take em or leave em :)

    image
  • AppTekAppTek Member Posts: 152
    Thanks so much @JamesWE !

    That looks pretty hard, but I will give it my best try! :P
    I'll upload what I got in a second.
  • AppTekAppTek Member Posts: 152
    edited January 2013
    http://www.apptekgames.com/cowOK1.png

    Here is my new revised version. Could you guys tell me what you think about it? Thanks!
  • famekraftsfamekrafts Member, BASIC Posts: 834
    Better than before, just look at the legs, they are looking like stuck to the stomach, the part where they touching stomach, will be without a stroke.
  • SocksSocks London, UK.Member Posts: 12,822
    http://www.apptekgames.com/cowOK1.png

    Here is my new revised version. Could you guys tell me what you think about it? Thanks!
    Much much better, a big improvement, definitely going in the right direction.
  • Alembic_SoftworksAlembic_Softworks Member Posts: 114
    AppTek: you're already improving - keep at it! Even if art doesn't come naturally to you, it's like anything else, just practice and study artwork that appeals to you. Look at what people are doing - do they use shadowing? Texture? How do they use colour, etc, etc. You'll see in a few weeks how much informing yourself in this way will make your future creations that much easier.
  • JDuaneJJDuaneJ San Francisco Member Posts: 300
    @AppTek I'm really impressed with your determination and honesty with your artwork. Keep it up and check out some online tutorials which will help you refine your work.

    Links to check out:

    http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/16/40-cartoon-character-illustration-tutorials/

    http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/tutorials/character-illustration-tutorials/

    there are tons more out there. Also, remember that while you are learning, it's completely ok to copy someone else's work. (dont use the work for anything other than learning, and site the artist if you show anything that you have copied to anyone) This will help your creativity and technical ideas. When I was a kid, I copied comic books, and Norman Rockwell any chance I got.

    Think of art as a math problem. It's much easier to learn a formula with something that already has a solution, than trying to learn while coming up with a creative solution on your own. After copying a few characters and learning how they solved things like shadows, line quality, composition, proportion, perspective and color choice, you will be a lot better off. And it will save the App Store from being clouded with subpar quality games.

    If you have any questions down the road PM me.

    Illustration Portfolio:: |
    Our Christmas Wishes for iPad:: |
    Astropak for iPhone,
    Android
    and Kindle Fire

  • AppTekAppTek Member Posts: 152
    Thank You Everyone, Again! :P

    You have all been so helpful, thanks!

    I will take a look at some of those new suggestions and incorporate them into my artwork.
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