[SOLVED] Custom Cartoony Manga Busts

[Emanzi]

Hey guys. Been a while...

Testing out a hand drawn bust I made. What do you guys think? Does it match the sprite and fit with the style? I’m going for a simple cartoony manga look to fit the characters for Old School Modern resource pack by finalbossblues
(https://finalbossblues.itch.io/old-school-modern).

Spoiler: Screenshot

Spoiler: Bust Image

I'll use this thread to generate feedback, the style is a work in progress so please be honest but not too rude. Thanks.

If someone knows the legitimacy of sharing custom original content based on DLC please fill us in if its O.K or not otherwise my busts are free to use and edit. credit finalbossblues.

 

[mathmaster74]

@Emanzi

Does it match the sprite and fit with the style?

Yes, it matches. It fits with the description of the style you said you were going for in that it's simple and cartoony. Can't speak to the manga look of the resource pack as I'm not familiar with that. Imo your outer contour lines are a tad thick. If you cleaned up some of the line work with an image editing software this would really pop! Great base work for freehand!

 

[Emanzi]

@mathmaster74 Good to know I'm headed in the right direction, ill work on another one with more refined line work. Sort of rushed this one from a sketch I scanned and worked over but its a good start and its great to have some free reliable feedback. Thanks.

 

[MushroomCake28]

Yes it fits!

 

[BlueMage]

I gave her some makeup lol ; )

 

[Emanzi]

@MushroomCake28 Thanks.
@BlueMage Wow, nice edit. I like the detail on the collar. did you touch up the shading? nice. (^_^)

So I reworked the style and came up with something fresh. check these out. One has a thick outline and the other a normal outline. I cleaned up the line art and gave her a pose to avoid that "stiff-defaulty" look.

Spoiler: Screenshots

Thin Outlines

Thick Outlines

Spoiler: Busts

Thin Outline

Thick Outline

Which version should I keep? Does it look more "manga and cartoony" now?

 

[Sharm]

I think the thicker outline works better for matching the tileset, but the thinner lines look more appealing. To get the manga/comic book vibe what you really want to do is use variable line width. It's a tricky thing to learn, you're not likely going to get it right without some time and practice, but even a poor attempt adds a lot of life to a piece. There are a few ways people use to decide which parts should be thick and which should be thin, but for some really quick and flexible rules of thumb put thicker lines where there's more shadow, inner corners, or where you want something to feel heavy, and most of the time the thinnest lines will be at the ends or outer corners.

BTW, in this case I don't think you have to worry about sharing stuff based on this set. The sprite you're basing your artwork on is fairly generic when it comes to features, and you've added in a lot of your own details and interpretation. No one would look at your artwork by itself and think "Oh, that's obviously based on this sprite!" out of context.

Oh, almost forgot. I think if you're going to use thick outlines, if you're not using black or dark brown as your outline color, don't use all one color for the outline. You'll get better looking results by either coloring the outline based on what it's outlining or by making the outline something with shading too, or both.

 

[Emanzi]

@Sharm so following your advice on coloring the outline, I edited the bust (and screenshot or now mock-up). I think as far as line weight goes I'll experiment with that later, but for now I think this is the look I'm going for.

Spoiler: Edits

Also here is the time fantasy sloppy pallet to keep consistent with the coloring scheme.

Spoiler: time fantasy sloppy pallet

I did not use the tf pallet yet but I will, I need to re-color the bust and work on the outline line weight for the final version but I think we're headed in the right direction so far. The shading is also a little bit too flat. I will try a cell shading technique for some more solid shading.

Good to know we can share these busts and improve without having to worry about legal issues. Hopefully by the end of this we will have a couple solid busts to make a game (^_^). Just so we're on the same page, if you also have the DLC this character is the second character from the modern4 characters sprite sheet.

One question, how old do you think she looks? young adult, teenager? I was thinking early 20's or late teens.

Spoiler: How old is she? 1999

 

[Sharm]

Eh, she looks like a young adult, anywhere from 17 at the youngest to her early twenties. However, by anime rules she's at least 25, because of the lipstick.

 

[Emanzi]

@Sharm Hopefully this is more of what you meant when you talked about coloring the outline.

I also edited the hair just a little so when you flip the bust it stays looking consistent.

Spoiler: Screenshot

Spoiler: Busts

This is the best I can do with what I have in mind. Simple, cartoony manga. I thank you for your feedback.