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Misty Kolnazom, the Greatest Cheesemaker Ever!

Reg Pashmad the Recruit

Gruzzlus Holt the Captain

Plumpy the Plump Helmet Man

Kulet Lokunnomel the Nun

Enir Twigappears the Overseer

Darkerdaffodil the Elf

Maynard the Mule

Other

Iron Owl the Iron Knight

[evictedSaint]

Although I gotta say, Holt looks super-weird without his patent leather helmet...

Oh no!  I wasn't entirely satisfied with holt anyway, here's an edit:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

backgrounds are hard

I think this pixel art is odd, it makes for weird facial features. Still nice fanart, but... it's just odd.

I would love if you could explain further!  Always looking for criticism ( :

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I really hate to criticize (especially when they make kick-ass fanart!), but if you want to know what makes it look a bit off, I can help.

Aside from a few trivial details (the neck of his armor is rounded, not a V, you forgot the tuft of feather on his helm, his moustache doesn't connect, etc), what makes him look odd is his bodily proportions.  His torso and arms are too long, and his shoulders don't slope.  Likewise, his face is a tad too long; he's a dwarf, his head is short and blocky.  His body position seems a bit unnatural, too; he's standing stock upright.

Holt is an old military dwarf who's gotten fat with inactivity.  His shoulders were once square and proud, but after so many years of hard work they're now sloped and hunched, as though he carries his burdens wherever he goes.  He even rests his hands on his hips and hangs onto the brim of his helm when he's standing, as though the effort of standing upright is too exhausting alone.  His eyes have deep bags beneath them, betraying his exhaustion from years of keeping his zealous recruit from getting herself hurt.  His uniform is desaturated and dull from the years, where Reg's uniform is still bright and clean.  His armor cuts into his waistline, and the hem of his pants drag on tge ground, showing how far he is from his prime.  It's these little details that make him look *almost* like Holt but not quite Holt, IMHO. 

Reg also looks a bit too professional.  Her helm is too big for her head, as is her uniform and belt, as though she's still growing into her position as a recruit.  Her shoulders are still small, and tensed with a perpetual eagerness. 

That being said, the little details are spectacularly done.  Shadows and lights are well placed, your lines are clean, and your style is clearly visible. The metal portions in particular are VERY well done.  It gives a very 3D picture. 

The art is good, and I really liked it!  The second picture in particular is very nice; Reg still looks sweaty from being crammed in her helmet, and pissed to find it broken.  The emotion and body language is nicely done. 

I really I'm not being too harsh, I loved the fanart, and I would never offer criticism unless it was asked for.  I'd love to look at some more of your art, if you want to link to it.

[ISGC]

Gosh, leave it to the DF community to give me real actual art critique, you guys are the best!  <3
taking your advice into consideration, I return once more to my pixel art cave.
(as far as more of my art, I'm afraid I don't really have a portfolio - I'm actually a programmer who tried to learn pixel art to throw together some silly games)
Swapped out the colors for DawnBringer's brilliant 16 color Palette:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Archereon]

Dark Souls.

Truly an amazing game.  If you look close, you can see some of the game's influence on TLCM.

Reg is basically wearing Elite Knight armor, am I right?

[Ancalagon_TB]

About Plumpy:

Make him grow

I just had to read up on mushroom people in Dark Soul, quite entertaining.  Apparently they not very important to the overall story, but good design have made them really catch people's imagination.  They certainly have mine.

Anyway, my point is this:  In dark soul, there are small, fairly harmless Mushroom "children", and then large, quite dangerous mushroom "parents".  I can't help but notice that Plumpy is about intermediate in size - perhaps a bit bigger than the children but not full grown yet (that, or he appears that way because dwarves are short?)  Anyway, under the right conditions, mushrooms can grow quite fast, and just to say that Plumpy may not have reach his full potential yet...

Gosh, leave it to the DF community to give me real actual art critique, you guys are the best!  <3
taking your advice into consideration, I return once more to my pixel art cave.
(as far as more of my art, I'm afraid I don't really have a portfolio - I'm actually a programmer who tried to learn pixel art to throw together some silly games)

Thank you for being gracious about it too.  Constructive criticism, when it comes to art, is really tricky.  I think people took the effort because we sense there is potential there

[Meph]

About Plumpy: Hes not from Dark Souls, but Masterwork DF. The Plump Helmet Men are the same size as dwarves. They can be rebellious, but only if they outnumber your dwarves.

[wierd]

Plumpy should become enraged, and explode into a cloud of purple spores, thus inducing a horrible syndrome in everyone else as they experience parasitism and mycotoxic shock.

That should teach that donkey a valuable lesson about picking fights with strong, silent type mushroom men!

{this is a joke}

[Madman198237]

How about no exploding plump helmet man jokes?

(You might give the PHM ideas)

[wierd]

I like the idea of him getting angry and poofing out spores-- but I am not so sure about the resulting syndrome reaction.

Though, it WOULD make a good room-clearing event, given that the dwarves of the new mountain home that misty has found herself in seem to be elf murdering psychos with crossbows.

Just stick a thumb where his "mouth" would be, and "exhale" strongly. POOOOOOF. Lol

[pisskop]

The dwarves should bring Misty into a side room with the bookkeeper in it, an old, crooked dwarf, and after an akward eye-over she needs to be assigned the glorious job of gelding.

She gets to milk the cow, to geld the bull, to shear the sheep and even spin the wool, but not make the cheese.  She's becomes a 'herder'.

[wierd]

"Vampire Testing"

Considering that Misty escaped from one set of locked cells, it would be hilarious for her to get locked up a second time.

[Naryar]

Gosh, leave it to the DF community to give me real actual art critique, you guys are the best!  <3
taking your advice into consideration, I return once more to my pixel art cave.
(as far as more of my art, I'm afraid I don't really have a portfolio - I'm actually a programmer who tried to learn pixel art to throw together some silly games)
Swapped out the colors for DawnBringer's brilliant 16 color Palette:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Reg definitely looks better. Must be the increased contrast.

Holt looks weird with that nose, he looks like an alcoholic (not all dwarves are alcoholics, surely ?). Also his skin has the exact same color as his breastplate.

[wierd]

Sadly, with strongly constrained palettes, this happens.

Also, it is not unreasonable for clothing to exactly match skin tones. Happens frequently in fact, which is why "Look agains" are a thing.

Take for instance, this woman's understated blouse.


With the problem of a constrained palette, recurrence of a suitable shade is inevitable. The best he could do here is to put an edge in a darker hue at the edge of the armor-- but with low pixel resolution, this can be an even worse faux-pas.


In this case, I would say overlook that issue.

[Naryar]

wait, that is 16 colors ? I thought it was 256.

[Archereon]

About Plumpy: Hes not from Dark Souls, but Masterwork DF. The Plump Helmet Men are the same size as dwarves. They can be rebellious, but only if they outnumber your dwarves.

Plump helmet men are also in vanilla, though naturally they're differently implemented.

[ISGC]

wait, that is 16 colors ? I thought it was 256.

16 colors, count 'em!  Actually 15 because I only used the light green for the background.
I appreciate all the feedback, guys, and will continue improving on my work with your help in mind!  Hopefully I haven't driven this thread too far off topic!  You'll certainly see more fanart from me in the future ( :