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[maximilianyuen]

Will probably be fine for you, im stuck on my titan, no idea how to fill the brown spots and anything empty to make it look good, and making new parts from scratch is out of the question, i suck at shading.

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not much suggestion I can give....probably you can try sketch it on pencil to get a general idea before you actually do it and limited by what you are using now

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i somehow believe function decided form. might need to decide a more concrete role of your ship so that you KNOW what are in those space instead of trying to figure what to put in the space

if you can do it this far you already got more then enough skills to make it good design-wise, worry shading when you get the parts ready later

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and you are having some pretty long range small mount weapon seems

[xenoargh]

@ValkyriaL:  I can see that you're putting a huge amount of work into this beast  Suggestions:

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A.  Follow Amazigh's advice, in terms of smoothing the shading between higher and lower areas.
B.  Darken the lower areas slightly and shade from there, it will help create a greater sense of depth.
C.  Add some shading to suggest some bumps and holes in the major structural components, and break it up a little bit with color; right now, it's a Big Brown Flat Shape, which, if you add enough little details, will look OK, but it won't look really awesome until there's a greater sense of 3D form to it.

As a suggestion you could try finishing the ships layout and detailing before you try shading if you lack confidence in your abilities at shading.

Generally, I like to suggest that the opposite works better; shading may create curvature that panel lines, etc. should naturally follow, so it's often better to get it shaded how you want, and get the forms you were aiming for, then add in panel lines and final detailing, imo, simply because it's faster

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@silentstormpt:

Big improvement there, the overall form is a lot stronger.  I might be able to do a quickie on it later this evening, see if I can do something whacky to it just for fun

[TheHappyFace]

As a suggestion you could try finishing the ships layout and detailing before you try shading if you lack confidence in your abilities at shading.

Generally, I like to suggest that the opposite works better; shading may create curvature that panel lines, etc. should naturally follow, so it's often better to get it shaded how you want, and get the forms you were aiming for, then add in panel lines and final detailing, imo, simply because it's faster [/spoiler]

not completly agreeing.
best he could do is first try to figure out the overall shape within the border of his sprite.
at this moment his sprite is flat not only because of lack of shading but also due to no large shapes on the sprite.
first try to figure out those shaped,
Add some hand drawn lines in a different layer that give you the shaped borders then start adding kitbashed parts that fit in to them,
add shading on each part, add details like vents and other smaller stuff if it isnt allready added with the kitbashed parts (same with the shading).

[Thaago]

Thanks for the feedback! I changed some of the structure of the ship and enlarged it by a bit, let me know what you think:


This is not at all a final version (no cleaning, shading out of BSF, or turrets/hardpoints). I hope the wings now look like they are a part of the mid structure and underneath the lighter shaded areas.

[Morrokain]

Will probably be fine for you, im stuck on my titan, no idea how to fill the brown spots and anything empty to make it look good, and making new parts from scratch is out of the question, i suck at shading.

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Was browsing this post and figured I might have some helpful advice in regards to this general "artist's block" issue. While I am certainly not an artist, a few techniques I learned from a high school drawing class years ago have really come in handy with starfarer spriting.

1) So you are having difficulty fleshing out your design with detail after the basic sketch has been made? Take the starfarer ships already designed and put them under a microscope in a matter of speaking. Enlarge them to around 800% or more and look at the individual pixels. Look at the types of colors and transparency of each pixel and how it blends into one another. Now zoom back out and see what affect that has on the ship. Most of the time it will be miniscule details but that is what you are going for anyway. Once you get an idea of how detail comes together it will be much easier to fill in those empty areas with interesting texture

2) Shading: Once you have your base color established, to shade all you really need is a dark grey or black with a high transparency to shade. First shade the outline a dark version of the grey, then the adjacent area a slightly lighter shade of the same grey. Repeat this process up the sprite until realistic shadow is created.

[Erick Doe]

Just spriting and kitbashing. Wanted to create a light cruiser based on the Falcon and Eagle. Came up with the "Vulture".



On the far right is a sleeker look that I abandoned. Currently working on number three and four. Can't decide whether I should keep the bridge section, or just go for the more symmetrical look. Which one do you guys like better?

[Hyph_K31]

Oh, I absolutely love those!

I think the one in the middle is best (of the vultures that is, ignoring the vanilla ships). I think the bridge section in the others looks a tad out of place, after all it's a symmetrical design with an asymmetrical bridge... what?

I think the best bet for bridge placement would be something more akin to the enforcers bridge, I.e; integrated into the hull so that you can only see the windows, and perhaps a slight bulge. in the middle? Scratch that, I think the ideal place for the bridge on this would be right next to the large(?) mount at the front.

[Hyph_K31]

And while we're on 'bashes, I'd like to throw one of my own in for consideration:

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this is the Bakoros, compared to my other 'bashes it's quite odd. My brain is convinced it's flying backwards. what do you guys think? (anything that i could improve?)

[CrashToDesktop]

I'd like to see a bridge, I like the one on the right. But then again, Hyph's idea, I like.  Go for either, see what happens.

[Erick Doe]

@The Soldier, Hyph_K31

I think I'll add a bridge at the front of the ship, replacing that mount. You'll see. 

[Erick Doe]

Tada!

[Hyph_K31]

Hrmmm...

I'm not entirely sure about that. But I also don't know how to put it into words! >.<

I think those new small points look out of place. Perhaps if you moved the whole thing down a touch and made it slimmer?

[CrashToDesktop]

Hmm...it looks awkward.

[Erick Doe]

Shortened the neck, made it broader. Looks more in line with the rest of the ship now, I think.

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[maximilianyuen]

Shortened the neck, made it broader. Looks more in line with the rest of the ship now, I think.

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that's quality stuff that I will remember and use as reference

seems 2 large hardpoint ballistic canon at the front?