A profile picture?!

So I finally got around to making a DeviantArt picture, and I decided to post it here for no reason whatsoever. So here we go.

Copied from DeviantArt:

Well, I realized that I've had a DeviantArt account for forever now, and I didn't even have a profile picture!

Now that I'm actually uploading things, this would be the perfect time to make one!

And here it is:

So, it is actually a piece of some super secret project I'm working on. After drawing it, I was impressed by how my shading made it look like I actually know what I'm doing! And with my childlike obsession with Pokemon, this picture is perfect. =D

Anyway, after cropping it and resizing and what not, I decided it wasn't good enough. So I animated it too. And here we are.


What do you guys think about it? [Constructive criticism please]

Well it would have been nice to see a shaded fire.

But it's actually good. I think it's a bit fat though unless those are some kind of feet, my recommendation is to take those out, it might look the drawing look nicer and more, like the style you're aiming for, I think.

As for the shading, I kind of like the top part more than the part below, because it's a little bit more bright and with color. I don't think there's any in this drawing, but be sure to not pillow shade in most cases. Also the reason I don't like the bottom part is that the shading looks gradient like, and that's not the best type of shading. Try to play around so yo ucan create your own style. (PS: I know that the fire is the lightning and that's why it keeps getting darker so you shaded it like that, but you have to know that's not the only way to shade against lightning. Don't worry though, most people do start shading like that (If they even know they have to shade and stuff).

Also not all randomly place pixels help it much (they actually damage it somewhat) except for some well lucky placed. Well I'm guessing it was lucky because it looks like those pixels weren't made by you and were actually made by how you saved or animated the file(s). If you actually did though, good work on some, it helps a bit, but you should still take most of them off, as it kind ruins the drawing (Though be sure to note which ones actually look good to actually recreate them in the future).

Also something it doesn't affect much for profile pics, but be sure to not have the outline the same color as the background. It might ruin your drawing, and it will make the drawing almost impossible, unless you have the file without the bg (Or you can take it off), to make transparent.

Just giving contructive criticism. Remember that doesn't mean it's bad.

Flame animation is a bit choppy.
Otherwise, good.

I think either his body should be a little lighter or his eye a little brighter. if your going for the whole dark mysterious thing then his eye shouldn't blend that much and be bright and creep you out. If you are trying to make him dark I'd try having a single light circle around the candle flame and leave the rest darker. I also think the smile (or devious grin if you prefer) and the "hair" should be more round, it would make him look a little less choppy. I don't know what you want him to look like but if you haven't already, you should compare and get idea's from Sugimori's art of him and the dreamworld's basic art style here: http://www.psypokes.com/dex/psydex/607/picdex

Quote :

And with my childlike obsession with Pokemon, this picture is perfect. =D

The best kind of obsession. Also, the best thing to be obsessed with.

U can do better but its ok