Vulture Lion

nice to see its so close to being completed.

<333 Lovely sprites. I feel that the adult's tail is a bit odd-looking... Like it's too small for it's body, but that could just be me. Either way, I'd love to see these guys in my zoo.

Yeah, the tail is skinny, but that's the way it is. It could be a bit longer I suppose.

Looking at this again, in comparison to the body, the tail looks too skinny... And if you're going to point me towards the reference photo, which I've just looked at, I'm going to say that in the photo, the vulture lion is in perspective. The tail is going to look smaller and skinnier. The sprite doesn't have that intense perspective going on, so in theory the tail shouldn't be that skinny in comparison to the body. However, this is just my argument, and if you feel the tail is fine as is, then I'll back down.

I'll screencap another 1 or 2 pics of them to see.

Edit: Here are some different perspectives:






Looks to me their tail is skinny and long, so just like I stated, make it longer?

Yup, that looks skinny and long to me. So, I agree with making the tail a tad longer.

And, if I might, it's left hind paw doesn't have much of a smooth outline. Looks like there's an odd bump or something on the creature's paw.

Edit: And I would smooth out the outline of the tail too. It curves a bit sharply near the end.

Also, the area where the tail and back meets looks weird. It's a tad thick in that spot and it is bothering me. I was gonna fix it myself when I tried working on it, but that flopped, lol.

Oh yes, that is much more pleasing to the eyes. Good job.

Oh and good job on the egg and hatchlings SSB, lol. I almost forgot to say that. XD

The tail looks too stiff now, since it's curving back towards the body, then just sticking straight out from there. Curling the end of the tail towards the body would look more natural.

To be honest, the tail position is entirely dependent on where the vulture lion is going to go next. All flying animals--and most predatory mammals--use their tail as a counterbalance, and the position of the tail would be constantly changing depending on the direction that the creature was heading. To me, it looks fine, like he just swooped up and is preparing to dive.

But, back to the point, anybody object to calling this finished?

I'm calling it finished. It can be touched up later if need be.

Okay, I see your point there about the vulture looking like he turned up from a dive, but I still stand by my previous point that the tail looks too stiff... :/

PhazonDragon wrote:Okay, I see your point there about the vulture looking like he turned up from a dive, but I still stand by my previous point that the tail looks too stiff... :/

How could that be fixed?

If I had an idea on how it could be fixed, then I would mention it, yeh? I don't really know, other than what I mentioned before. Perhaps the tail has too many straight lines? It doesn't look natural... Or maybe if the tail was moved so the curve was more gradual than sharp? I don't know. I feel like I know what would be done to fix it, but I can't find that information.

And I just had a thought, remembering what my art teacher told me a few years ago... Sure the vulture lion might look like it's coming out of a dive (though I can honestly say I never thought of it that way, but I do see the reasoning) but it would look more aesthetically pleasing to the eyes if the tail were to follow the curve of the body. If one wanted to make it look like it was coming out of a dive, I would position the limbs in a different manner that they are now.

Yes, this may be all personal opinion, but I figure it can't hurt to express it. And if it does hurt, then there's some drama going on that I'd rather not cause or get into, and in that case, I'll gladly back down.

By the way, I was taking a closer look at the sprites, and I feel some could do with darker shadows, to make them 'pop' a bit more, but that's not exactly essential, so feel free to ignore that bit. The sprites, with exception of that darned adult tail, are lovely.

I see your point. Perhaps the tail should hand down instead?

Well like I said before, I think it would look better if the tail was more curved back towards the body, but that's just what I think. There might be a different pose that would look better, but I don't know.

It seems to me that the vulture lion is poised and ready to fight or something. The tail should follow that, and be tense, but not stiff. If that makes sense. Think like a cat... If a cat was hissing and spitting at you, would its tail be between it's legs? Of course, then that depends on how you see the sprite to be acting... And in that case, the spriter can then change it around to portray a certain emotion. But I digress.

I was planning on releasing these today but oh look, no adult description. Can someone make one? I have everything coded and stuff.

Vulture Lion adult:
"The vulture lion's are a very intimidating creature in the avatar land. It likes to wait till something gets killed then it steals the animal from another creature and eats it. It can easily scare any creature with it's mighty roar. Usually the strongest and most aggressive male vulture lion gets he mate when it comes to breeding season."

I guess it could use some edits.

The vulture lion is an intimidating predator, one that prefers to wait until another creature is killed before stealing the carcass and enjoying an opportunistic meal. Its mighty roar is known for being able to frighten off almost any intruder. During their breeding season, only the strongest and most aggressive male vulture lions will successfully find a mate.

Edited just a bit. ^^

Mineya wrote:The vulture lion is an intimidating predator, one that prefers to wait until another creature is killed before stealing the carcass and enjoying an opportunistic meal. Its mighty roar is known for being able to frighten off almost any intruder. During their breeding season, only the strongest and most aggressive male vulture lions will successfully find a mate.

Edited just a bit. ^^

Lol I already edited and put it into the game XD ... I love urs :O :O Ima use urs. Lol