Aqua-Gem Dragon [COMPLETED]

I am pretty much done with this dragon, and am quite satisfied with the current sprites and stuff. Soooo I won't make any changes unless I see a real need to. 



Sprites:

Tiffashy wrote:

Credits: Egg cracking sequence by Tiffashy, and everything else by mua. XD

Description:
Aqua-Gems are graceful and elegant marine-type dragons with bodies equipped for life on land and in water.   During the day, they spend much of their time cruising along the surface of the water, or soaking up the rays of the sun on rocky outcrops. The reason for this behavior is such that this allows their special bioluminescent fins, frills and tail to absorb the Sun's light, hence being able to glow as soon as it gets dark. Aqua-Gems are nocturnal creatures by nature, and while they are rather docile during the day, they are extremely active in the night. Using their unique characteristics, along with a sleek-skinned, flexible body which enables them to travel at almost impossible speeds, it's no wonder that Aqua-Gems dominate most predators, using their superior maneuverability rather than brute strength. Night time is when they spend most of their time hunting, aided with their bioluminescent body parts, and markings on their legs. If one were to look very carefully at the ocean during their feeding time or breeding season where groups of Aqua-Gems would congregate together, one would be able to see beautiful masses of soft, glowing light under the sea. Eggs of Aqua-Gem dragons are extremely valuable due to their beautiful, shiny surfaces, therefore deriving the name of this breed of dragon, whose eggs were as rare as gems and cleverly hidden.

^^
Me need cracking sequence >:D
Or at least, it would be nice XD
I'll wait a bit and see if anyone gives it any crits, then it shall be ADDED

Edit: Ok, I've just seen something.

If it's a sea-only dragon, why does it have legs?
Fins, sure, that's what you would see on marine animals, but legs? No no no... No animal I've seen that lives always in the water, has legs. And if it did have legs, there would be more fins, and they would be webbed...

... I think it having legs is fine. Though the hind legs lack knees and the hatchlings seem to have stumps instead of feets. Far front leg on adult is noodlez too, btw.

Cute concept though. btw speaking of cracking sequence it looks like its just solid black when it could be shaded a bit and a darker color of the main egg color... makes it look more realistic :L [as usual i'd offer to help as in this case try a hatching sequence like DC has in their guide threads -shrug- or ignore me~]

Eeeeekkssss I'm sorrrryyy I totally forgot about the egg cracking sequence >_< whitefire would you be so kind as to help me with it? Coz I don't really know how it's done >_>

Alrighty guys, il edit the description then heheh.


EDIT: YAYYY done :3 a total makeover of the original description XD


Aqua-Gems are graceful and elegant marine-type dragons with bodies equipped for life on land and in water.   During the day, they spend much of their time cruising along the surface of the water, or soaking up the rays of the sun on rocky outcrops. The reason for this behavior is such that this allows their special bioluminescent fins, frills and tail to absorb the Sun's light, hence being able to glow as soon as it gets dark. Aqua-Gems are nocturnal creatures by nature, and while they are rather docile during the day, they are extremely active in the night. Using their unique characteristics, along with a sleek-skinned, flexible body which enables them to travel at almost impossible speeds, it's no wonder that Aqua-Gems dominate most predators, using their superior maneuverability rather than brute strength. Night time is when they spend most of their time hunting, aided with their bioluminescent body parts, and markings on their legs. If one were to look very carefully at the ocean during their feeding time or breeding season where groups of Aqua-Gems would congregate together, one would be able to see beautiful masses of soft, glowing light under the sea. Eggs of Aqua-Gem dragons are extremely valuable due to their beautiful, shiny surfaces, therefore deriving the name of this breed of dragon, whose eggs were as rare as gems and cleverly hidden.

OH OH- I can help chu with the egg cracking <3 I done it like an million times though o3o

Maybe their legs are for picking up objects such as their eggs to carry them to places or maybe it could be an intelligent dragon which uses rocks for breaking open shells that contains animals in them since their jaws aren't strong enough? I like the idea that the dragon can also go on land and such c:

OMG YOU WILL? X3 yayy I'd love it if you could do the egg cracking sequence ^_^

GAHHH, I'm so lazy to add fins on the legs, so imma just leave it as it is XD

Btw, is the shading on the hatchies okay? They are like so darn small I didn't even knew what I was Doing ><

Murrr, I love the shading on the hatchlings, wouldn't think they need to be changed <3

I'm working on meh Shearous dragon and then I'll get working on the egg cracks o:

Yes yes of course, go fix your dragon, take your time ^_^ *shoos you to the Shearous Dragon topic*

Okie dokie, finished meh Shearous xD

Can't get working onto the egg unless you are 100% certain that the egg shading doesn't need editing n_n

Yeap! I'm 101% sure it doesn't need editing, neither do I want to edit it anymore O.O XD i spent a crazy length of time trying to achieve the shiny look.

Hmmm should I remove the tail fin of the S1 hatchie? Coz there isn't a really obvious difference between the S2 and S1. 

Yea, that might be an good idea o: I couldn't really tell the differences between them at first x.x

Will get working on the eggies now >D

Edit:



There :3

YIPEEEE thankies! :3 after im done with editing the S1 hatchie, this dragon concept should be completed.

EDIT: done!


EDIT AGAIN: Alrighty shadow, this dragon concept is officially completed :3

How much gems should it be if you don't mind me asking xD?

UMMMMMM. Suggestions? How much do you think it should be? Coz I'm really fine with anything ^_^

HMMMM...

100 gems?

Oh well, we'll get shadow to decide then, coz i don't really care XD maybe about 100 to 300.

I... feel my crits have been ignored... >_> I could redline the areas I mentioned?

*refers back*


OHH... right! Ooopppssie sorry I forgot about them XD

nahhh, Its alright, id like to leave it the way it is >< btw, could you run over to Tiff's shearous dragon thread and explain what I wasn't able to? XD I totally failed at giving her crits, coz she couldn't understand what I was trying to point out hahaha.

Leaving it the way it is wouldn't be the best idea in my opinion. Correct anatomy is very important in spriting, and this dragon's legs and feet(in the hatchling's case) could use a few changes.

Not only that, but the shading could use some touching up, as well. As far as I can see, the tail is pillow shaded, and the darker shades look like they're desaturating to black which makes it look gross and ugly. If you head towards a higher saturated color the farther down you go, the better it'll look. Adjusting the hue bar further in one direction could really help out as well. It'll really give these the beauty they deserve.

On the body, the highlights, if there are any, could use a touch more contrast, especially if these are supposed to be shiny.

What is "higher saturated color"? Explain? ><

Well, by higher saturation, I mean getting closer to the 2 corner. But for shading, you want to head from the one corner to the three corner in a curved direction, maybe sliding the hue bar up/down as you go. You never want to near the four corner, unless you're coloring something grey, and even then you can angle the line slightly towards the three corner. This is how you get a nice, sharp color range without it looking gross or muddy. c:

Ahhh I see, thanks for the detailed tut ^_^ I'm still very new at this whole spriting thing, and this I my first sprite LOL.


EDIT: is this better? im not wholly done with the editing yet(did very minimal changes only actually), gotta go and study before my mum starts nerdraging. im focusing on the shading first. Anatomy of the hatchlings il fix em later.

->

Looks good for me

It is starting to look better. c: I'd try to smooth it out a little more. If you move the shoulder down and back a little, you can connect the belly shading and the shoulder shading, which'll really help it look good. c: