Making Sally Walk Left

#You Turn Me Right Round!

# Let’s make the side view. I start with side-by-side to try to keep the proportions the same, but the distance between them can make it hard to line things up.  

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# But then I had an idea. Draw a thin line of pixels, with the colors of important details. I can put this line right next to the side view while I’m making it. I think this technique worked pretty well.  

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#A Preview of Things to Come

# Now to immediately add as much detail as possible. I haven’t even given her a pose yet. I just want to see what the end-result will probably look like.  

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# After doing a TON of experiments with the eyes in the front view, I decided they needed more contrast. (somebody actually suggested big anime eyes would look better, but I found them harder to work with)  

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# Okay, before I dive into making the walk cycle, I should figure out her pose. The way she walks should show her personality. Well… nothing too crazy, but Sally IS a thinker.  

# Walk cycle personality (2022 08 23 22 06)

#Get a Move On!

# Now to immediately undo everything just I did! No actually I’m just simplifying the colors before I start animating.  

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# Simplify moar!!  

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# This is my “walking dots” technique. Just figure out the positions of the feet and knees. After everything is positioned juuust right, I’ll just “connect the dots”  

Sally side v8 walking dots

# Well… after outlining them.  

Sally side v9 outline dots

# It’s really more of an “outline and fill” technique.  

Sally side v10 outline and fill

# The back leg is darker to indicate that it’s further back. Her whole body is basically casting a shadow on it.  

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# Now to go through and tweak all the outlines until these… things start looking like legs. Obviously I wouldn’t get everything perfect the first time. It’s my… “outline and fill and fix” technique?  

Adjust outline

# Shading the boots. They need these extra details to show their intended shape.  

Shading boots

# Legs too. Shading = sweet sexy curves.  

Shading legs

# It’s starting to come together. But I am NOT DONE YET!  

Sally side v14 walk

#Secondary Movement

# The REAL reason why I’m making this walk cycle.  

Sally side v15 walk

# There’s a whole lotta weight sitting on top of that head. It’s gonna move. Just like in the front pose.  

Sally side v16 walk

# Yeah girl! Shake dat… finger.  

Sally side v17 walk

#Question Everything

# Everyone knows that More shading = Better art.  

Even moar shading

# People on Discord weren’t sure if the tail’s pixels looked right. Is the gratuitous movement to blame?  

Sally side v18 walk tail moving

# The tail was tricky. I originally had a lighter pixel to show where it connected but having a light pixel against the background looked odd since that never occurs anywhere else.  

Sally side stand v4 pose3

# The tail is pretty small. Realistically it might not have any noticeable movement. But while I think this looks… fine. The more-animated version makes my eyeballs happier.  

Sally side v19 walk no tail movement Sally side v18 walk tail moving

# The outline of the boobs was getting kind of lost at the bottom. I was too busy trying to add contrast to make that nipple noticeable. But when it comes to outlines, defining the large shapes should take priority over teeny-tiny details.  

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Better boob outline

#The Result

# Aaaaaand…. done!  

Sally walk side v21 sally_walk_side_v21_frames

# Proportions, simplify, animate, refine shapes, gratuitious shading.  

Side walk progress