Priss, Bubblegum Crisis

Crisp view

CRT view

Reference

I think this one is probably the best piece I've done so far, at least from a character art perspective. I studied a lot of PC-98 references for style pointers, it's something I've always wanted to emulate personally while still keeping things cluster-y and modern.

I almost like the CRT view for this one better still, even though I didn't really make the art for that purpose. It really smooths out the edges to the point it looks like line-art, which fits with the style of that era.

As for things that could be improved, I think the arms are a little awkward. I consulted various references but none had the exact angle I was looking for. I'd love to give it a cityscape background but I need to do some studies first, so I just left the background flat to make her pop a bit more.

I will say, this style is extremely time consuming because I'm basically following a traditional workflow (sketch, refinement, line art, flat colors, shading). It takes a whole lot longer than my usual workflow of painting the colors on and maybe adding an outline after the fact. We'll see if I can figure out ways to speed things up.

@juniperdusk
Looks good so far! I like your rendition of the bike and the use of clusters on the wheel rim.

I'm not sure whether you're posting with feedback in mind, so feel free to ignore what I've written below as it's unsollicited.

I would make a few changes to the body, like giving more room for the hips and thigh, and perhaps emphasising the ribcage too - it'll help give a bit more shapeliness to her figure, as well.
I feel like her could be set a bit more broadly than they currently, while making her further arm less foreshortened: I think it will help with giving the impression she is removing her helmet.
Regarding the face, I would encourage you to not be afraid to widen her face, and making features like the eyes or mouth bigger, as well as the big 90s hair.

I think these changes, which tend to widen the character, will help with the CRT conversion of the piece: I'm not familiar with this filter in particular, but it seems to squash the pixels horizontally, making Priss even narrower - perhaps it is possible to change the pixel aspect ratio?

Anyway, I hope this helps for future piecesand that you don't mind!

@ckelsallpxls All good, I appreciate the feedback! I did purposely make some changes in terms of style away from the exact 80's/90's anime look and outfit just to see how I could make it my own. I like what you did with the figure though, she looks more balanced/grounded, and now I can't unsee the ribcage/arms hahaha.

I don't think I'll go back to this particular one, but I do plan on doing some more in a retro anime style, ideally some original pieces. I think I'll try getting the aesthetic nailed down a bit more with your advice, thanks!