Tips for making sprites?

[Akitsuki]

No, no, I believe I'm fine with drawing, I know how to use the program and I'm pretty much not a newbie to digital drawing but I need tips about how to make good sprites, especially with the pose part. I'm kind of new to making an OELVN and tips are really appreciated.

I don't want to make all the sprites look standing so stiff, it gives a formal expression on me. But I don't want them to look hyperactive either when it's not needed. How to decide that this character would look good in this pose?

Well.. Thanks in advance!

[Hazel-Bun]

Well, one thing I would say about poses is that you must always keep in mind your character. So, for example, you don't want to do a stiff, crossed armed spirte. Astheically you want them to look more lively. But if your character is a stiff, business man with no social life... It wouldn't sense for him to be pumping his fist every few lines ^^

So something you could do to spice it up is long and varied. Maybe change the direction of his stance so that he is looking directly at the player. Add movement via arm and head positions. So instead of just the crossed-armed look, do crossed armed with the face turned, hands on hip and head titled back when angry and so on. A lot can be done with experssions too. Try to break from the standard block of 7(happy, sad, etc.) and try for the nuances inbetween. What about trying to convey things like a devious look, wariness, a fake smile, overly exicited, panicky and so on. The same can be said about outfit chocie. A hippy florist would proably have a lot of bright colors and flowing fabric as opposed to the 9 to 5 suit. For more lively characters, go wild. Have them raise a knee when excited, throw up their arms, laugh with their top half leaning back.

Try to observe how everyday people fitting certain "tropes" carry themselves. The internet is also a great help by just googling "poses". It all comes down to how much work you want to do personally. Having animated expressions, a million poses and outfits is cool but a lot of work haha. Maybe try a small script with two polar opposites as the main or only people. One is a stiff person and the other is more dynamic and experiment from there. You don't have to release it, but it might help you place where certain poses, etc. would be in a script. Hope that helped any ^^!

[alberte]

Try gesture drawing.
What I do is draw stickmen and I envision the chracters pose in my head,
I personally draw from the head, then make my way down.
I wouldn't make to many sprites unless your confident in having to draw that many for diff. characters.

[chocojax]

It's pretty much good to know the outline/script of the VN you're drawing for before starting on final sprites.

If you're limiting yourself to one pose (even if you aren't, try to think as if you're only going to draw one), think to yourself, "What pose would fit for most, if not all, emotions of this character?" Drawing stick figures/quick sketches would also be helpful in not wasting time.

I should also follow my own advice, 'cause I usually just draw whatever I want for the final sprite, haha. Don't do that!

[MaiMai]

You could also go to vndb.org and look up screenshots of games and see what sort of poses artists draw (don't worry, there are NSFW filters so you won't see anything +18 if it bothers you).

I mean, presumably all your sprites are going to be in a standing position so if you're worried about stiffness, just look up references.

[Semienigma]

http://www.spriters-resource.com/ is a great place to see poses. Check out the one for persona 3 especially since it has lots of character types. Its under Playstation 2->P->persona 3