Worked on the beginning boss of the game! I aimed to draw a feng huang — or phoenix — in Aseprite, but whoa, that took a lot more energy from me than expected! I focused on the head and body.
Issues:
Being a beginner in using Aseprite (I usually use pixilart.com) I didn’t remember to save :(
I worked for about an hour on the face, but after my break and returning, I found that my work hadn’t saved!! Lesson learned: save every few seconds :P
Design:

1. After pasting the player health bar inside for a size comparison, I first blocked out the shape of the phoenix using a large 3x3 or 4x4 brush, with the main color.
2. I started using a darker color to block out the features of the bird—feathers, eyes, etc…
3. Then I attacked the birdie with bands of shading and lighting for each section of feather or eye to give more depth
4. I decided to split the workflow into two different parts: the head and the body. You can notice how the feathers on the body look very different (and probably more wonky) from the feathers on the head and neck. Later this will help me separate out sections for animation :D

What I should work on:

• Making the wings bigger (I am told that the phoenix looks like a chicken. )
• Finishing the details of the feet and wings
• ANIMATION! Including:
  • Idle
  • Attack
  • Damage

I wonder how long that will take…haha…