Pixel Art Tutorials

[RoconzaArt]

Part 1: Pixel Basics

I thought since a lot of people use pixel art for there sites I may as well help out. Before we start you can have all the fancy tools photoshop, graphics gale or tablet and that will not make your a good pixel artist. It takes practice, let me run that by you again PRACTICE!

Before why start I have to give you with important information. Don't blame me if you skipped it and some thing went wrong.

Tools:

MS Paint
(any program that has a pencil tool will work but I highly recommend paint)

Why MS Paint:

You may have seen it...you know MS paint that program that sits there collecting dust. I know what your thinking "MS that lame paint program!?" Let me explain a few things, first it's a very easy to use with every thing you need for pixel art save transparency support and is a free paint program that that comes build in to your computer already. I like MS paint because it does not take up a lot of memory or CPU on your computer. This is great if like to do other things while spriting. Lastly you can in fact make very amazing work if you know how to use it to it's full potential.

Transparency:

Now as you may know MS does not have transparency support but this is not a problem. Open program with transparency support. There are other options if for some reason you can't get such a program. Try free online image editors likes http://pixlr.com. It's like photoshop and it's free. The last option is to use a web site that will make your image transparent but I've never tried them so I can't explain how to use them.


Pixels: A pixel is just a square and pixel art is lining up pixels to form a picture. Really every thing is is made of of pixels you just can't tell. That is the job of the pixel artist, to take squares and transform them so you forget there just a bunch of squares. Think of your self a magician, a person uses techniques to make the impossible seem real. There some things that are imposable for pixel art to so your job is to give the illusion that it is possible. Like a magic trick it's not what it appears to be. Zoom in on pixel art and you will notice it's true nature is more noticeable.

Zoomed in :http://www.mysidiaadoptables.com/for...4&pictureid=23 Zoomed out http://www.mysidiaadoptables.com/for...4&pictureid=24
Zoomed in it looks like mess of squares but if you look at the bigger picture it can be amazing!
Note I did not do this picture.


Tool:



Knowing to pixel art is knowing your tools and how to use them to there fullest. I'll show you them even you if have use them already.

Pencil Tool:

This tool is you very best friend and maybe the most important next the the eraser. In truth it and the pencil tool is all you really need to use. You see unlike a brush tool the pencil makes pure pixels when you click down. To explain why this is important I most explain anti aliasing.

-Anti-aliasing:



Left AA used in Brushes Right no AA is use for pencils

Now this what we call Anti aliasing and it's there to give objects the illusion of smoothness. You know every thing is made up of pixels which are squares but as you can guess this makes thinks look choppy. In order to make pixels look smooth you gradually lighten the pixels on the edge to make it bend.

You don't want use pen or brush tools for pixel art outlines because of this. Do not AA outside the outline of a sprite! You only want to use anti aliasing IF and or when you need it.

Making lineart:

Never paint your line!

You always want to use a 1px pencil tool for you pixel at. The best way to make smooth and neat pixel art is to make the lines by hand. This means placing each pixel one by one. IF you do draw then remove extra stray pixels. You see the most common mistake people make is to draw lines and not clean them up. It's very impotent to clean up any tray lines in your art or it will give your picture a jagged appearance..




Eraser Tool:

Next to your pencil the eraser tool is another most have tool. Now it's VERY important that your eraser tool is a pencil eraser. Like brushes erasers can have anti aliasing. In programs like photoshop make sure to set your eraser tool to pencil to avoid AA. Personally I can't see you ever needing AA in your eraser tool.

Very handy MS paint trick with the eraser tool:

In MS paint the eraser tool can do a very cool trick that is crucial if you use MS paint for your pixel art.

Here's a example of how it works.

1. Make a like in blue.

2. Make a line over it in red.

3. Now make sure blue is your main color and white is your secondary color.

4. Now right click and hold then go over the blue and red lines.

5. If you did it right you should have only remove the blue line!

This allows you to cover the a line in the secondary color. This works for you if want to color a black line blue without messing with any other color on your canvas. Most importantly it will let you make guide lines and color them over for the line art then eraser the guide lines leaving only your line art.

More Handy tricks in MS:

Did you know you can have up to three colors in MS selected? Not only can you have a main and secondary colors selected but you can have a third color selected. All you have to do is hold down Ctrl and select a color and behind the two other colors should be the new color. Now when ever you hold down the Ctrl button you will color with the third color.

Fill Tool:

This is good for filling in your base colors quick and easy. I don't recommend it for recoloring. I recommend the eraser tool using the above mentioned technique.


Select and Free form Select:

These two are also very handy for moving and repositioning your line art but best to use it before you color and shade.

Note:in my copy of photoshop the free form select tool distorts line after moving them. You have to make sure your settings right before moving using this tool.

Eye dropper

I think this is a very handy tool to have. For me I make a list of the pallets I'm using in my sprite and just eye drop when the time comes to color. Also handy if you use the erase tool trick a lot.

Zoom Tool

Another very important tool to use in your art. You will need to zoom in and out a lot when your working. In MS paint there is a fifth zoom setting but you have to know how to find it.



Well that ends part 1 of my Pixel tutorial. Sadly I can't post any more pictures in this post. So see you in the next post for part 2.

[RoconzaArt]

Part 2: Shading and coloring.

Now for part two we will look at shading and coloring your pixel art. Let's assume your done with your line art and want to color now. Let me explain some basics of shading.



Shading:

Now it's a basic concept and important to adding depth to any work of art. I assume you all have a working knowledge of light sources. In which before you do any thing you most establish were the light is hitting your object.

Basically you most decide were your like light sources is and the best way to do this is to draw a sun and lines.


You must determine were the lights rays hit and bounce off objects. Now I'm not going in to detail about light sources because I'm not the best person to explain it.


Pillow shading:
Why you want to avoid it like the plague and why.

The greatest evil that has ever been know. We pixel artists have given it a name that is pillow shading! *thunder clap*

If you don't know what it is then let me enlighten you. Pillow shading is the act of putting the light source at the center of your pixel art. This is the most common mistake new pixel artists can make.

I don't care what any one tells you pillow shading will make your work seem ugly. In short to be blunt you'll be laughed out of any respectable pixel art community. There are some very rare moments you will ever want to use it and there few and far between.

Now the only times pillow shading is common is in smiles and emotes. In these cases it works and looks pretty ok.


Gradient Shading:
Shading over kill and why you should use dithering.

The second most common mistake is adding to many shades to the point of being over kill. You do not need many colors in your shading. For most work you will not need more then three maybe four shades in you art work including high lights. If you add to many shades it add awkwardness not depth your work.


This artist added way to many shades making it a shading mess.


The Magic of Dithering!:

Remember this:

Think of your self a magician, a person uses techniques to make the impossible seem real. There some things that are imposable for pixel art to so your job is to give the illusion that it is possible.

Let's say you only have three color in you shade and you want to add another color to make it blend...WHOA WHOA WHOA STOP! Ya NO! you do not need to go adding and more colors in your pixel art. Time for the magic trick know as dithering. Wait but what is dithering any way?

Think of dithering like cross-hatching in that it gives the illusion there is another shade there but your really only using one color! Let's say your making a roof and you have two colors for your shade. Well it looks kinda flat but instead of adding a new color use dithering to blend the two colors. you want to play around with different pattern and arrangements.

Originally Posted by derekyu.com

Thede images will give you a idea of what I'm talking about.
http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1295641849

Dithering is like a spice, you do not want to add to much of it or you will over power your dish. I my self don't use it very often in my own art. If you want to use and pull it off you have to practice to find that perfect balance.

Softening Outlines by Coloring them.

After shading you should color your line art/outline to soften and blend your final picture. This is a nice final touch to you art work that will get it more depth then a just black outline.

[ChibiMaestro]

Wow, so helpful xD

But don't you think this should be in "Tutorials + Tips" section? xD

[Kaeliah]

:o yesh, it should be. I didn't notice before. ^.^ I'll move it for you. Very nice tutorial btw!

[RoconzaArt]

I didn't know if it counted since it does not have any thing to do with making a site.

[elfhome]

I love your style and your tutorial manages to be both simple and informative. It's nicer for people like me because it shows what you're talking about with pictures in a very concise way.

[PTGigi]

Originally Posted by RoconzaArt

Pillow shading:
Why you want to avoid it like the plague and why.

The greatest evil that has ever been know. We pixel artists have given it a name that is pillow shading! *thunder clap*

If you don't know what it is then let me enlighten you. Pillow shading is the act of putting the light source at the center of your pixel art. This is the most common mistake new pixel artists can make.

I don't care what any one tells you pillow shading will make your work seem ugly. In short to be blunt you'll be laughed out of any respectable pixel art community. There are some very rare moments you will ever want to use it and there few and far between.

Now the only times pillow shading is common is in smiles and emotes. In these cases it works and looks pretty ok.

GAH THE EVILNESS D: But I've heard two different terms for pillow shading XD One good and one bad.


That is clearly the bad one, but I've also heard many, many times the style Pokemon uses for their sprites referred to as pillow shading because the shadow/highlights are clear-cut like real life but they are sort of 'fluffy' and rounded.

[RoconzaArt]

Remember that dreadful trend with pokemon fan were they did pixel over in pillow shade?

But yes pillow shade can work in some cased but you mostly want to stay clear if it. I think pokemon has a love hate relationship with pixel art. Some times it works other times does not. I still face plam when I see pokemon black and white's "animation"....

I think the one series I remember for there nack of pillow shading is harvest moon.

[Hall of Famer]

When did you add the second post of this tutorial? It looks really awesome, wonder how many users have already tried pixel art after reading it. ^^

[RoconzaArt]

At the time of posting this I had to make the second in advanced because of the limit that was set in place before. I really hope it does help please and encourage them to try pixel art. I love doing pixel art to death and think with a little practice any one can learn.

I still want to make one more showing me making a sprite step by step to see if that helps people under stand a little. More I just have been busy with my site.

I was also debating making thread for critiquing and advice given.

VIVA LA PIXEL!