Pixel Art Tutorials

[Campire931]

My pixel art tutorial thread!

In no way am I claiming to be an expert, I'm just trying to spread the pixel love!
If you have any requests or questions, don't hesitate to ask me. Either post here (after I steal a few reserve spots), PM me, add me on MSN/Skype or message me on Deviant Art (linked in my sig).

Things to remember when doing pixel work:

1. Always zoom in really close. Since these things are generally small, you want to be able to see what you're doing. Pixeling requires precision.
2. Occasionally zoom out to full view. Things can look very different if don't take the time to step back and evaluate what you're doing from time to time.
3. Relax and take breaks often. Since you're going to be staring at a screen, remember to take care of your body. Take frequent breaks or suffer eye strain!
4. Take it one step at a time. Self explanatory, don't rush things. Pixel work can be tedious and slow. If you don't have patience, you'll likely get frustrated.
5. Have fun with it.

Tutorials;

The Basics:

Lines
Shading & Color
Dithering Examples
Anti-Aliasing
Anti-Aliasing With Color
Using the Grid

Icon Stuff

Hair Tutorial
Coloring Clothes

Animations:

Sparkles
Bounce
Blinking/Winking: Part One
Blinking/Winking: Part Two

Coming Soon:

Tips & Tricks

[Campire931]

Making Bases:

So you make some pixel art of your character, but you don't know how to start? Well the first step is to make the base. Just like any other art form, you've got to sketch out the shape you want. I don't have the sketch for my base but here's a rough idea.



See how the head starts as a circle? Just like drawing normally, you start off with simple shapes. Try and keep your sketches as clean and simple as possible. That will help you later on.

Once you have the general shape, go ahead and line your sketch. This is where the art forms differ. Using the Pencil Tool, slowly and patiently draw out the lines of your base.



Now notice how the pixels are touching only absolutely necessary corners? You don't want your pixels touching where they don't have to. IT leads to ugly lines later on.



See how when you zoom out, the one on the left looks smoother? As long as you remember this step, your lines should be beautiful. c:

Another thing to be wary about is the line proportions. I'm not sure exactly how to explain this, but you want the flow of the line to be fluid. You don't want it to look jagged or wonky when you zoom out.



The line on the right is a simple line with the pixels only touching where necessary. The line on the left, however, I've tweaked a little to have a better flow. The pixels are more balanced.
Here's another example:



Notice how the one on the top follows the rules but looks awkward? The one on the bottom is balanced better, and so looks better as a whole.

Hope this helps a little. More to come, happy pixeling!

[Campire931]

Coloring and Shading;

Okay, now that we've covered how to draw the lines, let's color them in.

Here's a simple circle I've colored and filled with block shading



Nothing to special, badly blended. How can we fix that? Well, with a technique called "Dithering". Here's the circle shaded with dithering



Doesn't that look so much better? The colors blend better, look as if they're a gradient. Now, there are many ways to dither, no one way is the right way. It all boils down to what you're comfortable with. Not all shading situations need dithering either.
There's bases for example:

No dithering was used in these examples. Find what's comfortable for you and experiment.

Now, when coloring and shading, be careful with what colors you use.
You don't want to use colors that are TOO saturated, or not saturated enough.
Here's an example of TOO saturated:

See how it's kind of painful to look at.

Also remember to use different colors. Nothing is just green or blue, but a mix of lots of colors.



See as some of the colors get darker or lighter, the color also change slightly. From green to yellow or purple to blue, when working with color, remember color theory. This will lead to a more appealing color scheme.

[Likoriona]

shouldn't this be in guides and tutorials..or will it be moved once ur done o-o

[Campire931]

Originally Posted by Likoriona

shouldn't this be in guides and tutorials..or will it be moved once ur done o-o

Well, since you can't make threads in "Guides and Tutorials", this is going to have to be moved.
Guess I gotta find a mod.

[Likoriona]

Aahh okiee I got ittt<3

[star_empyre]

heh can't wait to see what you can show us

[`Jas]

Originally Posted by star_empyre

heh can't wait to see what you can show us

^. Time to stalk this thread

[Campire931]

Ever wonder how to add sparkle animations? Well you're in luck! I'm going to teach you how to create this kind of animation:





So on the left are the different frames you'll need, four. On the right is the order in which you add the pixels. (White first, then blue and purple pixels last)
To make the animation, just start each sparkle at a different phase of the sparkle. Each frame of the animation should show the phases in order, growing then shrinking. You're welcome to mix it up and see what looks best to you.



Let's say you started Sparkle One on 3 and Sparkle Two on 4. The pattern would go:

Sparkle One - 3, 4, 3, 2, 1, 2
Sparkle Two - 4, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3

As long as you remember the order the frames should go, you're all set.
If anyone needs extra help, I'd be more than happy to upload the PSD file for you.

[Campire931]

An example of dithering in practice.



In my most recent icon, made for Jaime, I used dithering for a small portion of the hair.

In "Spermy", I used dithering for most of the shading.