I heard that if you say a you tubers name 3 times, you will get pinned. Ima try it. Ric Ric Ric Did it work? Also, thanks for the tips on pixel art! It really helped. :)
I got this randomly recommended, had no aspirations in art or game making and still don't but it was an interesting video and I watched it all the way through.
the beautiful thing about pixel art is that even if you have 0 interest in art or making games, if someday you feel like drawing something, its a skill that you can make something that makes you feel good about it without having to expend years to get good at it. Also, the Aesthetics can be pretty great.
You think that’s bad? I accidentally made the thinker, I don’t even know how it happened! I just remember setting up my computer and opening up a pixel art program and the next thing I know I made a world famous statue!
Hey Shadow, i started learning how to code 1 week ago with gamemaker studio 2, it has a free trial, it's amazing, theres this channel on ytb called "FriendlyCosmonaut" , she has a series that teach to create a game similar to stardew valley, give it a try. In 1 week ive coded for about 50 hrs, i'm completly addicted. Thing is, the moment u make a square move around your monitor u will fall in love :)) i just finished coding a tic tac toe game and i came to this vid to learn how to pixel art bcs i wanna animate the Os and Xs for it :)) If u're interested in her series, do not start coding with Drag'n'drop its a waste of time, she teaches the language, enjoy it :))
I would add that the size you draw your pixel art depends on the scale you wish to use in your game. Ultimately it doesn't matter what scale you choose, (except if it's too big it might stop counting as pixel art,) the only thing that matters is that you are consistent in size and style.
You're definitely right Artindi! The message I wanted to get through is to try to get the most out of a fixed number of pixels. I believe that starting with small size sprites is a good move for beginners since the more pixels you get, the more polishing you need + it forces you to focus on what matters and it gets you used to work in a limited environment (which is something I personally struggled with at the beginning)
@@Ric_93 woah well, I think it's different for everyone. I just can't draw something 16x16. It's always easier for me to draw on 64x64 canvas. Really appreciate those people who can draw something good using small space.
@@mehrykarae it definitely is different for everyone! The most important thing is to be confortable with it 😉 I've played a bit with 64x64, you have more room to play with, but it takes way longer to polish the sprites
I wish I saw this video when I first started making pixel art. All of these things took a long time to learn! Thank you for this refreshing resource. The last tip especially is something I never thought of doing and will use for sure. One thing I will add is this: Don't hold yourself to a rule. Rules are guidelines, but sometimes they will conflict with each other. For example, maybe you want a black outline around your sprite, but you also want to show the different colors and there's not enough space. By trimming some of your black outline and replacing it with a dark color, you can show more detail with less space, just by bending a rule a bit. Things like only using a small pallet, only drawing small sprites, etc. are great. But if you occasionally bend or break the rules a bit, your art can end up even better than before.
Thank you for the feedback Bob! You're right, rules are very helpful when you first start, but at some point breaking them is going to be necessary, especially if you want to develop your own art style.
I'll just add, don't add colors in random points on your black line art! Add colors depending on the light source, such as a black circle with grey at the top to indicate the light source being there. There's a website called Lospecs, and in the tutorials section there are some good resources for beginners. I also suggest studying form, composition, color theory, perspective and other stuff like that, it'll give you a good baseline.
this was the exact mindset shift I needed for creating pixel art. I used to make pixel art back in the day for small game projects I would develop in my room using c++ and Allegro. I've been a software engineer for 4 years, but I originally got into programming to develop my own 2D mmo. Now that I am in self-isolation I have a lot of time on my hands. I spent a lot of that time meditating and reflecting. I kept trying to put together different web and ML projects, but something in my heart kept tugging me towards game dev. Last night I picked up Godot and for the first time in a while the typical dissonance I feel in my life disappeared. This video got me so excited to start working on my own pixel art! Thank you for sharing your insights!
Hello George! Thank you for sharing your experience! I definitely relate with the feeling of "dissonance". I used to feel the same before starting game development. I really felt I needed to start a new project which would allow me to express more my creative sides and game dev was in the back of my head for the longest before actually deciding to seriously work on it! Good luck with your own game dev journey, I wish you a lot of success!
Yeah the one on the left is lacking texture and looks flat and just... off. The one on the right is textured and looks much less like an amateur trying to act like a pro
WOW! What a good way of thinking about pixel art, I like the way you interpreted it as sculpting rather than drawing and I am completely in your side right now, I like people that think differently about drawing, painting, and any art form media out there in a different way because in a way I think doing art is always about the perspective of people and how they want to convey their message or character
Wow i watched this via autoplay without even seeing video stats and I genuinely thought this had millions of views! This is quality chief, I actually felt inspired to get into pixel art ^^ You’ve earned my sub
This video single-handedly sparked my interest in pixel art. I love coding and creating games, but I never really focused on the art. Most of the time I just borrowed stuff from the internet. But now, thanks to this video and some other guides, I can create my own art and not feel like it looks terrible! Thank you so much for this guide!
base32 is so underrated. I was actually creating a character for my game and because of the shape of his eyes a 16x16 sprite didn't work out, so I switched to 32x and my life is better than ever.
I use gimp because it's lightweight, customizable with plugins, has a lot of export options, it's very easy to use and it has multiple interpolation options (including none, which in pixel art's perspective, is very ideal)
i definitely agree with that, 16x16 most of the time can convey SOME detail, but 256 pixels really isn't enough to put whatever you want, 32^2 pixels doesn't take too much effort as 64^2, but it can convey way more detail than 16^2
Not only you gave me several advice to pixel art, but also inspired me to practise way more than I do and improve in my time manage. I really have to thank you for all of this!
Outlines are also really important if you want the eye to focus on certain sprites, like with a thick black outline. Otherwise a more muted outline that's just a small hue-shift, or value-shift away from the colours around it is nice too.
Se non avessi letto la descrizione non avrei mai pensato che tu fossi italiano!! Ottimo accento e ottimi consigli, sono felice di averti trovato su youtube :)
Thanks so much! I'm an artist, and I had no idea what I was doing with pixel art. Totally different from standard drawing. This video helped so much (and youtube must know this is a good video because it suggested it to me randomly)
My number one wish in life is to be able to draw. However, it's never been my thing and I know it. But after playing a game that allowed you to make your own decorations with pixel art, I've started looking around for guides - NONE of them were helpful at all. Maybe it's just my lack of an art background. So, when I saw this title, I was SO doubtful it would help, but your first tip about sculpting? No one else had ever suggested that, and it IMMEDIATELY made sense to me. Then I heard your advice on "zooming out", and BAM! Again, something that no one else had ever mentioned, but was so helpful! I'm still nowhere near being a good artist, or even a good pixel artist, but this guide is the sole reason I didn't give up at all. Thank you so much for making this!
Pixel art is nice. One thing people don’t seem to realize though is the difference between pixel art and an 8-bit style… 8-bit generally has very few colors or shading; pixel art isn’t always like this. (Compare Undertale to Celeste)
@@johnhill160 You just said it way better than I did. I said that two years ago and honestly I would still overcomplicate it just like I did today. Honestly it feels weird actually remembering comments I left 2 years ago… anyway, thanks for restating what I said in a comprehensible form. I am eternally grateful.
I am surprised no one mentioned that those tips were super helpful. Thank you, Ric. I've been struggling to draw pixel art and all other videos weren't helping me at all. Today I was finally able to draw something decent (by my own very low standards) and only because of your tips. This is a blast, I am finally feeling that I am making some progress. Thank you again Ric and I wish you a great progress on whatever project you are working on right now.
I'm very glad to read that you found the video helpful and that it game you the motivation to get some work done! Thank you so much for the support and good luck with your own projects ;)
0:18 That stick man! LMAO! CAN RELATE! Social scientist for ~40 years, trained to program in the last ~4. I think I drew like laser guns and space ships as a teen back in the early 1960s! This issue of art has become my stumbling block recently, so glad to find your video. Thanks again YT algorithm! :)
This was so useful, especially the tip about sculpting a block of pixels instead of adding pixels from nothing! I’m creating pixel art for an Instagram page that has a retro/vapor wave look and feel.
“You know how to code, you’ve watched tutorials on how to use your game engine of choice, and now you actually have the motivation to start your new project” Me: Uhhh...
@@chickeninabox then recommend him something like unity so he can get accustomed to the game engine feel and then unreal engine, it's gonna kill his motivation if he just goes to unreal.
For the past week or so I've been putting my idea for a game down onto paper and learning javascript in my freetime. I've been practicing drawing on and off for almost two years now, but I never got into pixel art until now. I've never done digital art and I don't have a drawing tablet so pixel sprites are the only option available to me right now. I've been going through a lot of pixel art videos, but yours have probably helped me the most, both in becoming an artist and in staying motivated, and I just wanted to say thank you for putting these videos up and showcasing your own journey through making pixel art. They've really helped the idea that progress is tangible, even if it's slow.
Every second you've invested in this video is pure gold. Absolutely beautiful, logical, systematic, well organized. Thanks a ton! I wish I could find a guide to everything from an engineering viewpoint...
As someone who aspires to be a game model/sprite artist/animator, and who is also working on a game with a friend (I do the art, they do the coding), watching this is really helpful! If you find time, could you maybe do some pixel animation tips? Figuring out how to do this well could really help in us progressing with development, as I'm kinda having an animation block of sorts.
Thank you so much for the support Katia! I'm glad to read that the video was helpful! I'm not sure if I'm the right person to share any more pixel art tips though... Among all the positivity, this video got quite some criticism since I'm giving advices as a beginner myself. Some more advanced artists have criticed how misleading I am and how I could be hurting the art community as a whole 😔 that's why I haven't really posted any pixel art content since... Anyway I wish you a lot of success and do keep motivation up to work on your game 🙌🏻
So the main lesson I'm getting from this is LIMIT YOURSELF. Not only in canvas size, but in colors, details, time, whatever you can think of really. It's cool to see how appearently the simplicity of pixel art permuates into so many other aspects in the process of making it. :)
Very useful video! I’ve been working on a video game for a month but I am not an artist at all, and most people when testing my game said they just wish it looked allot better. Now that I got an idea of where to start improving my pixel art skills I can hopefully get past that barrier! :)
Thank you so much! I needed this since st school we are starting to code. I’m my intermediate comp class, we usually have to draw pixel art. This helps a lot thanks!
"Pixel art is more about sculpting than it is about drawing" - Wow, actually that's very true. I've been playing around with pixel art for the last 15 or so years and I never thought to describe it that way, but that's actually a perfect description.
I guess the algorithm bump worked, because this showed up in my recommended. I love pixel art and got Aesprite a couple of years back. These tips are things I hear but I always find I need to remind myself because I get caught up in trying to do these large super detailed portraits, but forget that pixel art is about doing more with less. Thanks for the reminder to help keep my head in the game.
Treating your artwork like you have to sculpt it is actually a very great piece of advice! Every artist who’s ever taken a formal painting class has been taught to treat your work like a sculpture because it often takes several attempts to get every little bit of detail right. It also encourages you to not be afraid of messing up since you can always work on it later. As someone who’s been training to become a professional artist I can say the advice on this video is very spot on!
Thank you Snerpy! I'm glad you liked the video and the tips :) I'm glad to see this feedback coming from a more professional artist! Thinking in terms of scupting instead of drawing really made a HUGE change when I first started pixel art
I appreciate the 3-colour rule you have. I feel like I always go way over the top with like 20 different shades of a colour, and then I feel like it just looks awful. Also, what you said with zooming out helps so much. Honestly, this was highly insightful for me, thank you.
Great video and advice. Especially about starting small, every time you increase your canvas size you need to add more detail to fit it. Making each Sprite take longer to draw. Always better to get the basics down first.
Ive been working with pixel art casually for a long time but honestly the tips you've given in this video really are some things that i didnt really think about. Now that im working on creating a game, this stuff really does make sense, especially your tip about color theory and limiting yourself to a 16 by 16 square of pixels. Its really a shame your video doesnt have more views because its really good advice. I hope more people see it in the future.
This was extremely helpful, THANK YOU! I’m a programmer who’s been wanting to make a game, but I have been feeling very intimidated because I had no idea where to even start with the artwork. I feel much better now thanks to this video!
im a little confused by the thumbnail the ''wrong'' example actually has nicer, more pleasing colors, and the ''right'' one was very saturated and neon-ish and kind of hurts my eyes. and for your color picking example for the shading, while your explanation was right, the example wasnt really great, it just looked like a red with more black, and an extremely saturated almost neon red
Thank you for the feedback Scribble! You're right for the thumbnail, I've actually changed the apples several times and had a hard time getting them right (when uploading the thumbnail, the colors always looked slightly different 😫). The oversaturation is also due to some post processing of the thumbnail. I definitely see where the critics come from! I could've chosen a better example for sure
@@greenxmango8049 I mean, I guess that's true, but from what I've learned from certain communities that specialize in pixel art and sprites is that you generally want a color contrast. If a color is too close to the base color in such a way that removing said color would only make a minimal amount of sense, either remove it, or increase the contrast between the two colors. If you zoom out the "right" apple, you actually have to be able to see the contrast clearly enough, otherwise it's a waste of colors.
While all this is true colours come down more to just contrast in hue and brightness. Typically while creating a colour ramp you will want to change the Saturation as well and when it comes to hue shifting it is typically exaggerated. So when Scribble mentions the dark red looks exactly that like a red with more black it's because the hue shifting hasn't been done to a satisfying level. A good rule of thumb for beginners is to hue shift so that lighter colours go towards yellow and shadows towards dark blues. I will always recommend any beginner look up Cure's Pixelart tutorial, as Cure covers a lot of the fundamentals of pixelart and advanced concepts in one. There are always channels like MortMort on youtube and pixelart streamers like Inxanity you can get inspiration from.
Useful and good stuff! I would love to make my own 2D games. I've tried small projects but usually with free non-custom sprites. I've started making my own now. I hv a tip too. Taking a 16x pixel art and recreating it at 32x and 64x for more advanced games can help one practice and learn adding details to the sprites. Just load the 16x sprite, zoom in onto a 64x canvas, add pixels to smoothen it if necessary or work with the internal colours and shades. It helps.
Thank you for your tip man! Never thought of doing this, but it does make sense if you already have a 16x16 sprite and want to build something from it.
These hints were so helpful. You've covered many things that i didn't think about when i was making pixel art, for example the fact that the grid size is the main reason for pixel art (why making so many details when pixel art is mostly not meant to be detailed?). Also "pixel art makes sense when zoomed out" was reeaallly helpful.
I dig this. Just started learning coding and basic facets of game development, and truly entry-level tutorials are hard to find. Everyone assumes that if I want to learn something then I must be coming from at least a rudimentary background related to it... nope.
I'm glad you found the video helpful! Good luck with your game dev journey. I myself don't have an artistic background but I'm trying my best to learn pixelart at my own speed
I actually quite enjoy drawing, but when I tried pixel art it surprised me with how difficult it was. You are right, it is a totally different skillset and I found your video very helpful. Thank you!
I have been drawing for a year, and I have always been very interested in pixel art. I've always found it amazing how a beautiful and detailed piece of art can be made by just a couple cubes- Today I've been trying to learn about it more, cause I have been wanting to make a fake visual novel series, and this is helping alot! I don't have much talent, but I hope that with this (and other tutorials) I can make some great pixel art, and hopefully I can make good pixel comics and animations in the future! Thanks for helping me on my journey!
What an incredible video, I myself am already an aspiring writer, poet, guitarist and in future video essayist. If I ever decide to reciprocate my love for Video Games by making my own, I will be sure to remember this video. Fantastic, Short and Easy to Understand, Keep it Up!
I have this video saved precisely for when the time comes for me to make something visual for my self-made computer system, complete with a custom 16 bit CPU and a 480p tile-mapped video interface. Thank you for making the design process clear and concise. Cheers!
Are you getting started with pixelart too? What tip would you recommend to someone wanting to start working on pixelart? Disclaimer: I don't consider myself an expert in pixelart AT ALL! These are some tips I've personally found useful in improving my drawing skills 😉 You can now support me with a coffee, so that I can finally stop sleeping and work 100% on my game full time: ko-fi.com/ricdevlogs
Don't know if it useful, but I got into pixelpart by replicating exiting sprites out of fun. Eventually it evolves to editing said preexisting sprites to my liking, or using said sprites a references to new ones. The experience taught me a few things: the meaning of space and color limitations (in the app I used was limited to a 80×80 px canvas, which later expanded to 100×100, and I could only used up to 31 individual colors). I also often found myself zooming out to see if my drawing looks ok before continuing, often adjusting a pixel or two that looked out of place. Truly it felt sometimes like I was sculpting the drawing's shape like you said. I'm not saying I'm an expert pixelartist in any way (I think I'm far from that), but I enjoying it so far and that's the only thing that matters.
This video was helpful. I've mostly spent my time with Super Mario 64 rom hacking and polygons, but I've been considering making a full original game, with all assets belonging to me. I've used Gamemaker for the majority of my life and I'm excited to pursue a project like this.
16x16 may be fine for NES inspired pixel art, but other styles of pixel art (Like SNES inspired for example, where some sprites might be as large as 64x64, still low by modern standards but with a lot more room for detail) demand a slightly higher resolution. Like, I'm not just saying it's easier or it'll look better, I'm not a good enough artist to really be giving advice, I'm saying that for some styles it's just not possible because the minimalist look of smaller pixel art just isn't what they're going for. That said, I'm not doubting the sense in LEARNING smaller pixel art, I just don't think 16x16 should be the rule for EVERY PROJECT. If everyone followed that, we'd have even more games that cater to NES nostalgia, but those of us more nostalgic for the SNES would be out of luck. The three color/nine shade limit is a similar situation IMO: Great for some styles, and a limited palette is often a good idea for pixel art in my opinion, but to use the SNES example again, the SNES could have 16 colors per palette and 8 total palettes, and there were even ways to slightly expand upon this using techniques like rewriting the palette data midway through a scanline. And some styles of pixel art, particularly those not trying to emulate a previous era, tend not to use limited colors at all for a different aesthetic.
I agree with you Argenteus! 16x16 and a limited color palette could be seen as the 'beginning' of a pixel art journey, but they're definitely not the endless goal. Each project needs a specific pixel size and color palette based on what it tries to achieve! These tips are mainly for beginners (like me!) which could benefit from a more limiting art environment. One day (once I get better at pixel art), I'd love to work on higher-resolution sprites!
@@GameArts1 man your comment deserves a heart just for mentioning both Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6. They're both on my list of favorite games ever! Such great gaming experiences
This tutorial has proposed itself to be extremely useful thank you for the great tips and tricks you've made my endeavours in pixel art way easier to understand now
I think I learned a couple of these on my own just by doing re-sprites. Though as I want to make my own eventually, this definitely helps. The only question I have is if these apply to other forms of art as well, like normal 2D animations or even 3D models and textures.
I'd say that some tips are more specific to pixel art, but in general working within a limited set of rules (fixed size, fixed number of colors) can be applied to any form of art. For 2D animations for example you may want to start with only a short number of frames (3/4), focusing on the main movement without much going on 'in between' the main frames. I've never done 3D modeling though, so I don't have much to say about it!
This is actually really helpful for what I’m doing right now actually! I do pixel art (usually 64*64 to 128*128) and I just took up trying to do a full blown animation rather than a single looping scene. For one of the things I had to draw characters far away, and this was helpful, I’m addicted to putting black line borders between everything because I never look at things from afar. This video was great!
I’m working on a texture pack for Terraria that completely changes the look of everything in the game, from making all the sprites have more resolution, to changing the looks of a boss based on how I view them. I’ve never done pixel art before, but I’m very proud of the work I’ve done so far and everyone I’ve shared it with says it looks really good. These tips will definitely help me out, thank you
honestly this is also super helpful for artists too, especially the advice about zooming out and minimizing what actually makes it into the pixels - personally at least I’ve always tried to add too much detail into things the few times I’ve tried pixel art because I’m used to adding those details in fullscale drawings
I really loved the video, I started doing games and thought that i would never be able to make my own art, because when it comes to drawing i suck. Your video made me believe i can do it, and even made me feel like trying to learn how to draw properly
Hi there Ric I just wanna say I really appreciate this! especially the part about not fretting so much about the details (that’s been something I’ve been struggling with alot), thanks for all the tips and things! these can come in a lot of use in the future.
Thanks for the tips. For color, I'd add that you can also limit yourself by choosing a palette from a system with limitations (like the NES). Also editing tip (because that's what I do) : check your left-right balance in the audio if you're using stereo, it's only one parameter and it fixes issues when using headphones.
Thank you for the tip man! I'm glad you liked the video 🙌🏻 I never thought of checking the left-right balance! I actually took the audio for this video with my phone, so that's also possibly why it's not that great 😅
Thank you :) I already do art but struggle with pixel art a bit! I’m studying multimedia and next year I’ll be working on game development! Thank you for the video and keep up the good work!!
I feel like these tips are oddly specific. For example 16x16 isn't always the best size for pixel art and it varies depending on the style, 3 colors isn't always the best amount for a pallet, and timing how long you spend drawing isn't always the best, some things take longer than others and you don't want to rush art.
Yes, they're pretty specific! These are tips I tried myself to improve my pixel art skills as a complete beginner. When I first started, I felt pixel art to be pretty overwhelming, but restricting myself in terms of size, colors and time creates a better environment to play with which allows for faster improvement! If you want to create good pixel art, then you need more pixels, colors and time for sure 😉
Wow I didn't know people just sculpt the pixel art. Every time I would try to draw some pixel art I would always try to imagine the shape of the object in my head and make a rough sketch. It would look terrible. That is the best tip hands down for a guy who can barely make a stick man! Glad this got recommended ;)
I must say that your video explanation was amazing! As I know from color theory is besides the 3 color rule you can apply the 2 color rule which is to apply the contrary color in the color spectrum. There's more things, but you explained this very consicely.
This vid helped me a lot and answered a lot of my questions. I’m making a team based Capture the Flag game with my friends and we planned to use pixel art for it. I felt a bit lost for a while but this vid got me on the right track. This vid helped me realize that when you set constraints on yourself you absolutely have to make the most of everything at your disposal. That’s genius! Thanks for the tips, man! Hope you will play my game one day (if I get it done. Lol) 👍
I heard that if you say a you tubers name 3 times, you will get pinned.
Ima try it.
Ric
Ric
Ric
Did it work?
Also, thanks for the tips on pixel art! It really helped. :)
*yesnt*
GET PIN’D
Thanks for the tips, now I'm gonna do some hent- I mean action 2D games.
Oh, good luck with your action 2D games then 😏😉
Make sure to use 16x16 sprites.
Uwu
PIXEL ART HENTAI
PIXEL ART HENTAI
Pixel art hentai doesnt exist right? O shit I forgot 120×120 pixels is still pixel art-
I got this randomly recommended, had no aspirations in art or game making and still don't but it was an interesting video and I watched it all the way through.
Thank you for watching 4Head!
Me too ironically I was getting into pixel art but I haven’t looked it up so how did google know?
Same
the beautiful thing about pixel art is that even if you have 0 interest in art or making games, if someday you feel like drawing something, its a skill that you can make something that makes you feel good about it without having to expend years to get good at it.
Also, the Aesthetics can be pretty great.
Same
Instructions unclear: painted Mona Lisa
That sad i painted pixel perfect theo van gogh. you have to throw it otherwise
You think that’s bad? I accidentally made the thinker, I don’t even know how it happened! I just remember setting up my computer and opening up a pixel art program and the next thing I know I made a world famous statue!
hope nobody gets wooshed here...
DashingZanyDirector TBH with your comment here even if they did they would probably deserve it anyway!
Want someone to get wooooshed so I can post it
I kinda like the apple on the right more
Honestly same
Hey SilokHawk, wouldnt expect to see you here
I came to say the same. Apple on the left looks flatter due to the black lines.
no
I think kinda a mix of both of them would be good
Fun fact: A lot of Madeline's sprites from Celeste don't have hair because the hair's movement is done with code.
Holy crap; that is epic!
Baldeline.
Wow that's crazy
Surprising, but also not so surprising when I think about it. The hair movement is super smooth
Great, if only I knew how to program :/
Everyone can learn! There are some good tutorials on UA-cam for beginners if you'd like to give it a try
Hey Shadow, i started learning how to code 1 week ago with gamemaker studio 2, it has a free trial, it's amazing, theres this channel on ytb called "FriendlyCosmonaut" , she has a series that teach to create a game similar to stardew valley, give it a try. In 1 week ive coded for about 50 hrs, i'm completly addicted. Thing is, the moment u make a square move around your monitor u will fall in love :))
i just finished coding a tic tac toe game and i came to this vid to learn how to pixel art bcs i wanna animate the Os and Xs for it :))
If u're interested in her series, do not start coding with Drag'n'drop its a waste of time, she teaches the language, enjoy it :))
Its actually super easy. If I learned it, everyone can
I'm dumb af and I kinda know how to program so u probably can
But if i make a game, who will play lol
I would add that the size you draw your pixel art depends on the scale you wish to use in your game. Ultimately it doesn't matter what scale you choose, (except if it's too big it might stop counting as pixel art,) the only thing that matters is that you are consistent in size and style.
You're definitely right Artindi! The message I wanted to get through is to try to get the most out of a fixed number of pixels. I believe that starting with small size sprites is a good move for beginners since the more pixels you get, the more polishing you need + it forces you to focus on what matters and it gets you used to work in a limited environment (which is something I personally struggled with at the beginning)
@@Ric_93 woah well, I think it's different for everyone. I just can't draw something 16x16. It's always easier for me to draw on 64x64 canvas. Really appreciate those people who can draw something good using small space.
@@mehrykarae it definitely is different for everyone! The most important thing is to be confortable with it 😉 I've played a bit with 64x64, you have more room to play with, but it takes way longer to polish the sprites
This channel is so underrated
Thank you for the comment Leo, I'm trying my best :)
if he keep it up he will get somewhere, the content is really good, it helped creating my game :D
Not anymore
Legend has it Ric has stopped hearting comments and he is now pinning them
big bruh moment
:0
F
Yes
Legend says this dude is still hearting comments
Sir, i have to ask you to not copy my art without my permision: 0:27
Oh uhm...
Nice one! :)
Lol
lol
wtf
I wish I saw this video when I first started making pixel art. All of these things took a long time to learn! Thank you for this refreshing resource. The last tip especially is something I never thought of doing and will use for sure.
One thing I will add is this: Don't hold yourself to a rule. Rules are guidelines, but sometimes they will conflict with each other. For example, maybe you want a black outline around your sprite, but you also want to show the different colors and there's not enough space. By trimming some of your black outline and replacing it with a dark color, you can show more detail with less space, just by bending a rule a bit.
Things like only using a small pallet, only drawing small sprites, etc. are great. But if you occasionally bend or break the rules a bit, your art can end up even better than before.
Thank you for the feedback Bob! You're right, rules are very helpful when you first start, but at some point breaking them is going to be necessary, especially if you want to develop your own art style.
I'll just add, don't add colors in random points on your black line art! Add colors depending on the light source, such as a black circle with grey at the top to indicate the light source being there.
There's a website called Lospecs, and in the tutorials section there are some good resources for beginners.
I also suggest studying form, composition, color theory, perspective and other stuff like that, it'll give you a good baseline.
this was the exact mindset shift I needed for creating pixel art.
I used to make pixel art back in the day for small game projects I would develop in my room using c++ and Allegro.
I've been a software engineer for 4 years, but I originally got into programming to develop my own 2D mmo.
Now that I am in self-isolation I have a lot of time on my hands. I spent a lot of that time meditating and reflecting. I kept trying to put together different web and ML projects, but something in my heart kept tugging me towards game dev. Last night I picked up Godot and for the first time in a while the typical dissonance I feel in my life disappeared.
This video got me so excited to start working on my own pixel art! Thank you for sharing your insights!
Hello George! Thank you for sharing your experience!
I definitely relate with the feeling of "dissonance". I used to feel the same before starting game development.
I really felt I needed to start a new project which would allow me to express more my creative sides and game dev was in the back of my head for the longest before actually deciding to seriously work on it!
Good luck with your own game dev journey, I wish you a lot of success!
Ric what were you doing before you started?
@@geopopos I studied Materials Engineering, I graduated in 2019! I'm now working in a company
on the thumbnail, the apple on the right looks infinitely better than the one on the left IMO.
Yeah the one on the left is lacking texture and looks flat and just... off. The one on the right is textured and looks much less like an amateur trying to act like a pro
WOW! What a good way of thinking about pixel art, I like the way you interpreted it as sculpting rather than drawing and I am completely in your side right now, I like people that think differently about drawing, painting, and any art form media out there in a different way because in a way I think doing art is always about the perspective of people and how they want to convey their message or character
Wow i watched this via autoplay without even seeing video stats and I genuinely thought this had millions of views! This is quality chief, I actually felt inspired to get into pixel art ^^ You’ve earned my sub
Oh wow, thank you so much for the comment man! I truly appreciate it 💪🏻 good luck on your pixel art journey!
Thou
Ric: "We don't have all the time in the world"
Virus: oh, I can help you with that.
Wow, these are some really novel tips and ideas - thanks for the great video :)
Thank you! I'm glad you liked the video 🙌🏻
An AA comment on a video in the wild - I feel like I've found an easter egg! Love your videos btw
@@elecarno same here
This video single-handedly sparked my interest in pixel art. I love coding and creating games, but I never really focused on the art. Most of the time I just borrowed stuff from the internet. But now, thanks to this video and some other guides, I can create my own art and not feel like it looks terrible! Thank you so much for this guide!
Everybody needs to watch this video, not just non-artists. I've had experience with additional art but this still helped me LOADS. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your kind words Zara, I'm glad to read the video was helpful :) have a nice day!
base32 is so underrated. I was actually creating a character for my game and because of the shape of his eyes a 16x16 sprite didn't work out, so I switched to 32x and my life is better than ever.
Yes, 16 is a little bit too small, especially if it needs slightly better detail.
Personally I use piskel as you can use it for all pixel sizes
I use gimp because it's lightweight, customizable with plugins, has a lot of export options, it's very easy to use and it has multiple interpolation options (including none, which in pixel art's perspective, is very ideal)
i definitely agree with that, 16x16 most of the time can convey SOME detail, but 256 pixels really isn't enough to put whatever you want, 32^2 pixels doesn't take too much effort as 64^2, but it can convey way more detail than 16^2
bruh i use 8x8
Not only you gave me several advice to pixel art, but also inspired me to practise way more than I do and improve in my time manage.
I really have to thank you for all of this!
I'm happy to read that! 🙌🏻 Good luck on your pixel art journey 🎨
@@Ric_93 Thanks! I expect to finish my project soon!
Outlines are also really important if you want the eye to focus on certain sprites, like with a thick black outline. Otherwise a more muted outline that's just a small hue-shift, or value-shift away from the colours around it is nice too.
Se non avessi letto la descrizione non avrei mai pensato che tu fossi italiano!! Ottimo accento e ottimi consigli, sono felice di averti trovato su youtube :)
Thanks so much! I'm an artist, and I had no idea what I was doing with pixel art. Totally different from standard drawing. This video helped so much (and youtube must know this is a good video because it suggested it to me randomly)
Thank you for watching! I'm glad it helped 😁
My number one wish in life is to be able to draw. However, it's never been my thing and I know it. But after playing a game that allowed you to make your own decorations with pixel art, I've started looking around for guides - NONE of them were helpful at all. Maybe it's just my lack of an art background.
So, when I saw this title, I was SO doubtful it would help, but your first tip about sculpting? No one else had ever suggested that, and it IMMEDIATELY made sense to me. Then I heard your advice on "zooming out", and BAM! Again, something that no one else had ever mentioned, but was so helpful!
I'm still nowhere near being a good artist, or even a good pixel artist, but this guide is the sole reason I didn't give up at all.
Thank you so much for making this!
Pixel art is nice. One thing people don’t seem to realize though is the difference between pixel art and an 8-bit style…
8-bit generally has very few colors or shading; pixel art isn’t always like this.
(Compare Undertale to Celeste)
The 8-bit style is a part of pixel art, but it is not the only type of pixel art.
@@johnhill160 You just said it way better than I did. I said that two years ago and honestly I would still overcomplicate it just like I did today. Honestly it feels weird actually remembering comments I left 2 years ago… anyway, thanks for restating what I said in a comprehensible form. I am eternally grateful.
@@dailysacrificedoublee dont worry about it lol
I am surprised no one mentioned that those tips were super helpful. Thank you, Ric. I've been struggling to draw pixel art and all other videos weren't helping me at all. Today I was finally able to draw something decent (by my own very low standards) and only because of your tips. This is a blast, I am finally feeling that I am making some progress. Thank you again Ric and I wish you a great progress on whatever project you are working on right now.
I'm very glad to read that you found the video helpful and that it game you the motivation to get some work done!
Thank you so much for the support and good luck with your own projects ;)
0:18 That stick man! LMAO! CAN RELATE! Social scientist for ~40 years, trained to program in the last ~4. I think I drew like laser guns and space ships as a teen back in the early 1960s!
This issue of art has become my stumbling block recently, so glad to find your video. Thanks again YT algorithm! :)
This was so useful, especially the tip about sculpting a block of pixels instead of adding pixels from nothing! I’m creating pixel art for an Instagram page that has a retro/vapor wave look and feel.
“You know how to code, you’ve watched tutorials on how to use your game engine of choice, and now you actually have the motivation to start your new project”
Me: Uhhh...
Use Unreal Engine, it's also getting some update that will help artists.
use phaser you only need to know 68% of basic javascprit
@@chickeninabox do you wanna kill his motivation?
@@turoreal I helped, not _killed_ .
@@chickeninabox then recommend him something like unity so he can get accustomed to the game engine feel and then unreal engine, it's gonna kill his motivation if he just goes to unreal.
I’ve gotten into pixel art and have done a few of these things without using tutorials, but many things I didn’t know, this helped greatly. Thank you
Here's the latest devlog for Quantum Ruins, the 2D game I'm working on: ua-cam.com/video/jkQAGwmPjhI/v-deo.html
i just got the video randomly recomended and I just subscribed to you nice video :)
Bel video, consigli utili per chi vuole cominciare a disegnare pixel art. ps : ti scrivo in italiano perché ho letto la descrizione ; )
I dl my shadows and higlights using low opacity colors on top of the base color
Hmm, what is that pad you're using? I use a laptop and i'm interested in getting one :P
what's the program called and thanks
For the past week or so I've been putting my idea for a game down onto paper and learning javascript in my freetime. I've been practicing drawing on and off for almost two years now, but I never got into pixel art until now. I've never done digital art and I don't have a drawing tablet so pixel sprites are the only option available to me right now. I've been going through a lot of pixel art videos, but yours have probably helped me the most, both in becoming an artist and in staying motivated, and I just wanted to say thank you for putting these videos up and showcasing your own journey through making pixel art. They've really helped the idea that progress is tangible, even if it's slow.
this got randomly recommended to me and this was very helpful. Thank you for putting this together!
Every second you've invested in this video is pure gold. Absolutely beautiful, logical, systematic, well organized. Thanks a ton!
I wish I could find a guide to everything from an engineering viewpoint...
As someone who aspires to be a game model/sprite artist/animator, and who is also working on a game with a friend (I do the art, they do the coding), watching this is really helpful! If you find time, could you maybe do some pixel animation tips? Figuring out how to do this well could really help in us progressing with development, as I'm kinda having an animation block of sorts.
Thank you so much for the support Katia! I'm glad to read that the video was helpful!
I'm not sure if I'm the right person to share any more pixel art tips though... Among all the positivity, this video got quite some criticism since I'm giving advices as a beginner myself. Some more advanced artists have criticed how misleading I am and how I could be hurting the art community as a whole 😔 that's why I haven't really posted any pixel art content since... Anyway I wish you a lot of success and do keep motivation up to work on your game 🙌🏻
So the main lesson I'm getting from this is LIMIT YOURSELF. Not only in canvas size, but in colors, details, time, whatever you can think of really. It's cool to see how appearently the simplicity of pixel art permuates into so many other aspects in the process of making it. :)
Wth this popped up in my recommends after I tried to make some pixel art. Good video tho.
Thank you Scizor!
Very useful video! I’ve been working on a video game for a month but I am not an artist at all, and most people when testing my game said they just wish it looked allot better. Now that I got an idea of where to start improving my pixel art skills I can hopefully get past that barrier! :)
Thank you so much! I needed this since st school we are starting to code. I’m my intermediate comp class, we usually have to draw pixel art. This helps a lot thanks!
You're welcome! Good luck with your own pixel art!
"Pixel art is more about sculpting than it is about drawing" - Wow, actually that's very true. I've been playing around with pixel art for the last 15 or so years and I never thought to describe it that way, but that's actually a perfect description.
I guess the algorithm bump worked, because this showed up in my recommended. I love pixel art and got Aesprite a couple of years back. These tips are things I hear but I always find I need to remind myself because I get caught up in trying to do these large super detailed portraits, but forget that pixel art is about doing more with less. Thanks for the reminder to help keep my head in the game.
I'm glad the video was helpful! Yes, doing more with less is a good way to go 😉 good luck with your own projects!
Treating your artwork like you have to sculpt it is actually a very great piece of advice! Every artist who’s ever taken a formal painting class has been taught to treat your work like a sculpture because it often takes several attempts to get every little bit of detail right. It also encourages you to not be afraid of messing up since you can always work on it later. As someone who’s been training to become a professional artist I can say the advice on this video is very spot on!
Thank you Snerpy! I'm glad you liked the video and the tips :) I'm glad to see this feedback coming from a more professional artist!
Thinking in terms of scupting instead of drawing really made a HUGE change when I first started pixel art
You were right about the UA-cam random recommendations. Was certainly an insightful video, even for an already artsy person like me
I'm glad it was! 😉👍🏻
I appreciate the 3-colour rule you have. I feel like I always go way over the top with like 20 different shades of a colour, and then I feel like it just looks awful.
Also, what you said with zooming out helps so much. Honestly, this was highly insightful for me, thank you.
Great video and advice. Especially about starting small, every time you increase your canvas size you need to add more detail to fit it. Making each Sprite take longer to draw. Always better to get the basics down first.
Thank you man, I'm glad you liked the video!
I totally agree with you 👍🏻
Ive been working with pixel art casually for a long time but honestly the tips you've given in this video really are some things that i didnt really think about. Now that im working on creating a game, this stuff really does make sense, especially your tip about color theory and limiting yourself to a 16 by 16 square of pixels. Its really a shame your video doesnt have more views because its really good advice. I hope more people see it in the future.
Thank you for the feedback, I'm glad you found the tips useful! Good luck on your own pixel art journey 🎨 👍🏻
You have great music selection. Wonderful intro and background music.
This was extremely helpful, THANK YOU! I’m a programmer who’s been wanting to make a game, but I have been feeling very intimidated because I had no idea where to even start with the artwork. I feel much better now thanks to this video!
yo did you draw the profile picture
Color theory was always the hardest part. However, I find that pixel-art is more mathematic than regular art, which was how I started.
Color theory is pretty hard indeed! Getting colors right can make a huge difference!
here's what i usually do:
lighter colors have higher light value & lower saturation
darker colors have lower light value & higher saturation
DawnPraiser I’m not gonna lie, I just randomly pick colours til’ one looks good. I’ll think about it though.
It amazes me how this one video brought so much clarity to a subject that I thought was straightforward. Great video man!
This dude’s using the Godot game engine in the beginning of the video and even though I just met this guy my respect for him has grown substantially
Thank you man! 💪🏻 Godot is great, very happy with it so far
Ayyy Godot gang
This man didnt just told us how to draw, he gave us a full art class, a paper and a pencil, helped us draw and still gave us a 10
I actually need this.
My recommendation didn't fail me!
Me 2.Because i like make pixel art.And this tutorial is helpful
Thank you for the support! I'm glad the video helped
@@Ric_93 Ur Welkom! Thnx 4 the help
of all the tutorials I ever seen on all kinds of topics, this is the best one for sure, thank you for this masterpiece you made this perfect
I'm glad you liked the video!
Great advices! I've already discovered some on my own, so it would have been a bit more useful sooner. But still learned a lot! :D
Thanks a lot!
Thank you Tudvari, it's great to see you learned something useful from the video 😁👍🏻
Non mi ero assolutamente accorto che fossi italiano fino a che non ho guardato la descrizione, il tuo inglese è fantastico!!
Drawing pixel art takes forever. I will take your advice about limiting myself to heart, thank you! :)
You're welcome Selin! Yes, it can be very time consuming if you go for a more high resolution style (64x64 or 128x128 sprites). Good luck!
Adding the state of the sprite above its head for troubleshooting is brilliant and I feel like a fool for not thinking of that. TY
It's very useful indeed! No matter what you draw
im a little confused by the thumbnail the ''wrong'' example actually has nicer, more pleasing colors, and the ''right'' one was very saturated and neon-ish and kind of hurts my eyes.
and for your color picking example for the shading, while your explanation was right, the example wasnt really great, it just looked like a red with more black, and an extremely saturated almost neon red
Thank you for the feedback Scribble! You're right for the thumbnail, I've actually changed the apples several times and had a hard time getting them right (when uploading the thumbnail, the colors always looked slightly different 😫). The oversaturation is also due to some post processing of the thumbnail. I definitely see where the critics come from! I could've chosen a better example for sure
@@greenxmango8049 I mean, I guess that's true, but from what I've learned from certain communities that specialize in pixel art and sprites is that you generally want a color contrast. If a color is too close to the base color in such a way that removing said color would only make a minimal amount of sense, either remove it, or increase the contrast between the two colors. If you zoom out the "right" apple, you actually have to be able to see the contrast clearly enough, otherwise it's a waste of colors.
While all this is true colours come down more to just contrast in hue and brightness. Typically while creating a colour ramp you will want to change the Saturation as well and when it comes to hue shifting it is typically exaggerated. So when Scribble mentions the dark red looks exactly that like a red with more black it's because the hue shifting hasn't been done to a satisfying level. A good rule of thumb for beginners is to hue shift so that lighter colours go towards yellow and shadows towards dark blues.
I will always recommend any beginner look up Cure's Pixelart tutorial, as Cure covers a lot of the fundamentals of pixelart and advanced concepts in one. There are always channels like MortMort on youtube and pixelart streamers like Inxanity you can get inspiration from.
Just got this recommended, imma just add this to my playlist so I can come back to this whenever I wanna. Great video.
Useful and good stuff!
I would love to make my own 2D games. I've tried small projects but usually with free non-custom sprites.
I've started making my own now.
I hv a tip too. Taking a 16x pixel art and recreating it at 32x and 64x for more advanced games can help one practice and learn adding details to the sprites.
Just load the 16x sprite, zoom in onto a 64x canvas, add pixels to smoothen it if necessary or work with the internal colours and shades. It helps.
Thank you for your tip man!
Never thought of doing this, but it does make sense if you already have a 16x16 sprite and want to build something from it.
Man you have grown a lot! I started watching at time when you had 1k subs! Stay blessed
Thank you Lalkia! Yes, the channel has grown so much! Thank you so much for the support 🙌🏻
Omg those tips are insanely good for begginers. As well as for me (if you were to see my attempts for pixel art you'd wish to become blind instead)
I'm glad the video was helpful, random account! Good luck with your own pixel art journey 🎨
These hints were so helpful. You've covered many things that i didn't think about when i was making pixel art, for example the fact that the grid size is the main reason for pixel art (why making so many details when pixel art is mostly not meant to be detailed?). Also "pixel art makes sense when zoomed out" was reeaallly helpful.
Hello Giacomo! I'm glad to read you found the video helpful, good luck with your own pixel art journey 🎨
I'm starting as well, just need to stop watching videos...… :D Thank you for the tips, some I have seen before but others I have not!
Good luck! One of the hardest steps is to actually get started 😉 I'm glad the video helped a bit
I dig this. Just started learning coding and basic facets of game development, and truly entry-level tutorials are hard to find. Everyone assumes that if I want to learn something then I must be coming from at least a rudimentary background related to it... nope.
I'm glad you found the video helpful! Good luck with your game dev journey. I myself don't have an artistic background but I'm trying my best to learn pixelart at my own speed
*starts to leave video*
“Let’s take Madeline from the pixel game Celeste for example.”
*smiles profusely and returns*
I actually quite enjoy drawing, but when I tried pixel art it surprised me with how difficult it was. You are right, it is a totally different skillset and I found your video very helpful. Thank you!
Hello Sydney! I'm glad the video was helpful 🙌🏻
The actual pixel art you did is wrong in many way, but the way you explained it was very informative, so it's aight =).
All good then 😉😁 just trying my best!
You should probably elaborate on how it was wrong, no?
how was it wrong?
@@marhabacarpet8593 the techniques used are ineffective, texture is messy and noisy.
This is by far the best video that really explains of how to get started with pixel art. Thank you!
As someone who went to art school long ago, this was a nice primer for getting back into doing visual art for my pixel game.
I have been drawing for a year, and I have always been very interested in pixel art. I've always found it amazing how a beautiful and detailed piece of art can be made by just a couple cubes-
Today I've been trying to learn about it more, cause I have been wanting to make a fake visual novel series, and this is helping alot!
I don't have much talent, but I hope that with this (and other tutorials) I can make some great pixel art, and hopefully I can make good pixel comics and animations in the future!
Thanks for helping me on my journey!
0:13 i think i can make decent art and yet this is always the only thing keeping me from making even small simple games for fun xd
What an incredible video, I myself am already an aspiring writer, poet, guitarist and in future video essayist. If I ever decide to reciprocate my love for Video Games by making my own, I will be sure to remember this video.
Fantastic, Short and Easy to Understand,
Keep it Up!
Raise your hand if you're already an artist but suck at pixel art
🙋
🙋
never tried
i'm good at pixel art, and bad at art.
🙋
🙋
I have this video saved precisely for when the time comes for me to make something visual for my self-made computer system, complete with a custom 16 bit CPU and a 480p tile-mapped video interface. Thank you for making the design process clear and concise. Cheers!
Are you getting started with pixelart too? What tip would you recommend to someone wanting to start working on pixelart?
Disclaimer: I don't consider myself an expert in pixelart AT ALL! These are some tips I've personally found useful in improving my drawing skills 😉
You can now support me with a coffee, so that I can finally stop sleeping and work 100% on my game full time: ko-fi.com/ricdevlogs
Ric pin your comment so it shows itself on the top of the comment section so more people can see. When you do it and reply I will delete my comment
Don't know if it useful, but I got into pixelpart by replicating exiting sprites out of fun. Eventually it evolves to editing said preexisting sprites to my liking, or using said sprites a references to new ones.
The experience taught me a few things: the meaning of space and color limitations (in the app I used was limited to a 80×80 px canvas, which later expanded to 100×100, and I could only used up to 31 individual colors). I also often found myself zooming out to see if my drawing looks ok before continuing, often adjusting a pixel or two that looked out of place. Truly it felt sometimes like I was sculpting the drawing's shape like you said.
I'm not saying I'm an expert pixelartist in any way (I think I'm far from that), but I enjoying it so far and that's the only thing that matters.
This video was helpful. I've mostly spent my time with Super Mario 64 rom hacking and polygons, but I've been considering making a full original game, with all assets belonging to me. I've used Gamemaker for the majority of my life and I'm excited to pursue a project like this.
Good luck with your new project then! :)
16x16 may be fine for NES inspired pixel art, but other styles of pixel art (Like SNES inspired for example, where some sprites might be as large as 64x64, still low by modern standards but with a lot more room for detail) demand a slightly higher resolution. Like, I'm not just saying it's easier or it'll look better, I'm not a good enough artist to really be giving advice, I'm saying that for some styles it's just not possible because the minimalist look of smaller pixel art just isn't what they're going for. That said, I'm not doubting the sense in LEARNING smaller pixel art, I just don't think 16x16 should be the rule for EVERY PROJECT. If everyone followed that, we'd have even more games that cater to NES nostalgia, but those of us more nostalgic for the SNES would be out of luck. The three color/nine shade limit is a similar situation IMO: Great for some styles, and a limited palette is often a good idea for pixel art in my opinion, but to use the SNES example again, the SNES could have 16 colors per palette and 8 total palettes, and there were even ways to slightly expand upon this using techniques like rewriting the palette data midway through a scanline. And some styles of pixel art, particularly those not trying to emulate a previous era, tend not to use limited colors at all for a different aesthetic.
I agree with you Argenteus!
16x16 and a limited color palette could be seen as the 'beginning' of a pixel art journey, but they're definitely not the endless goal. Each project needs a specific pixel size and color palette based on what it tries to achieve!
These tips are mainly for beginners (like me!) which could benefit from a more limiting art environment. One day (once I get better at pixel art), I'd love to work on higher-resolution sprites!
Great post, you just answered the question I had in my mind, was thinking about Chrono trigger and FF6 sprites (dimensions).
@@GameArts1 man your comment deserves a heart just for mentioning both Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6. They're both on my list of favorite games ever! Such great gaming experiences
This tutorial has proposed itself to be extremely useful thank you for the great tips and tricks you've made my endeavours in pixel art way easier to understand now
I think I learned a couple of these on my own just by doing re-sprites. Though as I want to make my own eventually, this definitely helps. The only question I have is if these apply to other forms of art as well, like normal 2D animations or even 3D models and textures.
I'd say that some tips are more specific to pixel art, but in general working within a limited set of rules (fixed size, fixed number of colors) can be applied to any form of art. For 2D animations for example you may want to start with only a short number of frames (3/4), focusing on the main movement without much going on 'in between' the main frames. I've never done 3D modeling though, so I don't have much to say about it!
@@Ric_93 Alright, that does help. Thank you!
This is actually really helpful for what I’m doing right now actually! I do pixel art (usually 64*64 to 128*128) and I just took up trying to do a full blown animation rather than a single looping scene. For one of the things I had to draw characters far away, and this was helpful, I’m addicted to putting black line borders between everything because I never look at things from afar. This video was great!
Thank you, I'm glad the video was helpful! Good luck with your pixel art 🎨 💪🏻
it was randomly recommended to me
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I’m working on a texture pack for Terraria that completely changes the look of everything in the game, from making all the sprites have more resolution, to changing the looks of a boss based on how I view them. I’ve never done pixel art before, but I’m very proud of the work I’ve done so far and everyone I’ve shared it with says it looks really good. These tips will definitely help me out, thank you
Good luck on that project man, it sounds great! I'm glad to see you find the tips useful
bruh you should show me
Yep this is a random recommendation. Gg man.
honestly this is also super helpful for artists too, especially the advice about zooming out and minimizing what actually makes it into the pixels - personally at least I’ve always tried to add too much detail into things the few times I’ve tried pixel art because I’m used to adding those details in fullscale drawings
I'm glad you found the video helpful!
My friend knows how to program, so I guess I have my work set out for me
Good luck Douglas!
I really loved the video, I started doing games and thought that i would never be able to make my own art, because when it comes to drawing i suck. Your video made me believe i can do it, and even made me feel like trying to learn how to draw properly
Definitely going to be using this to make animal crossing art.
Hi there Ric I just wanna say I really appreciate this! especially the part about not fretting so much about the details (that’s been something I’ve been struggling with alot), thanks for all the tips and things! these can come in a lot of use in the future.
You're welcome! I'm glad you found the tips useful! 🙌🏻
Thanks for the tips. For color, I'd add that you can also limit yourself by choosing a palette from a system with limitations (like the NES).
Also editing tip (because that's what I do) : check your left-right balance in the audio if you're using stereo, it's only one parameter and it fixes issues when using headphones.
Thank you for the tip man! I'm glad you liked the video 🙌🏻
I never thought of checking the left-right balance! I actually took the audio for this video with my phone, so that's also possibly why it's not that great 😅
Thank you :) I already do art but struggle with pixel art a bit! I’m studying multimedia and next year I’ll be working on game development! Thank you for the video and keep up the good work!!
You're welcome! Good luck with game development, it's a lot of fun (and a lot of work too) ! 😉 Don't give up
I feel like these tips are oddly specific. For example 16x16 isn't always the best size for pixel art and it varies depending on the style, 3 colors isn't always the best amount for a pallet, and timing how long you spend drawing isn't always the best, some things take longer than others and you don't want to rush art.
Yes, they're pretty specific! These are tips I tried myself to improve my pixel art skills as a complete beginner. When I first started, I felt pixel art to be pretty overwhelming, but restricting myself in terms of size, colors and time creates a better environment to play with which allows for faster improvement! If you want to create good pixel art, then you need more pixels, colors and time for sure 😉
Wow I didn't know people just sculpt the pixel art. Every time I would try to draw some pixel art I would always try to imagine the shape of the object in my head and make a rough sketch. It would look terrible. That is the best tip hands down for a guy who can barely make a stick man! Glad this got recommended ;)
'So that random people find this recommended to them' that's how I found this video.
The old UA-cam Gods have been listening to my prayers, it seems.
I must say that your video explanation was amazing!
As I know from color theory is besides the 3 color rule you can apply the 2 color rule which is to apply the contrary color in the color spectrum. There's more things, but you explained this very consicely.
This vid helped me a lot and answered a lot of my questions. I’m making a team based Capture the Flag game with my friends and we planned to use pixel art for it. I felt a bit lost for a while but this vid got me on the right track. This vid helped me realize that when you set constraints on yourself you absolutely have to make the most of everything at your disposal. That’s genius! Thanks for the tips, man! Hope you will play my game one day (if I get it done. Lol) 👍
Thank you so much, I'm glad to read the video was helpful! Good luck with your game, I'd be glad to play it one day 😉