Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 7: Gather your tools
• Part 2 of 7: Practice the basic skills
• Part 3 of 7: Making the outline of your first sprite
• Part 4 of 7: Color your sprite
• Part 5 of 7: Applying tonal values
• Part 6 of 7: Using advanced techniques
• Part 7 of 7: Putting the finishing touches

Pixel art is all the rage in modern, indie video games. This allows the artist to add a lot of character to a game, without spending countless hours modeling 3D objects or hand-drawn, complex subjects. If you want to become a pixel artist, the first step is to create a sprite. Once you've mastered creating sprites, you can start with animation and it and advertise your skills to potential employers.

To step

Part 1 of 7: Gather your tools

1. Download good image editing software. While it is possible to create pixel art in Paint, you will find that it is not easy. Some of the most commonly used pixel art programs are:
   • Photoshop
   • Paint.net
   • GIMP
   • Pixen
2. Buy a drawing tablet. If you want to trace hand-drawn drawings or don't like drawing with the mouse, use a tablet and drawing pen. Wacom is one of the most popular brands when it comes to drawing tablets.
3. Turn on grid display in your image editing software. Whatever software you choose, turn on the grid view. This allows you to clearly see where each pixel is placed. You can usually access the grid from the View menu.
   • You will probably have to set the grid first, so that each square represents 1 pixel. The method for this varies per program. In GIMP you can change this via the Image menu (select "Set Grid ...").
4. Choose a single-pixel pencil. Select the Pencil tool in the image editing software. From the Pencil options, choose a single-pixel brush. With this you can draw in pixels.

Part 2 of 7: Practice the basic skills

1. Create a new image. Since you will be working at the pixel level, the image does not have to be very large. The full screen in the original Super Mario Bros. game is only 256 x 224 pixels. Mario himself is only 12 x 16 pixels!
2. Zoom in. Since you will be working with individual pixels, you will have to zoom in very far so that you can clearly see the grid and where each pixel will be placed. You may need to zoom in up to 800% to see the pixels in the grid.
3. Practice Drawing a Straight Line This sounds like a simple thing, but if the line deviates even one pixel in the center, it will show as irregularity. Practice drawing straight lines with your mouse or drawing pen so you don't have to use the line tool every time.
4. Practice drawing curved lines. You make curved lines by moving a pixel line. For example, you can make a nice curve by moving a pixel after six pixels, followed by a shift to three pixels and then after two pixels. The shifts are then reversed for the other part of the curve. A failed curve starts with a shift of three pixels, followed by one pixel, and then another three pixels, or some other strange pattern.
5. Use the eraser to undo mistakes. Like the Pencil, you also set the Eraser Tool to one pixel at a time. If the eraser tool is too big, it will be difficult to remove pixels exactly.

Part 3 of 7: Making the outline of your first sprite

1. Decide what the purpose of the sprite is. Will this be an animation or will it remain static? You can add more detail to a static sprite, but try to keep the moving sprite simple, as you will have to draw parts differently for the animation. If the sprite is used with other sprites, keep an artistic style that makes everything unified.
2. Find out if there are any restrictions. When creating the sprite for a project, determine if there are any size or color restrictions. This becomes more important when you start working on larger projects with many different sprites.
   • Most modern systems don't really have any restrictions on the color and size of sprites. If you develop a game specifically for an older system, you may encounter limitations.
3. Make a design sketch. Make a basic design of the sprite on paper. This will allow you to see what the sprite will look like, as well as make adjustments to posture and other attributes. You can use this sketch to trace it later with a tablet (if you have one).
   • Add more details to the sketch. Make any attributes you want to add so that you have an idea of ​​what the sprite will look like when it's finished.
4. Create the outline in your program. Use the sketched outline as a reference, or trace the outline with a drawing tablet. You can click and draw to create the linework or place each pixel individually. The choice is yours.
   • For your first sprite, use black as the line color. This will make the outline easier to distinguish. You can change the color of the outline later.
5. Clean the outline. Zoom in and remove excess pixels and make the lines neat. The outline cannot be thicker than a pixel. Use your Pencil to place pixels for correcting mistakes.
   • Focus on the larger parts while creating the outline. You can always go back and make minor changes later.

Part 4 of 7: Color your sprite

1. Brush up on your basic knowledge of color theory. Use the color wheel to determine which colors to choose. Colors that are opposite each other are far from each other, while colors that are close to each other on the color wheel go well together.
   • Choose colors that make your sprite stand out without clashing with the rest of the colors. Avoid pastels, unless that style is used throughout the project.
2. Don't use more than a few colors. The more color you use, the more distracting your sprite will be. Check out some iconic sprites and you'll find that they often use just a few colors.
   • Mario - The classic Mario sprite uses only three colors that are all close together.
   • Sonic - Sonic has more detail than the original Mario, but still consists of just four colors with tonal variations.
   • Ryu - One of the classic sprites from fighting games. Ryu uses large areas of color, with only a slight variation in tonal values ​​to shape the character. Ryu has only five basic colors with various tonal values.
3. Apply the colors. Use the fill tool to color your sprite. At this point, you're only using standard colors, so don't worry about it looking that flat. The fill tool replaces all pixels corresponding to the pixel you pressed with the selected color, until a boundary is detected.

Part 5 of 7: Applying tonal values

1. Identify the "light source". The angle at which the light hits the sprite helps determine where to cast shadows for a more realistic and believable effect. Although no light can be seen, it is important to know where the light is coming from.
   • It is probably easiest to cast shadows when the light source is placed far above the sprite, whether it is slightly from the right or left.
2. Apply tonal values ​​with a slightly darker color than the base color. If the light source is coming from above, the shadows will be at the "bottom" of the sprite. Shade any surface that is not exposed to direct light. Just add a few layers of pixels to the top or the bottom of the outline to create shadows.
   • You can reduce the "brightness" of your base color and slightly increase the "hue" value to get a good shadow color.
   • Never use gradients. They look fake and unprofessional. You can use dithering to simulate gradients (see below).
3. Add some soft shadows to it. Choose a shade between the dark of a shadow and the original base color. Use this shade to add a new shadow layer between the shade's and the base color. This gives you the effect of a transition from dark to light.
4. Apply highlights. There are places on the sprite where the light falls directly on. You can add highlights by adding a shade that is slightly lighter than the base color. Use highlights sparingly as they can be distracting.

Part 6 of 7: Using advanced techniques

1. Try to work with dithering. This is an effect that allows artists to display a shift in the hue. This allows you to create a gradient with only a few colors, by alternately placing pixels, creating transitions. The placement of two different pixel colors in a pattern and the degree to which this happens can fool the eye in that it looks like there are different shades.
   • Rasterizing is often overused by beginners, so it's best not to use it, except in rare cases.
2. Practice anti-aliasing. Pixel art is defined by pixels that can be seen clearly, but sometimes you want to make the lines look a bit smoother. Anti-aliasing is the technique with which you can achieve this.
   • Add intermediate colors to the kinks on a curve. Add a layer of transition colors around the outline of the curve that you want to look smoother. If it continues to look blocky, add another layer with a lighter color.
   • If you want your sprite to contrast against any colored background, don't use anti-aliasing for the outer edge of the outline.
3. Use selective outlines. This is the term for using the same outline color as the fill color. This gives the sprite a slightly less "cartoonish" appearance, as the outline looks a bit more natural. Use selective outlines for the skin and traditional outlines for the clothes.
   • Use a darker shade than the base color of the part selectively adding outlines. Use the light source to change the hue while creating the outline, making the sprite look more natural. This is especially helpful with skin tone and muscle definition.
   • Traditional outlines are fine if you want the sprite to be distinguishable from a busy background.

Part 7 of 7: Putting the finishing touches

1. Take a closer look at the sprite. Take a step back and look at the sprite as it has now become. Check if there is anything wrong and correct any imperfections or errors.
2. Add details. When you are done coloring and applying tonal values, you can add details such as text, eyes, extra features and everything that makes a sprite even better. The attention to detail at the end of the project is what sets the amateur apart from professional pixel artists.
3. Make an animation of your sprite. If you followed the steps above, you now have a single, static sprite. This is nice as a piece of art, but if you want to make sprites for games, they will probably need to be animated. This means that each animation frame gets its own sprite, with minor changes from the previous frame. The collection of all sprites used in an animation is called a "sprite sheet".
   • Check out wikiHow for more information on animating a sprite sheet in GIMP.
   • Creating unique and engaging animations for sprites is one way pixel artists differentiate themselves from amateurs. Good animation can bring a sprite to life completely.
4. Create a portfolio. If you want to use your pixel art skills in the video game development world, you will need to come up with a solid portfolio to show off to potential employers. Include your best sprites here, as well as some animations, if you have any. Include various topics, such as characters, environments, items, etc.