Teaching the ways of Pixel Art [Lesson 3: Tips and tricks]
Posted: Wed 20 Apr, 2005 11:44 pm
Lesson 3 - Tips, tricks, and suggestions for pixel art.
Some obvious, some not..
-Use extra space to work on. Just because the final image will be 24x32, doesn't mean you can't work on it in a larger environment.
-Don't be afraid to copy different parts of the sprite, modify them uniquely, and decide which is best
-Flipping and rotating sprite parts can shape parts in other directions. Be sure to change shading to appropriate the changes, as seen from picture 2 to 3:
-Make a pallete and know how to manage it. Update colors as you bring in new ones. Sometimes you might need to make multiple pallete sets for different colorings of a sprite until you like a specific set.
-Go crazy with colors!! You'll learn a good way to mix and match by experimenting.
-Don't be afraid to use the box, circle, and line tools. Shapes like the body and head can be made using the circle tool. Longer things that need more precision you can use the line and rectangle tools.
-Using the resize tool can sometimes help.
-Save frequently. If you're not sure you want to save your changes, make copies in the same image or have multiple images.
-Saving as a monochrome image can sometimes convert to b&w instantly with decent results, or at least give a scrambled but usable outline. Saving as a monochrome image for b&w images also cuts down in filesize dramatically.
-Ctrl+Z is your friend. So is Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V
-MSPaint can only undo 3 times, after that it'll just be confused.
-Don't spend 20 minutes on 3 pixels and get a migraine; take a break, it'll be there next time you look at it (unless a lightning bolt strikes your harddrive):
-EVERYTHING involved in pixel art is experimentation. Play around with your images as if they were CLAY (or silly puddy, whichever you prefer
)
-Try to imitate directions with a few pixels. Curved lines are good examples of this
-Pretend theres a shape behind your pixels that you're drawing on, and shape the pixels in the same way.
-Patterns can easily be recreated with just a few pixels
-Fill in an area of a sprite with floodfill (or however you feel) before giving the details
-When shading, go from darkest to lightest. For some reason it's easier..
-Secret: If you have trouble seeing even at 8x scale, mspaint can also do 10x scale if you click the white line that's below the 8x selection. Bet you didn't know that
Some obvious, some not..
-Use extra space to work on. Just because the final image will be 24x32, doesn't mean you can't work on it in a larger environment.
-Don't be afraid to copy different parts of the sprite, modify them uniquely, and decide which is best
-Flipping and rotating sprite parts can shape parts in other directions. Be sure to change shading to appropriate the changes, as seen from picture 2 to 3:
-Make a pallete and know how to manage it. Update colors as you bring in new ones. Sometimes you might need to make multiple pallete sets for different colorings of a sprite until you like a specific set.
-Go crazy with colors!! You'll learn a good way to mix and match by experimenting.
-Don't be afraid to use the box, circle, and line tools. Shapes like the body and head can be made using the circle tool. Longer things that need more precision you can use the line and rectangle tools.
-Using the resize tool can sometimes help.
-Save frequently. If you're not sure you want to save your changes, make copies in the same image or have multiple images.
-Saving as a monochrome image can sometimes convert to b&w instantly with decent results, or at least give a scrambled but usable outline. Saving as a monochrome image for b&w images also cuts down in filesize dramatically.
-Ctrl+Z is your friend. So is Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V
-MSPaint can only undo 3 times, after that it'll just be confused.
-Don't spend 20 minutes on 3 pixels and get a migraine; take a break, it'll be there next time you look at it (unless a lightning bolt strikes your harddrive):
-EVERYTHING involved in pixel art is experimentation. Play around with your images as if they were CLAY (or silly puddy, whichever you prefer
)-Try to imitate directions with a few pixels. Curved lines are good examples of this
-Pretend theres a shape behind your pixels that you're drawing on, and shape the pixels in the same way.
-Patterns can easily be recreated with just a few pixels
-Fill in an area of a sprite with floodfill (or however you feel) before giving the details
-When shading, go from darkest to lightest. For some reason it's easier..
-Secret: If you have trouble seeing even at 8x scale, mspaint can also do 10x scale if you click the white line that's below the 8x selection. Bet you didn't know that
and add my pixel art lessons to it. I'm thinking on what to do for lesson 4, so it might be awhile before it's out and about.