Pixel Joint Forum: Do I need hand-drawing skills to make pixel art?

Message

   The question is clear. I'm a programmer and have been doing sh*tty pixel graphics for a while when I needed it for my games. I'm a mess at hand drawing, and I just wanted to know your opinion on the need for hand drawing skills to make decent pixel art.

I guess it may depends on what level I would like to stand at. I'm a bit worried about this, because if I had the time, I would start now on hand drawing if it were necessary, but programming still takes much time.

I also don't want to make super-hyper-duper-cool pixel art like stuff I see on people here, just something that feels more or less right for my tiles and simple characters.

Thanks in advance! Nice community btw!   

Author	Message
xorgate Seaman Joined: 04 September 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Topic: Do I need hand-drawing skills to make pixel art? Posted: 04 September 2014 at 7:32am
	The question is clear. I'm a programmer and have been doing sh*tty pixel graphics for a while when I needed it for my games. I'm a mess at hand drawing, and I just wanted to know your opinion on the need for hand drawing skills to make decent pixel art. I guess it may depends on what level I would like to stand at. I'm a bit worried about this, because if I had the time, I would start now on hand drawing if it were necessary, but programming still takes much time. I also don't want to make super-hyper-duper-cool pixel art like stuff I see on people here, just something that feels more or less right for my tiles and simple characters. Thanks in advance! Nice community btw!
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jalonso Admiral Joined: 29 November 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13537	Posted: 04 September 2014 at 7:48am
	It does help but is not really needed. Just pixel away and see what develops. Don't compare your art to others as you experiment. Post WIP thread for feedback and help.
	PJs FAQ <•> Sticky Reads
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jtfjtfjtf Commander Joined: 17 July 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 162	Posted: 04 September 2014 at 8:27am
	You need the mentality of someone who does 2d art but not really the physical skills. Traditional skills associated with drawing like arm control for strokes and pressure and precision for detail don't really come into play. I'm left handed but I do pixel art with my right hand since I use my mouse. I'm not ambidextrous. If you can move your mouse and click it those are all the physical skills you need.
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Hapiel Rear Admiral Joined: 30 June 2023 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3266	Posted: 04 September 2014 at 10:08am
	As a kid I thought I sucked at drawing, and thus at making art. When I discovered isometric pixel art it felt like I could cheat my inability to draw, everything was straight lines and just made sense. This was kind of a rediscovery, I had also very good experiences with perspective building drawings. Now I know that you can't really cheat the hand part. It all comes down to what information is in your head, and pen and paper is really the quickest way to pass this information on to your physical eye. If your inner eye thinks something is awesome but you can't draw it, your inner eye is probably wrong... Of course there is more to it, you also need to train your fine motor skill for example in order to draw good on paper... At least with pixel art you can correct your mistakes over and over and it leaves no visible marks. This allowed me to develop to the level I am now. Could I have done this with paper too? Probably yes, if I had believed in myself. Is pixel art a short cut? probably not.
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xorgate Seaman Joined: 04 September 2014 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2	Posted: 04 September 2014 at 9:57pm
	Both answers helped me a lot on clearing my head. Thank you two!
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