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Where to start with making pixel art?

Printed From: Pixel Joint
Category: The Lounge
Forum Name: Resources and Support
Forum Discription: Help your fellow pixel artists out with links to good tutorials, other forums, software, fonts, etc. Bugs and support issues should go here as well.
URL: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11853
Printed Date: 22 February 2026 at 5:29pm


Topic: Where to start with making pixel art?
Posted By: KelseyRoden
Subject: Where to start with making pixel art?
Date Posted: 17 March 2011 at 4:01pm
Hi, I really need to get into making pixel art for my games but when I practice pixel art I'm no good at it.  I've done a few tutorials and can replicate the tutorial decently but when I try to do something on my own it never turns out.  I can't pick decent colors, and can't make an object's shape.. I don't really know what I need to do to build my skills.  Can anyone help me get going in the right direction? 


Replies:
Posted By: shampoop
Date Posted: 17 March 2011 at 4:26pm
I have the same problem.  For me, I do not like my own art.  Instead, I enjoy looking at other people's stuff.

Posted By: KelseyRoden
Date Posted: 17 March 2011 at 4:38pm
How long have you been practicing pixel art shampoop?
Did you make the image next to your name on the message?  I like it, it reminds me of the last boss of the Starfox games.

Posted By: tanuki
Date Posted: 17 March 2011 at 10:04pm
Do you make regular, non pixel art?

If not, I'd highly recommend practicing things like sketching objects or people (black and white only to start) in real life to gain understanding of form.

If you're just getting started with color then I'd suggest working with color only rather than trying to use it in what's intended as a finished artwork. The reason is so you gain understanding of relationships between colors without the distraction of trying to make finished art with everything else involved.

If you're just wanting to do things like sprites then something like composition isn't hugely important because the sprite will be a small part of a larger work, but learning basic composition is extremely important in art. If you want even just the most basic understanding of it then read about the rule of thirds. There's composition much more complicated than that, but if nothing else that's a good foundation of have.

It's kind of hard to suggest specific things though if I don't know how much you do know already though.

Posted By: KelseyRoden
Date Posted: 17 March 2011 at 11:17pm
Hi tanuki thanks for the reply.  I'm starting to digitally sketch some manga out of some How-To books I have on the subject, I have no real talent in it yet other than reproducing the manga somewhat decently.
Well I would like to start with pixel art for tile-based games and then after that some pixel art for side-scroller games.
 
I'm also looking to gain some skills in digital painting for concept drawings and for display.
 
Other than the maybe twenty manga sketches I've digitally sketched recently, a couple dozen low-detail black and white sketches on paper over the years, and a few dozen cheap looking pixel art sprites and objects I've used in my game projects over the course of twelve years I have no experience like I need in art.
 
I'll check out some information about the rule of thirds.

Posted By: jeremy
Date Posted: 17 March 2011 at 11:49pm
Don't do manga.

It's derivative and teaches nothing about realistic anatomy/form/lighting or, often, composition.

Learn to draw real stuff, draw from life. Look at art. Visual Arts is a pretty holistic thing to an extent, and ability in one medium carries over fairly well to another.

Arne's http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm - colour tutorial is pretty invaluable.

Posted By: KelseyRoden
Date Posted: 18 March 2011 at 12:16am
Thank you Jeremy that looks to be a really nice tutorial, I'll check that out after I get some rest.  Also thanks for the advice, it seems reasonable to approach art in that direction.

Posted By: tanuki
Date Posted: 18 March 2011 at 1:24am
Try setting some goals. Something like "today I will draw each object on my desk" or "today I will ask a friend if I can draw their face from 3 different angles."


I've found that it helps if you don't think of each and every practice drawing as a potential masterpiece waiting to be made. Loosen up, set aside the eraser, and don't worry about the results. When I did drawings from live models in the past we sketched a different pose every 30 seconds. Doing that forced us to learn to look for the basic form of the subject rather than bother with details like the exact shape of their ear. Details like that come later, and if you worry about them from the beginning then each practice drawing will take much longer than it should when you're just practicing.


Currently I'm restarting my own goal (which I've totally failed on this week, by the way) to draw 1 face from a photo every day. I go to http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:People - commons.wikipedia.org , find a photo I like, and draw that person in between 10 minutes to about 2 hours, depending on how long I feel like spending that day. So far I've done about 34 I think, and I'm already improving noticeably. I put a few examples http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1623&PID=142978#142978 - here .

Posted By: KelseyRoden
Date Posted: 18 March 2011 at 9:40pm
The rule of thirds is very interesting I just read about it on Wikipedia and saw some examples of it in photography.  The pictures using the rule seem to be more fun to look at, giving the photograph more than just the cenetered subject to hold your attention, it looks more complete.


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