How to do pixel art?

[MachineGunLola 408]

I see pixel avatars on dA all the time, and I would love to make some too, but... I have no clue how to do it.

D:

Like, what program do you use, what size is the canvas, do you have to draw pixel by pixel?

[FALCON PUNCH 244]

I think you just draw with a very pixel-ly brush. I think? and Photoshop would be the drawing tool I think.

[One 498]

Use paint (like a boss)! Thats how true pros do it . Or don't use it. As for making the art just go pixel by pixel I guess.

[Pix3M 607]

You can look up videos of artists making pixel art to know what the process looks like. A link that can help you get started: http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299

 

The canvas size can be anything you want to be, but keep in mind that working large scale starts being impractical. A dA avatar already contains 50x50 or 2,500 pixels, and working larger scale means more pixels to manage. With regular ol' digital painting, the artist can just use a bigger brush to cover more area. You cannot do the same with pixel art.

 

Use paint (like a boss)! Thats how true pros do it . Or don't use it. As for making the art just go pixel by pixel I guess.

 

MS Paint is only good for impressing laymen as there are other programs that can do the same thing but quicker (e.g. MS paint lacks keyboard shortcuts). Just sayin'

[StarStep 42]

Hey, creating pixel art is not all that difficult. It is just time consuming. If you are just wanting to make a single frame thing all you need is paint or paint.net. Me, I usually make animated sprites so I use photoshop which is a bit overkill but I love having layers. Some free programs you can try are Animation Shop Pro or Gimp or Photoscape or Microsoft GIF Animator and I know there are plenty of others. Basically whatever program you use set the pencil tool to 1 pixel and start drawing.

 

Anyway to get to your other questions before basic tips. Deviant art icon limits are 50x50 so that will be your canvas size. To make good pixel art you usually do have to go pixel by pixel for the outline and the detail.

 

Now for the pony icons are you looking to make a pony trot cycle that are based off desktop ponies as so many people seem to do on DA or are you just looking for a static image? Anyway basics are for that canvas size you are going to want your lines to be only 1 pixel thick. You may want to try shrinking an image of the pony you want to sprite down to the size you need it and then using that as reference so you get the proportions correct. I suggest looking at a few of the icons you like and zooming in and seeing how they crafted their pixel art so you can imitate it and get the look you want for your icon. Anyway I wish you luck and if you have any more specific questions. I'm willing to answer them or I'm sure one of our other resident pixel artists, as I've seen a few, would be willing to help you out.

 

MS Paint is only good for impressing laymen as there are other programs that can do the same thing but quicker (e.g. MS paint lacks keyboard shortcuts). Just sayin'

 

Yes I love having keyboard shortcuts. That's the whole reason I've stayed with photoshop so I don't have to relearn new ones.

Edited July 23, 2012 by StarStep

[Ashbad 969]

Good program to use: Grafx2, free and opensource and basically the best one out there by far ( http://code.google.com/p/grafx2/ )

 

How to make it: learn the techniques of pixel art, but of course, remember, pixel art is just art made with pixels. If you can't draw something, you'll have a harder time drawing it with pixels. So if you're not good with art before you take up pixeling, you're not going to end up making that great of pixel art; it's just how it works. Cure's tutorial on "what pixel art is" on pixeljoint is pretty good for beginners: http://www.pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299

 

Keep in mind, you're going to have to take hours if you want to make something that turns out good. 5 hours for a 100x100 avatar or something like that is not unreasonable, in fact, it's normal. Something big like 250x250 or 500x500? You may be spending 20+ hours at least.

 

And of course, be sure to post what you make for critique. You can't improve unless you give us your best effort and allow us to tell you what can be improved!