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[Vesper]

Well i decided i want to do pixel art for my next game and i have no clue what I'm doing so I opened up GIMP and i made this little bugger in about 45 minutes...

I don't care if it is harsh or not. I would like an honest opinion and maybe some tips on what needs work and what doesn't.

[Vesper]

This is my latest creation.

[DaHog]

Needs more shading. Pretty good for a beginner btw.

[sakuyo]

quick note, when you scale things in gimp switch the interpolation (which i think defaults to cubic? not sure) to 'none'

that way it'll have clean pixels like this

[Vesper]

Needs more shading. Pretty good for a beginner btw.

Thanks!

quick note, when you scale things in gimp switch the interpolation (which i think defaults to cubic? not sure) to 'none'

that way it'll have clean pixels like this

wow! I never realized that. Thanks for the tip!

[EtiennePerin]

You need to think more with volume and less with lines.


Do you use a tablet to work on your pixels? Making pixel with a mouse can be usefull for some details, but if you want to have dynamic shapes in your sprites, it's better to start working with a tablet in my opinion, at least to make a rough wersion of your sprite (then cleaning it up with a mouse).

Also, I don't know about Gimp, but I recommend you to use Cosmigo Pro Motion for the animations and the palette functionality.

[Dino_Salad]

I agree about using a graphics tablet, I used a mouse for about 8 months and now coming back to tablet it feels much easier and my pictures look better. Especially for bigger sprites too.

[Neo]

Hi Vesper, I made a few edits to your sprites, I hope you don't mind.

[Vesper]

Hi Vesper, I made a few edits to your sprites, I hope you don't mind.

I don't mind at all! I really like what you did with the wizard and the new hair on the other one looks great!

[ink.inc]

http://makegames.tumblr.com/post/42648699708/pixel-art-tutorial

http://androidarts.com/pixtut/pixelart.htm

read these

[Vesper]

i made this guy as a concept for my new game. I was hoping for a very simple look.
He'll be alot smaller, i over scaled him here.

[Vesper]

concept for him using one of his powers:



it's a very rough draft and i tried to animate it but i dont know how to in windows movie maker so that hit the fan.

[Dino_Salad]

concept for him using one of his powers:



it's a very rough draft and i tried to animate it but i dont know how to in windows movie maker so that hit the fan.

You tried to animate it in windows movie maker? Is there a reason you wanted to use that program? Can it animate?
There are lots of other programs where you can animate for free or do a trial:)

[Vesper]

concept for him using one of his powers:



it's a very rough draft and i tried to animate it but i dont know how to in windows movie maker so that hit the fan.

You tried to animate it in windows movie maker? Is there a reason you wanted to use that program? Can it animate?
There are lots of other programs where you can animate for free or do a trial:)

i made the frames in gimp, and then put them together in wmm.couldnt save as a gif was the problem.

[Glyph]

concept for him using one of his powers:



it's a very rough draft and i tried to animate it but i dont know how to in windows movie maker so that hit the fan.

Okay, a few things to look out for, in list of how much of a concern they are:

-Try to minimize the amount of colors used. This ties in with my next point...
-Make sure each color used is distinct enough that the eye can easily tell them apart. Readability is key, especially in small pixel art. It can look a little mushy if you don't have each color stand out.
-Another way to make colors distinct, aside from making them lighter/darker, and also a way to make the sprite 'pop' more, is to have lighter colors be hue-shifted slightly to yellow and have higher saturation (more pastel), and darker colors be hue-shifted more to blue and have lower saturation (more muted). This is, ultimately, a stylistic choice, but it also leads to some good practices (including keeping color count low -- if you have one deep purple and use this method, you'll find that more than just purple colors can use it as part of their ramp).

[Vesper]

concept for him using one of his powers:



it's a very rough draft and i tried to animate it but i dont know how to in windows movie maker so that hit the fan.

Okay, a few things to look out for, in list of how much of a concern they are:

-Try to minimize the amount of colors used. This ties in with my next point...
-Make sure each color used is distinct enough that the eye can easily tell them apart. Readability is key, especially in small pixel art. It can look a little mushy if you don't have each color stand out.
-Another way to make colors distinct, aside from making them lighter/darker, and also a way to make the sprite 'pop' more, is to have lighter colors be hue-shifted slightly to yellow and have higher saturation (more pastel), and darker colors be hue-shifted more to blue and have lower saturation (more muted). This is, ultimately, a stylistic choice, but it also leads to some good practices (including keeping color count low -- if you have one deep purple and use this method, you'll find that more than just purple colors can use it as part of their ramp).

Yes, awesome! Thank you for the tips!