Pixel art in general is a form of digital art. Images are created and edited on the pixel level and every single pixel is controlled, be it its location or color. Using pixel art is one of the most popular ways to create 2D art for videogames and can be found on many classic games, such as Space Invaders and Super Mario.
Videogames used pixel art because of technical limitations during that time, but pixel art has kept its place in digital art. Nowadays, pixel art is used for a variety of things, games, comics, and animations for example.
Pixel art is popular among indie game developers because of its simplicity and easy-to-learn workflow. The indie game Stardew Valley was originally made by one person who knew game programming but had to learn pixel art to create game graphics.
This lesson's aim is to teach you create a sprite, a 2D stand-alone character or object.
If you have followed pixel art, you may have come across things like 32x32 or 64x64. These mean the size of the single sprite, with the height and the width both being 32 or 64 pixels. The fewer the pixels, the simpler and thus more beginner-friendly the image will be.
Some games use so-called high-resolution pixel art, or in other words bigger sprites, to achieve more details but are still easy to recognize as pixel art. One example of this art style is The Owlboy.
There are a variety of tools are available for pixel art, websites, and applications. For example, a free website Piskel is a great site for sprites and animations. Windows has built-in apps like Paint that are free to use. Aseprite is also a popular app for pixel art but has a one-time payment. Try out different sites and apps to find suitable for yourself.
Few things before the actual starting. Lines and edges are not as straightforward as you might think. Pixelized lines are made of blocks and any uneven edges are easy to notice and may ruin the whole image. So not even a straight line is simple if one pixel is off. Straight lines can be easily ruined by one offset pixel and curved lines can become ragged if they are done carelessly.
Dithering is a technique that blends two colors. From the image on the lowest block, you can see how the darker green and lighter green can be blended with pixel patterns. This noise-like pattern method creates varying densities to simulate a color's graduation.
Dithering work on large-scale pixel art can be distracting on smaller sprites and make the entire image muddy.
The first step of the process is to have an idea of the character. You can use the character design that was made earlier during this course. However, you should simplify the design so it's easy to create with pixels. The example in this lesson is 64x64, but you can make the sprite 32x32. Remember that the bigger the sprite is, the more complicated.
Also, keep in mind the continuation after the sprite is done. If the sprite is going to be animated, keep the design smaller and less detailed, so it's much easier to animate. On the other hand, if the sprite will stay static, you can add as many details as wanted.
This section is meant to show you one way how to create a pixel character step by step. Create your own character by applying the same methods to your process.
The demo character's pose is pretty basic but will be time-consuming if animated, so it will be a static sprite without animations. The character will have boots and cargo-style pants and the upper body will have a jacket on, but the shape is still unclear.
Line art isn't necessary, it really depends on the art style and how detailed the art is going to be.
The head's line art was changed to a darker color of the skin.
Pixel art has several uses in digital art and is quick to create. All that is needed are a mouse and an app like Microsoft Paint and you are set to go.