PIXEL ART THREAD

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>OP here

i just started pixel art recently and have been meaning to do it more often

this is an older thing from about a month ago

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i dont know where to go with this

>OP

>>2387007
So what's your goal with this? Do you plan on studying form and construction or...?

>>2387017
i have and am studying that

i am just doing this on the side

why the fuck do people here assume that anyone who posts non-realistic never does it

>>2387031
Non interesting drawings are hallmarks of someone who doesn't know how form works, that's all.

>>2387031
Also, may I ask you if you know what pixel art is? I wouldn't call what you posted "pixel art" exactly.

>>2387035
then what would make it "pixel art"

>>2387034
im not posting my realistic drawings here

also i=of course the drawings arent appealing since i just started making non-realistic digital shit

>>2387038
I didn't mean to be rude by the way.

"Pixel art" is art made with pixels, not art composed of pixels or art consisting of a starved color palette (as seems to be the case with your drawings) or composed of squares (pixelated). In pixel art each pixel is placed individually and with a purpose.

>>2387011
Does not seem like pixel art at all. The beetle thing and the butterfly in your opening image seem pixelated because there wasn't resolution enough for the artist to express what he wanted clearly, instead of being composed of dots of color, if that makes any sense.

I like pixel art a lot and I think it can be really beautiful, but it does take practice since your canvas is "limited" in a way.

There are many tutorials out there, maybe you should check them out (you should check many of them, not just one). One quick advice I can give you is to drop black outlines as soon as possible. You simply can't afford to think in outlines with this kind of limited canvas. Just try it out, I think things look much better when not arbitrarily outlined in black. Just let the shapes speak for themselves.

It's like learning how to paint in a way.

>>2387043
ok anon

do you have an example of a 'pixel artwork' btw

im curious to see what you meant by it

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>>2387043
Also, check these things out. I don't know how they're called in english, but there are many examples of good art made with distinct points of color coming from these things. I think some are really beautiful.

Cross sewing I think it's called.

>>2387045
Sure, give me a second.

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>>2387046
i think you mean embroidering but i wouldnt really know

so do you think should i limit my resolution way more?

is this pixel art?

>i drew it but another anon colored it to show me how

>>2387049
This for instance is an example. The point here is that every discrete point of color does something for the picture. It might outline or define a volume, but it was placed there for a reason. It this image was to be drawn without discrete points of color it would be a different image and not a better image necessarily.

>>2387049
>so do you think should i limit my resolution way more?
No, no, when I said "each pixel is placed individually", I actually meant you should think of each pixel individually and think about it's place in the whole picture.

For instance, >>2387011 in this image your diagonals are inconsistent in thickness because of extra pixels. They are not very defined, and that makes the drawing look way more cluttered than needed. To me it really looks like you simply grabbed a brush with no fallout or any sort of smoothing and just drew the outline of the picture.

If you want many pixels at once you should probably be making a shape, and not a line. Like a ball for instance.

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I like the way this person talks about it. "Controlling the pixels, not just drawing."

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>>2387053
hows this?

>>2387046
>Cross sewing
>>2387049
>embroidering

"cross stitch"

>>2387081
>>2387056
answer

>plz respond

im goin to sleep niggers

OP OUT

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>>2387007
does this counts?

>>2387086
?

>>2387091
no

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Some boss sprites I made for a game

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>>2387894
As others have said, the importance of each pixel is key in pixel art, methinks

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made this fakemon

>>2387894
I like this. It's maybe a tad too much dithering (really just on the cut off meat parts) but I like the style of it.

one small crit is I would outline the left ear, right now it doesn't really look like it sticks out, more like it's a design on its head or something.

>>2387007
How come I can find really good pixel artists but they are shit at regular art?

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>>2389875

Examples?

>>2387904
good stuff. The shading on the mushroom(?) thing looks kinda gradient-y though. Also, there's some banding on the mushroom and pit image. The bottom of the pig has the dark brown shade that lines up with the line-art. I think it would look better without that.

>>2387091
Not really, but I wonder how you did this? Did you draw the lines with a mouse or something while fully zoomed out like that?

Usually pixel art gives the sense that each individual pixel is placed deliberately, here it looks like it's not so much the pixels themselves that matter, but the lines. In terms of pixel art I'd say the lines actually aren't that bad, at the very least they're one-pixel thick, and some curves are actually kinda smooth.

Anyway, when making something that classifies as pixel art I would start by zooming in really far and making a small image where you place pixels individually. Although you can use tools to help with that process (like the fill tool) the image should still have that feeling like "each pixel is important."

>>2387007
blue guy looks the most like "true pixel art"

>>2387009
I assume you made the lines "by hand" in this and placed the small pixels one by one as well, so I'd say this is pixel art too.

>>2387013
I say this works as is, but I would add some detail on the moon, right now it looks very bare (which is ok for the sky)

>>2387011
This one I would say isn't pixel art because it doesn't seem very controlled at the pixel level. (plus it looks like the size of it is scaled up oddly, so that the pixels aren't the same size). I'd still probably classify it as pixel art though, besides the speech box.

>>2389886
oh shit, who made this? I dig that lion.

Read:

http://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299

>>2389886
does andrae0 still visit this board

>>2387091

Not pixel art. It's oekaki.

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Enjoy!
http://rolandoortiz.tumblr.com/

>>2391244
I wonder what this would look like without outlines... For some reason, with the background it looks like banding. A lot of images are like that for me and I never really understood why.

>>2391244
I dig this.

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>>2390548

yep

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How's my shit look so far? How can I improve. I've been doing pixel edits since last summer, but this is some of the first original stuff I've done.

>>2395021
Well first thing's first you'll want some sorta shading to give it detail and form, else it's gonna look flat. Something simple like 5 to 10 points of brightness darker for dark spots, 5 to 10 points of brightness lighter for highlights

>>2395021
>>2398132
After that it really depends on your personal preference, but little things like changing the outlines of shapes from being just black to being a dark shade of the colour of the object can change it from being cartoony and sharp to something a little easier on the eyes.

>>2395021
>>2398151
Yeah I'd play with the outlines abit.

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Any advice?

>>2398819

shield looks weird, i think the angle on the spiral is the problem, and her sash thing looks really flat and doesn't conform to her chest

but other than that it's really cute tbhfam

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>>2398859
Thanks, I was thinking about changing the shield pattern anyway

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Made those sprites for a project but it's my first time working with pixel art, any tips?

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>>2392973
but does he surf this thread?

>>2398883
do you post your art anywhere?

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>>2402422
close the 1px gap between her hair and shoulders

>>2404500
bobston?
yea, I'm here

>>2390086
no one cares

why are tilesets so hard

>>2406200
Just sketch out a picture, and then make tiles as you need them.

>>2387055
Woah, anyone getting an optic illusion where some pixels look grey?

>>2406327
um
no
but pass that shit

>>2406357
Just realized it's astigmatism

QQ

ded thread

>>2406398
I also have astigmatism and am not seeing the grey pixels... Rest your eyes anon

>>2406652
Yeah lol. I looked at far things and blinked a lot. Settled down a lot.

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>>2404931
yes c:

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>>2387043

What are some recommended tutorials? The ones that've come up in my first google searches are a bit hard to follow.

Thanks for the advice already in the thread.

pic isn't mine

>>2395021

>.png yet has jpg compression artifacts

What kind of wizardry is this

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>>2407453
http://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299

I wrote the above tutorial, if you need something in particular explained in greater depth just let me know.

>>2402422

Is that supposed to be a human face? Looks like a spider with multiple eyes. Pretty terrifying

>>2407460
I see no artifacts. Try to full view the image.

>>2407463

Ah. I didn't consider that 4chan creates a jpg thumbnail for each image

Hey cure!

Really dig the tutorial you made!

My question is regarding the resolution you are working.

Do you always work at a 1:1 ratio or do you do a 2:1 ratio where you just resize it down?

Thanks!

>>2407461

This is extremely helpful. Thank you.

as a beginner, should I be following "how to make X" tutorials or just trying to make my own projects from scratch ?

Let's say I want to make a pixel art dog, should I be looking at a ref and trying to copy it?

Should I sketch out the picture beforehand, and then copy it using pixels?

I guess my main question is, what should I do to improve my pixel art, as a complete beginner?

Sorry if this is confusing.

Thanks again for the awesome tutorial.

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>>2407492
>should I be following "how to make X" tutorials
Personally I'd avoid most of those, most are written by noobs and just teach you how to follow precise steps to make the exact thing they made. You should instead be learning the fundamentals, how it all actually works.
>Let's say I want to make a pixel art dog, should I be looking at a ref and trying to copy it?
That's one way. 9 times out of 10 I'd probably pull up some dog photos on google images and start pixelling, but I'd use the photos to understand dog anatomy rather than try to actually copy the photo itself, but either way is fine.

>Should I sketch out the picture beforehand, and then copy it using pixels?
That's another method. I like to turn paintings into pixel art, but it requires a lot of clean-up. A beginner might learn more efficiently by just making it start to finish as pixel art.

As a complete beginner, the best thing you can do to improve your pixel art is probably learning the fundamentals of 2d art, which pixel art/drawing/painting/printmaking/etc. all share. It's probably easier to grind the fundamentals with pencil/paper of tablet as opposed to pixel art though, as pixel art presents its own set of problems to work around. As for improving pixel art-specific techniques, just pixel a lot, and post in forums like pixeljoint/pixelation/tigsource for feedback and crits.

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>>2407481
not sure what you're asking really. I don't resize the work at any point, unless I'm turning a traditional piece into pixel art, then I'll resize it to a manageable canvas size and reduce the color count before I go in and start cleaning it up.

>>2407572
Sweet thank you for the insight!

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rolandoortiz.tumblr.com

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Feedback on this?

>>2407768
I don't understand why the light source on the nose oscillates. or the shape, really. looks pretty good otherwise

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>>2407768
reminds me of this ship I made quite a while ago

>>2407492
not cure but I started to understand pixelart somewhat from pixelling this object I had in front of me and doing the extreme limited color and size repixelling exercise in the ramble thread on wayofthepixel. Also reading that thread let me understand banding.

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>>2407492
>>2407868
forgot the image

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>>2407492
>>2407868
>>2407871
and the exercise in question, really good for learning about clusters and banding since you are so limited in size and colors you can really concentrate on those points.
The color reduced photos are the refs if it wasn't clear.

>>2387013
This is actually pretty beautiful, reminded me of the places I traveled to as a kid

>>2407564
>>2407868
>>2407871
>>2407875

Sweet. Thanks a lot guys.

>>2390079
he probably just used the binary tool as a brush

>>2391265
thank you.

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What's wrong with these tiles? They look so off to me.

I think it's something with the colors, but it doesn't get better no matter what I try.

>>2409853

I think the occasional large dark gaps in the bricks seems too regularly occurring to be attributed to natural weathering, which I think is the implication you are going for.

Otherwise I don't think they look too wrong. It's got a kind of murky Castlevania feel. I like them.

>>2407462
Closed eyes

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I posted in another thread about resuming my pixel tries. How does this look? I have trouble organizing my color palettes and I see a lot of tutorials mention organized the colors in a similar formation, but something about it doesn't look very tidy.

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>>2404931
Fixed, thank you.

>>2404931
how do you manage to be so motivated in pixel art/digital art in general, sempai

>>2410100
jaggies, banding

>>2410100
also your browns are too close together in value, and you could try using that lightest brown as a specular highlight on the purple caps. also consider your light source, the caps will probably be casting a shadow on the stalks and even each other.

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Guess I'll post one of my first I tried like a month ago. Tell me what ya think

>>2411260
holy fuck that's some artifacting
your quality is uh pretty much ruined, pixel-wise

>>2391263
Pretty sure it's because the outline color is between the background color and the color it's outlining.

>>2395021
Avoid banding and pillow-shading. Study form in a more traditional medium for a bit.

>>2402422
Use fewer colors unless there's going to be more contrast and probably do a little more with shading.
Also, if the feet are going to be high res, the whole thing should be; pixel art looks ugly and discordant with multiple different resolutions in the same image

>>2411356
I recorded it with gyazo and made it a gif because I couldn't figure out how to do it in the program itself. So that's probably why.

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Was working on this Fighting Game character but after the file with the improved clothing and animation got corrupted I gave up and left it as a static sprite.

Just started getting curious about Pixel Art. Are there any recommended guides? Best programs, or should I just use Paint?

>>2413845
Don't use paint. Grafx2 (freeware), Graphics Gale, ProMotion, and Aseprite are all good programs. as for guides:
>>2390112

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Another palette test, this time I think I did a bit better because the organization, at a glance, is starting to make sense to me. I think I limited jagging but there's still a bit of banding. Am I using too many colors?

>>2412000

That actually looks really well done. I like the definite characterization in the stance, and the palette and clothes together are gorgeous.

Something feels off in the highlights though, especially around the lower hem. Also his arms look a little too long for his body. Or his legs are too short. One or the other.

>>2389875
put enough time into pushing pixels around, and you could make a decent picture through simple trial and error, but the same could be said for a lot of digital art. ctrl + z is the enemy

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>>2414830
Work on a gray background or near neutral, unless it's intended.

Your palette is not bad imo. There are different methods for the artist to develop palette for pixel art, if it works for you then it's good.

For example, syosa works with a tight palette with the darkest color present in all the ramps. Different from redrabbit who uses multiple long linear color ramps. Fool grows his ramps from with a neutral ramp.
http://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10695

I tried reducing the color count by merging the darkest colors and keeping it tight (from 24 to 13).

>>2414835
Thanks, though I think I made his arms too long.

>>2414830
Could you post this at 1.1 scale instead?

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>>2414900

Thank you, I'm looking through the source now. I like your recolor a lot more because it looks more distinct from the farther view. I've been kinda using the close-up as a crutch to establish detail.

>>2414904

I used the above anon's recolor to compare too. Mine is on the right, the recolor is on the left.

>>2389875
you don't

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>>2389875
Pixel art is kind of like painting except it's more precise, easily adjustable, and each color is like it's on its own layer and can be changed/recolored very easily without dealing with things like anti-alias. If you make a mistake in pixel art it can be adjusted without fucking over the area around it, unlike if you screw up regular line art or something. If you understand art foundations and pixel foundations you can make perfect work with just a mouse.
The downside is it takes forever to get a pixel-level polish and the wide use of resizing images easily messes up the crispness of it.

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>one pixel is too small
>two pixels is too big
>mfw

>>2411260
You probably don't just want his belly animated. It looks pretty weird

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Here are a couple things I've made.

>>2415976
Holy crap. Yeah, no I'm never getting there.

>>2416081

Not with that attitude, anon.

>>2416057
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subpixel_rendering

What happens if you take a regular draw, then make a program that makes a grid and picks the dominant color for the grid as that square? You think it would make things easier even if there's probably going to be a bit of cleanup?

>>2416288
drawing*

>>2416288

Do you mean like this?

http://www190.lunapic.com/editor/?action=pixels

>>2416081

Woah that anteater's got it going down. Is he supposed to be boogying? Good composition and pose, but the colors feel too plain for him. Also is he wearing Kevlar? Not bad use of dithering.

The tank's camo detail looks great, but the outlines are too stark. I'd use a darker tone of the corresponding camo colors to add to the outline.

>>2416320
Whelp, turns out it was kinda shit. Guess I should have known better than to think it would be that easy. It's a good start but it looks like it doesn't save you too much time.

I had the idea a while ago, glad to know it's a waste of time.

>>2416112
oh jesus those pictures hurt my eyes

>>2416329
if you do that and then use a program to reduce the color it'll probably get you some bare bones to work with

>>2416346
I was exploring the idea from the viewpoint of what to do with my programming skills more than anything. I happen to draw a little, but I have way more pressing matters in terms of development than worrying about pixels or animation or whatnot.

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>>2416093
Still going to try

>>2416320
Tamanduas have a weird waddle when they walk upright. It's not Kevlar, just the second fur coloring. It does kind of look like a separate piece for some reason though. Maybe it should have blended into the legs?

I tried fading the outline to a dark gray and it looked odd. I didn't think of combining the camo colors with it.

>>2416453

I had no idea that's what that animals was. That's so cool. I see what you mean by the fur now, but yeah, I think it's just too stark by itself. Maybe introducing a bridge between the tawny and darker tones could help.

>>2416057
post what you're working on

What should I draw?

>>2418069

Do something landscapey. I need more environment and perspective practice and seeing something good could be inspiring.

>>2417960

Pretty good, but looks a tiny bit unfinished. The lack of outlines on the purple dress girl's lower hem and hair makes it look like there's a light source behind her. I really like the way her bangs convey the wind's motion, but the dress and pony-tail just kind of look like they're being flung, as if physically by a hand. Maybe more cloth ruffling would convey windiness better?

The blond girl looks awesome, but the choice of colors looks a tiny bit faded, especially in her hair. That could just be me because I love brighter colors though. Either way, looks already great, anon.