How To Pixel Art Tutorial - TIPS ARTISTS NEED TO KNOW IN 2022

creating pixel art is not an easy task i know a lot of people that pick it up as the easy alternative to drawing and find themselves stuck drawing things like this or this well if you are looking to improve your pixel art in just a few simple yet extremely valuable steps you have come to the right place if you don't know who i am or what i've done i've been drawing pixel art and developing pixelated video games for almost five years now i've created art ranging from video game assets to concept sketches ui elements landscapes and so much more i've created a course teaching students how to draw pixel art from the fundamental level with over a thousand students to date and i've used my artwork to make thousands of dollars this year alone from freelance work and also my art skills have helped me fund and develop a successful indie game kickstarter the only reason i mention all of this is so i can say everything that i do everything that i've learned will be based on this video's material following the advice i've given from my previous how to pixel art videos i've posted on this channel and the advice i give today is what truly got me to where i am and hopefully will give you the opportunity to do whatever you want with your skills in the near future because at the end of the day your skills and hard work do pay off in the long term and with that let's get into the crucial advice you need to know to learn pixel art when you're starting a new skill i find it most helpful to build from a foundation of skills and techniques that will guide you in the right direction the first tip is about the way i see a lot of learning pixel artists attempt to draw when creating pixel art it is extremely handy to build a base draw from a silhouette and then fill out your drawing as you go i see a lot of beginners draw with a black color to use as their outline and slowly add in colors and shading to create a finished piece the reality is that when you're drawing pixel art you want to sculpt not draw when you draw your image like a pencil on paper you tend to break each piece of your artwork into segments where to create a more realistic 3d viewpoint you will usually have tons of overlap on your piece an arm crossing the chest or a leg on top of another leg is just a quick example of this start building your silhouette to create your object's form erasing pieces as you need to refine which when looked at correctly this is a lot more like sculpting a 3d model rather than drawing a flat object try to start breaking down the way you see pixel art from real world objects start at a silhouette then add color and finally add your lighting and shading for depth and detail now expanding on this idea we can talk about another crucial step to fixing your pixel art and becoming more consistent in your work we will now discuss the importance of defining a light source when creating art from single objects characters scenes and landscapes the first thing i think about after getting a basic structure of my object is where my lighting in my scene will be set in landscapes i can usually create some kind of sun or light source directly built into the scene which i can then refer to throughout all of my objects the point is to remember we need consistency to emulate a realistic recreation in whatever art style we are working in art at the end of the day is mainly a recreation of what we know from the real world projected from a new perspective not always but that's a general good rule to follow now going back to actually defining a light source when we are looking at singular objects or characters i will try to plan out a light source that will emphasize my object's depth usually this is done by creating an imaginary light from the top right or top left corner of my piece however depending on what kind of object or the orientation you can sometimes find shadows directly facing a direction like right above or even below the object in some cases whatever you decide just try to stay consistent between related objects for example i am currently creating an open world monster catcher rpg game monster tribe and i have decided to create all of my monsters and resources from a top right light source to have a more consistent style in my work the reason i'm doing this is all of the artwork is still being used in a singular project so it creates a more consistent style for the game even though i'm using different sized resolutions for the items compared to the monsters the next tip i'd like to get into is making sure you start simple before over complicating your workload what i mean by this is try to stick to one or two very basic pixel art styles that make sense to you before trying to create every different type of pixel art you've seen from your favorite indie games this tip can be applied to a lot more than just pixel art but if you want to be efficient in your learning make sure you start with attainable bite-sized goals before tackling the mountains of endless possibilities that your mind may get intrigued by build a foundation of easy to grasp fundamentals first like what programs you should use to create pixel art efficiently how to outline objects properly or how to create eye-catching colors ps if you want to learn more about those specific topics and many more i have already created two other pixel art beginner friendly guides so i will link them in the description for you to watch after this guide video those two cover a lot more general advice whereas this one is going over the huge building blocks to get your foundation set up make sure you use the resources out there to get a better idea of what you should be focusing on as a learning artist anyway stick to simpler styles that lend well to being easy to create and build a foundation of techniques and rules so you can have your artwork looking consistent and professional don't try to over complicate your artwork with tons of different colors and shades to fool others into thinking your artwork is detailed simplify down to your basic colors and detailing slowly adding in what is necessary to represent what you are trying to emulate pixel art is for the majority a cartoon like art style over focusing on realism so play into this idea value every pixel placement and understand why you're introducing a new shade of color or why you're placing a pixel where you are i find myself running this question over and over in my head as i create my art is this pixel adding value to my drawing do i need to add another shade or is it just going to over complicate my drawing when you're starting out ask yourself tons of questions as you're creating your art even as an artist who gets paid thousands of dollars to create artwork i am still constantly trying to question my own work to make sure i'm putting the best version of my creations out to the world that i can no artist will ever be perfect and every skill can always be improved on try to remember this when you're creating art and don't feel confident in your own work when i was thinking of what the last tip of this video should be i asked myself an important question how is great art actually created and how can this technique be achieved well after some deliberation on this idea of what creates amazing art i realized my answer wasn't boiled down to a simple equation or rule or word of advice to the majority of artists and clients i've worked with the most important aspect of creating appealing art comes from creativity and passion if you're watching this video chances are you have a passion for pixel art so good job you're one foot in the right direction however how do you keep this passion alive and what if you aren't a naturally creative person these are not easy attributes to develop or something you can just obtain however there are ways to find inspiration such as finding artists games or other media to influence your style as well as sparking your creativity from restriction a great example of this is joining art challenges to restrict what you can create and become creative out of the restrictions laid out i used to partake in a fun event called pixel dailies over on twitter where every day artists are given a topic to create pixel art based on i love seeing just how unique and creative other artists could get with these themes and eventually i didn't need a crutch of creating based on prompts to make unique artwork make sure to enjoy the hobby of creating pixel art in the first place have fun with it and try to think of this like most things as a journey rather than a destination well that just about wraps up all of my crucial tips to direct developing artists down the right path if you are looking for more useful materials i have linked my previous two pixel art guide videos which to date collectively have reached over 500 000 aspiring artists and i recently released a course if you want to learn how to create pixel art like i do for my video games and freelance work make sure to check out the course in the description below i've spent months creating this course with a very professional team so just be aware that this is a quality project that i have put as much as i possibly can into i love teaching people how to do things and pixel art is no exception i wish you the best of luck in creating some awesome pixel art and i'll see you in the next video

Channel: Reece Geofroy

Views: 217,110

Keywords: Reece, Geofroy, RG, learn, tutorial, tutorials, how, to, hd, gamedev, indiedev, devlog, gaming, pc, pixel, pixel art, pixelated, pixel art tutorial, beginner to pro tutorial, how to pixel art, how to become a pixel artist, pixel art tips, artist, pixel artist, pixel art for beginners, guide, how to, game dev, tips, tricks, indie dev, how to draw pixel art for beginners, advice, professional, pixel art guide, indie games, help, aseprite

Id: kJ5kmkVb6as

Length: 9min 7sec (547 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 24 2021