Recently i decided to have a dabble in Pixel art. I was very pleasantly surprised!…

It’s a really accessible form of skilled art because anyone with a basic paint program can have a go at it. You can make pixel art as basic or as detailed as you like, it’s all about practice and refinement.

In my tutorial i transform a work colleague into a “sprite” (this is term used for a stand-alone two-dimensional character or object). My tutorial explains how to draw a very simple sprite so i have placed the pixels directly into the design, however if you are creating a more intricate sprite for an animation or a game you may want to draw the character freehand then trace over the outline on screen

Step 1.
Observe….
As i have said i am going for a very basic style so i am limited with how much detail i can use to make the sprite an accurate representation of the person in question. Look out for the attributes that are easy to convey i.e Physical size and stance, eye/hair/skin colour, props like glasses, particular clothing items.

Step 2.
Create…
Open photoshop and create a new canvas for your character 150 x 300 pixels is a good size. Select the pencil tool and adjust the brush diameter to 1 pixel in size.

Step 3.
Zoom in to a point where your pencil draws single pixels and create the outline for the head. Tip: To make a symmetrical face shape i draw a guide through the centre and make sure my pixels match each half.

Step 4.
Next, give the face some character. To make the whites of the eyes visible you will need to give your face some colour.
Tip: Save time with these shortcuts:
• the eyedropper tool - shift+’i’
• the pencil tool - shift+’b’
• the marquee tool - shift+’m’

Start with the mouth then line the eyes up near the top of the ears. Give your character any expression you wish. You can colour the hair at this point also.

Step 5.
Now lets work on the body. Start with the outline for the neck and shoulders and gradually work your way down.
(Tip: To create a gentle curvature draw two pixels across then one down and repeat until you have a curve you are happy with. Another tip to make sure the decline or incline consistent is to start with 6 pixels across 1 down, then 3 across 1 down, then 2 across 1 down, finally 1 across 1 down you should now reach the end of your curve.)

Step 6.
Lastly give your sprite some colour to really bring him to life!

Thanks for reading my tutorial i hope you found it useful… Do look out for more pixel art tutorials from me as Im hooked!!

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