Graphics Semi-Guide
Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 2:14 am
Hi, I thought I would share some simple tips with you guys to show you how I create my graphics, how you can create similar, and that you don't necessarily need to be an artist to create some nice things.
1. I always create a new 128x128 document - transparent, zoom in all the way, and start with a 3px pencil tool to block things in. In this case, I wanted to create a character so I start with the legs. As you can see at this point, the legs are ugly, but that's perfectly fine. I really just want to get the shape in.
2. Here I clean up the legs. They should look similar - but not identical. So just take a 1px eraser, until you get it the way you want. This is what makes pixel art so easy because there is literally only so many ways you can manipulate the few pixels that you are working with. Even through trial-and-error you can still end up with what you want.
3. I mock up the basic arch of the character's body, for this I simply draw a bow-shape to get the rough idea.
4. Next I actually fill in the body. I almost always create a "pear" shape - this might differ depending on your style, since mine isn't overly realistic the pear shape works great.
5. I filled in the body, and took a little off the back and top. This makes the back-curve more defined, and by taking a few pixels off the top of the character I define what will eventually be where the head will go. I drew a red bow-shape to should you how I wanted the character to bend, you could actually start your character's with that bow shape, it might help the process along. Here you can see the bow arches back, but depending on the pose of your character you just simply change the shape of the bow.
6. Arms are a little tricky, it still takes me a few tries to get them right so I start by taking a 2px pencil tool and just draw a line essentially.
7. Here I realized that the arms didn't "fall" very well, It sort-of looked un-natural. The arms (is this demo) should fall in almost a "J" shape, instead of a bow like in step 6 - so I simply move the arm back a bit, and fixed the curve. I also added a few pixels to the "belly" area to make that look more natural as well. I also added his box-head.
8. I drew some feet. Same with the legs, they shouldn't normally be identical, In this case it looks fine.
9. This is the end result, after playing with the character a little bit more, and adding color.
Hope someone finds this helpful. If there is something specific anyone wants covered let me know in the comments and I'll do my best.
1. I always create a new 128x128 document - transparent, zoom in all the way, and start with a 3px pencil tool to block things in. In this case, I wanted to create a character so I start with the legs. As you can see at this point, the legs are ugly, but that's perfectly fine. I really just want to get the shape in.
2. Here I clean up the legs. They should look similar - but not identical. So just take a 1px eraser, until you get it the way you want. This is what makes pixel art so easy because there is literally only so many ways you can manipulate the few pixels that you are working with. Even through trial-and-error you can still end up with what you want.
3. I mock up the basic arch of the character's body, for this I simply draw a bow-shape to get the rough idea.
4. Next I actually fill in the body. I almost always create a "pear" shape - this might differ depending on your style, since mine isn't overly realistic the pear shape works great.
5. I filled in the body, and took a little off the back and top. This makes the back-curve more defined, and by taking a few pixels off the top of the character I define what will eventually be where the head will go. I drew a red bow-shape to should you how I wanted the character to bend, you could actually start your character's with that bow shape, it might help the process along. Here you can see the bow arches back, but depending on the pose of your character you just simply change the shape of the bow.
6. Arms are a little tricky, it still takes me a few tries to get them right so I start by taking a 2px pencil tool and just draw a line essentially.
7. Here I realized that the arms didn't "fall" very well, It sort-of looked un-natural. The arms (is this demo) should fall in almost a "J" shape, instead of a bow like in step 6 - so I simply move the arm back a bit, and fixed the curve. I also added a few pixels to the "belly" area to make that look more natural as well. I also added his box-head.
8. I drew some feet. Same with the legs, they shouldn't normally be identical, In this case it looks fine.
9. This is the end result, after playing with the character a little bit more, and adding color.
Hope someone finds this helpful. If there is something specific anyone wants covered let me know in the comments and I'll do my best.