@toby wong it doesn't have to be either, the real point he's getting at is that you should be proud of what you've accomplished even if it could be better. Because it always can be! I've been a self-taught artist for about 20 years and I 100% understand what he means. Be proud of what you do don't be afraid to show it to people insulting yourself only put you down it doesn't actually help you to improve
Yeah like i was so Bad at art before but i only Say that now that i am better and i am looking back but while i am not perfect just like anyone else but i don't belittle myself i belittle My past self because i am better than the past me but Then i said i am good and this the cringe of your past self applies to everyone and ecerything Even cooking and totally i am not talking about myself i have "never got oil in My arms"
Really good video. I want to get into this flat 2d art more and I can take away a lot from this but at the same time agree with the things said as somebody who is confident to say that they know a little about art. Looking at what other people do and being confident about your own stuff is important. It's the moment you realize nobody knows what they are doing when you know that you can take on whatever you want. It's the same with making idols. These idols will keep you down. You focus so much on them that you forget who you are and what you do and you don't want that. So don't make idols and go and do what you want. What you do is probably already better than what 90% of the others are doing.
"I wanna get better at what I do but I'm proud of the accomplishment that I've done right now" is exactly the right mindset and you formulated it so well! Great job! :)
Thanks for pointing out how important color is! I totally agree that it is a great idea to use a premade color palette. I've seen sooooo many pieces of art that could look amazing, but just use really bad colors, and don't hue shift at all. Color palettes are a great way to hop into pixel art and just get to creating stuff without worrying about learning color theory and all that stuff, and palettes can even make you work more creatively if you only have a preset amount of colors to use. I also totally agree that you shouldn't belittle yourself, I've also seen this way too many times to count with beginner artists. If I had to give one more essential tip, it is, that for game development, please keep pixel size consistent! This kind of goes along with your tip number two, but besides having bad colors, this is the second most common pixel art mishap I see. People sometimes get lazy, and if a house they drew is too small for their game, they might just scale it up in their game engine. Please don't do this! Spend the time to hop back into your pixel art program and make a house that looks right, while maintaining the same pixels per unit as all the other objects in your game. It makes a massive difference, and keeping pixels size consistent will make your game look so much better, at least in my opinion. And take that from someone who used to scale up pixel art all the time.
Completely agree with the size consistency thing. I think it's nice to think of each sprite you make in terms of tiles. If you decide from example that a tile is 32x32 pixels then you can know that your character might be one tile and a tree might be 5x5 tiles so 160x160 pixels. Then the sprites are more likely to look like them belong in the same space.
love the video! also, saying you're art sucks, especially before someone sees it, tends to make them focus more on the flaws. it's called the anchoring principle. i saw them discuss it on extra credits once & it fully changed my outlook on how to talk about my art
@@swordfishxd- focusing on the flaw of the sentence makes you miss the point of the argument presented in the sentence, thus showing exactly what that person was talking about.
Hands down one of the best videos about game dev-related creative endeavors. It doesn't mindlessly regurgitate cliches ('just practice', duh), it has solid advice, and most importantly, it talks about issues that are common to most beginners yet no one talks about.
The funny thing is, I feel like I'm way better at tilesets than I am at characters. I mostly got into tilesets because I was very inspired by Terraria and Celeste, and I dug into their game files to find the graphics for all of the tiles just to admire them basically. In my experience, redrawing tilesets from other places (in my case mostly Terraria) can actually help a lot, and using them in different ways can also help because it lets you see how they all connect together. This video was very helpful, thanks man!
I feel the same, I love drawing landscapes and most of the custom graphics ive made have really just been tilesets. Ive always had a hard time with anatomy, and pushing that into pixel art is kinda like trying to take out 2 birds with one stone so Its a bit harder for me.
Here’s another tip i’ve learned over the years: develop your own style and stick with it! Not only is consist the key, when you develop a style you’re comfortable with, you’ll be more confident when making new pieces.
As someone whos been in a rut with her art abilities for my entire life, and in a very poor mental state for the last two years, this video was INSANELY inspirational! Thank you, I really needed this!!!
Really insightful video. My college tutor once said "theres no right or wrong in art and has no limits either" its a learning curve where you learn whilst your doing art.
Excellent video! I agree 100% with everything you said. I've been doing pixel art for more than a year and I think the most important thing is to know that you can always get better at it. It may be the colors, the details, the characters, but there's always something you can improve on, so in my opinion, the best way to get better is by watching games or artist that you like and writing what they do that make their (pixel) art unique. And also, as you said, try new concepts, things and ideas. This art style is like any other art form, you will always be learning new stuff and that's what makes it fun. Keep up the good content!
One tip was missing "Colours" colors show emotions and emphasises the look of game like a serious game will not use super saturated colors as they are cartoonish a bit and we use a less hue shift for them also less saturation and in sorrow moments the saturation is decreased even more these things expresses the story and game too well.
sorry but all of my pixel art is made on a tiny ass 240p screen on a console known as the nintendo dsi with a software known as flipnote studio and it only has 2 colors and stuf sooo
this video absolutely slaps, god i love it so much! the advice re: palettes is 110% on point. when i started using a consistent palette is when i noticed my art going from an 8 to a 10! freehanding color choices usually ends up with a lot of clashing shading and none of the lighting ends up matching, so using a palette helps everything shine. also, MSpaint XP is criminally underrated for pixel art. the only thing i wish it had was a bigger zoom.
I must say notes definitely help. Having a little notes io page where you write down all your little ideas and possible thoughts is SUPER helpful, just to make sure you don't forget anything, as well as this amazing fact: If you write down ALL of your possible ideas in one place, then look at it and brainstorm, you can just take a load of different ideas from each possible game you thought up and make one dream game. GOOD LUCK GAMEMAKING!
Really great tips! Setting rules is one of the most important things you can do to keep yourself in check and keep everything cohesive. Took me awhile to realize that, but it really helped elevate my pixel art. Keep up the quality content!
I love to just listen to vibe music and get in the zone so my art influences my attitude. -That's the best I have, and I take you're advice to heart. doing great Goodgis!
Awesome advice! I agree that aspiring artist must stop belittling themselves and begin appreciating and believing instead. Emulate the attitude of that which you wish to become!
This is a tip that I’d say applies to all art: What ever you are drawing, look at images of that thing and analyse it for at least 10 minutes before drawing (e.g. If you’re making a forest, look at pictures a forest or better yet, go out and see one in person)
This is great advice! I hope a lot of beginner artists see this, whether or not they want to do pixel art, because your advice can be really helpful no matter what type of art someone is learning. I especially hope they listen to the "practice where it hurts" part because something I see a lot of beginner artists do is to avoid drawing things they're bad at, specifically hands. Avoiding drawing hands often leads to awkward poses and, although I'm not that good of an artist myself, hands aren't actually that hard after you practice them for a bit and learn what shapes they're made of.
This was very motivating and enjoyable to listen to while my brother and I are learning pixel art. We want to create a HUGE open world RPG pixel art game. 1) because we love pixel art style and 2) because if done right, it can be beautiful. I've seen games that use the most basic colors and minimal shading, BUT the art just worked very well! Plus, the features really made the game even cooler! I really wanted to learn 3D, and maybe some day I will return to it. But this is something I feel I'm learning a lot quicker than 3D modeling. Also, I can see where learning pixel art will help you advance later on as you really are having to learn the basic fundamentals of art itself. Goodgis is absolutely right. Practice is the key, and don't belittle yourself! We went from drawing these trees that looked like a 3 year old did to now making, in my opinion, better trees than we thought we ever would. We are growing on it every day. Also, a tip for you new upcoming game devs out there who are just starting out. Use those first-time drawings as placeholders in your game engine! We took our crappy tree and placed it into our game engine. We kept swapping things out as we progressed in learning, and it's like watching a kid grow up! We have screenshots from day 1 of the game world to now. Every day is a learning day! Edit: Goodgis, you have yourself a new subscriber
Wow. Great video! I’m starting on a game idea and I’m new to everything. I have a small background in art, but pixel art is super new to me, so I’ve been watching a bunch of videos. Amazing tips, thank you for uploading!
Being consistent with colors is really important, not only in art. When I had game servers, all the text (system messages etc.) HAVE to match each other. If you have errors in gray and other things in black and some small stuff in completely different color, like yellow + blue, then it hurts to look at it.
Awesome vid! I recently bought myself Aseprite and started creating my own pixel art to use in the Unity game dev course I'm following (instead of using the assets they give). It's difficult for an absolute beginner like me, but I'm enjoying it a lot! And vids like these not only give me great tips, but motivates and inspires me to continue and get better. Keep it up, love your channel!
Thanks for this amazing tutorial! I just started coding, and I’m attempting to make a 2D platformer game, so I had to make some pixel art, and this really helped for it! I’m also glad to know I’m not the only person who adores blobs
Hey! Just found your channel, I have been doing art for many years, art is my everything. Over many years I have learned techniques and the rules of art without guidance. The same has happened with pixel art, I have been doing pixel art for a year now and because I am already an artist, learning pixel art and the rules behind it came to me fast without guidance. Sprites and tile sets are my A-game. I am working on a project call NSMW (New Super Mario World) it is a 2D Mario platformer. It plays like the 3D Mario platformers but in 2D. Its art style is like an upgraded Super Mario World style. I have been working on it for half a year now. I lack skill in coding but I do know the basics, that's not my worry now though, the coding comes later. I have planned most of the game already and have made multiple assets for it, there's just one thing I'm struggling with, I can't figure out backgrounds. When I struggle with sprites or tile sets, there is always a guide. But I can't quite figure out backgrounds. I need help on making Super Mario World backgrounds but with more detail and less restrictions. I want my backgrounds to appear as if they have multiple layers and have animated assets, these backgrounds would loop every two screen scrolls. Please help me, it looks like you have the secrets and a background guide video would be great or even just a good suggestion. Sorry for the long essay in your comments :)
Hey, i know this reply is old, but how did you make ok over the year? There are a lot of challenges to making a game. Being self focused and committed to an idea for 1-2 yrs is a big one for most. But ya you need a skill sets in all areas. For me, art is the hard part. Sound, music are not too bad as its easy to buy that stuff as they come in large packs. Art though is specific and very themed to the game. Programing is also tricky and is the meat of video games really. Game design is also under rated and takes a lot of time an experience to get right. Set goals and start with small projects that can be finished from A-Z is what is usually recommend. Also, its good to copy some ideas from games, but be mindful that you cant sell a mario game if its eh, mario. But ya your own cute platformer, world cant seem to get enough. Recommend coming up with some mechanic that makes your spin on it different though. good luck
@@AngryhammerGames cool to see this reply. After playing Celeste, I switched the NSMW project to be its own identity, new characters, themes, story plot, and main character. I called the game “Super Lost” and made a story for it and plan. I didn’t get far before I realized making your own fully fledged game as a high schooler, is mind boggling. I ended up leaving the project alone, and I haven’t touched the game in almost a year. I still go back to it for inspiration and nostalgia. I don’t plan on continuing the game, unless I ever join an indie team by some chance. I would like to make the game some day, but it’s just a plan in the background. Recently, I’ve turned to texturing, data packs, 3d modelling. I now work on Resource Packs for Minecraft. Most of these I haven’t finished, but the one I am currently working on has gone further than any other of my packs. This one I’m making, I plan on completing it and releasing it for download. I still have lots to do, and new plans for the pack keep coming. It is a quality of life pack, and it converges the original Minecraft textures, whilst recolouring, remodelling, and changing blockstates. I’ve also began to replace some of the sounds in the game. Changing the thunder files was fun. I am very proud of the pack, and it’s a project that I am committed to finishing. Sorry for the super long comment, I just enjoyed reading yours so much, and I agree a lot with your points :)
Thank you! This was entertaining, informational, and very helpful. I'm developing a game currently and I've been dreading the pixel art. I have tons of concept art and many ideas, but now I need to work with them.
im here to thank you because you got me on the right tracks with pixel art. Your the first video ive ever seen that explains so good that you d, pls continue with this in the future
I'm a professional illustrator going into pixel art and game development and I learnt some new things from this video, thanks! I suggest that people re-watch this video a few times a year if you are a beginner and just remember these important tips :)
Great job on this one, I will defiantly take the second one to heart! Well, except for that part about not mixing styles... But I've got rules for what each style applies to, so don't worry!
with the colors, use color combinations like red+blue+yellow, black and white or getting two complimentary colors and shifting one color over in the wheel e.g. blue+orange -----> blue=yellow. also dont make your reds too vibrant, making the color a bit more light will definitely help! ok have a good day!
Fantastic video! I'm definitely planning on spending some time on art when I get to my next project but that being said, even though I think my current projects art looks awful I have learnt a lot from it.
Ive become pretty serious about learning pixel art and it's been difficult to know if im learning the right way but these tips definitely helped, ill take them to heart.
I mean, if you want precise geometry and shading, you can use Blender to reduce the resolution and color palette procedurally. There are some things you'll still have to do by hand, but it changes the workload. This sort of method is also really rewarding for those who make models out of almost exclusively primitives. Really, the tricky part is getting the nodes in order and getting the lighting to play nice, but a little bit of color theory (Literally just adding a tiny amount of blue to shadows and a tiny amount of yellow to highlights) works wonders for that last one. Then once you have it set up how you like it, you spend your time playing with shapes, angles and colors rather than shading and such. You do still have to be careful though.
I've been doing pixel art for over a year now, and I gotta say I've improved a lot! Sadly I've made those outline mistakes, a lot, but hey it's all apart of the growth, currently my weaknesses is tileset and background, and I've been training like crazy for it, anyways love your channel keep posting amazing stuff
Hey man, that's perfectly fine. This video is to help point out issues so you can learn. Even as a full time graphic designer, I still am learning every single day.
Goodgis, I want to support you as a developer. You've really come a long way and you're doing a fantastic job! I want to support you, because you have encouraged me, and continue to do so. Not only directly-in your comment reply-when you (paraphrasing, here) told me to get back on that horse... but also through your stories and dev logs. Just the fact that you're a graphic designer by trade who faced numerous setbacks in your climb toward professional developer manages to echo my experience. I started in design in 1999, then moved to TV + film in 2015. I still have yet to release a game project, as I've been caught up in many of the same mistakes your various videos highlight. I just want you to know that your efforts have impact. You are successfully reaching an audience... and one who benefits when you say, "You got this. Now, get back to work." I truly desire to see you through your upcoming releases, including and beyond Dewdrop Dynasty, and hope to have some hand (even as a sideline supporter) in helping you start that studio which hires the community members you believe in, which you mentioned in a previous video. Please keep making great content. Please keep telling great stories... through art, through games, through dev logs, and tutorials. You got this. Now get back to work. --- P.S. - Even though mine wasn't the featured comment relevant to your point, I want you to know that my son's eyes lit up when he caught sight of my profile pic scrolling by in this video @ 6:14. You made a 10 y/o's day, today, 'cause his dad's face got a cameo in a TH-camr he likes' video. My son is a big fan of Hollow Knight and we're both anxiously awaiting the Dewdrop demo.
I’m very touched by your comment. To be honest when I started this TH-cam channel, I had no idea the reaction I would get. In a world where there is so much negativity and naysayers, I really just wanted to encourage others around me. It’s amazing to see the impact that you and others have had on my life, and I hope to continue to help encourage and inspire. We are stronger together, and I hope you and your son have a wonderful day. Cheers! :D
I’m making my first game and this video helped me so much,nI normally do digital art but not pixel art and I learnt rly fast cos of this, thanks so much and I hope this comment brings joy to your day
man looking back it 6 months ago to now i'm happy to say i've improved on the pixel art got more room to learn, i think if anything taking a month worth to pixel art for the pixel art challenge is quite fun. learning new way to make pixel art but also to help you ease in to the creative mind set and able to draw in a bigger canvas size as well. that what i've learned last month.
0:36 i was one of them now im trying to learn pixel art finnally (since drawing is to difficult for me and i love this style) This video is way too helpful thank u
1:35 *this is the reason of minecraft's texture update* *a good example was the apple and golden apple item. which in the old teture the golden apple looked like more 2d and simple while the normal apple looked more detailed*
Thank you for the video! I absolutely love your content and it makes me feel inspired and passionate about developing video games (even tho I have no software to do so) I am looking forward to more content
So I'm with my phone right now, calm night, watching some of my watch later playlist, removing them after watch it. But this one is a gold piece! I'll keep it there, and I'll back whenever I feel like I need it again. Thank you so much
Been strugling on my pixel art, making a game as a personal project and this video help me realize not to rush so much and just take my time as well as helped me understand consistency even in color palettes still have alot to learn but this vid helped my head stop spining on the topic
Take time to mess around if it looks bad then find why it does and avoid it next time and continue to mess around until your comfortable with whatever it is
I love the colors that you use in your games, specifically the bright and vibrant reds and blues with a near-black border. What's your color pallet? Do you have a lospec link?
the whole part about not belittling yourself, it's true, sure I don't even take my own advice, but please, anyone who reads this, please believe in yourself.
When I got started I found it helpful to take an image that I liked or had the feel/composition I was after and turn down the opacity then block in the image with less detail in the colors that I was wanting to use. It helped me figure out what I was doing wrong with shading/positioning, then I could take that re-colored image as a reference for what I wanted to make and start over with a new canvas now that I understood how to compose the image.
Tip 8 is something I learned only recently, besides it being a lot more motivating, it makes it much more fun and it stops me from endlessly trying to improve something else!
Tip: Find the right sized grid for you Some people may want to create genuinely good pixel art but don’t know where to start. Brandon James Greer is another great pixel artist and has a whole video talking about it. For beginners, I recommend a size of 16 x 16. It’s the best grid to start making pixel art. Many old games use it, and it works really well. Others may do around 40 x 40. It’s a more advanced grid to work with, but it gives a lot more freedom for detail.
I remember when I had to design a poster for the game in my collaboration...I completely messed it up because I drew the 1st character and another artist drew the second character. The poster ended up terrible.
Great video man. I love you. I still use the same Pixel Art Software since early 2000s. It's called Character Raiser 1999, perfect for spritesheet animation test (although you need another to make transparency, such thing didn't existed back in that time lol)
As someone that does a lot of pixel art, tip number 6 is really important and something to add, if you work on the areas you struggle, you might find something you love doing! I thought I would HATE tilesets, but when I started to do it and I really enjoyed working on tilesets more than working on characters
"Art can already be a challenge, so why make it any harder by insulting yourself"
Holy shit man this hits home
We gotta build ourselves up. I'm not saying we brag or put other down, but we need to know our self worth! :D
That lift my spirit up
@@Goodgis
Personally if I brag about whatever I will feel even more unmotivated.
Because I’m actually good at insulting myself
@toby wong it doesn't have to be either, the real point he's getting at is that you should be proud of what you've accomplished even if it could be better. Because it always can be! I've been a self-taught artist for about 20 years and I 100% understand what he means. Be proud of what you do don't be afraid to show it to people insulting yourself only put you down it doesn't actually help you to improve
"Don't belittle yourself" is an outstanding piece of advice. Its about progression not perfection! You'll get there if you keep working at it!
:D
Yeah like i was so Bad at art before but i only Say that now that i am better and i am looking back but while i am not perfect just like anyone else but i don't belittle myself i belittle My past self because i am better than the past me but Then i said i am good and this the cringe of your past self applies to everyone and ecerything Even cooking and totally i am not talking about myself i have "never got oil in My arms"
@@Nick-Bel your comment was nice then it just fell apart
@@shak-alt1235 yeah It happens to me when i talk, my sentences devolve into nothing
Help
It's actually crazy how underrated you are...
Yeah
He's pretty
GOODgis HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHSNEJSKNEIDHENEIXNRMDKDJFNDIDND
@@cherricake1796 ...
no.. just no
agreed
Thanks so much! :D
@@Egitheegg yes
11/10 video, so underrated
🔥🔥🔥
Crazy to see my favorite music youtuber there
sc6ut what are you doing here ?!
go back to making edits, sc6ut.
Really good video. I want to get into this flat 2d art more and I can take away a lot from this but at the same time agree with the things said as somebody who is confident to say that they know a little about art. Looking at what other people do and being confident about your own stuff is important. It's the moment you realize nobody knows what they are doing when you know that you can take on whatever you want. It's the same with making idols. These idols will keep you down. You focus so much on them that you forget who you are and what you do and you don't want that. So don't make idols and go and do what you want. What you do is probably already better than what 90% of the others are doing.
While practesing art, draw something you like. I like duckies
Heck yeah!
I like space.
I like demons
But not in real. I like their badass look
I like minerals and natural stuff.
It was terrible the first time. But it got really better in less than a week!
@@محمدالزعبي-ن9ظ nice :)
"I wanna get better at what I do but I'm proud of the accomplishment that I've done right now" is exactly the right mindset and you formulated it so well! Great job! :)
Love that! :D
Sad how i lost the premiere, this channel may be one of the most underrated game dev channels out there.
Good job with your videos tho!
Much appreciated! :D
DDMPLAYER
Thanks for pointing out how important color is! I totally agree that it is a great idea to use a premade color palette. I've seen sooooo many pieces of art that could look amazing, but just use really bad colors, and don't hue shift at all. Color palettes are a great way to hop into pixel art and just get to creating stuff without worrying about learning color theory and all that stuff, and palettes can even make you work more creatively if you only have a preset amount of colors to use. I also totally agree that you shouldn't belittle yourself, I've also seen this way too many times to count with beginner artists. If I had to give one more essential tip, it is, that for game development, please keep pixel size consistent! This kind of goes along with your tip number two, but besides having bad colors, this is the second most common pixel art mishap I see. People sometimes get lazy, and if a house they drew is too small for their game, they might just scale it up in their game engine. Please don't do this! Spend the time to hop back into your pixel art program and make a house that looks right, while maintaining the same pixels per unit as all the other objects in your game. It makes a massive difference, and keeping pixels size consistent will make your game look so much better, at least in my opinion. And take that from someone who used to scale up pixel art all the time.
Great tips, Ben! :D
This man wrote a whole essay
Completely agree with the size consistency thing. I think it's nice to think of each sprite you make in terms of tiles. If you decide from example that a tile is 32x32 pixels then you can know that your character might be one tile and a tree might be 5x5 tiles so 160x160 pixels. Then the sprites are more likely to look like them belong in the same space.
also, don't stretch or squash pixel art. I saw this in a devlog and it looks super wrong.
love the video! also, saying you're art sucks, especially before someone sees it, tends to make them focus more on the flaws. it's called the anchoring principle. i saw them discuss it on extra credits once & it fully changed my outlook on how to talk about my art
That's a fantastic point!
You are art
Your*
@@swordfishxd- focusing on the flaw of the sentence makes you miss the point of the argument presented in the sentence, thus showing exactly what that person was talking about.
@@anyshittynickname I cant understand that sentence anyway
Hands down one of the best videos about game dev-related creative endeavors. It doesn't mindlessly regurgitate cliches ('just practice', duh), it has solid advice, and most importantly, it talks about issues that are common to most beginners yet no one talks about.
Wow, thanks so much! :D
Can’t wait to watch this!
:D
The funny thing is, I feel like I'm way better at tilesets than I am at characters. I mostly got into tilesets because I was very inspired by Terraria and Celeste, and I dug into their game files to find the graphics for all of the tiles just to admire them basically. In my experience, redrawing tilesets from other places (in my case mostly Terraria) can actually help a lot, and using them in different ways can also help because it lets you see how they all connect together. This video was very helpful, thanks man!
I feel the same, I love drawing landscapes and most of the custom graphics ive made have really just been tilesets. Ive always had a hard time with anatomy, and pushing that into pixel art is kinda like trying to take out 2 birds with one stone so Its a bit harder for me.
As someone who has been drawing for years, this advice definitely holds up for more than just pixel art. Great job at explaining!
Glad you think so! :D
This comment is to let the algorithm know that this is a good video, and deserves to appear in search.
Thanks so much! :D
And it did! :D
Here’s another tip i’ve learned over the years: develop your own style and stick with it! Not only is consist the key, when you develop a style you’re comfortable with, you’ll be more confident when making new pieces.
Definitely!
As someone whos been in a rut with her art abilities for my entire life, and in a very poor mental state for the last two years, this video was INSANELY inspirational! Thank you, I really needed this!!!
Super glad to hear it! And hey, I've been there. Just continue to believe in yourself, and you'll do great things! :D
Really insightful video. My college tutor once said "theres no right or wrong in art and has no limits either" its a learning curve where you learn whilst your doing art.
Excellent video! I agree 100% with everything you said. I've been doing pixel art for more than a year and I think the most important thing is to know that you can always get better at it. It may be the colors, the details, the characters, but there's always something you can improve on, so in my opinion, the best way to get better is by watching games or artist that you like and writing what they do that make their (pixel) art unique. And also, as you said, try new concepts, things and ideas. This art style is like any other art form, you will always be learning new stuff and that's what makes it fun. Keep up the good content!
Fantastic tip! Thanks for sharing.
One tip was missing "Colours" colors show emotions and emphasises the look of game like a serious game will not use super saturated colors as they are cartoonish a bit and we use a less hue shift for them also less saturation and in sorrow moments the saturation is decreased even more these things expresses the story and game too well.
Great point! Thanks for sharing!
sorry but all of my pixel art is made on a tiny ass 240p screen on a console known as the nintendo dsi with a software known as flipnote studio and it only has 2 colors and stuf sooo
@@Xenofinite well just go the kekeflipnote style
saturation and value are underrated in the beginner artist community
@@cesarkaedbay6436 yeah they are but you cannot forget them as you learn
"Don't belittle yourself" is the best form of advice. Thank you Goodgis 11/10 video.
this video absolutely slaps, god i love it so much!
the advice re: palettes is 110% on point. when i started using a consistent palette is when i noticed my art going from an 8 to a 10! freehanding color choices usually ends up with a lot of clashing shading and none of the lighting ends up matching, so using a palette helps everything shine.
also, MSpaint XP is criminally underrated for pixel art. the only thing i wish it had was a bigger zoom.
Heck yeah, thanks for sharing! :D
It's the OG! Hope you and Spaceman Bob doing alright!
All starting artist should watch this video as a mandatory video.
Haha :D
I must say notes definitely help. Having a little notes io page where you write down all your little ideas and possible thoughts is SUPER helpful, just to make sure you don't forget anything, as well as this amazing fact: If you write down ALL of your possible ideas in one place, then look at it and brainstorm, you can just take a load of different ideas from each possible game you thought up and make one dream game. GOOD LUCK GAMEMAKING!
Great tip!
Really great tips! Setting rules is one of the most important things you can do to keep yourself in check and keep everything cohesive. Took me awhile to realize that, but it really helped elevate my pixel art. Keep up the quality content!
Glad it was helpful! :D
Your channel is only 3 months old? Your content is amazing man keep up. Love watching these informative videos
This means a lot. Comments like these are why I keep pushing to make great content! Thanks so much!
I love to just listen to vibe music and get in the zone so my art influences my attitude. -That's the best I have, and I take you're advice to heart. doing great Goodgis!
Awesome advice!
I agree that aspiring artist must stop belittling themselves and begin appreciating and believing instead.
Emulate the attitude of that which you wish to become!
Absolutely!
I’m constantly rewatching this because it’s so nice to listen to
That means so much! :D Thanks!
This is a tip that I’d say applies to all art: What ever you are drawing, look at images of that thing and analyse it for at least 10 minutes before drawing (e.g. If you’re making a forest, look at pictures a forest or better yet, go out and see one in person)
Definitely!
I want to draw a moon
Calls Nasa to prepare a rocket.
B-but I don't want to touch grass 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😳😳😳😳😳😳🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎
This is great advice! I hope a lot of beginner artists see this, whether or not they want to do pixel art, because your advice can be really helpful no matter what type of art someone is learning. I especially hope they listen to the "practice where it hurts" part because something I see a lot of beginner artists do is to avoid drawing things they're bad at, specifically hands. Avoiding drawing hands often leads to awkward poses and, although I'm not that good of an artist myself, hands aren't actually that hard after you practice them for a bit and learn what shapes they're made of.
Thanks for sharing!
This was very motivating and enjoyable to listen to while my brother and I are learning pixel art. We want to create a HUGE open world RPG pixel art game. 1) because we love pixel art style and 2) because if done right, it can be beautiful. I've seen games that use the most basic colors and minimal shading, BUT the art just worked very well! Plus, the features really made the game even cooler! I really wanted to learn 3D, and maybe some day I will return to it. But this is something I feel I'm learning a lot quicker than 3D modeling. Also, I can see where learning pixel art will help you advance later on as you really are having to learn the basic fundamentals of art itself. Goodgis is absolutely right. Practice is the key, and don't belittle yourself! We went from drawing these trees that looked like a 3 year old did to now making, in my opinion, better trees than we thought we ever would. We are growing on it every day. Also, a tip for you new upcoming game devs out there who are just starting out. Use those first-time drawings as placeholders in your game engine! We took our crappy tree and placed it into our game engine. We kept swapping things out as we progressed in learning, and it's like watching a kid grow up! We have screenshots from day 1 of the game world to now. Every day is a learning day!
Edit: Goodgis, you have yourself a new subscriber
Just found your channel and man I am learning so much and getting inspired! Thank you
So happy to hear it! Thanks so much!
Great video! This channel is seriously underrated and this video has inspired me to try actually learn pixel art!
Happy to hear that! Thanks! :D
I just scrolled through 3 pages of comments and you've replied to every single one. Can I just say thanks for that?
Of course! haha
Wow. Great video! I’m starting on a game idea and I’m new to everything. I have a small background in art, but pixel art is super new to me, so I’ve been watching a bunch of videos. Amazing tips, thank you for uploading!
Thanks so much! Best of luck to you.
Consistent style and draw the outline were great tips that nudged me in a better direction. Thanks!
I feel like this applies a lot to just art in general. Super great video!
That was my hope! Thanks so much! :D
Thanks!
Being consistent with colors is really important, not only in art. When I had game servers, all the text (system messages etc.) HAVE to match each other. If you have errors in gray and other things in black and some small stuff in completely different color, like yellow + blue, then it hurts to look at it.
Heck yeah!
As someone who recently start practicing pixel art this is really helpful, thanks for the amazing video
Super glad! :D
love your tileset art document. So cool!
Thanks so much! :D
Honestly you are underrated, this video is cool and it helps me a lot :D
Thanks so much! :D
Awesome vid! I recently bought myself Aseprite and started creating my own pixel art to use in the Unity game dev course I'm following (instead of using the assets they give). It's difficult for an absolute beginner like me, but I'm enjoying it a lot! And vids like these not only give me great tips, but motivates and inspires me to continue and get better.
Keep it up, love your channel!
That's awesome! Best of luck to you!
Thanks for this amazing tutorial! I just started coding, and I’m attempting to make a 2D platformer game, so I had to make some pixel art, and this really helped for it! I’m also glad to know I’m not the only person who adores blobs
Best of luck to you!
2:30 this is also a thing pro artists do. Art historians say “you need to know the rules before you break them”
For sure!
Hey! Just found your channel, I have been doing art for many years, art is my everything. Over many years I have learned techniques and the rules of art without guidance. The same has happened with pixel art, I have been doing pixel art for a year now and because I am already an artist, learning pixel art and the rules behind it came to me fast without guidance. Sprites and tile sets are my A-game. I am working on a project call NSMW (New Super Mario World) it is a 2D Mario platformer. It plays like the 3D Mario platformers but in 2D. Its art style is like an upgraded Super Mario World style. I have been working on it for half a year now. I lack skill in coding but I do know the basics, that's not my worry now though, the coding comes later. I have planned most of the game already and have made multiple assets for it, there's just one thing I'm struggling with, I can't figure out backgrounds. When I struggle with sprites or tile sets, there is always a guide. But I can't quite figure out backgrounds. I need help on making Super Mario World backgrounds but with more detail and less restrictions. I want my backgrounds to appear as if they have multiple layers and have animated assets, these backgrounds would loop every two screen scrolls. Please help me, it looks like you have the secrets and a background guide video would be great or even just a good suggestion. Sorry for the long essay in your comments :)
I really just recommend looking at reference. Go to Spriter's Resource and you can actually find background from all of Nintendo 2D games. :D
Hey, i know this reply is old, but how did you make ok over the year? There are a lot of challenges to making a game. Being self focused and committed to an idea for 1-2 yrs is a big one for most. But ya you need a skill sets in all areas. For me, art is the hard part. Sound, music are not too bad as its easy to buy that stuff as they come in large packs. Art though is specific and very themed to the game. Programing is also tricky and is the meat of video games really. Game design is also under rated and takes a lot of time an experience to get right. Set goals and start with small projects that can be finished from A-Z is what is usually recommend. Also, its good to copy some ideas from games, but be mindful that you cant sell a mario game if its eh, mario. But ya your own cute platformer, world cant seem to get enough. Recommend coming up with some mechanic that makes your spin on it different though. good luck
@@AngryhammerGames cool to see this reply. After playing Celeste, I switched the NSMW project to be its own identity, new characters, themes, story plot, and main character. I called the game “Super Lost” and made a story for it and plan. I didn’t get far before I realized making your own fully fledged game as a high schooler, is mind boggling. I ended up leaving the project alone, and I haven’t touched the game in almost a year. I still go back to it for inspiration and nostalgia. I don’t plan on continuing the game, unless I ever join an indie team by some chance. I would like to make the game some day, but it’s just a plan in the background.
Recently, I’ve turned to texturing, data packs, 3d modelling. I now work on Resource Packs for Minecraft. Most of these I haven’t finished, but the one I am currently working on has gone further than any other of my packs. This one I’m making, I plan on completing it and releasing it for download. I still have lots to do, and new plans for the pack keep coming. It is a quality of life pack, and it converges the original Minecraft textures, whilst recolouring, remodelling, and changing blockstates. I’ve also began to replace some of the sounds in the game. Changing the thunder files was fun. I am very proud of the pack, and it’s a project that I am committed to finishing. Sorry for the super long comment, I just enjoyed reading yours so much, and I agree a lot with your points :)
Thank you! This was entertaining, informational, and very helpful. I'm developing a game currently and I've been dreading the pixel art. I have tons of concept art and many ideas, but now I need to work with them.
Wow man, great video! I’m not a game developer but I dabble in animation, and this was really helpful for my current pixel based project. Thaaaanks!!
Glad it helped! :D
im here to thank you because you got me on the right tracks with pixel art. Your the first video ive ever seen that explains so good that you d, pls continue with this in the future
Thanks so much!
Great tips written by a great artist 🔥💪
Thank you 🙌
"Steal everything, don't plagarize" is my new favorite advice for starting with game development.
Heck yeah!
FINALLY. MY BOI, YOU HAVE DELIVERED!
:D
I'm a professional illustrator going into pixel art and game development and I learnt some new things from this video, thanks!
I suggest that people re-watch this video a few times a year if you are a beginner and just remember these important tips :)
Glad I could help, also great tip! :D
Great job on this one, I will defiantly take the second one to heart! Well, except for that part about not mixing styles... But I've got rules for what each style applies to, so don't worry!
Hey man, thanks so much! :D
with the colors, use color combinations like red+blue+yellow, black and white or getting two complimentary colors and shifting one color over in the wheel e.g. blue+orange -----> blue=yellow. also dont make your reds too vibrant, making the color a bit more light will definitely help! ok have a good day!
Fantastic video! I'm definitely planning on spending some time on art when I get to my next project but that being said, even though I think my current projects art looks awful I have learnt a lot from it.
Go for it! You can do it!
Your approach and reasoning is 10/10, first video I've seen from you, which was in my recommended. Thank you for this and have a sub ^^
Thanks so much! :D
I remember when i used Paint when i was a 6 year old kid and feeling like a professional pixel artist
haha that's awesome!
Ive become pretty serious about learning pixel art and it's been difficult to know if im learning the right way but these tips definitely helped, ill take them to heart.
I mean, if you want precise geometry and shading, you can use Blender to reduce the resolution and color palette procedurally. There are some things you'll still have to do by hand, but it changes the workload. This sort of method is also really rewarding for those who make models out of almost exclusively primitives. Really, the tricky part is getting the nodes in order and getting the lighting to play nice, but a little bit of color theory (Literally just adding a tiny amount of blue to shadows and a tiny amount of yellow to highlights) works wonders for that last one. Then once you have it set up how you like it, you spend your time playing with shapes, angles and colors rather than shading and such. You do still have to be careful though.
You're absolutely right. 3D is a blast and can be easier in some ways.
I've been doing pixel art for over a year now, and I gotta say I've improved a lot! Sadly I've made those outline mistakes, a lot, but hey it's all apart of the growth, currently my weaknesses is tileset and background, and I've been training like crazy for it, anyways love your channel keep posting amazing stuff
Hey man, that's perfectly fine. This video is to help point out issues so you can learn. Even as a full time graphic designer, I still am learning every single day.
Goodgis, I want to support you as a developer. You've really come a long way and you're doing a fantastic job!
I want to support you, because you have encouraged me, and continue to do so. Not only directly-in your comment reply-when you (paraphrasing, here) told me to get back on that horse... but also through your stories and dev logs. Just the fact that you're a graphic designer by trade who faced numerous setbacks in your climb toward professional developer manages to echo my experience. I started in design in 1999, then moved to TV + film in 2015. I still have yet to release a game project, as I've been caught up in many of the same mistakes your various videos highlight.
I just want you to know that your efforts have impact. You are successfully reaching an audience... and one who benefits when you say, "You got this. Now, get back to work."
I truly desire to see you through your upcoming releases, including and beyond Dewdrop Dynasty, and hope to have some hand (even as a sideline supporter) in helping you start that studio which hires the community members you believe in, which you mentioned in a previous video.
Please keep making great content. Please keep telling great stories... through art, through games, through dev logs, and tutorials.
You got this. Now get back to work.
---
P.S. - Even though mine wasn't the featured comment relevant to your point, I want you to know that my son's eyes lit up when he caught sight of my profile pic scrolling by in this video @ 6:14. You made a 10 y/o's day, today, 'cause his dad's face got a cameo in a TH-camr he likes' video. My son is a big fan of Hollow Knight and we're both anxiously awaiting the Dewdrop demo.
I’m very touched by your comment. To be honest when I started this TH-cam channel, I had no idea the reaction I would get. In a world where there is so much negativity and naysayers, I really just wanted to encourage others around me. It’s amazing to see the impact that you and others have had on my life, and I hope to continue to help encourage and inspire. We are stronger together, and I hope you and your son have a wonderful day. Cheers! :D
This channel is awesome, great work dude. Just gonna wait for this channel to explode
Thanks so much! :D
I’m making my first game and this video helped me so much,nI normally do digital art but not pixel art and I learnt rly fast cos of this, thanks so much and I hope this comment brings joy to your day
Thanks so much, I did! :D Best of luck to you.
man looking back it 6 months ago to now i'm happy to say i've improved on the pixel art got more room to learn, i think if anything taking a month worth to pixel art for the pixel art challenge is quite fun. learning new way to make pixel art but also to help you ease in to the creative mind set and able to draw in a bigger canvas size as well. that what i've learned last month.
Amazing video as always :) Really motivates me to improve my pixel art skills.
That's awesome, man! :D
1:44 hes basically calling out the pixelart style used in Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland which for me is one of my favorite pixel art styles XD
0:36 i was one of them now im trying to learn pixel art finnally (since drawing is to difficult for me and i love this style)
This video is way too helpful thank u
You got this! :D I believe in you!
Thanks :))
1:35 *this is the reason of minecraft's texture update*
*a good example was the apple and golden apple item. which in the old teture the golden apple looked like more 2d and simple while the normal apple looked more detailed*
Thank you for the video! I absolutely love your content and it makes me feel inspired and passionate about developing video games (even tho I have no software to do so) I am looking forward to more content
Thanks so much! :D I will continue to do my best.
So I'm with my phone right now, calm night, watching some of my watch later playlist, removing them after watch it. But this one is a gold piece! I'll keep it there, and I'll back whenever I feel like I need it again.
Thank you so much
You're very welcome!
I love the design at this point (6:28)
Thanks so much! :D
TH-cam recommended your channel to me 😁 subbed!
That's awesome! Thanks so much!
Been strugling on my pixel art, making a game as a personal project and this video help me realize not to rush so much and just take my time as well as helped me understand consistency even in color palettes still have alot to learn but this vid helped my head stop spining on the topic
Glad to hear it!
Take time to mess around if it looks bad then find why it does and avoid it next time and continue to mess around until your comfortable with whatever it is
Truth!
Man, the last tip should be plastered everywhere to be honest. Just as true for everything else as it is for art. Great video!
Thanks so much! :D
Just with a little video you got my heart, Lets push those likes!!!!
Thanks so much!
This video just pop in my recommendations. Thanks, I really needed it! Amazing channel!
Awesome! Thank you! :D
4:21 dino the best ever pixel art that i have ever seen
Haha :D
I love the colors that you use in your games, specifically the bright and vibrant reds and blues with a near-black border. What's your color pallet? Do you have a lospec link?
for the characters at 0:16 can I use them as inspiration
Of course!
Wow, this video got to a million views! I'm so happy for Goodgis. I probably realized this super late, but congratulations anyways.
This is really going to help me for my game...
:D
This channel is just great, I love art, I love coding, and you have the tutorials so I can do it!
I Came Looking For Copper And I Found Gold. Thank you for the great video.
Thanks! :D
the whole part about not belittling yourself, it's true, sure I don't even take my own advice, but please, anyone who reads this, please believe in yourself.
Heck yeah! You're awesome so believe in yourself.
Honestly the part of game design I struggle in the most is programming.
It's easier than you think! Just go for it! :D
When I got started I found it helpful to take an image that I liked or had the feel/composition I was after and turn down the opacity then block in the image with less detail in the colors that I was wanting to use. It helped me figure out what I was doing wrong with shading/positioning, then I could take that re-colored image as a reference for what I wanted to make and start over with a new canvas now that I understood how to compose the image.
That's a great idea!
5:35 You actually predicted the Blackthornprod's third game jam theme
Bruh...
Wow! XD
You're so underrated man! Thanks for the advice too.
Good tips!
Thanks! :D
Tip 8 is something I learned only recently, besides it being a lot more motivating, it makes it much more fun and it stops me from endlessly trying to improve something else!
Everyone has to start somewhere so there's no point in comparing yourself! :D
also, remember that if you make objects fade into black around the outside, the area looks darker
True!
Tip: Find the right sized grid for you
Some people may want to create genuinely good pixel art but don’t know where to start. Brandon James Greer is another great pixel artist and has a whole video talking about it. For beginners, I recommend a size of 16 x 16. It’s the best grid to start making pixel art. Many old games use it, and it works really well. Others may do around 40 x 40. It’s a more advanced grid to work with, but it gives a lot more freedom for detail.
4:57 I love making tile sets so much wdm?
That's fantastic! :D
Your vids are so professional, your channel is gonna grow exponentially
Thanks so much! :D
I remember when I had to design a poster for the game in my collaboration...I completely messed it up because I drew the 1st character and another artist drew the second character. The poster ended up terrible.
Haha, it's hard to mix styles!
Great video man. I love you.
I still use the same Pixel Art Software since early 2000s. It's called Character Raiser 1999, perfect for spritesheet animation test (although you need another to make transparency, such thing didn't existed back in that time lol)
Thanks for the info!
2:00 you mean dreams music video?
Yes
LOL
As someone that does a lot of pixel art, tip number 6 is really important and something to add, if you work on the areas you struggle, you might find something you love doing! I thought I would HATE tilesets, but when I started to do it and I really enjoyed working on tilesets more than working on characters
Heck yeah!