A BASIC GUIDE TO SPRITING VS PORTRAITS (And the pitfalls of Pixel Art)
314Get started with some basic advice to make your spritework for your fan or hobby projects look even better with the knowledge on what to do and what to avoid (whether they're edits or from scratch)! While this video in particular uses a Pokémon style VS portrait as the subject matter, these tips can be applied to any kind of pixel projects.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction
1:04 - Resources
2:30 - Getting started
3:22 - Lineart
5:14 - Anti-Aliasing
6:52 - Dithering
7:47 - Avoid Pillow Shading
8:38 - Help with lighting
9:55 - Outro
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MUSIC USED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9nGrgFt5_g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOVb31wOagc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iNqsYvNgOk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLO4VgFpYQg
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❧Tumblr: http://honnojis.tumblr.com/
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RESOURCES:
= Pixel tutorial resources =
❧ PIXEL LOGIC: https://pixellogicbook.com/
❧ TUTORIALS BY PEDRO MEDEIROS: https://blog.studiominiboss.com/pixelart
= Coloring resources =
❧ LOSPEC: https://lospec.com/palette-list
❧ COOLORS: https://coolors.co/
❧ CANVA: https://www.canva.com/colors/color-palette-generator/
❧ HOW TO HUE SHIFT FOR VIBRANT COLORS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNtMAxYaGyg
= Pixel art software =
❧ CLIP STUDIO PAINT: https://www.clipstudio.net/en/functional_list/
It's not natively pixel art software but it's what I'm using in the video, so I'm listing it here. CSP isn't free, but is on sale often. It doesn't natively include pixel brushes in its library, so you can get a pack of them here instead: https://assets.clip-studio.com/en-us/detail?id=1910804
❧ ASEPRITE: https://www.aseprite.org/
The go-to for a lot of sprite artists nowadays. Not free, but is made specifically for making pixel art. It's rather cheap, being priced at only 20 bucks, and has basically all the functionality you need if you're intending to focus exclusively on pixel art (which it makes extremely streamlined), so it's highly recommended to get this as your spriting program if you're starting out.
❧ GRAPHICSGALE: https://graphicsgale.com/us/
Another spriting program, but this one's completely free! It is, however, a bit older and harder to get the hang of, but has a lot of features that Aseprite also has. (Jan uses this for his work on Rejuvenation!)
❧ PISKEL: https://www.piskelapp.com/
An online free pixel tool I've seen a lot of sprite editors use if they don't have any specific software. There *is* a software version of it, but you can use this to mess around with spriting tools to test the waters if you don't want to commit to downloading software onto your PC for it.
= 3D compatible software resources =
❧ CLIP STUDIO PAINT: https://www.clipstudio.net/en/functional_list/
The program has 3D functionality and lets you pose drawing figures, as well as download models and poses from the asset store. I'm linking the functionality list specifically to see if you feel the need to get the basic version or the PRO version. (I use EX, but only because it supports long form animation lmao)
❧ BLENDER: https://www.blender.org/
Completely free and allows you to make your own 3D objects if you can't find anything premade, so that's cool! It definitely may be harder to get the hang of if you're not familiar with this kind of software though. There's a lot of guides on importing objects and changing lighting in a scene, so if you're a bit lost on what to do I highly recommend making use of those.
❧ DESIGNDOLL: https://terawell.net/en/index.php#features
A bit more obscure but highly useful art tool that's completely free as long as you don't have the need to save any posing projects— you'll need the paid version for that. Other than that it has practically all the functionality you'd need.
= Other miscellaneous lighting tools =
❧ MALE HEAD LIGHTING TOOL: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/GX3Ax1
❧ FEMALE HEAD LIGHTING TOOL: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/6a0Par
❧ VIRTUAL LIGHTING STUDIO: http://www.zvork.fr/vls/
(yeah this one's a bit uncanny but gives you pretty good control over directional lighting and how to approach it when doing portraits)
❧ LIGHT AND SHADOW TUTORIAL: https://www.deviantart.com/cherishloveart/art/Light-And-Shadow-Tutorial-Part-1-889357772
For more tutorials, I unironically recommend checking out DeviantArt and browsing what they have there— there's a ton of tutorials and resources there that have taught me how to get better at art when I was still starting out and teaching myself. Similarly, Youtube itself has a lot of video guides on all sorts of art topics, so if you want to know something specific there's a pretty big chance either website has information on the matter.
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