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We finally have a system that allows users to add comments linked to their Lospec account.
You'll see these new comments on most pieces of content on Lospec, including Palettes,
Tutorials, Articles, and all future types of content.
We have the ability to add more emoji packs, so if you have one or would like to make one for us, contact us through discord, twitter or email (best size is 12x12 or 24x24, but 16x16/32x32 works too).
This system was a necessary precursor to our next big project, the Lospec Art Gallery, which you can expect in the coming months.
Your comments endorsing different tutorials and palettes will help other users pick the right tools, so please go comment on your favorites!
Here's a list of all the biggest and best pixel art communities on the net.
They all have their strengths and weaknesses, and most people don't stick to just one, so browse around and check them out!
The Lospec Discord is a fun and friendly chatroom for people of all skill levels and interests.
We have boards for Pixel Art, Voxel Art, Palettes, Textmode, Low-poly, Chiptune, and other low-spec art, plus there's always an active collaboration, and channels for getting art feedback.
It's the best way to connect with other Lospec members and stay up to date with what's going on here, so drop in and say hello!
Twitter is great because you can gain followers and have your work seen by the most people, by breaking out of the pixel art sphere.
Lots of game developers and other low-spec artists to connect with. Make sure to use #pixelart on your posts!
Not great for getting critiques due to the format.
Reddit's /r/pixelart forum has over 100,000 members and has the potential to reach more, but most post stay within the smaller ecosystem which is filled pixel artists new and experienced.
Also one of the only places where it's really acceptable to share any pixel art you find elsewhere on the net. Great for beginners.
PixelJoint is a standalone gallery which has been around since 2004.
A little outdated, but still has the biggest (and highest quality) collection of pixel art on the net.
Pieces must meet the gallery's quality standards and be manually approved.
Also hosts a weekly pixel art challenge and has forums where users can get feedback on their work in progress art and discuss other related topics.
Now has it's own discord server.
An old but still active standalone forum which hosts lots of studies and deeper discussions of pixel art.
Has a place for feedback and non-pixel-art as well.
A discord server that started as a chatroom for /r/PixelArt but has taken on a life of it's own, it's pretty active place to get live feedback / share art.
A massive art site that hosts nearly all forms of visual art, including pixel art.
Has no posting requirements or moderation so it's not the greatest place to browse, but you can create your own gallery and amass followers.
A Japanese website that hosts user galleries for many visual art forms.
A bit tricky to navigate for english speakers, but lots of talented Japanese pixel artists post there (where it's known as dotpict).
This is the ultimate beginners guide to creating pixel art, a pre-introduction if you will.
If you know absolutely nothing, then you're in the right place. We aren't going to teach you any
specifics, but rather point you in the right direction and
guide you through getting started and how to improve.
What Is Pixel Art
In the early days of computers, if you wanted to display graphics, pixel art was your only option.
As technology improved and allowed images with more colors and higher resolutions,
pixel art became unnecessary, but it was so loved by gamers and artists, that it found a (pretty big) niche that still thrives today.
Pixel Art through the ages
It's recognizable by it's limited colors and blocky shapes, but there's more to it than that.
Other tutorials will go more in depth, but here's a general definition:
pix•el art(/ˈpiksəl ärt/)n.
—
A digital art where pieces are created through a unique process of manipulating the individual pixels of an
image document using minimal size and number of colors.
In other words, it's about having control over every pixel on your canvas,
none of the pixels are generated by a computer. Once you start pixelling and
come to understand the process, you'll see it's
that process that makes pixel art unique, and is not simply just small images
with few colors.
Introductory Tutorial
The best place to start is an introductory tutorial to familiarize yourself with the process, and
basic terms/techniques. Below are a few we reccomend, or you can browse more here.
You don't need to take notes, just familiarize yourself with the concepts and process.
Cure aka Logan Tanner is a talented pixel artist who usually hangs around PixelJoint.
This tutorial covers everything you could need to know about pixel art, including a good introduction to what is and isn't pixel art.
This tutorial has been around for a long time, and moved around since the author took it down.
It goes over all the basic techniques you'll need to create a sprite as it walks you through creating one.
This is a paid option, but it's well-written by skilled pixel artist Michafrar.
Recently completed, and contains a wealth of information.
After you understand the basics of the process, you could keep reading tutorials
and visualizing, but I reccomend you take the leap and just start pixelling.
Start Pixelling
You can try creating pixel art for yourself right here right now!
Choose a pixel editor
When you're ready to start creating pixel art for real, you'll have to choose a
program to use. Our Pixel Art Software List
page gives you a quick comparison of the most popular pixel art creation programs,
or you can pixel online now with the Lospec Pixel Editor.
There are lots of pixel art creation tools.
Once you've got your editor up and running, just start creating.
Pixel whatever your desires.
Need an idea?
Pixel Idea
If you have trouble choosing colors and don't want to focus on them, many artists use
premade palettes from old computer systems or designed by other artists.
Check out our pixel art palette list which lets you download any palette into your program of choice.
Improving
Now that you're officially a newbie pixel artist, there's nowhere to go but up.
Improving is simply a matter of repeating the steps below.
Practice
This is of course the most important step in improving any skill.
Just keep pixelling, the more you do it, the faster you'll improve.
If you're short on ideas, Lospec Dailies has a new idea every day to get you started.
Learn
Reading tutorials is great way to learn things you might not have thought of.
Our Pixel Art Tutorals page has hundreds of tutorials which you can filter by subject or artist.
The more knowledge you absorb, the more options and ideas you'll have at your disposal.
Get Critique
Sometimes the most valuable advice you can get is another artist examining your work and pointing out it's flaws.
They'll be able to tell you what areas you are weakest in, which will help you to know what exactly you should practice in order to improve.
Feel free to post in #feedback on our discord server and we'll be happy to help.
Study
The biggest untapped resource for learning is simply studying other's art.
Find some pixel art you find particularly well done and open in up in your pixel editor.
See if you can figure out how the artist acheived certain aspects.
Play around with their palette, take apart their sprites by
removing colors one at a time. Try to recreate something in their style or make modifications.
Communities
You can do it alone, but there's a lot of benefit to participating in the a community!
Luckily there's many pixel art communities on the net still thriving.
Twitter is great because you can gain followers and have your work seen by the most people, by breaking out of the pixel art sphere.
Lots of game developers and other low-spec artists to connect with. Make sure to use #pixelart on your posts!
Reddit's /r/pixelart forum has over 100,000 members and has the potential to reach more, but most posts stay within the smaller ecosystem which is filled pixel artists new and experienced.
Also one of the only places where it's really acceptable to share any pixel art you find elsewhere on the net. Great for beginners.
PixelJoint is a standalone gallery which has been around since 2004. A little outdated, but still has the biggest (and highest quality) collection of pixel art on the net. Pieces must meet the gallery's quality standards and be manually approved.
A standalone forum dedicated which hosts lots of studies and deeper discussions of pixel art.
And that's not even all of them! Check out our communities page to learn about all the different places to find pixel art on the net!
Taking it further
You may eventually find yourself hitting some walls in your art in more general art principles. It can be very beneficial to pixel art to learn other art forms. Drawing is a good way to more easily learn form, anatomy, and perspective. Digital painting is a good way to practice composition, colors and shading.
Various art tutorials
Below are some free online tutorials of varied subjects that you might find useful.
Drawing
Draw a Box - A great set of written and video lessons that will teach you the fundamentals of learning to draw.
Digital painting
CTRL+Paint - A huge library of videos that teaches you everything you need to know about digital painting, including learning to draw, using the tools, design, anatomy, perspective and more.
Animation
Idleworm Animation Tutorials - A few written tutorials teaching the basics of animation. Written for flash animators, but theres still plenty of good information.
12 Principles of Animation by Alan Becker - A playlist of short, concise videos explaining each of the 12 Principles of Animation as described by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston in their book "The Illusion of Life".
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