Artist | Programmer | Fanfic writer Active in Project Zomboid, Sims, Disco Elysium fandoms IG : https://www.instagram.com/tint_brush/ Personal tag - #french aigle
Petrichor-laden air and the crash of merciless waves on the seaside rocks.
Wet is the shower that lands on the youth on the beach. Wet are the tears of joy shed by his friend as he laughs at him for getting his clothes wet.
The youth and his friend. Thick as thieves as they can be. He runs across the sand, his leathery boots thudding as the other youth ran after him, driftwood in hand.
He laughs and asks him to stop, and so he does, dropping the wood into the sands. The waves flow into the coast, leaving behind foam. This youth and his friend are now perched in rocks, gazing at the endless blue of the skies and the sea.
"Now that I've taught you to swim" begins his friend. "Why don't you go and take a dive into the oceanic depths? Under the conch, give that girl a conch. She will be this impressed and you'll get a conch from her as well~"
The youth blushes. Surely the seas won't be that treacherous?
"The sun sinks into the sea, alas" he murmurs. "I can't say if I can retrieve it well before supper. Or that I'll retrieve one in the first place."
"Have faith" he replied, cradling his pendant - more like a locket with a silver cross embossed on the front. "Or, how about I grant you the Lord's protection to you as well?" says the lad, unlocking the locket's chain and tying it to his friend's nape.
"Ah, it looks so good on you" remarks his friend.
"I'll be back. Stay here. Don't scamper off to our home!" says the youth as he strips down to his boxers and dives into the seas.
Petrichor-laden sand. Waves still crash hard against the stony shore.
Wet is the shower that lands on the concrete city. Wet are the tears of nostalgia that run down a man's cheek, walking down a familiar path.
The man and his beloved. Two parts of the same beating heart. The two men walk in silence across the coast, the only sound being their heartbeats and the sound of children playing nearby.
This man runs his fingers down his nape, then against cold metal, to find a locket with a cross embedded in it.
He makes no attempt to mask his sorrow, which is equally shared by his spouse. The cold wind blows through the coast once again. The men remain in warm embrace, the one with the locket shedding tears down the other's shoulder.
"Have faith" whispers the man. "Shame we had to see him gone."
Mist hits the city as raindrops descend down into the tar-laden road, brick tiles, washes down the concrete of the nearby wall, bounces off the feathers of a dove gliding down the snow-hued sky to perch on a high-raise office building's railings, its companions lying in wait for the rains to subside so that they can fly in search of food and shelter.
A murder of crows flock down the branches of the tree nearby.
One among them croaks at the nearby biker clad in rainsuit before realising that its attempts are futile and that the man won't be deterred by a mere bird, and flies up to meet its brothers and caw en masse. The biker hits a dog, who yelps and reaches to bite the man.
He mutters a colourful amount of swears before taking his bike down the highway road, ignoring the animal.
The rain drips down the asphalt sheets, which serve as roofs, of the flower shop down the street. The middle-aged woman, clad in a colourful saree and sporting a cluster of marigolds and jasmine tied at the back of her bun, looks at the skies exasperated, wishing the temporary nuisance to end.
Her flowers are tucked in plastic bags, pink and the usual pale ones. However, it is wise to say that they should be sold soon, lest they wilt.
Her gaze now strikes the peeling posters stuck on the dilapidated wall and a coffee-shop nearby, recognisable by the milk vessel and the ladle the burly shopkeeper holds to pour the boiling decaf into a tumbler, to which he adds the hot milk and sugar, and pours it tumbler-to-vattai and likewise. This, he serves to his patron and turns to listen to the news channel served from YouTube via his phone.
A man drags from the cigarette he's holding and lets out smoke, a matching combination to the fog the rain brings forth. He chats with the nearby man in an intimidating fashion.
His next customer is a man descending from a bike. Rain has washed off the blood from his front wheel. He too orders a warm glass of coffee and a packet of chips for his son as he handles his phone against his ear.
He sips and looks at the torrential downpour, listening to a 60's film's music along with the shopkeeper.
He then gets on his bike and without even sparing the men a glance thunders down the rickety road.
The days run by, the nights are spent with chill in one's spine and in a half-awake state as one awaits zombies to ambush at any given point. More people are turning day-by-day.
The morning news is getting worser and worser. Well, it'd be damn a surprise if they were still alive and breathing with the turmoil taking place in the USA.
And Jean?
Let's go back to Jean. What does he do when such a world-wide crisis takes place? He sits in his home and reads. He learns a lot about driving a vehicle and making emergency rations.
Wounds are no longer a problem for him provided he blindfolds himself when it bleeds. Well, what could a hemophobic do otherwise? The zombie crisis is a nightmare, indeed.
Hemophobic : Someone who has an abnormal and persistent fear of blood
He partakes in the duties of a ranger - chopping down branches, clearing out alternate routes for him to dash into when the shamblers come onward to the highway road, striking flint together to create a billowing fire.
His heart is steeled in resolve of surviving this horror. Him being an introvert would advantage him by a large margin.
At times, zombies do come. All sorts of them. Florists and hairdressers from the shopping strip, prison wardens from the bashed-open prison entrance, police all around the highway road, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters - all united in this perverse relationship fulfilled solely by a hunger for human flesh.
The books left behind by his beloved did prove useful enough to teach him jiu-jitsu, moreover his axe-wielding skills weren't rusty yet. He continued staying alive as the lone human wanderer for a few days.
When he was hungry, he raided the abandoned kitchens barring the zombies. Canned food was a luxury during these times. He had to store cooked meat and lentils in the ground, salt chicken, pickle the vegetables. It seems the world's gone back a few centuries behind with the death of electricity and water supply.
Then he did remember
It was the year 1982. Kentucky was a pleasant place to live in. Jean, born to a Québécois father and a Irish mother, was brought up in rural Rosewood. Being the child of mixed parents ensured that he was bullied frequently at his school.
He also did recall his parents' insults when he was rumoured to have kissed a boy, such was the thinking back then (and even now in 1993). Ah, the joy of having to hide bits-and-pieces of yourself until you are but a false image to please one's own loved ones. Such was life...
...Until it wasn't. He went to serve as a ranger. Wasn't a honourable job given the amount of people who'd purposefully dump waste on the shrubs and let their pets poop everywhere. Not to mention the children screaming, adults getting themselves in danger for a mere selfie.
He then met this man at a bar. Unlike the others, he didn't drink and rather chose to busy himself in strumming an ukelele.
It didn't take much for Jean to be interested in him, though it did take long for him to date and eventually marry him.
A thudding sound fills the air
It attracts the zombies from all around Arizona. Brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers - all formerly unrelated, now lumped into a single category called 'zombies' - shamble onward to find the source of this noise.
Jean peeps from the heavily covered window.
A helicopter.
And it's attracting everyone close-by, okay, zombies close-by.
This was bad news to Jean. Oh dear, he can already here a couple of hands banging on the doors and windows in desperation. The helicopter has the gall to lower to his location, shine the brightest light available on his house, and leave as if nothing happened.
Wait. If there was someone operating it, it would mean there still are humans!
Rescue, or was it?
Everything's going to be okay
The helicopter was fluttering over like a dragonfly
"YAAAAAAA"
Then the vehicle hit a few gasoline drums on the way. Sparks ensued and soon the whole vehicle was on fire. Jean bit his bottom lip as he steered clear of more obstacles that may disturb his movement. His lip was bleeding and fire is catching up to his seat quick.
Arizona's heat wasn't helping it. It spread its fiery tentacles into the backseat, the bonnet, etc.
"Everything's going to be okay" he whispered to himself repeatedly as flame licks the back of his seat.
"Everything's going to be okay, indeed" he whimpered. At least, the zombies won't get him now.
I don’t know how to explain to you that you should be reblogging art and writing from small creators.
I don’t know how to explain that you should respond to other peoples creations where they can see it. A word, a line, a response, something.
Please. Please. Every piece of art, be it written or visual or music, that is shared out to the world is an attempt to reach out into the ether hoping that someone reaches back. Hoping that someone willl see you and understand, will feel as you felt, will share your appreciation, your creativity, your pain, your pleasure, your taste. It’s a plea to be known.
"Désolé, on fermée" - Sorry, I'm closed (Madeleine)
PS - It's actually "Sorry, we're closed"
"Pas de soucis. Je ne serai pas long" - Don't worry. I won't be long. (Claudia)
PS - It's again... actually "I won't take long"
"Fais attention, c'est une robe en soie. Une goutte d'eau pourrait la tâcher." - Be careful, it's a silk dress. A drop of water could stain it. (Madeleine)
"Parfait pour une femme, non?" - Perfect for a woman, right? (Claudia)
"Mademoiselle, je ne peux pas te laisser jouer à 'se déguisér' ici." - Miss, I can't let you play 'dress-up' here (Madeleine)
"Vous pourriez l'accepter." - You could take it in. (Claudia)
PS - It's "You could accept it"
Le malheureux Bûcheron - The Unfortunate Lumberjack / Woodcutter (Title board at Théâtre des Vampires)
"Toi là ! Vous êtes qui?" - You there! Who are you? (Gendarme at De La Croix estate)
"Une union d'amis et d'associés." - A gathering of like friends and business associates (Armand)
"Vous n'avez pas la permission." - You don't have permission. (Gendarme at De La Croix estate)
"On n'a pas besoin de permission." - We don't need permission (Armand)
Hello, my name is Tofu and I'm a professional pixel artist. I have been supporting myself with freelance pixel art since 2020, when I was let go from my job during the pandemic.
My progress, from 2017 to 2024. IMO the only thing that really matters is time and effort, not some kind of natural talent for art.
This guide will not be comprehensive, as nobody should be expected to read allat. Instead I will lean heavily on my own experience, and share what worked for me, so take everything with a grain of salt. This is a guide, not a tutorial. Cheers!
🔹 Do I need money?
NO!!! Pixel art is one of the most accessible mediums out there.
I still use a mouse because I prefer it to a tablet! You won't be at any disadvantage here if you can't afford the best hardware or software.
Because our canvases are typically very small, you don't need a good PC to run a good brush engine or anything like that.
✨Did you know? One of the most skilled and beloved pixel artists uses MS PAINT! Wow!!
🔹 What software should I use?
Here are some of the most popular programs I see my friends and peers using.
Stars show how much I recommend the software for beginners! ⭐
💰 Paid options:
⭐⭐⭐ Aseprite (for PC) - $19.99
This is what I and many other pixel artists use. You may find when applying to jobs that they require some knowledge of Aseprite. Since it has become so popular, companies like that you can swap raw files between artists.
Aseprite is amazingly customizable, with custom skins, scripts and extensions on Itch.io, both free and paid.
If you have ever used any art software before, it has most of the same features and should feel fairly familiar to use. It features a robust animation suite and a tilemap feature, which have saved me thousands of hours of labour in my work. The software is also being updated all the time, and the developers listen to the users. I really recommend Aseprite!
⭐ Photoshop (for PC) - Monthly $$
A decent option for those who already are used to the PS interface. Requires some setup to get it ready for pixel-perfect art, but there are plenty of tutorials for doing so.
Animation is also much more tedious on PS which you may want to consider before investing time!
⭐⭐ ProMotion NG (for PC) - $19.00
An advanced and powerful software which has many features Aseprite does not, including Colour Cycling and animated tiles.
⭐⭐⭐ Pixquare (for iOS) - $7.99 - $19.99
Probably the best app available for iPad users, in active development, with new features added all the time.
Look! My buddy Jon recommends it highly, and uses it often.
One cool thing about Pixquare is that it takes Aseprite raw files! Many of my friends use it to work on the same project, both in their office and on the go.
⭐ Procreate (for iOS) - $12.99
If you have access to Procreate already, it's a decent option to get used to doing pixel art. It does however require some setup. Artist Pixebo is famously using Procreate, and they have tutorials of their own if you want to learn.
🆓 Free options:
⭐⭐⭐ Libresprite (for PC)
Libresprite is an alternative to Aseprite. It is very, very similar, to the point where documentation for Aseprite will be helpful to Libresprite users.
⭐⭐ Pixilart (for PC and mobile)
A free in-browser app, and also a mobile app! It is tied to the website Pixilart, where artists upload and share their work. A good option for those also looking to get involved in a community.
⭐⭐ Dotpict (for mobile)
Dotpict is similar to Pixilart, with a mobile app tied to a website, but it's a Japanese service. Did you know that in Japanese, pixel art is called 'Dot Art'?
Dotpict can be a great way to connect with a different community of pixel artists! They also have prompts and challenges often.
🔹 So I got my software, now what?
◽Nice! Now it's time for the basics of pixel art.
❗ WAIT ❗ Before this section, I want to add a little disclaimer. All of these rules/guidelines can be broken at will, and some 'no-nos' can look amazing when done intentionally.
The pixel-art fundamentals can be exceedingly helpful to new artists, who may feel lost or overwhelmed by choice. But if you feel they restrict you too harshly, don't force yourself! At the end of the day it's your art, and you shouldn't try to contort yourself into what people think a pixel artist 'should be'. What matters is your own artistic expression. 💕👍
◽Phew! With that out of the way...
🔸"The Rules"
There are few hard 'rules' of pixel art, mostly about scaling and exporting. Some of these things will frequently trip up newbies if they aren't aware, and are easy to overlook.
🔹Scaling method
There are a couple ways of scaling your art. The default in most art programs, and the entire internet, is Bi-linear scaling, which usually works out fine for most purposes. But as pixel artists, we need a different method.
Both are scaled up x10. See the difference?
On the left is scaled using Bilinear, and on the right is using Nearest-Neighbor. We love seeing those pixels stay crisp and clean, so we use nearest-neighbor.
(Most pixel-art programs have nearest-neighbor enabled by default! So this may not apply to you, but it's important to know.)
🔹Mixels
Mixels are when there are different (mixed) pixel sizes in the same image.
Here I have scaled up my art- the left is 200%, and the right is 150%. Yuck!
As we can see, the "pixel" sizes end up different. We generally try to scale our work by multiples of 100 - 200%, 300% etc. rather than 150%. At larger scales however, the minute differences in pixel sizes are hardly noticeable!
Mixels are also sometimes seen when an artist scales up their work, then continues drawing on it with a 1 pixel brush.
Many would say that this is not great looking! This type of pixels can be indicative of a beginner artist. But there are plenty of creative pixel artists out there who mixels intentionally, making something modern and cool.
🔹Saving Your Files
We usually save our still images as .PNGs as they don’t create any JPEG artifacts or loss of quality. It's a little hard to see here, but there are some artifacts, and it looks a little blurry. It also makes the art very hard to work with if we are importing a JPEG.
For animations .GIF is good, but be careful of the 256 colour limit. Try to avoid using too many blending mode layers or gradients when working with animations. If you aren’t careful, your animation could flash afterwards, as the .GIF tries to reduce colours wherever it can. It doesn’t look great!
Here's an old piece from 2021 where I experienced .GIF lossiness, because I used gradients and transparency, resulting in way too many colours.
🔹Pixel Art Fundamentals - Techniques and Jargon
❗❗Confused about Jaggies? Anti-Aliasing? Banding? Dithering? THIS THREAD is for you❗❗
As far as I'm concerned, this is THE tutorial of all time for understanding pixel art. These are techniques created and named by the community of people who actually put the list together, some of the best pixel artists alive currently. Please read it!!
🔸How To Learn
Okay, so you have your software, and you're all ready to start. But maybe you need some more guidance? Try these tutorials and resources! It can be helpful to work along with a tutorial until you build your confidence up.
⭐⭐ Pixel Logic (A Digital Book) - $10
A very comprehensive visual guide book by a very skilled and established artist in the industry. I own a copy myself.
⭐⭐⭐ StudioMiniBoss - free
A collection of visual tutorials, by the artist that worked on Celeste! When starting out, if I got stuck, I would go and scour his tutorials and see how he did it.
⭐ Lospec Tutorials - free
A very large collection of various tutorials from all over the internet. There is a lot to sift through here if you have the time.
⭐⭐⭐ Cyangmou's Tutorials - free (tipping optional)
Cyangmou is one of the most respected and accomplished modern pixel artists, and he has amassed a HUGE collection of free and incredibly well-educated visual tutorials.
He also hosts an educational stream every week on Twitch called 'pixelart for beginners'.
⭐⭐⭐ Youtube Tutorials - free
There are hundreds, if not thousands of tutorials on YouTube, but it can be tricky to find the good ones.
My personal recommendations are MortMort, Brandon, and AdamCYounis- these guys really know what they're talking about!
🔸 How to choose a canvas size
When looking at pixel art turorials, we may see people suggest things like 16x16, 32x32 and 64x64. These are standard sizes for pixel art games with tiles. However, if you're just making a drawing, you don't necessarily need to use a standard canvas size like that.
What I like to think about when choosing a canvas size for my illustrations is 'what features do I think it is important to represent?' And make my canvas as small as possible, while still leaving room for my most important elements.
Imagine I have characters in a scene like this:
I made my canvas as small as possible (232 x 314), but just big enough to represent the features and have them be recognizable (it's Good Omens fanart 😤)!! If I had made it any bigger, I would be working on it for ever, due to how much more foliage I would have to render.
If you want to do an illustration and you're not sure, just start at somewhere around 100x100 - 200x200 and go from there.
It's perfectly okay to crop your canvas, or scale it up, or crunch your art down at any point if you think you need a different size. I do it all the time! It only takes a bit of cleanup to get you back to where you were.
🔸Where To Post
Outside of just regular socials, Twitter, Tumblr, Deviantart, Instagram etc, there are a few places that lean more towards pixel art that you might not have heard of.
⭐ Lospec
Lospec is a low-res focused art website. Some pieces get given a 'monthly masterpiece' award. Not incredibly active, but I believe there are more features being added often.
⭐⭐ Pixilart
Pixilart is a very popular pixel art community, with an app tied to it. The community tends to lean on the young side, so this is a low-pressure place to post with an relaxed vibe.
⭐⭐ Pixeljoint
Pixeljoint is one of the big, old-school pixel art websites. You can only upload your art unscaled (1x) because there is a built-in zoom viewer.
It has a bit of a reputation for being elitist (back in the 00s it was), but in my experience it's not like that any more. This is a fine place for a pixel artist to post if they are really interested in learning, and the history.
The Hall of Fame has some of the most famous / impressive pixel art pieces that paved the way for the work we are doing today.
⭐⭐⭐ Cafe Dot
Cafe Dot is my art server so I'm a little biased here. 🍵
It was created during the recent social media turbulence. We wanted a place to post art with no algorithms, and no NFT or AI chuds. We have a heavy no-self-promotion rule, and are more interested in community than skill or exclusivity.
The other thing is that we have some kind of verification system- you must apply to be a Creator before you can post in the Art feed, or use voice. This helps combat the people who just want to self-promo and dip, or cause trouble, as well as weed out AI/NFT people.
Until then, you are still welcome to post in any of the threads or channels. There is a lot to do in Cafe Dot. I host events weekly, so check the threads!
⭐⭐/r/pixelart
The pixel art subreddit is pretty active! I've also heard some of my friends found work through posting here, so it's worth a try if you're looking.
However, it is still Reddit- so if you're sensitive to rude people, or criticism you didn't ask for, you may want to avoid this one. Lol
🔸 Where To Find Work
You need money? I got you! As someone who mostly gets scouted on social media, I can share a few tips with you:
Put your email / portfolio in your bio
Recruiters don't have all that much time to find artists, make it as easy as possible for someone to find your important information!
Clean up your profile
If your profile feed is all full of memes, most people will just tab out rather than sift through. Doesn't apply as much to Tumblr if you have an art tag people can look at.
Post regularly, and repost
Activity beats everything in the social media game. It's like rolling the dice, and the more you post the more chances you have. You have to have no shame, it's all business baby
Outside of just posting regularly and hoping people reach out to you, it can be hard to know where to look. Here are a few places you can sign up to and post around on.
/r/INAT
INAT (I Need A Team) is a subreddit for finding a team to work with. You can post your portfolio here, or browse for people who need artists.
/r/GameDevClassifieds
Same as above, but specifically for game-related projects.
Remote Game Jobs / Work With Indies
Like Indeed but for game jobs. Browse them often, or get email notifications.
VGen
VGen is a website specifically for commissions. You need a code from another verified artist before you can upgrade your account and sell, so ask around on social media or ask your friends.
Once your account is upgraded, you can make a 'menu' of services people can purchase, and they send you an offer which you are able to accept, decline, or counter.
The evil websites of doom: Fiverr and Upwork
I don't recommend them!! They take a big cut of your profit, and the sites are teeming with NFT and AI people hoping to make a quick buck. The site is also extremely oversaturated and competitive, resulting in a race to the bottom (the cheapest, the fastest, doing the most for the least).
Imagine the kind of clients who go to these websites, looking for the cheapest option. But if you're really desperate...
🔸 Community
I do really recommend getting involved in a community. Finding like-minded friends can help you stay motivated to keep drawing. One day, those friends you met when you were just starting out may become your peers in the industry. Making friends is a game changer!
Discord servers
Nowadays, the forums of old are mostly abandoned, and people split off into many different servers. Cafe Dot, Pixel Art Discord (PAD), and if you can stomach scrolling past all the AI slop, you can browse Discord servers here.
Twitch Streams
Twitch has kind of a bad reputation for being home to some of the more edgy gamers online, but the pixel art community is extremely welcoming and inclusive. Some of the people I met on Twitch are my friends to this day, and we've even worked together on different projects!
Browse pixel art streams here, or follow some I recommend: NickWoz, JDZombi, CupOhJoe, GrayLure, LumpyTouch, FrankiePixelShow, MortMort, Sodor, NateyCakes, NyuraKim, ShinySeabass, I could go on for ever really... There are a lot of good eggs on Pixel Art Twitch.
🔸 Other Helpful Websites
Palettes
Lospec has a huge collection of user-made palettes, for any artist who has trouble choosing their colours, or just wants to try something fun.
Rejected Palettes is full of palettes that didn't quite make it onto Lospec, ran by people who believe there are no bad colours.
The Spriters Resource
TSR is an incredible website where users can upload spritesheets and tilesets from games. You can browse for your favourite childhood game, and see how they made it! This website has helped me so much in understanding how game assets come together in a scene.
VGMaps
Similar to the above, except there are entire maps laid out how they would be played. This is incredible if you have to do level design, or for mocking up a scene for fun.
Game UI Database
Not pixel-art specific, but UI is a very challenging part of graphics, so this site can be a game-changer for finding good references!
Retronator
A digital newspaper for pixel-art lovers! New game releases, tutorials, and artworks!
Itch.io
A website where people can upload, games, assets, tools... An amazing hub for game devs and game fans alike.
A few of my favourite tools: Tiled, PICO-8, Pixel Composer, Juice FX, Magic Pencil for Aseprite
🔸 The End?
This is just part 1 for now, so please drop me a follow to see any more guides I release in the future. I plan on doing some writeups on how I choose colours, how to practise, and more!
I'm not an expert by any means, but everything I did to get to where I am is outlined in this guide. Pixel art is my passion, my job and my hobby! I want pixel art to be recognized everywhere as an art-form, a medium of its own outside of game-art or computer graphics!
This guide took me a long time, and took a lot of research and experience. Consider following me or supporting me if you are feeling generous.
And good luck to all the fledgling pixel artists, I hope you'll continue and have fun. I hope my guide helped you, and don't hesitate to send me an ask if you have any questions! 💕
