I'm sure you've been asked this before, but how do you go about spriting? Such as the programs and stuff you use? I'm pretty new to it myself and find myself being too uncomfortable to do it. Do you ever start out by sketching the sprite or do you just go in?
i use photoshop for spriting using the pencil tool. depending on what it is im spriting, ill either sketch before hand and pencil over in a new layer (large sprites), or just work from nothing (stuff like tilesheets and overworld sprites)
the few tips i can give you this, i think:
1) Try not to do this, AND DO THIS INSTEAD:
the thing to differ your lines from pixel art and just general mspaint drawing is how you present your line. if theyre all massively connected like this then it doesnt look crisp, and pretty much is not pixel art, you feel me? it can work sometimes for thickening your outside lines, but only do it to make things stand out and KEEP IT CONSISTENT. heres an enemy i made for an old game project i started a while back and ended up shelving:
ive used the thin lines for details and inner line work, but a thick, consistent line on the outside to make it stand out. when it comes to pixel art, you want all of your lines to be orderly.. which leads me onto another tip i can give you:
2) Try not to do this, AND DO THIS INSTEAD:
this is probably one of the most amateur mistakes that i see a lot when people try to make curves in pixel art, and its really jarring to look at. it goes back to keeping your lines consistent and clean, and having choppy lines in a curve is always really noticeable. sometimes it cant be helped, but when thats the case, try and keep it to a minimum if possible. keep your curves numerically accurate in the pixel count, otherwise you just get noticeable line breaks.
3) Dithering is a good technique for shading, but dont go wild with it
dithering is something i enjoy, but it only truly works well when youre spriting with a limited colour palette. its a technique used for shading, transitioning between two colours. it can also be used to give off the impression of different surfaces, but try not to use it too much in a piece, otherwise youll find your artwork just becoming a spotty mess. its a good thing to use, but use it sparingly. EXAMPLE BETWEEN DITHERING AND NO DITHERING
out of personal preference, i prefer not to dither, or keep it at an all time minimum. i like keeping stuff looking sleek and shiny, and dithering is used to making the complete opposite of that. again, its a good technique to use, but it can be disastrous. heres an example of “good” dithering using a limited colour palette:
see how it starts as one, solid colour, goes into a dither, then falls into another solid colour? this is how it should be used in shading. how it should NOT be used is like this:
SO YEAH. AND NOW FOR THE FINAL AND MOST IMPORTANT RULE:
4) IF YOU WANNA GIVE YOUR PIXEL ART SOME MOVEMENT, PLEASE GOD DONT DO THIS:
this usually happens when its occurred to the sprite artist that the thing they wanted to animate was drawn entirely on one layer and it’s too late to do anything with.. so they resort to magical retracting in-and-out legs. usually youre better off having the sprite static rather than resorting to cop out leg retracting.
if you already decided you want to make a little sprite animation before starting, work in separate layers for each limb. it opens the door for giving your animation a little more realistic movements and also allows more options for movement, for example:
see what i mean? that looks way cooler, right?
ANYWAY, I HOPE THIS WAS AT LEAST SOMEWHAT HELPFUL FOR YOU. PIXEL ART IS A LOT OF FUN AND I ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO GET INTO IT ALWAYS <3. YOU CAN MAKE SOME COOL SHIT AND REALLY PUSH YOURSELF WHEN IT COMES TO WORKING IN A LIMITED SIZED CANVAS AND COLOUR PALETTE.
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