1-Bit Pixel Art Techniques (Tutorial + Timelapse)

[@mason3872]

I’m so glad someone else loves 1 bit as much as I do.

[@BJGpixel]

It's great! I find it relaxing not having to worry about colour selection 😅

[@mason3872]

Brandon James Greer I like the fact that you can’t express detail through the color but through different shapes.

[@DeadDamsel]

I've had a short but very strong interest in 1 - bit art for about a month now. I want to make a game with it. I'm working on making a game with only 5 colors right now and it's looking pretty nice.

[@codigodesenior3995]

@@BJGpixel How much can I sell my drawings for?

[@nicholarucitadhamma6000]

@@codigodesenior3995 Maybe 50$? agree?

[@brunonadai2547]

I'm a developer with 10 years of experience. Recently i started chasing this game-developer dream, and taking classes on the subject ... I'm a algorithm kinda guy and, oh boy ... it is kinda hard to find such good material about art! Dude, keep up with the good work, your videos are treasure to us! Cheers from a Brazilian guy who just started to learn about game-dev!

[@BJGpixel]

Thank you I'm happy to hear that, best of luck with your project! :D

[@crennips5669]

how's your game development adventure going?

[@w00dsm0ke]

Woah the smoke over the pipes really is super satisfying.

[@qwertt14]

I would totally play Detective Boy-man Investigates Cryo Lab

[@Nugcon]

yes

[@fehzorz]

I'd like to see a movie in 1-bit. Not grayscale, 1 bit.

[@programaths]

Does that count: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3ukk5WInZ6kas0

[@JimJakubJames]

Persepolis is kinda near this

[@augustinaslukauskas4433]

The TIC-80 fantasy computer has a pixelated "Bad Apple" music video - tic.computer/play?cart=419 The original video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKXYpX93a5h2ppo Tip: hit the A key a few times to change the pixel style

[@goodoc8248]

that'd look like ass, sorry to break it to you

[@daveroll6463]

Goodoc it’s like brainfuck: it’s not supposed to be for practical uses, but to show the skill

[@Capillus]

There is a terrific game called "Return Of The Obra Dinn" which takes 1bit to another level

[@Brugosovi]

Brainticket that game is a modern art piece

[@Capillus]

@Kawsar Mohammed Shirazul It's OK, people tend to have different opinions all the time.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

Interesting look to it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/amrVkoaGltureqs

[@QckSGaming]

It's not 1-bit even though it mostly looks like it :)

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

@@QckSGaming Doesn't it use dithering for shading? Actually, just looked at it. It is definitely monocolor (1 bit): kzbin.info/www/bejne/amrVkoaGltureqs All shading is done with dithering.

[@nicolasbassano3697]

This channel.......what a great find. Short, to the point and very well presented IMHO

[@spoonerismstuff]

Nicolas Bassano agreed, also the ending will forever give my sonic drowning flashbacks as the countdown and music presents an anxiety attack like no other

[@sebastiansmith6233]

the more restrictions you give yourself, the more creative you can be, and with 1-bit limitations are a lot of it

[@cptnbara]

You know I'm glad you get caught up talking about little details like the pipes. I feel like that kind of thing is often overlooked in art pieces, even though thought and work went into them, and they help to sell the overall piece. So it's nice to have them pointed out so we can appreciate them properly

[@tylertrego1276]

I very recently started getting into pixel art, and I haven't tried anything of much scale, mostly just sprites at 16x16, but your videos are so awesome and help me so much. Thank you!

[@tobytragen4363]

1 bit is not the size of it it refers to how many bits represent each pixel. One bit is a 1 or 0. So black or white . 8 bit each colour has 8 bits it can be represented as for instance 10110111.

[@andrewsprojectsinnovations6352]

As a retro enthusiast, my favorite one-bit palettes would have to be green/black and amber/black. It just harkens back to the old monochrome pc monitors... I actually find this to be a bit less harsh on the eyes than pure black/white.

[@CKTDanny]

Dude I'm loving these videos, great work!! The tutorial before the timelapse was definitely a great addition, I think that alone was convincing enough for me to try out 1-bit pixel art. I think you have a good format going here!

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks so much, might work in this format some more when it's a good fit. And best of luck if you try out the 1-bit style! :D

[@CKTDanny]

@@BJGpixel Thanks man!! :)

[@june_rain_video_game_company]

Dude.This video was amazing.

[@DAJANITORRS]

Ive been struggling to find the art style I wanted to go with during my pixel art journey and honestly with so many color options it kinda overwhelmed me. but after watching this you've really opened my eyes to this beautiful style that I didn't think of at all. Now im gonna constantly do research and practice in 1 bit cause that is the style I want to master

[@vinsplayer2634]

So he is a robot detective the Cryo Lab made and then at some point in time the Cryo Lab goes deserted for some reason and he investigates why. That's an amazing story!

[@FenrirInFlowers]

This looks right up my alley. I work in monochrome in traditional art, so this looks insanely fun. I am loving these tutorials. Just the best explanations, so I subscribed.

[@charetjc]

Honestly, the technique for combining the pipe behind the smoke was the first detail that impressed me. A demon in a chamber is easy when the boundaries are easily defined. Not so when trying to overlap the pipe and smoke. Color me impressed.

[@bclikesyou]

Just seeing how much you iterate on each part is helpful. Moving pixels around, shifting selections, etc. It's a crucial reminder that I need to be ok doing the same and not nailing it on the first try.

[@DominicGo]

I love it, i never knew that 1-bit art could look this detailed and beautiful ✨

[@SiddharthBhatt11]

I came here looking for a tutorial on how to make monochrome pixel art, and I found exactly that. I learnt so much from this one small video! Thanks Brandon! I am trying my hands on game development for the first time ever. This is fun so far!

[@apoletestry3766]

I have never seen a video game like Critters for Sale use the crunchy 1-bit aesthetic so well.

[@Dryrubbersock]

I like pixel art and have done it for a while but today i come back to the video that inspired me

[@IraKane]

Impresive! The format of the video works for me. The tutorial at the beguining helps to understand what you are going to do and its very interesting to listen to. Keep up the good work! Love your videos! :)

[@NoahWizard]

lol I love the inverted color on the pipe smoke also the format worked great, since you asked about it. tutorial and then timelapse so you can appreciate the timelapse was really cool

[@kazz8176]

I am so happy that the pixel art community exists🤩💖

[@fabianhriosrubino]

I've been looking for videos like this one for over a year. You made my day, I mean, my week, I mean, my year! Thanks

[@d3ath1nsuranc3]

holy shit this was exactly what i needed. i've been trying to figure out what words to type in to try and figure out how to make world of horror type art but this is exactly it. thank you so much.

[@Lowmandavis]

This is awesome! After seeing the end I thought "Dracula being revived again, but with science instead of magic"

[@corvus0]

I will almost never watch a timelapse video because I don't personally gain anything by watching someone else draw. The inclusion of the tutorial and commentary made a huge difference, though, so please continue this format.

[@thiagocastrosouza2759]

Amazing! I'm making a game in GB Studio and working with 4 color pallet. It's a good limitation, because you learn how to make contrast and use light and shadow.

[@_Thorondor]

Great video! A few puns, nice art, nice format. Love your work on the pipes! I feel inspired to draw now. Also, I know this was meant to be 1 bit, but I loved when you added touches of yellow.

[@lucrainville7095]

Thanks for this series. It really helps me to learn pixel art. I watched a couple other channels before engaging in a series, and I found yours was the best.

[@Kpackama]

Really liked the video and its structure, also cool artwork man! I got really into pixel art about a month ago and it still looks like magic to me when things actually turn out perfect.

[@marbles8246]

I love this video. It was so rewarding to see everything you talked about executed and then coming together in the time lapse and reveal. Keep it up, dude!!

[@Nabooru956]

I had a dream years ago that ill never forget and it was of a classic pokemon game on the game boy, specifically in the style of Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal. The game had this more isometric style and when you opened up the menu it was totally different with a more customizable character portrait and an octagon like menu. After watching this video i think i wanna make this into fruition somehow. Thanks for the inspiration man. U da best.

[@plate.armour_0996]

this channel is the definition of pixel aesthetics !

[@metalheadmalta]

Pure genius! Original owner of the ZX81 here, so I know 1 bit when I see it. :-)

[@redkyten]

I am typical Gen Z dude and know 1 but when I see it.

[@ItstoadXD]

Fun use for this I recently found out, Oven mirrors! EG: Main color is a yellow/orange, and outlines as a black.

[@roncash7640]

Masterfully done! Love that HUD, the ❤ &🔋were a nice touch. I think the game screen looks much to busy though, very crowded. . .🤩🤔😏👌

[@GaIaxysWitch]

I've really been liking 1-Bit styled games nowadays. Downwell, Minit, etc. And now I feel like it should be used more. It's amazing what people can do with it. -make this a real game i beg you-

[@marc.lepage]

Minit is fantastic. Downwell is more like 4 colour (i.e. 2-bit), but can be thought of as 1-bit with 2 accent colours.

[@mateuszpatua3016]

I'm in love with the smoke and pipes design

[@justinreinsma9772]

Gato roboto is a great, short-but-sweet game that has is true to the one bit style, reminds me of your work!

[@jovenoculto]

Awesome! You encourage me to retake my pixel art projects :3

[@BJGpixel]

Glad to hear, best of luck with your project! :D

[@GlennHS]

I absolutely loved this, this was fantastic. Also, what do you mean no one's gonna comment on the pipes? I love that every seemingly tiny design choice in pixel work can make or break the flow and style so yeah, I *love* the pipes, just as I love the rest of the piece, it's fantastic and so are you ^^

[@GarethThomasTunes]

Love this, especially the smoke over the pipes!

[@MONTBLANCFC]

Just started getting into your videos and I love that the ship select tune from Dodonpachi Daioujou keeps popping up in the background!

[@JamesR624]

One other interesting thing to note, if you wanna do game mockups. A good way to have other limitations that also bring more authenticity to the piece is to split up your canvas into an 8x8 pixel or 16x16 pixel grid. Then work with those chunks. It makes it feel much more like it could actually have existed on a gameboy or NES as it further emulates the graphical capabilities and limitations of those systems.

[@N1GHT_H0UND]

I'd love to see you doing updated video on this style

[@prollybee]

the bit about being more excited about the pipes than the demon was so relatable 😂

[@thepolyglotprogrammer]

This is super helpful. I want to start making games for the Playdate and trying wrap my head around this.

[@BornatoBTW]

This video was an amazing watch, but looking at the detail you made, made me think if it wouldn't be easier to understand what is going on in the screen with 3 colors (one just for extra detail). It is a great art style tho

[@hastley64]

i'm exploding a little bit by watching this video. when you drew the computer i was like HOW. HOW does it looks and feels and conveys so simple but it's actually so complicated.

[@Fighka303]

great pipes, 1bit is so hard but i'm learning to love it

[@kaak1212]

I'm just getting into pixel art and I can't wait to try this!

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

Sinclair ZX-81 and some Spectrum games had the problem you were discussing of making the main character visible among the background using only two colors. Because of this, a lot of times they would put a thick black outline around the main character (and sometimes the other characters or creatures, etc) to make them stand out more. Many games did not do this, however, and they ended up being a huge mess.

[@hericlesferreira6829]

Dude!!! The best pixel art channel. Thank you so much for sharing

[@minorseven8134]

Definitely gonna try 1-bit some time. Thanks for this awesome video and congrats on the great artwork

[@EZDoodles]

This is so awesome! Your tips and videos have been really helpful for me as I experiment more with this style. Definitely have a new appreciate for this style, it's so complex to figure out how to simplify things and keep it readable and I never really thought about it like that before

[@marianalejandro5657]

Your explanation it's good! I am glad I found your channel

[@kaffeemitsanti3327]

Great work 😁 Love your style. I'm currently working on GB Studio project and this is really helping me.

[@BJGpixel]

Thank You, glad to hear! That's really cool, I've been meaning to look into GB Studio :D

[@terrythe2dmaniac71]

Very nice and enjoyable, I actually experminted with 4 and 5 color pieces for a very long time but lately started to do 1 bit art at a 200*300 pixel resolution.

[@studioprimitive]

Always love Brandon's videos. I'm consider making an entire game out of 1 bit, and I would love to master this technique.

[@MxTheArtOfMx]

Great video with an in depth look at different patterns. Really great job on this

[@BeingFriends]

Loving these videos. I’ve always been fascinated by pixel art but have never been very motivated to try it myself since I don’t have a lot of skill in drawing.

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks! I was the same way, and something about it just clicked for me; if you start small it feels more like "assembly" than "drawing" - you should give it a try if you're interested!

[@BeingFriends]

Brandon James Greer I have some things under my belt to go a long with the game design I’ve done, some I’m proud of, some not so much 🤭😅

[@AZTECMAN]

Super badass. Excellent work.

[@felipecrespo3346]

I loved this format! Please make more videos like this were you explain your artistic decisions and thought process :)

[@gabef9538]

Busy art can be toned down with flickering lights, lightning, or the lights just dimming. It would fit the tone and to lead having the boss autoscrolling tunnel easier to draw.

[@furyberserk]

I suggest dithering the fog cause t does look like floating dots on the left that's not connected. That or make more of the left fog more flatish.

[@richbuilds_com]

That 1 bit Akira pic @ 12:15 is amazeballs.

[@MATTERSGAMES]

You’re designs and videos are dope! I just got back into game design and I was always kinda average at pixel art. You gave me lots of inspiration to get better at it

[@renookami4651]

Since the Gameboy would double your color palette, I wouldn't be too worried about the background being busy. That could be a good subject about "style transfert" in pixelart, to convert the picture using Gameboy pocket palette so you still retain the black&white asthetic (or switch to the greens for the sake of exemple clarity then reveal the pocket version). Happened to me I had to change styles from "32px GBA" to "64px DS" entries of a cetain series fangame and I know how intimidating it can be to change your set of limitation mid-project because of higher-up's descision.

[@renier9951]

Very nicely done. I like seeing this piece come to life from scratch.

[@ahmedthings]

The triangular fan blades tho. This art is good for the soul!

[@dutch_blades]

Great video! I'm new to your channel, but I really liked the format. Little tips and tricks help beginners and it gives the video a nice flow from start to finish. I was making a lot of two-tone pixel art as a kid in paint and wanted to get back into it. You've inspired me to try and pick it up :) I'm gonna have to look around for videos about 1-bit character design, common dimensions for pixel art, and general object design and scaling. I know there's a lot of little tricks (especially for shading and orientation of light + bordering), so a some extra videos on this would be fantastic!

[@screenwatcher949]

love your enthusiasm! you're my kinda artist

[@jin98309]

Hey Brandon! I'm fairly new to your channel and I'm already hooked into pixel art! Your videos are very informative and are fun to watch. This one in particular I appreciate since you actually applied the points you made in the first part. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos! Keep it square man! :--)

[@karmapolice247]

I'm currently trying to make a low poly 1 bit first person horror game so this has been really informative.Thanks.

[@BJGpixel]

That sounds amazing, happy this could help and best of luck with your game! Do you share your progress anywhere?

[@karmapolice247]

@@BJGpixel Thanks man :) Yeah I have a Twitter that i try to update regularly . @humanrobot

[@BJGpixel]

@@karmapolice247 Followed! - wow this is looking great dude! You've hit on a really unique aesthetic with this 1-bit low poly look. Best of luck with everything, looking forward to more! :D

[@karmapolice247]

@@BJGpixel Thanks! We should be done right arnd May. Will update when it's out.

[@karmapolice247]

@@BJGpixel My bad, It's been a while since our game came out, but if you're still interested in in, it's here humanrobot.itch.io/the-last-cosmonaut . We're moving on to another first person pixelated low poly game after this game so stay tuned.

[@dirtfriend]

great vid! i really appreciate the breakdown, it makes it seem less like black magic and more like an actually attainable skill, haha. i think exposing yourself to timelapses (and art in general) can immensely help with motivation and inspiration - at least personally, it's really hard to keep myself motivated when working in a vacuum. so thanks! i'm gonna go push some pixels now

[@jan_sipiki]

Black magic? More like black and white magic! Ha!

[@TLAF923]

This gave me an idea for a game where you go back in time and the graphics get more “primitive”, like in the Present it’s 16 bit but going back in time things go 8 bit and later 1 bit

[@vale3242]

there's a meme for that now

[@DeniseNepraunig]

Really cool tutorial and time lapse!! Your videos have really amazing content for someone who is just starting out! Thanks man!

[@knightinshiningarmour69]

I've never tried 1bit style , but maybe now i'll give it a try

[@TheForeverRanger]

Seeing this piece makes me really nostalgic because of the Gameboy look to it all. I really miss that simplistic art style.

[@GuilhermeFerreira-ev3oh]

You are the best man. 1bit is my favorite bit art, manly becouse the limitations

[@tipitossj]

i fell in love with 1Bit pixel art because of World of Horror! amazing game if you ask me.

[@JoseWing-c3n]

This is so beautiful. You’re really talented. I hope I can do such things in the future

[@OHMSdev]

I enjoyed the tutorial before the time lapse for sure. very helpful for a beginner like myself.

[@timespiraled]

This was a great video to help me get started and get ideas flowing.

[@mysterious_monolith_]

This is the first video from you, I think you're a god. Edit: I mean "This is the first video I've seen* from you, I think you're a god."

[@blablamccain4986]

The pipe smokey effect is cool though. Good job !

[@jordenwilliams4263]

I've been working in grey scale, (0,0, 10-90) HSV. I don't like black and white personally, but this makes me want to give it a try.

[@BJGpixel]

You should totally try it! It's worth it for the style exploration alone; the restriction to 2 colours forces you to make different design choices which is quite fun

[@Seb135-e1i]

So recently I started doing math in MS Paint. Yknow, for the fun of it. I realised it was difficult to draw large, consistent numbers without the text tool, so I just ended up zooming in, and then I got fixated on creating a 3x3 font with 2 colours. Interestingly enough, youtube's recommended section sent me to this video about a week later. I might try make something with this, but it's definitely an interesting concept.

[@BJGpixel]

Ah very cool! :D Were you able to get the 3x3 font to work?

[@Seb135-e1i]

@@BJGpixel I did, in fact - I unfortunately had to use a mixture of upper and lowercase, and some numbers/letters (like s and 5, 8 and B) ended up with the same symbol, so you'd have to figure out which is which based on the context. However, all 26 letters were different and quite legible, and I was pretty proud of the result

[@wingrider3323]

This is so beautiful.

[@yuturr]

1:33 that akira art tho so beautiful

[@proxy1035]

I should really get more into pixel art, i'll kinda need it if i want to make games for 8 bit hardware with limited graphical abilities. low resolutions, low amount of colors, etc. your videos should really help me.

[@tejonBiker]

It's super interesting work with 1 bit pixel art, currently I am working on a small oled monochrome display 128x64 pixels and I am experimenting how far can be drawing 3d things on monochrome, the first results (a cube with a texture) looks good but I want to experiment more

[@jan_sipiki]

Ok

[@CHALKND]

The pipes were cool!

[@safegourd]

im totally gonna try pixel art now, thanks for the inspiration!!

[@Bazhul]

You are an absolute genius.

[@tw80studios66]

The world has never needed a super cyborg detective boy investigates cryo lab game more than now

[@RomanEmin]

Amazing artwork!