Creating 4-Color Pixel Art Palettes, inspired by the SUPER GAMEBOY!

[@BJGpixel]

Here's a link to the SUPER GAMEBOY palettes I created in this video: i.redd.it/0svby0ssa7s41.png NOTE: these were created independently from one another, and I haven't tested how the colours mix-and-match with each other, but that could be a fun experiment!

[@jasonchocho8000]

Sorry to complain but i wanted to try one of the palletes but i dont really know the values can you change it or rather tell me how to color pick it differently

[@jasonchocho8000]

@@themightybalian well its been 9 months, I figured it out already bruh

[@jasonchocho8000]

@@themightybalian Well your comment sounded really sarcastic in the first place. And I'm sorry if it seemed rude. But I have already figured it out.

[@jasonchocho8000]

@@themightybalian well thank you for doing that

[@lostglaceon9274]

"I make pictures out of tiny squares." is the best description of pixel art I've ever heard. I'm now going to use that every time someone asks what I do in my freetime.

[@kayleighmoore6951]

@@Agvazela_Vega "yes"

[@TheMaricator]

I found this channel literally yesterday and it's already inspired me to jump back into pixel art. Super educational and inspiring content. Keep up the good work.

[@noggodus9661]

Same here, haha

[@shensat4681]

Same here! This vid was especially detailed/educational, can't wait to start making my own palettes 🙌

[@thokdesign]

Same man, just today

[@Flowtail]

I kinda wanna jump into it, but every time i’ve tried my wrists end up hurting like crazy-i’d much prefer something that would let me draw using the keyboard instead of the mouse, but i can’t find anything like that :(

[@lauranguyen7074]

@@Flowtail me too but i don't have a mouse so i have to use a touchpad, which is worse

[@domainofscience]

Dude this is the first time I've come across colour value, and your explanation at the beginning helps me so much, thanks! So this is why the hue slider in photoshop messes up the brightness balance. It all makes sense! :D :D

[@BJGpixel]

Haha yes exactly! So if you just duplicate the layer and set it to the "Color" blending mode, you can shift the hue slider around while maintaining the brightness value from the original layer underneath! :D

[@domainofscience]

@@BJGpixel Awesome! Thanks for the tip.

[@purplemosasaurus5987]

I watch your videos! Didn't expect you to be here.

[@ReeceGeofroy]

Why is this the exact video I needed. 😮 Was literally just inspired to start creating a new game in a 4 colour pallet style. Thanks Brandon, keep up the great work! 🔥

[@BJGpixel]

Oh that's awesome, best of luck with your game! :D

[@Sandisverycool]

me too but 5 color so i can have green grass

[@mjodyh]

It's amazing how much you can express with just 4 colors available! Gonna try experimenting this technique for some of my premade artworks as well, thank you very much!

[@Scootch]

This is so cool and will definitely help me with my pixel art and how I color things. Thank you so much! :)

[@Ric_93]

Ok, now it's time to watch EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR VIDEOS! So great I got this channel's recommended to me

[@makifbey]

You did, didn't ya? :))) Seing your old comment here is an insipiration!

[@BirdNaito]

KZbin basically recommended me this channel several times. Since then, these rekindled my drive to improve at pixel art.

[@Doodlz]

Damn, never knew that Gameboy pallette swap thing existed!

[@Sparkbomber]

The SGB was pretty awesome, some *cough*emulators*cough* include it if you want to check it out.

[@pgdasilva]

@@Sparkbomber corona

[@nithen8179]

@@pgdasilva wut?

[@wasi8106]

i went from knowing nothing to understanding the expanding universe of pixel art by finding your channel. THANK YOU

[@lifeaslse6226]

Ive always loved pixel art but never been an artist or could draw at all but always thought out of all art types i should at least be able to make 8 bit pixel art. Just found your channel and you make it so easy and quick to understand! Ive watched other channels in the past but they usually make it unnecessarily long (and boring) to watch, thank you so much! I actually feel like i might get my first 8 bit game made this year!

[@BJGpixel]

Thank you! I was the exact same way, and learning pixel art kinda brought me into the artistic world. Ive been at it about 5 years now and it's even helped me improve at drawing as well, to a point! Thanks for watching and best of luck with your game! :D

[@banctrus]

I just began doing pixel art this week and I already watched all of your videos and I learned a lot. I hope more educational videos are coming soon.

[@nb_pixel]

These vids are amazing. I’ve been looking all over for a tutorial on color palettes to no avail. Thank you, and keep it up man!

[@moonlightmoth1027]

ive been wanting to get into pixel art and was looking for a particular style i liked, and immediately knew i wanted to try gameboy color styles! thank you for this~

[@Sparkbomber]

Excellent video, I have to say that it was indeed very much fun to experiment with the colours on the Super GameBoy back then. I don't have it anymore, but for the time it was a spectacular bit of hardware. Especially since it could spruce up any old GB game and the few SGB games made for it had extra's. Mega Man V offered a unique border for one. But I'm most glad that you appreciate it too and made this video. In all honesty, I clicked a diff video today on pixel art (badly done though) and by chance decided to check out your video on 4-colour 8x8 designs in Pokémon games. I'm glad to have discovered this channel.

[@ImusNoxa]

This video is honestly amazing. I've never had colour values explained to me like this until now, and it's low key life changing. Thank you so much!

[@nat298]

I seriously appreciate the help on color palettes! This is one of the things I struggle most with, and the method you use is really helpful, I think

[@jarofjuice]

I am so happy I came across your channel. I started pixel art just last week and your videos have been exceptionally helpful and educational. And thank you for the wonderful colour palettes as well!

[@ilug8571]

Wtf 11k! Congratulation!!!!! This year I know u'll reach 500k!

[@coleymoley514]

ur tutorials are all so useful!!! i finally started with pixel art because of u! u explain important details about pixel art so well! thank you so much!

[@legendguitargamer]

Man, you do the best tutorials / report of personal experience that can be found on youtube! Thanks a lot for the content

[@josh__jimison]

Man, Once again a great video from Brandon. When I create palettes, I usually just shift the hues, saturation, and brightness by hand. This often leaves the palette feeling unbalanced or awkward. I have never thought of using even spacing in the palette to make it feel bold or soft, so thank you for giving me that extra thing to put in the tool box :)

[@BJGpixel]

That's great, hope it helps! Yeah I used to do the exact same thing, a lot of tweaking by trial and error. Then I got the idea to just plan it out mathematically - I feel like I understand the customizability more with this approach and it works way more effectively for me! :D

[@Jusangen]

Very helpful Brandon. Went here after your most recent video on the space piece. Thanks for mentioning it!

[@TOBuhrer]

This was the best video explanation on Value and Color for pixel art I ever came across with! Good job Brandon!

[@solstice_enigma]

I love the CRT TV jumping pixels at the end, they look very cool!

[@martinmcneal2778]

I actually used your Green Apple as an inspiration for a palett when I was playing on my Super Gameboy 2. Great stuff!

[@JoreXYZ]

I normally don't comment, but these videos are so well edited it blows my mind. Love the content. Keep it up!

[@BJGpixel]

Hey well thank you for commenting that, I really appreciate it! The animation and editing takes a fair effort and has been quite a learning curve, so I'm happy it's noticeable :D

[@jaredjohnston1259]

Great advice, as usual. I find that my work is quite lacking in the color department so getting all of these tips is really great! Keep em coming!

[@cybertecartist]

This is the best lesson I have ever taken when making Gameboy art I have ever scene. Thank You

[@katachiaudio]

Another super helpful tutorial, thank you so much for sharing and PLEASE keep it up!

[@imperfectimp]

This really gave me a completely new view on colour. Great video.

[@mohamedbahaa5084]

I am a 3D Artist, always admired pixel art for how expressive and emotive it is and came here to learn about it. but damn, your color pallete/hue shifting tutorials were AMAZING!. thank you so much for this channel

[@johnjeralddechavez4813]

Thank you for sharing a great idea about 4-pixel color. And you did with aseprite 🤩

[@BJGpixel]

Oh hey! Yeah I hope this helps clear up what I was describing to you last week! I wanted to show how Aseprite could be used similar to Photoshop in this way :D

[@Edgejuice]

Wow, your channel is amazing! Your videos are helping me so much to develop pixel art. I'm still a beginner, so this channel helps me to understand pixel art! Thank you for producing content.

[@domiangeliplus49]

Just found this channel like 2 days ago and I already love your channel. Your content is great and I hope to see more from you in the future.

[@BeingFriends]

Love your approach and wonderfully uplifting perspective on pixel art. Very inspired :)

[@WaylonFlinn]

This video is absolute fantastic! Not only did I learn I useful tip about color theory (relative value of colors) you also showed me how to easily use this in Aseprite. A+ Mr. Greer.

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks so much! Yeah I figured I should hop to Aseprite for this one just to show that colour can be applied in a similar way as when I'm using Photoshop :D

[@frosts1lent19]

I find it relaxing watching you draw pixel art. Keep up the great work! You’re almost at 20k subs

[@abhishek79]

I opened aseprite after sooo many months today and made an animation using the gba 4 color pallete. I am glad to have found your channel today. These contents are really nice keep it up !

[@augustusbrown1061]

Wow this is really cool! And congrats on 10k!

[@BJGpixel]

Thank you!! 😊🎉

[@XxLordXDNxX]

YOU'RE AMAZING! thanks a lot for sharing your knowledges

[@Vorundor]

This is a GREAT video, thank you for posting. I found your channel yesterday or the day before, I love what I've seen so far. :)

[@SiPunkCoOlihan]

Videos are super helpful and have a nice charm to them. I fuckin love the graphics you put in when you're explaining stuff. A+

[@brootalbap]

Great explanations. Those colour palettes came out really well :)

[@charlie6971]

You're such an underrated channel and your art amazes me! Thank you for this amazing video!!

[@CrokeyHigati]

Im a new subscriber and I gotta say Im loving what you've made so far! Ive been a big fan of pixel art for a long time and honestly always love to see how people go about it. Can't wait to see more!

[@idonotagreetothis]

Very informational pixel art channel, well explained decisions and Art execution is Niicceee

[@FunsumaGames]

I’m learning pixel art and these videos are actually really helpful! Keep it up!

[@HelveticaStandard]

This is really helpful, super underrated channel!

[@_chrms4169]

This is amazing, totally subscribed

[@PlabsUnderscore]

Yet another amazingly informative video!

[@RavenbornIV]

I really have to give you my thanks, Brandon. I've been trying to motivate myself into practicing pixel art for quite a while, and your videos helped me a lot with it! I'll be sure to keep an eye out for future videos, you're amazing!

[@GeoGeos]

i found this channel yesterday, making me wanna learn more about colors and ways to make pixel art.

[@monkey3964]

Hey mr Greer, I was just wondering recently how to go about doing this sort of thing. Then this video found me. Thanks -a-million!!!

[@Gimmerum7]

Calling this video useful would be an understatement. Awesome job, thanks a lot!

[@sarnav94]

Okay Brandon, so I found your channel yesterday, watched all of your videos and commented on one of your videos too. I also subscribed immediately. You have everything that a beginner would require in your videos. I already mentioned how great the way and the approach you have in your drawing and humour. I appreciate all of your efforts and looking forward to watching your upcoming videos. A hardworking and ambitious person creates a great channel apparently.

[@BJGpixel]

Hey thanks for the support, I appreciate it! It's funny, I hadn't considered that people newer to the channel could be watching all the previous vids back-to-back - I hope it's a decent binge and not too repetitive! Glad you're enjoying and thanks for watching! :D

[@alecioleite]

Man, this is amazing. Congratulations!

[@CotufaPixel]

I'll use one of those palettes, they look really good!!

[@j1fue_san]

this is awesome! great info aswell

[@anonym00se2]

KZbin recommended this channel to me only yesterday, and I instantly subscribed. The first video I ever saw of yours was the 1-bit pixel art video, and I was inspired to start trying my hand at pixel art. At the moment, I merely use the mobile app 8-bit Painter on my tablet, but hey, you can't improve without starting somewhere, right? Keep up the good work!

[@a2jy2k]

Hey Brandon, awesome video. You've really gotten me in to wanting to try digital art again, so thanks a ton for that. I noticed that a lot of what you make seems to be more rigid and geometric designs, usually things that have a man-made feel to them. Do you have any advice for creating believable organic objects and/or scenes in pixel art? Fire, trees, grass etc? Thanks for the awesome videos, and I look forward to a bright future of consuming your content!

[@ananda5346]

tbh, this video help me a lot more than the color theory video. thanks!

[@giihhh3828]

Your channel is great, keep going!

[@weynonpriory]

Awesome and really helpful

[@Cjoudan]

I've been struggling so much with hue shifts. And I use aseprite. This is my favorite video by you!! If you'd make more tutorials with aseprite that would be great!!!!

[@frazoni.]

I love your videos! Could you please make one about pixel portraits? Keep up Brandon

[@BJGpixel]

Thank you! And yeah I plan to make a portrait vid at some point, it's on my list for sure! :D

[@TheEmpatt]

Mindblowing as always. Thanks a lot.

[@jeffrey4325]

Love these pixel art videos, keep them up! Cheers :)

[@porkman1838]

I freaking love 4-color pixel art palettes.

[@LucasRomeroDiBenedetto]

Your channel is awesome, thanks for sharing your knowledge with us

[@yuniedante]

Thank you so much. This is very informative for people who want to do pixel art. =D

[@boneor...7022]

For once KZbin recommended a good, and usefully channel. I'm looking forward to being all your videos!

[@EmceeGraffiti]

So good.

[@edward3591]

cardboard olive and steel are such sexy color pallets holy

[@cheesecakelasagna]

It's been months since I've paused my pixel hobby because I was growing frustrated on translating my sketched OCs to smaller pixel scales. Most game/storytelling softwares I've tried out has either limited color palette or size, and my OCs started out with free range canvas. So either I start learning little bit of coding so I can use the more technically-demanding softwares or really start figuring out how to descale or something, lol. Mind you I'm still very noob at pixel art and I'm naturally uninitiative when it comes to identifying and solving problems regarding it.

[@guilhermeraimondi337]

Wow, I thought you would have at least half a million subscribers. It's amazing how much effort and quality you put into your videos. Could you make a video on how to maintain a game with the same pixel ratio? I mea, for example, if I choose to make a game of 8, 16, 32bit, etc. what whould be the size of the tiles, characters, objects, etc? Thank you and keep up the great work!

[@BJGpixel]

Hey thanks so much! It really does take a fair amount of effort so it's nice to have that come across :D For the sizing you describe, I generally think of it as those elements taking up a certain percentage of the screen, and you could size them that way. Two games might have the same screen size, but then decide to have vastly different title, HUD, or character sizes so there really is a lot of customizability. Still could be a good idea for a vid, I'll keep it in mind, thanks for the suggestion!

[@guilhermeraimondi337]

Brandon James Greer Ooh ok, thx for the response! I’m starting on the indie dev and pixel art journey now and there are a lot of things I dont quite understand. Btw your videos are very helpul!

[@ThePikmania]

Wow, that is soo cool, thank you

[@darknexxenby]

damn, this vid was so good and cool, i came back to double check it was liked definitely plan on getting aseprite now, it seems like a very good program for a more authentic looking pixel art!

[@hagbardceline5358]

This is so helpful while I work on a GBJAM game.

[@johanneszockt3637]

Really cool Video keep it going you are doing an Amazing Job to show how Amazing Pixel art can be (ᗒᗜᗕ). I gave up to try Pixel art because i have not the Passion to do that but really enjoy your Videos.

[@soup8118]

these all look so nice :0

[@abdoreda7126]

Your videos are super cool, thank you so much

[@solang9308]

wow finaly use aseprite :3 nice video

[@noiJadisCailleach]

Another great content! I like the colors you're sharing. I have a question about colors I'm really curious about. Do we need the palette creator's permission/license if we're using their palette on an original creation that we sell? What are the limitations? Or is there an unwritten rule to at least mention them to your social media for using their palette? Are they going to be associated with your product then? It's making me crazy. I'm not sure if i'm committing a crime or not. 😵

[@BJGpixel]

Haha this is a great question! I really wish I had a definitive answer for you, but in my experience it is not possible to "own" a combination of colours, so you should be free to use any palette within your own original work. The ones from this vid for example, I've made available specifically so people can download and use them however they like. Intellectual property associated with colour usually comes down to the way it is used, such as logos, works of art, or a unique way a palette is presented/packaged - rather than the individual colours themselves. And while it's probably not required, it is polite practice to credit the original creator if possible; you wouldn't want to mislead people into believing that you created the unique colour combos yourself. Again, I'm not 100% certain in this, so it would be best to research further if you want to learn more, but that's my best advice for now. Hope that helps! :D

[@noiJadisCailleach]

@@BJGpixel Thank you so much for the response. I've definitely gained a bit more insight about it. I'll look more into this. Maybe i'm a bit paranoid, but the last thing i want is an issue like this coming back to bite me later. I never missed crediting palette creators for every "for-fun" piece i post ever since i started. But never for the ones i sell/have sold. I'm afraid of pulling the trigger of crediting the palette creator on 'for-sale' pieces cause i might be shooting myself on the foot. But yeah, thanks again for the advice! I really appreciate it. :D

[@BJGpixel]

@@noiJadisCailleach No problem! If it's something you are concerned about, I'd truly recommend that you study what you like about certain palettes and start attempting to construct your own. That's sort of the point of this vid; it only takes a few key pieces of information to "unlock the secrets" of colour construction, along with recognizing your own personal preferences - and you'll be well on your way to making your own colour combos! Wish you all the best! :D

[@NikoAniki]

I JUST NEEDED THIS, thank you :)

[@mypkamax]

The Super Game Boy has games, that make use of the ability to assign different palettes to different areas on the screen (can be changed on the fly), have a nice custom border around them and some make use of the SNES audio (e.g. Donkey Kong by Nintendo (ending music and Pauline screaming for help) and Animaniacs by Konami).

[@yumihatakeyama4198]

Brandon você é um deus, um anjo, um rei, muito obrigada por essas dicas todas, seu canal, os vídeos, o macaquinho são todos lindos e perfeitos

[@verstrahlt1907]

I like your show very much. It is all nice explained and also represented in style (and this in pixelart too). I am impressed. It would be nice, if you meet similar enthusiastic programmer, etc., and you would make games and similar interesting stuff.

[@kurt5004]

Keep up the great work!

[@manolomaru]

Nice like always bro! 🙋🏻‍♂️✨⭐️🤩⭐️✨

[@WhityLee_]

oh! you put the palletes on the description, thank you ksksks

[@pallukun]

This is very useful, I would never have considered or even noticed some of these points about colour relations. I have a question tho. If you have picked two greys with different brightness values, then how do you translate them to colours keeping those values, since the yellow and purple examples started with the same 100% but turned out to be different? You later chose a set of blues to purples where the brightness was the same but the hue was different, and that somehow got your different brightness values. I'm really confused how to get from greyscale to colour and vis versa.

[@RamHomier]

Very nice!

[@Blaze5857]

this kind of s[crap]t is why i enjoy pixel art and drawing brandon you've done it again

[@manybuckets969]

This is such a cool channel man

[@corgikun2579]

I can't stop commenting good stuff about your way of teaching. It's great! thanks for sharing. (If you ever consider working on a Patreon site where you release written tutorials, count on me!)

[@CanalDojogames]

I can understand this very well because i configure my tvs and projectors, when bright and saturation are far away i cannot see the depth so good, when i have a good balance i can see all 3d depth clear

[@JosephMan485]

You can do it with the emulators and make your own palettes too. the default Super Gameboy palette works pretty well for Super Mario Land 1 & 2 and Dr. Mario.

[@HEHEHEIAMASUPAHSTARSAGA]

These videos are really helpful! I have a question about "colour value". Why is there a difference in perceived brightness between colours with the same brightness and saturation? For example, if you put pure blue and green and desaturate them, the green ends up much lighter. It makes some sense intuitively, but I don't get it conceptually.

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks! Hmm I think it must come down to the science of how the eye perceives colour; that the cones of the eye are more sensitive to certain colours/wavelengths? That's a really great question though, we're gonna have to do some research! 😅

[@HEHEHEIAMASUPAHSTARSAGA]

I wonder if the red, green, and blue subpixels in a monitor have the same physical brightness.

[@HEHEHEIAMASUPAHSTARSAGA]

This thread has some cool information. twitter.com/timsoret/status/1251763478177644544?s=19