How I learned Pixel Art in 30 days (You can too!) - One hour a day of pixel art challenge!

I suck at pixel art. Or rather I used to suck at pixel art before I embarked on an ambitious journey filled with learning as much about pixel art as I possibly could. Over the month of November, I spent an hour each day fully dedicated to learning the skill. How much better does an hour a day of pixel art make you? Watch to find out!
Click to learn more about what happened each day: docs.google.com/document/d/1d...
On days 1 through 5, I learned pixel art by watching youtube videos and practicing. For a complete beginner, it was very overwhelming and I didn't really know where to start or what the best way of going about learning pixel art is. I also purchased Aseperite which was a big help and definitely worth the $20.
On day 6, I bought 2 courses by gamedev.tv on pixel art and I would work on them from days 7-20.
The first course is all about the fundamentals. It teaches you about dithering, outlining, line work, highlighting and shading, camera angles, and simple animation. The course then shifts focus to making items. When on sale for $10 the course is definitely worth it if you're a beginner.
The second course is all about creating characters. It goes over designing characters from different perspectives and animating them. This course is very good as well and worth it if you have already done the first one and want a bit more structure in your pixel art adventure.
For the last 10 days, I was back on my own with youtube and practicing. Here is where I really started being impressed with myself because I was basically doing everything myself (sometimes following along with tutorials). I would play Pictionary with myself and a random word generator I found on the internet which was a lot of fun!
Overall, I’m really happy with the way this challenge went, and I would strongly recommend you try it out if you want to learn pixel art and you have an hour a day to spare.
This video is like a pixel art tutorial for complete beginners and you learn you learned pixel art. Pixel art for beginners is basically what I did in this video. I went from pixel art noob to someone who is decent at pixel art. I made many pixel art drawings during this pixel art challenge and had a lot of fun making pixel art. In pixel art you place pixels to make things and you go at a small canvas size for pixel art. Pixel art games are made with pixel art and they are often indie games. You can use unity to make pixel art games. To actually make pixel art I used aseperite and watched many aseperite tutorials. This is a pixel art guide for complete beginners and it will help you learn pixel art.
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Instagram: / will_hess_yt
Discord: Will Hess(hashtag)9883
If you have any questions DM me over Instagram or Discord

[@anshul2145]

Thanks for making the video the way you did. Tired of seeing people draw masterpieces but act like they didn't do anything great.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Your welcome and thanks for watching!

[@kuuly3334]

Perhaps make a video about your art. :)

[@anshul2145]

@@kuuly3334 what do you mean?

[@thec1one70]

its just the artist mindset ive been an artist my whole life and every time i make a piece im happy whith it i like it but only notice the imperfections this promotes improvement therefore is good for the artist as every time they try they will improve from the last and even if an artist is the greatest artist in the world they will see their art unfit.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Damn that’s deep

[@randy685]

Jalopino pepper

[@WillHessGameDev]

Indeed

[@p_pthenoob]

indeed

[@Sir_Noobington]

indeed

[@Maverickkk]

Great video! I'm a software engineer and have always had a passion for game dev, but always give up when I realise I suck at art. This gives me hope!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Hahaha thanks!

[@gyrow1684]

You need to suck at something in order to exceed at it. No one gets born drawing like Michelangelo, failure is the part of the process. Whenever you feel like giving up, don't give up and continue learning. You'll thank yourself in the future

[@mackenziepenny1335]

There's always free assets. Download those, and then make minor edits for a good start.

[@sootangel]

the only way to get better is to practice practice practice. trust me, as a hobbyist writer, actually doing the thing is the BEST way to learn

[@DoomPotato]

I feel you. I always loved game dev but it suck at programming - basic python and JavaScript is my celling :-D

[@ali_new_world]

I love this video dude! no quick Gen-Z editing, just chill laid back content, taking things slowly but surely, I love it :)

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you

[@Bisc4796]

your elbows never left 90 degrees

[@NerdRivera]

This video was super coal! The rock puns were real gems. Definitely won't take it for granite.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Haha thanks!

[@MasterCatsVR]

those puns really rocked!

[@kiddosneakybeaky3934]

@@MasterCatsVR Nah. Imo those puns hit rock-bottom.

[@interrrp_with_three_rs]

those were very solid jokes

[@blackcitadel37]

dad, go home

[@Uveryahi]

You didn't just say Jalapeno pepper x) All round good video! It's nice to have people documenting their journey to show that progress and quality can come from discipline, not just talent :)

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for watching!

[@Jamez_X]

It is Halapenyo not jalapeno

[@Jamez_X]

I mean their pronuciation

[@LluviaAva]

That honestly caught me off guard, he said it so seriously too. lol

[@otallono]

Lol he butchered the word. I've never even heard an American pronounce the J like that and I am one. He's like "Jalopino" 😂

[@SirRichard94]

Helpful, and I love the positivity. Good energy

[@WillHessGameDev]

I appreciate that!

[@flibouche]

I just started a 365 days pixel art challenge since the 1st of January to get good at pixel art and I really see some improvements ! I hope you keep continue pixel art today, you have some skills ! Cheers from France :)

[@WillHessGameDev]

Good luck!

[@trustnooneelse]

How is it going so far? :)

[@aldo6532]

Fantastic video man! Really enjoyed it. Keep em coming

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you so much!

[@Reddster69]

Im currently working on a metroidvania based on pixel art, and this helped! Thanks :D

[@WillHessGameDev]

Glad I could help and good luck with your game!

[@bungercolumbus]

Really nice video. It is true that an hour a day of practice can make you better at not just pixelart, but everything in general. If you want to make pixel art animation you should also check a bit of the animation theory. Alan becker had some really fancy way of explaining it on his channel.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Noted. Thanks for watching!!!

[@giantneuralnetwork]

Awesome! Great energy from this and love the computer human collaboration 👍🏼👍🏼

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks!

[@zerpenk]

The fact that you showed us your firsts steps the way you did is awesome. Keep it going man!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks!

[@GigaByte131]

5:40 the weapon sprites look pretty sharp, and if you axe me, the sword sprite looks bloody awesome. (sorry if people already made puns like these)

[@WillHessGameDev]

Those were great!

[@BitBloxDevs]

Congrats! Very good progress

[@fatcat529]

Awesome video. I have been stuck for like a year and kind of just gave up. Just felt overwhelmed a lot of times and din't want to finish anything. I feel like you bought up some good points and maybe I need to try a course instead of all these different guides. I'm gonna try do the daily pixel challenges and see how it goes. Thank you

[@captiki7seas]

You deserve more subs than a million. You seem to work hard on your work!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you so much!

[@davidhelman3045]

Thanks for this, I will probably follow a similar structured track you laid out, definitely a big help!

[@WillHessGameDev]

No problem!

[@AdamBarkerThe]

This was really helpful dude thanks for the video and great work on your art 👍

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!

[@Amebedo]

This was really helpful in plotting out a study plan. Thank you for doing this!

[@WillHessGameDev]

No problem! Thanks for watching!

[@ufoguy]

You did a great video buddy! This video is very underrated imo, hope more people see it. Loved your progress and discipline !

[@WillHessGameDev]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@mackenziepenny1335]

When it comes to pixel art and you're already a gamer. Theres a lot you know without knowing you know. It wont turn you into a master artist or anything. But in thr beginning once that clicks youll see a massive boost in quality. Least that's hiw it was fir me

[@Ollgabopi]

Finally a realistic video on progress! Love this! 🔥 Well done!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks!

[@strawberrylemonadelioness]

I love the style of pixel art, it's so cute!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!!

[@m-ue-d]

nice portal background music =) Overall just a really inspirational video. Keep up the great work!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you so much!

[@Corhunger]

Hey Will, thanks for the video. It was impressive to see how far you got in a month's time. It gives me hope that I can somehow also improve despite not being able to draw whatsoever lol.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks woe watching!

[@WillHessGameDev]

*for

[@Xylariagames]

Thank you for this video i was having a tough time with drawing designs for my monsters and the map for my game when i watched this and it has rly helped

[@kyleshanahan2274]

You deserve a lot more traction for your channel. This was super helpful and I can't wait to see you improve your content.

[@WillHessGameDev]

I appreciate that!

[@yooples54]

I’ve been doing pixel art for 3 years now (not meaning to promote myself too much, but some of it is posted!), and I’m completely self taught. The biggest tip I can give anyone is to be patient. Art takes time, to make, and to learn. Don’t expect it to be perfect on the first, second, third, or even twenty fifth time. But don’t be discouraged, either.

[@emperorceegle]

Wow look at this young hustler I love it!

[@rubens8382]

I love your channel! I'm 43 years old and I'm starting to learn pixel art for my own retro games. Thank you for the classes and encouragement!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for watching!

[@whilefree]

A lot of improvement in 30 days. Congratulations. I'm taking a different approach. I'm learning to sketch using a digital pen. And without doing any pixel art in my entire life, I feel I kinda understand how a pixel art is supposed to be shaded, and I feel it's one of the most important aspects. So for the moment I guess having some regular painting knowledge is going to be a game changer on the whole pixel art journey.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for watching!

[@Loki-]

Professional video 👍 I needed this!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!

[@LaserGadgets]

Helpful!

[@darkovikaplayssimgames]

The Pictionary thing is such a great idea. Thank you for this video!

[@IAmTheZombieGirl]

Well done! Great idea, by the way! I'll have to steal the challenge parameters and play around. Thanks!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for watching!

[@Ell900]

It was helpful to get into pixel art for my game

[@bowedwolfgaming]

Imma try this to get better now too!

[@pinetree8088]

Amazing work my dude.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks!

[@daryelcetz1410]

What a genious. Thank you, brother!

[@WillHessGameDev]

You're welcome!

[@LeigerGaming]

Well done on a great video - good editing 🙂

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks!

[@pottingsoil723]

I've been practicing Pixel Art for 3 years now, so this was really interesting to watch. Your animations were pretty good! I love Pixel Art so much but there's seriously always more you can learn or master. I've spent 10s of hours just learning how to draw one thing a little better than I could before. Especially those pesky textures!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for watching and leaving a comment! There is always more to learn!

[@overcranks]

i like your confidence man

[@tinyvent1289]

Just started out this challenge this is inspiring!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!

[@theiblockchef]

Your weapon pixel art was really sharp. You really got the point across. You should start a pixel art group, like some sort of club.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Hahaha those were good ones!

[@najok]

5:42 those weapon sprites are sharp

[@Goober-66]

Great job!!! (:

[@AxolotlGuy7]

This was recommended to me at the perfect time. I was just about to plan on making pixel art backgrounds for some songs im making.

[@bigboy4006]

Nice job Will! Now I want to try these courses. I didn’t have any clue where to start with pixel art, but with this video, I have a good idea where to begin.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Yeah I’d totally recommend the courses. They go on sales fairly regularly so I’d definitely wait for them to go on sale. Thanks for watching!

[@bigboy4006]

@@WillHessGameDev Thanks Will, I'll keep that in mind. I already do 3D graphics using Blender 3D, and I've been wanting to learn how to do pixel art for some time.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Well best of luck to you in your pixel art endeavors

[@Scottx125Productions]

Thing i love about pixel art is it's more forgiving and far simple to do for a programmer with little to no artistic skill. It's also more time efficient.

[@shashlik_real]

Great video. Now I am motivated again to work on my pixel art game

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for watching!

[@kaikiokychannel7244]

Thank you bro! without you, I wouldn't be motivated when learning pixel art

[@WillHessGameDev]

I appreciate it!

[@ambergabutero301]

This video is awesome! It helped me figure out where to start. I was a bit overwhelmed with how to start learning pixel art. But this video made it clear to me what I should start learning. Thanks a lot!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Glad it helped!

[@DadVader]

The Force is strong with this one! Great video Mate!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks!

[@royal_crown99]

I’ve been doing pixel art for a while and I absolutely adore it. You learned the same way I did, and I can see your skill growing. Great video!! Should be very helpful for newcomers 🙏

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks I appreciate it

[@RainierFajardoProduction]

I learned Pixel art relatively same as learning Digital Art. I've been a digital artist for over a decade as well as a pixel art and let me tell you - No one is suck at art. They only lack practice. I started to learn digital/pixel art with no ideas so my art look so ugly compared to now thatI learned shading, color scheme, as well as lighting, proportions and color grading, etc. You just had to practice, practice, practice! Practice makes perfect! And to find your own artstyle

[@NotArtistic-xe8wl]

Thanks for this, I'm looking at starting pixel art and found your video by pure luck. It makes me think it's possible! Also the rapid-fire dad jokes were pretty coal.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for watching!

[@The-Electrak]

Oooh, Subnautica ost, I see you're a man of culture! Jokes aside, thanks for the video, it really helped me out

[@hejhejhej952]

Awesome video!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks!

[@alexroman503]

If you want to start making pixel art, but you lack the motivation and don't know where to start, this is the perfect video. It shows that it's okay to be objectively bad at first, that slow progress is still progress, and it might end up not being as slow as you thought. I'm totally coming back to the vid for references, different guides and courses.

[@mrduffmanboy]

This was so nice!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!

[@ouchtor]

5:39 The weapon sprites were looking sharp! (I LOVE that you included music from Subnautica Below Zero in this video)

[@WillHessGameDev]

Haha thanks! I like the below zero music too!

[@leony2727]

Dude super informative video, was stuck just watching videos and not really doing any pixel art. So this motivated me to challenge myself in a similar fashion. Side note: your pronunciation of Jalapeño at 1:41 made me laugh so hard dude 🤣

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you so much!!!

[@RicardoFilho10]

awesome video, keep up!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you so much!

[@ryderlottering]

Those weapons sprites were sharp!

[@its.hawk_]

I actually got aseprite and was screwing around aimlessly, and I was just about to give up on everything, but this video gave me the spirit I need Thank you so much

[@gromaxe]

That parallax background truly reminds me of Noita, great work!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!

[@maxitronomus]

amazing vid man

[@WillHessGameDev]

Appreciate it!

[@elxero2189]

Youve done very well very very well

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!

[@arcdelta4107]

What a wholesome video

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!

[@andrewbenavides4913]

Great job here bro! Went pretty hard on the puns though ;)

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks!

[@cursedillumi4213]

Good video liked it a lot!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Glad you liked it!

[@NetiaV]

really cool video!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!!!

[@edwardmullins2176]

Great video, you deserve more views.

[@WillHessGameDev]

I appreciate that!

[@captainhaddock5701]

Thanks for this video

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for watching

[@Focando.....4]

If there's a main course i should take or just practice with myself it really matters to me❤

[@WillHessGameDev]

You can totally get by with just practicing by yourself, especially if you know what you’re doing, but the courses will keep you on track and give you some structure to your learning.

[@gabrielmontoya6494]

you are cool dude, keep it up

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!

[@user-bm2fy7mt1q]

Only 5k subs. ? 😢 dawm, you deserve so much more.

[@AckYes]

this is so cool

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks

[@OskarJsf]

Great video. It deserves more likes!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks!

[@OskarJsf]

@@WillHessGameDevI have a question. How much did the courses cost?

[@WillHessGameDev]

@@OskarJsf I know they are usually pretty expensive/ overpriced, but I got them when they were on sale because game dev tv likes to do sales pretty often. I forget exactly but I doubt I paid more than $10 for each

[@OskarJsf]

@@WillHessGameDevok thanks:)

[@Rafix]

great!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks!

[@fallasleep9472]

Thank you my guy. This should be an example of how you make an actual tutorial in order to start at something art related.

[@hpuredatalover]

Pixel art is a recent interest of mine, however this seems to also apply really well to other disciplines. You did some good research there, and helped me clear out some things in other areas of art too.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for watching!

[@durrium]

Nice vid mate!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!

[@lotharen]

Very nice to see the progression in just 30 days. Did you use a mouse to draw your pixel art or a wacom tablet?

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you! I used a mouse

[@no7r3k]

I enjoyed the video. Just a tip: if you spread your elbows out slightly, you’ll appear more commanding on screen. It helps you take up more space, which can make you come across as more confident and open.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Haha yeah when I rewatch the vid I always feel like I look like a robot mannequin. Glad you liked the video!

[@kwccoin3115]

Quite a good video. I am bad at this as well and you dare to admit it not saying you are God like; that is a good start. Wonder which 2 courses you do as I might give them a try. (It seemed Reece Geofroy has 3 courses and 2 fit the bill; if no answer I may just try these).

[@tptacos]

While your pixel arts form is very good I would consider finding a solid color palette since it definitely looks a bit too desaturated and not enough hue shift for colors like green and red.Otherwise, keep up the great work!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for the tip!

[@giantmanice]

Those weapon sprites are quite sharp

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks lol

[@VanillaSpooks]

7:35 alien sink goes crazy!!

[@ed5142]

The difference between true and false knowledge: no need to overcomplicate things. Well done sir

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for watching!

[@danielfishburn7042]

When he made the joke about eating the food from the computer screen I was like eh and then when he made that face idk man that shit was hella funny lmaoooo

[@WillHessGameDev]

Haha glad you liked it!

[@korays0726]

nice work bro

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!

[@Andrashh]

"learn pixel fart" lmao I'm dead

[@WillHessGameDev]

I’m glad you saw that lol

[@pleasedontsub2732]

“I can’t think of any weapon puns” - your sword is looking rather sharp

[@WillHessGameDev]

Haha good one!

[@TheJhonataMartins]

Amazing content, greetings from brazil.

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!

[@kahwull014]

Oi amigo Brasileiro

[@SuperJSM]

"I suck at pixel art" most relatable thing i've hear today 😅

[@WillHessGameDev]

Agreed lol

[@lynxoflight72]

You look incredibly young, but thats not to discredit you. The opposite actually! This video is cool! Gives me motivation to get into actually doing pixel art (because i suck at art). Pixel art seems like the perfect entry drug to art, and im looking into making pixel art to make a little game now, so this is a nice help!

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thanks for watching!

[@BrunoSilva-qx6es]

Awesome Content

[@WillHessGameDev]

Thank you!