How to Sell Pixel Art for Passive Income!

[@Ric_93]

Check out Pixelarium here: ric-gamedev.itch.io/pixelarium Checking the link and rating helps a ton with making the tileset more visible :) I've also revamped my Ko-Fi page if you'd like to send some general support: ko-fi.com/ric_gamedev

[@davnoa5958]

And somehow, link doesn't work. Is this only me? But from your Itch page all seems okay...

[@Ric_93]

@@davnoa5958 Thank you Davno, the link should work now! ;)

[@marxrubronegro9677]

Congrats mate, I hope you find success. This video already motivated me to keep doing the stuff I like, even in the short spare time that I actually have.

[@SadTown99]

@@Ric_93 Dude I can't believe you mentioned " TOMBA ".. I NEVER find anyone that knows or can remember it... That was one of my favorite games as kid, it was so unique and well made

[@RafaelHernandez-mc5rf]

From my experience the best selling top down asset artist focus on expanding there theme into as close to a game as possibly. That is release multiple assets that can fit into the same universe and keep adding to it .

[@Ric_93]

That's exactly my plan 😉 I've already started working on a new tileset with the same color palette and style. I'd also like to add some new tiles and improve the current tileset over time

[@Flyguy6025]

Thanks for putting your age in the description as a 23M I lost courage in doing stuff like this due to my parent saying it is all childish stuff. Nice work keep it up!

[@Yntoxicboy.]

Life

[@annasofiadrossou5162]

i feel you 20F here

[@fortisblue]

turning 32 next week, I make pixel art games for living and I'm very happy with my life. being able to do what you love every day and get paid for it is the key to happy life

[@mistersimple7303]

it's all childish till you can get more fortune than them later

[@andreicostea5088]

A world where you can't enjoy childish things because "you have to be an adult" is the closest thing to hell

[@aliaksandrilyushenka5597]

I really enjoy and appreciate the fact that you always interact with your audience in the comment section. You're a good man and an excellent KZbinr and creator, you deserve to have all these subscribers, and even more!

[@Ric_93]

Thank you for your kind words Aliaksandr! I think it's important to reply to those who spend some of their time to leave a comment, just trying my best over here 🙌🏻

[@mechanicape]

You are a gem. I scrolled down to bottom of the page and you have replied everyone. Its hard to be humble like you. But you can build a bot that will reply behalf of you while doing a sentimental analysis. But thanks for the beautiful artwork.

[@Ric_93]

You're too kind :) I just think it's important to reply back to those who took some time off their day to write a comment! So far I don't get too many comments to the point that I can't reply to them 😉

[@strawberrywtf]

I've turned pixel art from a hobby to my full time job in two months!

[@zarahya6123]

If you don’t mind me asking, do you have any advice for starting out? How long have you been doing pixel art? Would love to know!

[@strawberrywtf]

@@zarahya6123 I've been making pixel art in one form or another since forever. From like the pixel etch-a-sketch when i was really young to RPG Maker sprites in my teens. Advice, I definitely would say finding a community is super important, meet people online and share your work, but then on the technical end, develop a style. There are a ton of cool points in video game history to draw inspiration from. I've lived the majority of video game releases. So i draw a lot of inspiration from my childhood. Like I love playing with the OG Gameboy palette of 4 shades, but there are so many. Keeping pixel ratios aligned when resizing, using color and shape to represent objects at small resolution requires some finesse but all part of the learning process.

[@zarahya6123]

@@strawberrywtf thank you so much!! I never had the chance to play the classics growing up, so I’ve been discovering them now in my 20’s instead, and I just love pixel art! On the other hand I’m pretty old school when it comes to social media though, I rarely use anything other than KZbin.. 🤣 so I have no idea how to find a community.. I’ve been doing some pixel art in animal crossing lately, and that combined with playing older games really sparked an interest. it’s really interesting to see how much detail you can make even when you’re so limited. I’ve always hated regular art since I have a tendency to try and make everything “perfect” (especially the lines lol), but with pixel art it’s much easier since it’s less focus on the things that usually hold me back, and more focus on colours and stuff, the part I actually find enjoyable. Thanks for your time, I appreciate it!

[@raulsantandertirado4400]

@@strawberrywtf Hello Jared, last weekend I set to read the Help file of RPG Maker XP. I'm tinkering here and there with the tool, just to see what I can do. The thing is, I just can't draw shit... Now, I'm not saying that I'll push through this small project but, just to get more information. Are you still making art for it? Could you name some price examples? Just to get an overview of the costs. Thanks in advance

[@mistersimple7303]

man, you re great.

[@AndrisGameDev]

Good luck with selling your pixelart! We (devs) are really happy for such art being online for sale. Even tho, I think if the goal is being a gamedev, maybe it is better to stick to actually shipping games, and not pixelart sold separately. Time is so much more valuable than a small extra income source (when you have a job anyways). But it is my philosophy, of course, everybody has a different path!

[@Ric_93]

Thank Andris! Yes, time is very valuable indeed. I wanted to go through the whole process of creating + setting up for sale at least once to see what it is like and whether I enjoy it. I actually quite like creating tilesets, independently from games, it's a good challenge to create some pixel art for different themes, without necessarily having to go through the process of creating a game for it! I'm currently on my 2nd year of my PhD and it's already a very big challenge (+ I've been in quarantine for an entire year now, which makes things even harder at times). Sometimes, even though I want to work on game dev, I find myself to be too tired, the PhD truly is energy draining... As much as I enjoy making games (I'm working on a mobile game right now ;) ), I do enjoy working on some smaller projects (like a pixelart tileset) which can be completed in a short span of time and don't require as much 'thinking' to it. Drawing pixel art is honestly very relaxing! I honestly don't have a long term goal in mind right now and this whole world is still pretty new to me. I've basically discovered gaming in 2019, I'm still not super familiar with the gaming world in general, nor do I really play a lot of games! Who knows, maybe I'll end up dedicating myself more to the art side of things, instead of game dev as a whole ;)

[@AndrisGameDev]

​@@Ric_93 I'm sure that whatever you end up doing, it will be very well done! Thank you for your detailed answer, I can totally understand your decision. As I said everybody has a different path, and as long as you don't even have a clear goal, trying multiple things is indeed really beneficial. (oh and it is good YT content, too! :) )

[@stinkysoap2393]

I think the main important thing about assets is that they'll stick around for a long time, so it is a good way to make passive income overtime, and the time taken to create the assets is eventually worth it

[@RanDeligero]

This video was in my recommendations, and I didn't expect that I'd learned new stuff about selling pixel art. Thanks for this video!

[@Ric_93]

I'm glad the video was helpful! 🙌🏻

[@davnoa5958]

So... That's Relatable! And good promotion... Glad that you have passively-aggressive "Just Do It!" message. All thumbs Up!

[@mrjohncrumpton]

Thank you for sharing and your encouragement. We can all make a bit of money on the side, even if we don't feel 100% confident in those skills. We are our own worst critic.

[@Ric_93]

Thank you John, I'm glad you liked the video. Yes, passive income has been on my mind for at least a full year now but I was never feeling confident enough! The best is to not overthink it and give it a go 😉 in the worst case you will have learnt something from the process, even if no actual income is generated.

[@non_existant001]

I like how you got started without any intro 😹😹

[@Ric_93]

I can't do intros, so I just skip them 😅

[@non_existant001]

@@Ric_93 😂

[@lennyphoenixc]

Hey, he's straight to the point ;)

[@gutsberserker5476]

yea its bery professional :)

[@noiJadisCailleach]

TBF, the first 30 secs was the intro already.

[@lennyphoenixc]

Awesome stuff! I've been thinking of selling some art assets on itch, so this was really interesting :)

[@Ric_93]

Oh hey Lenny Boi! Thanks 🍪 good luck! 😉

[@Danny-gs5dv]

So surprised to hear you mention Tomba! in this video. It's such an underrated gem. It's an amazing game.

[@Ric_93]

I lova Tomba! (and Tomba 2), I played them constantly as a kid ;)

[@mistersimple7303]

uh Tomba. the memories about it are so beautiful.

[@lowwwery]

The way you spoke about your skills, I thought your art was going to be rubbish. After watching the vid, I'm pleasantly surprised! You're a great pixel artist, man!

[@Ric_93]

Thanks Curtis, I still have a long way to go, I'm trying my best 🙏🏻

[@SidFish]

Happy to see you posting vids again Ric

[@Ric_93]

Hello Sid! I'm slowly coming back to a more regular posting schedule 🙌🏻

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

Congrats on this project, and thanks for sharing your journey!

[@Ric_93]

Thank you 🍪

[@nikkiradanart]

I just found your video by chance, and I'm just here to say that the whole video is so inspiring and informative! The message in the end really connects to me as an artist as well! Cheers to our creative journeys! 😊✨

[@weightlesscrown4085]

this was so inspiring! wish you the best, thank you so much for sharing, took notes from all the tips ;)

[@miguelluceroart]

Thank you so much ric! Literally exactly what I needed!

[@Ric_93]

You're welcome Miguel!

[@jillzord]

This is so exciting, reminds me of when I used to to pixel art for fun when i was a teenager. Now we can get a little money from it :D BEING AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST RULES!!

[@PictureVane]

those words at the end... thank you

[@luagalante]

As someone who has been trying to make a game using tilesets, it's quite frustrating when one only finds a "nice village tileset" and then the author never follows it up with other sceneries, buildings, or even props. Specially jarring is the lack of characters. You find tilesets, but not the living, moving parts. I hope your video is inspiring to other artists out there. People like me depend on you! Good luck in the future!

[@RafaelHernandez-mc5rf]

Nice work hope you keep building out on this style .

[@Ric_93]

Thank you Rafael!

[@fammnak852]

OMG Tomba is my fave game of all time too!! I remember finishing the game in one sitting.. Tomba 1 is the best but Tomba 2 is great as well!!! (Happy to see the change from 2D to 3D). Thank you for the tips, I am a beginner in pixel art and happy to learn the possibilities to sell my art in the future. Thank you!!

[@computercrazies]

A lot of game devs like to purchase art that includes items, walls, characters ect so that when they eventually have to expand to something the artist hadn't included as the game grows they at least have some example of different types of objects to reference.

[@SoulEngineDev]

This is fantastic and exactly what I was looking for and more!

[@Ric_93]

Thks I hope you will be pleased by the other subject in the channel.

[@ryangatchel]

This is fantastic Ric! You should showcase some games that are using it if possible! :)

[@Ric_93]

Thank you Blue Black :) I'd love to! Right now it's still too early, but maybe in a couple of months?

[@ryangatchel]

@@Ric_93 That sounds fantastic! I am looking forward to it :)

[@MichaelKocha]

Just stumbled across the video and I'd love to know how well your packs are doing now, two years later!

[@Krisenaa]

Yo, did you get this good at pixel art in only 2 years? That's amazing. Did you have an art background from before that?

[@VanceAnce]

ahahah i totally feel you at the end - especially the xenoblade part :D :D

[@signalised9540]

Really interesting talk. The tileset is gorgeous

[@Ric_93]

Thank you Sig! 🍪

[@RetroRaider]

You got me on Tomba :) It was the very first game I reviewd on my channel.

[@jamiebrownhill_]

Thanks for this video, Ric. It was a huge inspiration and I've just recently released my first tileset on itch! I'd love to see more videos of your experience using the platform!

[@gurmeetkumar6020]

Hello

[@unfilledflag]

I used a different approach and I actually made a font, and my pricing system was more aimed at just getting people to see it: the font is free for free projects and $5+ for commercial projects :)

[@Ric_93]

good luck with your own font! ;)

[@enishi4ty5]

i made fonts before and never thought to profit…wowww

[@Henry-es1cp]

Oh thanks for the informations Great vid✔

[@Ric_93]

Thanks Albert!

[@microdavid7098]

great work Ric

[@Ric_93]

Thank you David!

[@bild96]

awesome art

[@Ric_93]

Thank you Malcolm 🍪

[@riverdeedesigns9915]

Thank you for this information!

[@coluicheboh9663]

mi è spuntato questo video in home, mi hai fatto stare attaccato allo schermo per 8 minuti.

[@borjadetorres7747]

Oh my god. I had forgotten Tomba. What a great game. Never played the second tough.

[@Ric_93]

they are both great games! I do prefer the second one a bit more (mostly nostalgia). I found the first one a bit hard at some points (and I don't think I ever beat it as a kid?)

[@durrium]

Looks wonderful!

[@AdamDeCuir]

Nice art! Just curious, these years later, how many units have you sold? Thanks in advance!

[@freddy77.]

I saw Indian guy buying a pixel art that worth 70 million USD thanks for your tutorial

[@non_existant001]

Are you Indian

[@Masda.X]

Wut ???

[@Ric_93]

70 mill? That's... That's a lot 😅 hope it was worth it

[@freddy77.]

@@non_existant001 nope I'm sri lankan

[@freddy77.]

@@Ric_93 this is it (skip if you want)-kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJXXdnt8q5pnn6M

[@SnutiHQ]

Came for the Norwegian cup, was not disappointed. 😎 Beautiful art! 😍

[@Ric_93]

Oh hey, hello Snuti 🍓🍓🍓 I had a very nice time in Norway 🇳🇴 I wish I could go back to visit more! I only stayed in Oslo 😅

[@SnutiHQ]

@@Ric_93 That's awesome to hear, and you certainly should! 😁👋

[@inthegaps]

It's a lovely set of assets!

[@Ric_93]

Thank you Pennie!

[@aaryayt7747]

I have made a Pokemon style Tileset and was about to sell it but had no idea how to, thanks for the tutorial!

[@micha1951]

keeping a cup of tea or whatever so close to the tablet looks rly risky in my opinion :D or better to say "looked".

[@Ric_93]

haha it is risky indeed! A couple of days ago I (almost!) spilled an entire cup of tea on the laptop 😬

[@madebyLGrabowski]

Very nice, encouraging video. I gave this set 4 stars on itch. Keep up the good work!

[@jaysanprogramming6818]

Good job on this asset pack. However please consider doing other environments (in other asset packs of course) using the same style and palette. There is nothing more anoying than having an asset pack that doesn't get along with anything else and being stuck to only one environment. As a side note, I found Xenoblade Torna DLC a very enjoyable experience. Much more than Xenoblade 2. Still, have fun with those games.

[@tubeguy4066]

Cool, digital tulips

[@tauheedgamedev2388]

That's awesome man, Self sabotage is the worst, almost as bad as fake syndrome. Keep it up man, Mmmhhhh Coookkkiieee

[@em-bi4278]

could you also add what laptop or computer you use in the description if that's okay love the video, i hold off doing pixel art and finally creating a game because of work and this just made me want to give it a try again thanks! Also your works are awesome! hope you create more!

[@edesaine_zx]

I can see it's dell G, but you can use any decent laptop in market today.

[@jotaeagles8749]

very inspirational

[@Ric_93]

Thank you Javier, I appreciate!

[@mohammedharoonrasheed1416]

What's the name of the software you used other than aesprite. 3.01 timeline. You editing the customized design?

[@yorkshire2984]

Would be super interesting to revisit this and find out how it went after a year :)

[@Ric_93]

It generated a bit less than 1k$ since launch, after taxes I managed to make around 700$ ☺️ not too bad!

[@yorkshire2984]

@@Ric_93 very nice!

[@Aye_Sid]

Thanks for making the video..😇👍🏻

[@Ric_93]

You're welcome!

[@jessejohnson2969]

hey ric , any tips on creating pixel art (character and creature sprites) for a beginner .

[@lingster7777]

Hello Ric! Great video. I may try to do the same. It it has been almost a year since this video came out. How much money did you make off of this one pixel asset pack?

[@mrorange159]

Can I ask how sales are now? Also did you have to advertise? Great vid thanks 😊

[@PapoyCore]

What software ur using for making scene like that without using game engine??

[@Ric_93]

The software is called Tiled!

[@VivekJamwall]

Great work Ric, What tool do you use to create pixel art?

[@rroyal7496]

Aseprite

[@stemroute9376]

where are the numbers? how much did you make from this project? keep us updated

[@mamadoumama7201]

Excuse me, want to ask, what the best size for the isometric ?🙏🏻🙏🏻😭 it's nice

[@mahmudshuaib7419]

hello bro, nice work. am looking for a nice course on pixel art, any tips

[@shaddinalaiban4979]

Tried that, not a single person bought it. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

[@saif0316]

I really should buy this. It’s only $3.50 rn

[@Narque]

what software is that you are stamping the tileset with? i'm currently using pyxel edit myself but that one looks nice

[@Ric_93]

It's called Tiled, highly recommended!

[@bini420]

Hey when you first uploaded the tileset did you inform your fans and audience on platforms or no? Also I noticed you linked your Kofi on it and did you get any donations?

[@Ric_93]

Hello Bini! I only announced it on Discord. This video is the first announcement on a big platform. I'd say the mais source for the first sales though was itch.io itself. All the new projects get on the "Recent" tab and from there the project can then be featured on the Popular tab from which it can get a lot of attention! I got one Kofi donation ☕

[@bini420]

@@Ric_93 hey thanks man! I'm planning to make and release a tile set aswell on itchio but I'm still abit apprehensive of doing it since Im unknown online and don't know if you got asmany sales as you did becuase of your audience. Your thoughts?

[@Ric_93]

I started from the bottom like anybody else 😉 if you're interested in growing an audience patience and perseverence are the key! As for itch.io, if your tileset is good quality, well presented, with a curated page, with a reasonable price, I don't see why it wouldn't sell! However I recommend trying to get some feedback on both the tileset and the page BEFORE you launch it! Itch.io pushes your project at first, so you really want to take advantage of the launch day with a very attractive page! No rush 😉

[@bini420]

@@Ric_93 oh I actually didn't know that, thanks dude! Btw I'm curious on what's your day job?

[@Ric_93]

I work as a research engineer for a private company

[@bugqq-design3199]

wich software is used to place the pixel art a.k.a tileset and items in?

[@TheBushdoctor68]

Great video! Great tips. I'm a fan of pixel art games ever since I got my first C64, but I've never tried my hand at designing art for them! (Actually, Koala Painter was basically pixel art, now that I think of it, lol) Where do I start when I have questions about the specifications of the sets? Like, if I make 16x16 art, can I also do 32x16 items? I'm basically wondering what my limits are. Can I use multiple pallets in a single set, for example? Are there specific requirements for those sets? Is there a group or community somewhere that can answer these questions? Thanks.

[@ant5ta]

What programs do you use to make pixel art and put together the scenes for your projects?

[@Ric_93]

I use Aseprite to make the sprites and then Tiled to make the scenes 😉 good luck!

[@oleksiibondarchuk5057]

Nice vid

[@Ric_93]

Thanks! 🍪

[@strawstack]

What app are you using to layout the tileset?

[@Ric_93]

It's called Tiled!

[@shafayet1678]

Make a video how we can make pixel art game assets

[@kryob1]

Hello Ric, some questions ahead: Can you give us some legal or license advice? Can you protect your art with ID for each pic or with another mechanic? Is copyright possible for low resolution images etc.? What other kind of protection can i choose for my art?

[@Ric_93]

Hello, these are some great questions! Unfortunately I'm not the best person to give legal advice as I'm still figuring it out myself! It can get quite confusing tbh. Some websites automatically cover your art assets with licensing when you upload on the website (it's the case for GameDev Market, check it out!), as far as I know, this is not the case for itch.io. For the tileset that I uploaded, buyers can modify it and use it for any personal and commercial projects. There is always the possibility of the tileset being taken as it is and resold on another website. It's the internet after all, anything can happen unfortunately. I'd recommend looking at what more experienced artists do! Sorry

[@Gendgi]

Awesome! :D

[@Ric_93]

Thank you Gendgi!

[@amirghalbarband3038]

Hey Ric, you did great job, as 3D artist I was publish a project around 10 days ago, but so far I didnt find any approval from itch, not sure what is the issue, any advice about it?

[@HalkerVeil]

How much of those sales comes from your following?

[@ldhero8]

yay a cookie

[@gooffball9758]

so if i understand you, that you make an picture art and then resell it over and over again?

[@Ric_93]

yes, you can see it simply as a product for sale on a website

[@ferrercarlos5271]

Is it possible to make that in cp , cuz I don't have money yet to buy laptop , but I swear I got the skills to draw 😅

[@mawkuri5496]

you have a nice handwriting dude

[@Ric_93]

Thanks!

[@icristian6707]

How hard is learning that app to create pxlart?

[@kalifretlawdworfton2802]

Where did u get the Pixel Art Program?

[@Ric_93]

I bought it from the Aseprite website

[@jobenw8130]

Which software do you use ?

[@DreameR_IX]

Where do you make your pixel art? Like what program do you use?

[@Ric_93]

I use Aseprite!

[@DreameR_IX]

@@Ric_93 wonderful, Cheers!

[@andreicojocaru2864]

You're speaking, there is footage on the screen and there is also text poping once every 3 seconds. It is hard for me to follow everything.

[@schrektgourg379]

personally, I had no trouble following the video

[@Ric_93]

I tried to make the video more interesting by adding texts and having different pov for the footage. I sometimes tend to go overboard though 😅

[@tubeflix31]

Hello bro and thankyou for this helpful video . If you can tell me where i can sell my games or 3d animations . I can make more like animation flyer .

[@ZeMakerpen]

is it available on mac?

[@Ric_93]

the final product is a png file, so it can be opened on mac ;) then it's up to the game engine you're using, the tileset isn't designed with one specific engine in mind, but you can usually upload the png to the game engine and it should be fine

[@Flerrari]

Hey, dk whould u still answer on this video, but im very new to pixel art, can u explain more wisely, cuz i cant find it anywhere, what exactly makes tileset 16x16? I`ve scrolled through some of them on itch, watched some videos, and theres some objects that like 1,5 or even 2 times the 16x16 size. For example - ur palms in this video. Would they still count even if they take like 4 of 16x16 tiles to be there, my brain just burns every time i try to understand this rules😭. Would appreciate help SOOOOOO much!!!

[@dualexistence]

After GANNs?

[@chut9160]

I want to learn pixel art but I don’t know where to start :(

[@jamiebrownhill_]

Pixel Pete and Brandon James Greer on KZbin were really useful for me. You could also just try recreating some of your favourite game sprites or one of your own pieces of artwork!

[@hiiambarney4489]

Well shieee, I be damned... Don't make my mistake then, kids... I was selling custom Pixel art works, animations etc. on Fiverr. And to be honest... Customers are asshats usually. Not all, some. Usually the ones that want a lot of content. (excluding the guys that want like 4 minutes of animations for 20$, obviously)

[@Ric_93]

I've never used Fiverr before, so I can't really tell, but I'd say the best would be to combine tilesets/reusable assets that can be sold over and over again (itch.io) with some custom work on Fiverr (only the ones which are worth the time)

[@MythoCondria]

tomba mentioned, like

[@dumpsteremail3153]

Hey, does anyone know what he uses for trying the tiles? I don't think I caught it if he said it :(

[@Ric_93]

It's called Tiled! I added it as a text overlay, but it's not too easy to read

[@dumpsteremail3153]

@@Ric_93 Oh gosh, thank you for answering so quickly!

[@ruqaiyahhussain4501]

@@Ric_93 where can you get this app? On what device

[@DJJSA]

which software do you use for making pixel art? time 2:14

[@misticloud_real]

Thanks for the cookie

[@r_Baku]

hi, what payout mode you recommend?

[@Ric_93]

I've chosen PayPal!

[@gamertag0o0o17]

What application was he using???

[@iogilarb]

wait, sounds familiar to me..