Isometric Pixel Art Practice

[@BJGpixel]

#oil6 palette on Lospec: lospec.com/palette-list/oil-6 GrafxKid on Twitter: twitter.com/GrafxKid Music during artwork reveal: “Waves” by Concrete Castles insocaf.bandcamp.com/album/playsound-ep-wav

[@elicenyne]

OiI

[@SwitchAndLever]

While I haven't done isometric pixel art in a long time I was hugely into it back in the early 2000s. What I can recommend is working with breaking up the line work even more. You started quite well with the bottom but you can definitely push it beyond that. The bright line you used as the front corner edge of many of your shapes could have been broken up further using other parts of the bright side of the palette, creating a dithered gradient highlight that goes from bright to dark, top to bottom. This can really help bring more dimensionality into your objects, and make them pop out a bit more. Same idea can be applied to all the general outlines. Outline dithering is your friend!

[@BJGpixel]

Hey thanks for the great insight, I appreciate it! That makes a lot of sense for getting finer control of the shading and making the most of the 3 dimensions - especially with limited palettes! This isometric format really opens up a lot of interesting ways to play with shading and linework control that feels really fresh compared to a lot of my other work

[@IONATVS]

Recommendation for isometric circles: draw the rhombus for that “face” of the cube (which will be approximately a rhombus) and mark the center of each side of the rhombus. then try to eyeball an oval that goes through all 4 of those points. circles should only really be circles on a face angled right towards the camera, which is where the corner of the cube would normally be. Looks good anyway, but if you’re really used to looking at isometric stuff it sorta looks like the fan and the duct it’s attached to is angled more towards the camera than the wall it’s on.

[@IONATVS]

For reference, while I haven’t done a huge amount of pixel art, probably half of what I have done is isometric, and it’s a style I love to doodle in in graph paper notebooks with a pencil, as its mathematical rigidity is easy to keep straight even having visual aphantasia. And as a mechanical engineer, isometric projection drawings are a standard “courtesy” drawing to go along with the multi-view face-on perspective used in standard technical drawings so the person fabricating the object can have an idea of what it’s actually supposed look like when done.

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to try that! Yeah I wasn't entirely sold on those fan blades but wasn't entirely sure how to skew them into place, might have been better to start from more angular blades 🤔 That's interesting hearing your experience with the mathematical nature of isometric; I find the same thing with pixel art in general - that the limitations and "rules" (so to speak) helped me to actually find my way around it and develop a style

[@RobertMilesAI]

@@BJGpixel The other thing you can do is just draw the circle straight on, and then go through your circle left to right, and every two pixels along, shift the image up by one. Cool thing about this is it works with any shape or drawing.

[@zarblitz]

This is exactly how I learned to draw circles in an isometric projection in my drafting class in high school, when we learned to first draft by hand.

[@keithkarnage]

I love GrafXkid!! His Natures Embrace 55 is so bright and happy. And his Today Land stuff is great too.

[@BJGpixel]

Totally, and I know it's a small thing but I'm also a huge fan of Today Land palette layout image; one of the best presentations I've seen :D (REF: grafxkid.tumblr.com/post/137439294099/grafxkids-today-land-palette-release)

[@Blueboyrave]

A technique for drawing circles in isometric that I learning in technical drawing is to make a square, mark the center of each side and use those as guides for the circle. Each midpoint is a tangent for the circle inside

[@BJGpixel]

Thank you, great concise explanation! Gonna have to give that a try :D

[@kompot505]

as an aspiring anime-ish artist, watching your videos all morning is definitely motivating me to try pixel art as something new! your content is fantastic, i can't even stop binging it for long enough to actually start my artwork.

[@t1g049]

Ur pixelart skills is awesome, everytime I watch one of ur videos I get inspired!

[@brandonjacksoon]

Thank you for tutorials! Really useful and nice structured video! Good luck Brandon!

[@Maggi1108]

I love your videos. Your voice and tone are really pleasant.

[@jekkey]

9:23 yo you are the master of this style :D Love your work, really inspiring!

[@nicolasbassano3697]

Great presentation as usual......Thanks for sharing!!!

[@Vagossssssssss]

There is an other huge plus when you try to make pixel art in different Angles, not only you start making new shapes for objects that you have drawn wayyyy too many times but also gives you a good smooth path to start animating stuff, you know for those few out there that want to get into it Nice video Brandon like always :D

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks dude, yeah it was really interesting - and since it's a 3D style you get to explore more sides of the design :D

[@letscompose8560]

You are easily the best pixel art instructor on YT imo - you make top-quality content and I hope you don't retire any time soon.

[@beaverstever1083]

I do amateur pixel art (and other art styles) in ms paint for fun and I find your videos really helpful for learning new techniques and ways of viewing it that always help improve my art. whenever I finish one of your videos I can't wait to apply what I've learned to create something new that I have never tried before.

[@EliMeckes]

I love how you explain what you do

[@MagykKatte]

I just used this palette for a jam game and saw that one of the comments was about you using it in a video! Naturally I had to look up which one. Great work!

[@sandrucristian1983]

Easy tutorial to do complicated things. thank you for sharing your experience. You won another subscriber. Pixel art is one of my favorites.

[@guynamedtoast]

I love seeing how other people go about working because I never would’ve thought about making isometric pixel art but this was so cool! I honestly might start making this type of art soon!!

[@alanli8991]

I don't even really do pixel art, I just like watching your videos because they are oddly kind of satisfying. Nice videos!

[@allentang3901]

Listening to you process and workflow steps was really enjoyable. Thanks!

[@ghostbotmellow706]

The thing about this channel I love is I normally don't draw a lot of science fiction based art, so you have inspired me to try new things. Samus from super Metroid here I come!

[@kenrade69]

Always great content, Brandon. Please don't stop making great pixel content

[@moxsch9188]

Yes Brandon, that's the video I needed thank you so much for you awesome content.

[@pyropoison113]

CRT time is my favorite thing. Thank you for this awesome video!

[@isaacdiboss]

Amazing work Brandon! Keep it up!

[@ban0nar0ma]

Man, your art is amazing! Thanks for being so inspiring.

[@OmG21097]

Wow I notice that you create new layer for each object you draw. That's nice

[@josh__jimison]

Another great video Brandon! Every one of your video is a homerun. Your choice of palettes is always so great, them and your little animations always bring the piece together!

[@Rynax-]

CRT Time fills me with so much joy. Thank you!

[@mindelofortes12345]

I knew the day would come when you'd make isometric pixel art! 😄

[@Demonskunk]

For doing bisometric circles I recommend starting with a square shape, then rounding the corners until they look right. The same way you'd do a pixel circle from the front, but instead on an angle.

[@never__mind]

The magic of art

[@lyiusapangolin]

Even watching 2 minutes into the video this was incredibly helpful incite to isometric Pixel Art, it was really concise and understandable. I really love the ending animation too and the addition of floor tiles as it really solidified the feel of the artwork to me.

[@j.eartdrawing3606]

Wow, this is soooooo good😍😍😍😍Thank you for sharing ❤

[@Stiffeno]

Looks amazing! Love the little cat just vibing on the roof too lol

[@1hu2izxuh]

I love your art... So adorable

[@dougandthug7602]

Youre like the Bob Ross of pixel art man, your videos are always so relaxing.

[@urielacosta2329]

I've been waiting for you to make a video about this. I'm a huge fan (though not a good player) of RTS games. I've been waiting for this video since you started out.

[@coolchannie3103]

these videos are so satisfying

[@vernonzehr]

hahahaha! I lived through the "pixel art era" and was SO HAPPY when computers and internet got fast enough that we didn't have to do pixel art anymore. now it's an art form unto itself. What a wonderful world. p.s. In the olden days of the internet, back when you could almost count all the websites and they published them in a magazine each month or at least tried to for a little while, I had to do a lot of graphics using pixel art just to make them downloadable on a webpage. A page more than a a couple hundred kilobytes was unacceptable. Oh lord I can still remember when my supervisor saw something about animated gifs (brand new tech!!!) and demanded we start using them everywhere. Back in the days of Netscape baby. God DAMN seems like yesterday. Time flies when you're old.

[@tictactoc9311]

Really great video!

[@Encheat]

This is so entrancing to watch...

[@PrettyCoolDrumShow]

Loving these videos! Very inspirational and amazing to watch

[@jameshowlet5597]

Oh my gosh! This is absolutely beautiful!

[@briggasnax8575]

Wish the CRT time was longer, especially for this one. I'd love to see a lofi mixtape starring a compilation of all the CRT time that has been shown this far!

[@ProphetOfGaster]

How do I like a comment twice?

[@evanmagill9114]

Now I'm thinking someone could make a lofi radio steam (or something else) with looping CRT time of all of Brandon's stuff.

[@malemsgm1624]

I can do that, I'll first need his permission

[@DefinitelyNotMagnus]

man i saw your luke remake every year video 2 days ago and now im watching some of your old videos every night~ more content to come~

[@seerlights]

This was so satisfying to watch brandon XD

[@KozmoRadio]

Learning so much from your whole channel. Thank you so much!

[@taube_g]

Dude, I saw the tutorial you made and I started doing things, but now looking at your video, I have to be more creative, I normally build constructions like where I live, but yours have so many different details and technics, which I find incredible how vast and magnificent pixel art. is.

[@nurjafri]

Hey James, checking out your video after a long gap. I have that Bell Icon that kept reminding me about all your crazy ass videos but I am just too busy to have this peaceful luxury. Keep doing the awesome work. It's really soothing watching you work with those pixlies. :)

[@Stripehat]

I really appreciate your videos and wanted to share that. Thank you, Brandon!

[@zalhietzli]

Awesome as always !

[@welbertrindade3617]

This is SO COOL!! I loved it!

[@chienduongquang8087]

Dang. That is just so good.I really love it

[@matthewsanford8981]

Thanks so much for this! I've been practicing isometric pixel art, and your videos are always so helpful. Great work, as always.

[@VidVoyeur612]

The CRT is a nice touch!

[@KyleSzklenski]

This is as awesome as everything. Your videos have quite literally been a lifesaver to me during this pandemic, although I don't want that to pressure you. 🤣

[@danisob3633]

too late. you've ruined his existence xd

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks dude, always appreciate your support! Making vids has also been great for keeping my mind occupied while we make it through this!

How in the world can you make such a beautiful artwork!

[@mattwhelan13]

looks awesome, you've inspired me to do my next peice in this style

[@MaximumBloop]

the only thing i wish for this series is that BJG used the old 16-bit music. So calming and amazing. And it fit with the channel!

[@dotjastudio]

great job will create something similar to this using you as inspiration!

[@Ryan50Ryan]

That cat is just vibing.

[@secretivesolitude8233]

Dude what the heck this is so good ugh, I’m jealous lol I’m just starting out learning pixel art. Kudos man you are talented.

[@andresalbertolopez3071]

This was beautiful, you're so talented!

[@remochii]

I'm so glad this got recommended to me! ❤️

[@yo5tan]

I suppose you could call this an 'Isomech shop' :P Great work! Absolutely love me some muted colour palettes

[@TapDat52K]

*Profusely taking notes* I like isometric viewpoints, and I love pixel art.

[@ori862]

you deserve more recognition

[@jeanskrrs]

you make me wanna try isometric pixel art too!

[@AskelDev]

Wow, this is beautiful! Well done!

[@badrjaouad8554]

Wonderful tutorial

[@evmemc]

Wow, I was never really in the pixel art or drawing too much, but I just watched this video from start to end in one go, didn't even notice as it ended. This is sooo coooool, keep up the great work! You're awesome!

[@user-yn8fb8cd8d]

This guy is criminally underrated

[@Amieee]

*beautiful work*

[@MondayHopscotch]

Just found your channel the other day. Currently mid-binge through your videos. Great content! I also just want to point out (in case you don't know, but you probably do) that Photoshop has a flip horizontal/vertical in the Edit -> Transform menu. They don't have hotkeys by default, but you can set them in the preferences. I see you do the Free Transform to flip stuff a lot and if you add some hotkeys for those functions, I bet you'd save a bunch of time. Anyways, keep up the solid work. This is definitely motivating me to get back into pixel art again.

[@cerisskies]

Would love to see you doing some isometric characters!

[@merice4427]

I love so much your video, I think that i'm gonna try to make pixel art as beautiful as yours

[@faustoorieta]

Those first circle attempts are relatable

[@dshfo5608]

Finally i know the name of this style, thanks

[@kadinnova1117]

I love this one! You could say it's... iso-MECH-tric!

[@0ion]

That's super cool!

[@derbiervampir3516]

Thank you for this interesting video! It would be really cool to see more of those isometric art stuff. :)

[@shrimpyy420]

very cool, keep it up man!

[@ironshears]

You can do the select and shift thing for circles too!(Or any other non square flat shape that will go along a wall. It's also good for wallpaper!). Just change little details at the end so it looks cleaner. I've been doing isometric art for years and it's a massive time saver that also looks way more accurate. Just keep in mind this doesn't work for anything going on the floor. But you can just do it head on and make it shorter for that :)

[@Victor-gx9ie]

Thank you! Nice lesson!

[@llowotv]

0:54 The Y-axis is the vertical axis, and the one parallel to the X-axis is the Z-axis

[@jovanye.8305]

I don’t know how I’m here, but this job is spectacular.

[@jermaine7285]

god I love you and your art

[@abzer0gaming]

Awesome! Finally some isometric love. Here are some games to consider for future isometric works: Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (or Red Alert 2) (PC) (RTS) Final Fantasy Tactics (Sony PlayStation) (Strategy/Tactical RPG) Landstalker: The Treasure of King Nole (Genesis/Mega Drive), (Fantasy adventure/platformer) Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Super NES) (RPG) SimCity 2000 (MSDOS/Win9x) (City building, simulation)

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks for all the great references! Totally forgot about Super Mario RPG; that'd be a fun one to analyze

[@WillieTheAutomaton]

Would you go over your grouping and layer structuring? Would be really interesting to see how you're grouping things to move faster

[@LoganRaspa]

awesome! so inspiring!

[@KrucialTiger]

hey, I've been wanting to start doing pixel art in a while, but don't really know where to start. Should I start by copying other people's pixel arts and developing that way a work flow? (Just like how you start by copying other drawings when u wanna learn how to draw)

[@TheGlenofKrokot]

I would recommend learning the most basic pixel art rules (like avoiding doubles in line work) and then trying to start with the simplest objects you can think of I started with an apple, a rock, and then went on Also i recommend starting with really small canvas sizes like 16x16 P.S. Copying other's work is essential for starters but try to think why someone else did something they did because that way you can learn a lot more than just by copying

[@elgatoamarillo]

Mort mort has some nice tutorials on his channel for the basics, things like doubles and jaggies. The best thing you can do is just start! Make something!

[@His-Games]

when I started pixel art, I made a totally trash game with really basic non-animated objects, like basic walls with simple textures, and swords (it was a mobile game), then I made a super stylistic platformer, with 16x16 basically stickman character, then I made a more realistic 16 by 16 platformer, with more intricate textures and animations specifically. Then I started doing a isometric strategy game. I know that is in context of programming and making games, but the workflow of starting small, uninteresting and simple then building up to greater, bigger, more interesting pieces is more or less the same. Hope this helps!

[@nathanl2966]

As a fellow beginner, I've found working my way up through the console generations and working within those limitations of canvas sizes and color palettes (e.g. pokemon color's 16x16 canvas and only 4 colors) and learning how they could still illustrate so well with those limitations, combined with these videos has helped me ease in to more complex attempts, with modern hardware it's easy to be overwhelmed by the infinite colors and canvas size available. Also watching a quick tutorial on how to properly use your program of choice, goes a long way early on.

[@openpineapple2205]

I would try copying references of non-pixel things and drawing them in a really small canvas like 16 by 16 or maybe 32 by 32. This will help you get a feel for how to simplify complex shapes into just a few pixels, which is really what pixel art is all about. When you've mastered a small canvas, move up to a larger one and just repeat the process until you feel confident in your skills. I also think you would benefit from some KZbin videos on how to make clean looking lines, pick pretty colors, etc. I hope this was helpful and I hope you have fun making some pixel art!

[@cristhianc5580]

This look of what my art teacher is been talking about 2 years, but now it has more sense

[@rando007]

This is great!

[@thatdude3466]

Pretty good candles.

[@BJGpixel]

😉👍

[@mhz1653]

Nice job bro

[@ieatsoap6389]

This reminds me of kairosoft games they always use isometrics building pixelart because of that specific thing I got into pixelart

[@artischocker1520]

This is amazing i had to remake it in 3d. Really cool

[@otesunki]

I love iso!

[@jehriko7525]

This looks dope