Making my own 'Shovel Knight'-inspired character sprite

In this video, I attempt to make my own original character sprite inspired by the artwork and styling of the game ‘Shovel Knight’, and share some of the design choices and spriting along the way!
‘Shovel Knight’ by Yacht Club Games:
yachtclubgames.com/shovel-kni...
/ yachtclubgames
/ yachtclubgames
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0:00 Intro
0:06 Sprite Parameters
0:53 Sprite Work
2:34 Walk Animation
3:30 Drill Lance
3:57 Portrait
4:49 Final Artwork
5:44 VID OVER
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Check out my art here:
/ brandonjamesgreer
/ bjgpixel
► SHOP: rdbl.co/bjgpixel
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Software used: Adobe Photoshop (CS6)
Need help picking a pixel art program? Watch this: • What Program to use fo...
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Title sequence theme music by Failpositive:
www.failpositive.bandcamp.com/
/ failpositiv
Chiptune music by mcguy215/Concrete Castles:
www.fiverr.com/mcguy215
/ mcguy215

[@user-cj4fu8qq9b]

what about doing a metal slug inspired boss

[@MartinPurathur]

That would be amazing

[@staltheclown6352]

that would be cool

[@BJGpixel]

Still working up to that god-tier level 😅 For real though that's a great idea, something I'll have to look at at some point :D

[@randyshibai5364]

So much this

[@RollPlayLife]

@@BJGpixel do you have any advice for someone using graph paper when it comes to sketching out your created character? I just started learning how to draw.😭😭🙏🏾

[@joestromo2592]

I'm glad you mentioned the limitations of the hardware. Whether it be pixel art or music, I think a lot of people struggle to evoke that retro feel because they don't understand systems like the NES could only display sprites in certain ways. If you make a retro inspired game, you should have a foundation based on those limitations, and then you can expand and do things those consoles couldn't do

[@gamedevmanti4578]

Loving the drill spin animation, and it's great to see that blue-green combo again. The character himself ended up all as that one colour, though. It might have been good to use the lance colours to pick out some details in his helmet or something.

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks dude! Yeah you could be right, at least for the portrait there's probably a bit of room to introduce more of that orange

[@ulrickai]

Great work as always~ I especially like the construction of the portrait since it's always a nice reference for more detailed lighting which I still struggle with at times. Also, I've love to see a breakdown or a work inspired by the 3rd or 4th generation of Pokemon games. Your video on analyzing the first gen Pokemon sprites (as well as your video on sprite sizes) was really the push to get me interested in trying pixel art.

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks! Yeah I'd love to tackle the Pokemon games for the GBA at some point, I love the evolution in graphics from the original

[@epsilonthedragon1249]

Someone show this to Yacht Club. We need Lance’lil in the game now

[@CyberBrick101]

Hey Brandon i think your own take on a character from hyperlight drifter would be awesome!! Great video by the way!

[@CKTDanny]

I make the drill sounds in my head when see Sir Lance'lil spin his lance 🪛 Didn't know that most of the NES portraits are done in 32x32, that's a good consideration to know for designing portraits! 😁

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks, that would have been a great sound to add in! 😅 It's interesting to consider this thing also having a trigger like a handheld drill that allows it to operate like that And yeah I feel like I see that sizing come up a lot for portraits - turns out to be a good amount of room to work with!

[@o_enamuel]

Sir lance'lil could screw Gears and screws, I think it would be an interesting mechanic... Having a dash in 8 directions would also be interesting.

[@Josuh]

Sir Lance'lil vs Tinker Knight

[@lordxperimental6960]

“Lord McGone” - a ghost trapped inside a piece of royal armour. He can conjure up a ghostly blade that materialises from his hand.

[@mtyuiop07]

I started Pixel art, like a week ago and I discovered your chanel really quickly, and I'm happy about it. You're really so inspiring!

[@remus-alexandrusimion3439]

Ditto :)

[@Alche_mist]

Check also MortMort. The key difference is that MortMort is more tutorial-heavy, whereas Brandon here is more "art process" heavy and together, they can become a great learning foundation for pixel art in general.

[@mtyuiop07]

@@Alche_mist OOh Great! thanks!

[@davidlyons]

Very cool! If you're taking requests I'd love a Final Fantasy VI version of this process, but any 8/16 bit FF would be cool.

[@Sugar-Zombie]

I would love to see some Monster Hunter inspired Pixel Art. The armor design in that game is fenomenal

[@angrypotato_fz]

Cool! Sir Lance'drill!

[@kryliam3243]

The shovel night character that you made looks like a boss and the character and the enemy

[@Blueboyrave]

Great pixel art! The lance reminds me of Gurren Laggan.

[@carrotlime]

ur videos are severely underrated, the production value and effort that goes into these is amazing, thank you so much for the top notch content!!!

[@ehadmili3043]

I dont know if ive said this before but this channel is super duper under rated. Just look at the quality of the video

[@roboat6755]

My suggestion would defo be a LoZ Minish Cap/4 Swords inspired character!!!! They're v cartoony and seeing you make a character in that style would be cool

[@josh__jimison]

Once again a great video from Brandon! I always find it interesting to see your takes on these classic styles. Although it doesn't contain trinational sprites, Papers, Please has a really interesting style that I think would be a good fit for these types of video.

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks dude! Yeah I'll have to take a look at that one, I remember seeing it awhile back and seemed like an interesting premise also

[@ryangolden6448]

I really loved this and thank you for showing the breakdown process I want to try this out for both studies and potentially some character designs for a small game

[@derekhasabrain]

There's just something about your videos that always make me smile by the end

[@kitsovereign4127]

The original Pokémon Trading Card Game for Game Boy does a really interesting job of distilling card art into tiny, 4-color images. (The Japanese-only sequel uses 8-color sprites, which I'm less fascinated by.) It could be fun to take your favorite painting or trading card art and convert it into that style as well!

[@podthereal]

Aw my gawd! SO CUTE!

[@DarksTunes]

Yes! Shovel knight!

[@jcnot9712]

Sir Lance Lil’ looks great and feels right at home with the Shovel Knight aesthetic. As for suggestions, have you considered animating a dungeon crawling aesthetic? Think _Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei_ or the original _Doom._ Love the videos.

[@alexandresousa12odno12]

Undertale, i know that the sprites of it aren't like WOW but i would love to see wath you can do wit it!!

[@LightningCreates]

he could do deltarune sprites, they’re more complex

[@gaysforpresident3860]

I'd be interested to see a character in the style of the slightly more detailed boss/fight sprites that everyone has !! :)

[@halobread]

@HentaiRacoon what? hell no

[@halobread]

@@LightningCreates yeah, their style is similar, but deltarune is more detailed

[@LightningCreates]

@@halobread ik that’s why I suggested it

[@Donvermicelli]

Really inspirational stuff and awesome design!

[@Skeffles]

I love the idea for this channel. Great work on sir lance'lil, it's a great idea.

[@dessinator_]

Reposting because comment got removed for some reason Brandon is a huge inspiration to me and many others, i wouldn’t be developing my game with a few of my friends and we always refer to his tutorials when theres some issue that needs solving Your work is amazing brandon! Edit: a bunch of people were interested in seeing the development of the game, so I made a twitter and youtube channel for it, ManaportStudios on twitter and Manaport Studios on KZbin.

[@robertdanaher1968]

A title screen video would be pretty cool, I remember a lot of GBC games would have an awesome portrait with with the little press start indicator at the bottom.

[@izehsy6715]

SO CUTE!

[@ImusNoxa]

Seeing the breakdown of the Shovel Knight style and also how you worked with it was really interesting. Thanks for making this!

[@isaacmanahan8047]

I love shovel knight!

[@DiscoReptile]

never caught a video this early before! Can't wait to make a more educated comment after I've actually watched it!

[@DiscoReptile]

so cool that we got to not only see the design but some animations and a portrait as well. Interesting choice of palette!

[@nahruz.w3044]

This is just "First" but with extra step, anyway good luck in any project you are working and enjoy the video

[@mikeuk666]

maybe watch then comment?

[@gubbin_malarkies2455]

You should do one of those town or city type art pieces but kinda like a giant compilation of all your past creations and the colors could like gradient across different areas

[@davibrasil697]

Thanks for your videos, they made me to continue drawing pixel art

[@treypoling]

Hey there, I worked as the Sprite Art Director on a Shovel Knight fangame for a few months earlier last year and I think I can contribute a bit to the conversation on mimicking the shovel knight style for character/enemy sprites. All sprites (with a couple weird exceptions) include black and four other colors. Most sprites chose to use two main colors and two colors to be shadows for those hues to make a design that pops out in a smaller resolution. What hues you decide to use are up to your choice. As for the shadow colors you have to make sure they have decent contrast, which shouldn't be too hard with the NES' limited palette. As for character designs, Yacht Club Games released a really good article on how they make them and how they turn them into sprites on their website. If you don't feel like taking the time to read it, one big thing you should remember is to give your character a very distinct silhouette. You can learn a lot about this from looking at all the bosses' different designs and how things like Shovel Knights pointy horns, Specter Knight's huge scythe, and Proper Knight's long horizontal propellor all make their silhouettes incredibly recognizable and iconic. One last thing I want to talk about is portraits. Portraits can go a lot of different ways with cartooniness or realistic anatomy, so it can be tricky sometimes to make something fit like it were in the game; if you do a lot of troubleshooting you can get to something you'll like. Portraits don't have too many technical restrictions like you can use anti-aliasing as you please and use colors a little differently from the original sprite. Really anything other than dithering goes. If you want your portrait to look really good then get creative with angles and facial expressions. You can really indicate a lot about a personality based on the angles and lighting composition. Last thing, and this goes for really everything you draw: make it look 3d! Your shading and form should add depth and that's the thing you want most in a portrait. Well, that was long... I probably should have just done bullet points. Anyways that's some of my general advice and I could answer questions if anyone has any. I've gotten a lot of experience in this art style and I love sharing it.

[@spunglebop1348]

I'm literally just vibeing to your intro

[@blockcabin]

when i saw this video pop up in my sub box i was actually so giddy! i physically clapped and giggled lol

[@Fahnder99]

Hey, you have a great channel format!

[@JoePetrakovich]

absolutely incredible dude. Good stuff

[@Donvermicelli]

Bloodstained / Castlevania are two series that have some phenomenal sprite art, I'd love to see your take on a character in that style.

[@pixelator5312]

brandon: "a short character with a large lance, so his name will be--" me: lance knight? brandon: "sir lance'lil" me:

[@RainMakeR_Workshop]

I honestly love this character concept. Wish it was a game now lol.

[@xerox1354]

I have seen this channel grow so much from 750 subs to now nearly 90

[@LeckerBlut]

I really love watching your Videos. They are very calming to me. I think I will try to do some Pixel Art in the Future as well. Thanks for your videos

[@elesfinter9753]

The spinning drill is a really creative idea, good work!

[@His-Games]

this is thing I never new I needed but totally did. You should totally do more of these, in like the messenger or celeste style. Binding of Isaac has quite an eccentric style, but I'd imagine it'd be a very interesting piece (like a boss or enemy).

[@mikeuk666]

reminds me of Drill Dozer on the gba

[@OmegaFeggy]

What about a Comix Zone inspired sprite? I always loved the comic-esque sprite work in that game.

[@krain4118]

Makes it look so easy

[@willneot5082]

YOOOOOO, this is sooo cool, you should this more man!

[@Footlong_plays]

Would love to see a 'A Link To The Past' inspired boss!

[@olessyacv2092]

Nice video and great animation, I feel very complex when I need to design a character with such minimalist characteristics as the one you show in your video, but you make it look very easy, because you are an expert 👌. You have a new subscriber. Greetings from Mexico👋.

[@InerciaVirtual]

Me and my son just watched this video and we love it

[@OneEyedMaxi]

I just stumbled upon your channel and I gotta say that it's amazing! I binge-watched every single one of your videos and they're all really interesting. You deserve so many more subscribers, your quality, even in the beginning, was like someone with hundreds of thousands or millions of subscribers. You showed me that pixel art isn't as hard to get into as I thought, so you inspired me to get started with it!

[@jeanlandron8744]

Make my own sprite inspired of megaman or even make my own sprite inspired of Guilty Gear what are you guys think about these two ideas.

[@makotoyuki345]

Blown away Your sprite art always amazes me Not sure if you’d want to but I was wondering, is it possible for you to do a Tales of Eternia-like sprite?

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks! Hm I've never played this one but the sprites are really fantastic! :D

[@makotoyuki345]

@@BJGpixel if you’re up to it have fun

[@lukebenkart2411]

Oh, you should totally make a Hyper Light Drifter inspired character!

[@6T03S]

in samurai armor would be another great art too

[@_glint]

I'm acutally here!

[@kinoko6096]

I’d love to see some art inspired by early Pokémon sprites! They have such an awesome look to them and I think you could do a lot with that style

[@8lacKhawKtheRIPPER]

Great stuff! I've always been a massive fan of the GBA-era Fire Emblem games and their animation work, especially in the fighting sequences. Would be really cool to see either an analysis or your own character with a personalized attack animation in that style one day! 😁

[@georgebradley6521]

the knight is adorable

[@juhis-dev]

I love it, great work!

[@thezadek]

I would love to see you do some demakes of new games.

[@goodgameplays9571]

Amazing work mate! You inspire me

[@GeorgeMullin3530]

Thanks I’ve Been wanting to do this for a while now

[@TheGamerSwitch]

make a new super mario enemy in your own design!

[@DekuDunkstar]

Idk why, but I would love for this guy's walk to be like Marvin the Martians.

[@marksball]

I'd like to see a couple new Kirby enemies.

[@ironsquirrel8332]

Have you heard of Huntdown? Its also pixel art but more of a modern interpretation. Really great games and graphics.

[@wh0d1s-l]

Nice!

[@logoffbestie]

This is so cuuute!!

[@chromxrobinandcorrinxcamil9031]

Cool sprite!

[@spartansheep459]

Papers please portait would be interesting especially if you used one of your previous characters or made a new one

[@_glint]

the sprite sheet looks so cute with the bright colors! you must have had to do a lot of formatting >.>

[@BJGpixel]

Thank you! Always love how they come out using these bright NES colours :D

[@DadVader]

Watching your videos is so satisfying 😁 My obvious idea for next creation will be of course Vader and Yoda - I'm really interested of your interpretation of this characters. Oh and Thrall from Warcraft 🖖😁🖖😍🤗😋

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks dude! Yeah I'd love to try Vader and Yoda maybe reinterpreted in the style of a certain game - or make them into Warcraft style characters 😅

[@DadVader]

@@BJGpixel Ha ha that will be awesome Dude! Actually I've got a question but will contact you via IG account 😉😊

[@hoppy662]

amazing video!! i just wish they were longer haha. your characters always have so much life to them : D

[@IzFanArt69]

owo amazing!

[@somehelluvafanboy8357]

I actually want to try to make pixel art now, that was amazing! It looks fun to make, too!

[@rohaningram3711]

I always thought that Sparkster from Rocket Knight Adventures was a brilliant design. It’s not too different from the Shovel Knight theme though. Great Video. 👍🏻😎

[@cloudchaser8650]

Brandon "sir lancea'li-" me "egg head medieval edition."

[@spaalonebabaguuscooties]

what about a street fighter style taller character !! would love to see it, these videos are so oddly relaxing to watch

[@madchillyred]

Love your art work respect en love from Amsterdam

[@thomasrodriguez3107]

You got so many good ideas

[@pikaboystudios3842]

my favorite game of all time!

[@Voxelroguery]

Bro predicted Drill Knight

[@isaacpiscopo]

You should try to turn a complex 3D model into a 2D sprite

[@highattn]

I'd love to see some wargroove inspired soldiers!

[@christianvalenzuela5659]

I just found your videos yesterday and I love em! Here’s a video suggestion! Why not make your own Undertale character? Or respite them like you did with the Add Colors to Mario video?

[@envynoson]

Here's a challenging one "The World Ends With You"

[@QuartzOfficial]

hell yeah

[@dr.cornbread742]

This is awesome!!!

Create a Castlevania 1-3 style character!

[@damiellewis5744]

Great work! I'd love to see something similar like the old ds battle games as well!

[@aamonesamiit-baur2857]

2:18 it helps give the LANCE’LIL

[@aggapuffin]

I think the GBA Ace Attorney pixel art could be a fun one to do, especially with their wild expressions and designs each character has.

[@flat_chumblo368]

me being named lancelot, this makes me feel short XD

[@Hazardsubot]

A punchout inspired boss

[@roger2451]

Amazing Job