Pixel Art 101: How to Improve a Sprite!

[@PeterMilko]

Indie dev here to help! ⭐Here is the Kickstarter link! www.kickstarter.com/projects/petermilko/the-last-phoenix ►DISCORD discord.gg/YVqfFhV7pc ►PATREON www.patreon.com/sadslime ►TWITTER: twitter.com/PeterMilko ►DWERVE game dwerve.com/ ►FREE ART & GAMES: petermilko.itch.io/ ►ASEPRITE pixelart program: www.humblebundle.com/store/aseprite?partner=pixelpete 👕 PANICPOP clothing panicpop.com/

[@robertsummers2331]

For a spin like that at the end. I gave ya two. One on the video and one for this comment.

[@aozanyasar]

it would be better for me if i could hear your voice and comments on fast skip phase at the end but anyway it was a great video thanks :)

[@einavshiloh2571]

do u have discord? if not make 1

[@iyas5398]

Make Instagram account 🌚

[@guys-in9vd]

WorKs

[@mytechnotalent]

You are the most genuine and fun Pixel Artist I have ever seen. You explain and share details in Aesprite in ways no one else does and yes I did get it from the Humble Bundle to help. Thank you so much I wish you can make 1,000,000 videos for this playlist Pete.

[@PeterMilko]

Thank you

[@mytechnotalent]

@@PeterMilko pleasure Pete I am excited to learn from you as I am a Musician and Python Dev but learning the Pixel Art is tough it really takes enormous creativity and discipline you make it fun. Looking forward to all your new episodes.

[@twistiv]

A video dedicated to critiquing people's pixel art sounds cool

[@MiMiBrokenbourgh]

Hehe…

[@L09ANA]

Well the fact that the nes can only display 3 colors per sprite it’s actually already as good as it can get

[@astrowyrm6871]

that's true but i don' think that's really the point of this video, the point here is to see how much you can improve the sprite with modern technical limitations but still keep the same sprite

[@NoeLPZC]

That's not true. I think Mario 3 spinies look better and they're limited to three colours too. All about style.

[@kawaiidere1023]

**Looses technical limitations of the NES immediately

[@Theooolone]

*outline goes out of 16x16 box instantly

[@PeterMilko]

lol true but I had no goal of staying in the limitations.

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

I bet a LOT of this happened at Nintendo back when the SNES came out. "Here's Mario's sprite from SMB3, which is limited to 4 colors by the NES' graphics chip. The SNES' graphics chip can do 16 color sprites. So get coloring, SMW isn't going to draw itself."

[@sosasees]

0:00 I'm afraid you might slowly transform into Kirby and then inhale everything

[@PeterMilko]

I think my powers are increasing

[@LavenderOctopus]

Found your channel about 2 weeks ago and I dude I love it. So much useful information in an entertaining video! Keep up the great work bro.

[@PeterMilko]

Thanks! Will do!

[@Brovioli]

2:54 I thought i left terraria running XD

[@Jack_______oh]

Hard to find videos with this style where you narrate as you work, and you just do it very naturally without any wasted time or feeling too scripted, so it's easy to follow

[@furet6066]

I got a request for you cause I couldn't find the tutorial I was looking for: could you make a tutorial about how to create atmosphere (such as cute, spooky, rainy atmosperes) that would be soo helpful!

[@iangaffaney]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWHHELCOME BACK!

[@PeterMilko]

WHHELCOME BACK!

[@nxtmaster]

This was super useful. If when showing others how to improve their pixel art you do it in the same way as here that would be amazing!

[@realbrickbread]

2:56 that terraria zombie confused me for a moment lol

[@danielblaga6137]

The 3 version with the outlime looked like a super mario bros 3 version, while the final one looked straight out of super mario all stars

[@ferminreyes202]

I like the idea of critiquing other people's pixel art

[@alcejaylos.4257]

I second thy sentiment

[@MetalKing1417]

Funny, when I make things darker, I tend to INCREASE saturation, as more dilute colors tend to have more actual light to them by volume.

[@TheHomelessNinja]

One of the biggest things that a lot of people forget, myself included, is how much you struggle sometimes even with this. Maybe not struggle but trial and error. I've seen your amazing drawings, and even this little spiny, you trial and error a lot. Gives me some more confidence that hey its ok. Just trial and error it and it'll be decent. That was long winded but you know what I mean...thanks for all the awesome videos! :)

[@esuombre]

Sometimes is good not to fast forward your work, we kind of love to see and hear thought process of your work. We appreciate work and knowledge share anyways. Thank you

[@KiranWade18]

Hi just starting out and this series has really help. Could you maybe do a tutorial for mech characters or a tutorial on realism thanks for your help

[@PeterMilko]

yeah sure :)

[@artinacart8035]

Man this is the channel I’ve been looking for! Great tutorials, and then videos putting them to use. Very helpful

[@Yoshi_green]

2:56 you got me, i thought i had terraria open lol

[@PeterMilko]

gotum

[@GyroFox]

Same here, i had to go back and check.

[@diegocrusius]

just a reminder these sprites are from 1985 where you had severe limitations like sprite size (each one being 8x8 px), color palette (54 colors total, no yellow), and colors per sprite (3+ transparent). BUT Pete didn't need to respect that. He did a truly outstanding work there with the shell and spikes. That said Id love to see him reworking old sprites respecting the limitations from that era.

[@Guest_6578]

i wonder if anyone else hears the terraria zombie noises throughout the video

[@dman4435]

Thumbs up. I like that you describe your thought process when you pixel art. Subscribed.

[@itze_]

I am glad you will do something for the people who go till the end and surprised to think not everyone does it

[@leiliu83]

Well, I have to say, I love the beginning part of it

[@alejmc]

That turned out fantastic, would be great to see a remake of very old school Marios with such greater color depths

[@WuchtaArt]

8:54 creating a highlight right under the spike? Shouldn't there be shadow? Edit: I just watched the rest, nevermind. It turned out very nice

[@tctrainconstruct2592]

0:28 Not really annoying, as the only way they spawn is by Lakitu. In 4-1, you can just run away to victory and the spinies will always fall behind you. In 8-2, the Lakitu is easily manipulatable. If you stand on the 2nd step and duck if you're big, you will not only dodge the Parakoopa, but also the Lakitu will always drop his 3rd spiny into the hole. Then just run.

[@prof_nobody]

Well I guess I can dust off the old twitter account and DM you what I’ve been doing. I mean between you and MortMort I’ve seen a significant improvement of my art

[@SIG7Pro]

Pixilart 101: How to make art Step one: go to www.Pixilart.com/draw (Edit: had to put to the draw link)

[@therealmaxflyman]

This video should be called: "making origanal super mario bros sprites into super mario world sprites."

[@stephendrane3933]

I've very much been enjoying these tutorials (and learning a lot to boot!) I watched to the end :-) (and am terrible at asking for things) so with suitable grovelling let me say that an Aseprite key would be amazing. I wouldn't mind paying $15 for such a slick package, but with the Aussie dollar so low it's more like $25. Thank you for all the work you put into this channel. It's inspiring and informative!

[@ArtParlor]

DAMN you really did improve that sprite a shit ton!!!! I loved that mirror edit btw hahaha xD I'm def gonna enter a sprite art for sure!!

[@PeterMilko]

In one part i went over board and mirrored like 3 times to do a kaleidoscope thing but then i removed it lol

[@noe1551]

Great video as always! It looks so easy when you do it

[@newchannel4670]

Bro your channel is awesome keep up the good work man. Are we gonna be getting a tutorial on how to animate things like fire, lightning, and wind?

[@OscarPerez-xf6kf]

This.

[@schmorg04]

Oh no... I tried to do the spin move that said “do not attempt” I don’t think I’ll be doing anymore pixel art.

[@ccost]

wtf was that intro help me reee loved the video

[@ferminreyes202]

Can't get enough of your videos

[@MiMiBrokenbourgh]

“How do you spell spin?” - Pixel Pete, 2020

[@henrystickmin8812]

I made the goomba sprite but facing the side, added a bit of outline, and more Edit: Oh yeah i also limited myself to 5 colors Edit 2: 6 colors cause i forgot something

[@copyright.dannyy]

Hi Pete, I love your videos. Watching your videos have definitely helped me improve significantly but there's one thing I struggle with which is animating walk cycles. Could you maybe do a walk cycle tutorial?

[@PeterMilko]

yeah i should do that

[@RoesMeister]

Yes this! @pixelpete if you do can you also advice how many frames you would use on different size sprite's? Keep up the video's there great!

[@markassbrownlee7779]

Yesssss walk cycles are so hard to make, pls make a tutorial on this Pete!

[@robotscanplaydev6939]

Gosh you really went to town. 😂👏🏻

[@Remist0]

But now your sprite 1px higher and 2px wider which is gonna affect the gameplay?

[@PeterMilko]

i like how you think but no it would not... not in a modern game that has colliders etc

[@AshbyUnlimited]

These vids are great and all that, but, when is Dwerve coming out damn it!!!???

[@PeterMilko]

We got feedback on our Kickstarter demo and are making changes now. I think next month it will be live.

[@Dapper_Caddaver]

Stop video and look at the right corner 3:28

[@ShirelShalom]

Great video, thank you!

[@jwri95]

At first I thought there was no way he could improve it, maybe it's just nostalgia but those mario sprites are perfect to me. However... you smashed it out of the park

[@lapidations]

Good luck making that sprite run on NES though

[@Bakii77]

so the most important thing when drawing or coloring is how it look in smaller view like in the preview window?

[@JulienNeel]

Great video, thanks man. Could you try something similar with a GameBoy sprite AND stay in the 4 shades of gray GameBoy palette? GameBoy pixel art is great for a beginner like myself, since the palette & sprite size are limited. Thanks again for your great content & smooth delivery.

[@chrisjm22]

thanks for the vid Pete! Also, the thumbs up will help your videos appear more on search results. (I always leave a like on your vids 😁)

[@Paddylol]

Challenge: Revamp the entire spritesheet. Then put in into the game and play it!

[@natesingsotherthings7024]

Is it me or does the improved spiny kinda looks like something you would see outta a gba Pokemon game

[@topfix_]

fun fact you can atomaticly outline things in asprite

[@dkrumpenstein2370]

bless you

[@itze_]

Yeyyy I was waiting for it!

[@1984ordep]

I love the style that you’re making dwervy in . If you want to set up a spreadsheet for that kind of more high quality graphic how many pixels we just set the sprite to be? I’m still confused on pixel size?

[@timcraftgaming8333]

ahh nice a new pixel 101 vid... always makes my day! keep making videos! Timcraft_06 in the HHG discord btw :)

[@MartinPurathur]

Really good tutorial thanks

[@strangeanimations2518]

I came from reddit and subscribed :D

[@Canale064]

Tip: There's an outline tool at Edit > FX > Convolution Matrix > outline (scroll down) Thank me later ;)

[@Soundy777]

Cracking tutorial, fun to watch && v.informative!

[@PeterMilko]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@freewithnature]

I’m not about twitter but I would be to watch some killer pixel art stuff!! 😃

[@alecioleite]

Nice video!

[@muratcanagic]

Please do snow and desert biomes for Dwerve and release screenshots so i can steal color palette and some arts from them for my game!

[@Scootch]

This man flexing on Nintendo's art

[@saiprasadpatil8626]

No one : Michael Jackson : 1:01

[@PeterMilko]

omfg lol

[@Moonlitfr]

wow amazing tutorial and even an awesome channel! SUBBED! Do you think sometime in the near future you could do a tutorial on your process of spriting characters?

[@AutopsyTurvyy]

does anybody know what program/website he uses?

[@hartog1989]

i think u should try this again

[@priyajvora1824]

Almost hit the wall trying to dev life

[@lucd9642]

How do you make the layers window be on the right? It is on de bottom for me.

[@ohno4889]

just press it and move it to the right if that helps

[@darasamudra]

Hi pete. I know this channel from your fb account. What program you use to make pixel art? Thx

[@logat1847]

He uses asprite

[@darasamudra]

@@logat1847 thank you

[@logat1847]

Dara Love Story great program btw

[@Leosenadesign]

Amazing

[@asriel5541]

2:56 i just chbecked do i have terraria on....

[@younlok1081]

do you have any devlog series for dwerve becuase i actually liked it

[@screamingladybug6006]

Here is some advice for those who are beginners in pixel art or sprite making: When working with colors and shades of yellow, you should always go to a complimenting shade, like orange/pink/red, before darkening the color. Using a complimentary color makes the picture pop and grabs the viewers attention, while desaturating yellow will only "dirty" the yellow due to the dull off-brown color. It's unappealing to the eye and you should stay away from that sort of advice. If you are going to change a sprite from a 3 or 4 color palette to a more complex set of palettes, make sure to use the right colors/palettes that the engine of your choice can use. Do not create your own colors or you'll be very upset when you see it won't work. If you're using custom colors for pixel art, make sure to specify that it can or cannot be used for game design when sharing it online. It's the nice thing to do. If you are making a gameboy sprite, make sure the outline does exceed the 16x16 square or it will bleed into your other sprite boxes. If your art program has a tile or grid function, please use it. It will help you keep things clean and easy to fix. If you do not understand the limitations of the gameboy original/color, you should spend some time researching before working on anything. Make sure to always have this information easily reachable in case you quickly forget things like I do, and always double check your dimensions and grids. I hope this helps :)

[@JessePrice]

Thanks so much, you're really helping me with pixel art. I know it may be advanced but, do you think you could move on to something bigger like maybe a car? Can't wait for Dwerve, thanks again!

[@PeterMilko]

yeah i think a house would be good

[@JessePrice]

@@PeterMilko Thatd be great

[@brianstanky]

Can you please make a tutorial on GB studios on how to make a poke one style battle?

[@wegil6095]

Nice video

[@squashednewt1958]

Thanks for the helpful video! :) Quick question, would you still not put a black outline on the bottom of the sprite if the game had a top-down view?

[@PeterMilko]

I would still not put it on the parts that touch the floor.

[@NoeLPZC]

If it was literally "top down" like the original GTA then you should have a consistent boundary, whether that's an outline or not. If it's "top down" like Zelda then a shadow would be your best option. Just outlining the feet would make the sprite read too flat.

[@nonchip]

about that dwerve thing of yours, in your FAQ you mention supporting PC, does that actually mean PC (as in win,lin,osx) or are you one of those studios from the 90ies thinking "PC" means windows? might wanna clarify that because there's still loads of those around weirdly.

[@CODMReaper]

very educational, thank you pete; subb'd

[@rasyboss5892]

2:56 whats that creepy sound

[@vitor9986]

Omg so good

[@xlix4475]

his face at 3:27

[@guys-in9vd]

result : spiny from smb remastered edition for the gameboy advance

[@tsukisenpai5100]

hey pete can you make a tutorial about platformer characters? I've been trying to make a human sprite for my platformer game but it always looks terrible and the only tutorials i can find is about top-down characters. thanks

[@NoeLPZC]

Study existing sprites with the same style you want. There are 100 ways to do "humans".

[@admin2304]

*3:27** ахахахах угарнул, спасибо)*

[@victordeoliveiramelo]

There is no challenge improving someone else's sprite dropping the constraints.

[@victorbenetone2862]

I can't pay for Aseprite so i use Piskel online, it kinda sucks but it works and that's all that matters.

[@NoeLPZC]

Get Graphics Gale. It's free and designed for pixel art.

[@hyperfixatedd]

You look like a very cool guy, wih I could have some beers with you man lol

[@PeterMilko]

im down, you in usa?

[@hyperfixatedd]

@@PeterMilko nah, I'm Brazilian ahahahah I'll let you know if I ever go there

[@antonioh.gamedev8488]

Hey I’ve been watching your channel for the whole week! Amazing! Now, please... GIVEAWAY OF ASEPRITE

[@mikk4]

I guess Im true fan then ;)

[@chungo.]

Why were you using the Fandom wiki instead of the wikipedia-esque one?

[@magicalnoodles]

So long as the sprite is the same, it doesn't really matter.

[@colinyoung3685]

Drew alongside you with this one, was an interesting exercise. I placed an additional white pixel to the right of the eye to reinforce the cartoon feel and further accentuation.

[@benji-o1204]

Can I have an aseprite key? I'm too impatient to wait for the summer sale lol

[@NoeLPZC]

Get Graphics Gale then. It's free.

[@SaturdayXIII]

It's good art, but is it an improvement if the sprite can no longer be used in the game it was made for? #8bitlimitations

[@kookymonsta703]

what program is that?

[@SunilNmb]

Aseprite

[@nasrighantous4435]

Can I have a key for aseprite please