Pixel Art Character Design Tutorial - Step By Step!

[@garishtiger140]

I love the fact you show the different iterations. Sometimes I get hung up because I can’t seem to get a drawing right the first couple of tries.

[@saultoons]

Same thing happens to me Matthias, I tend to give up if it doesn't go right the first time, but have to remind myself to trust the process and keep going. It doesn't mean you're bad, just that it takes time to get it the way you want :D

[@roborbiettinoisgone392]

I found the perfect channel. Full of info, fun, wholesome community and a cute dog (the cute dog is the most important thing ever)

[@saultoons]

Hahah yes Lady (the dog) is definitely very cute :D Thanks for the kind words

[@Sndjsjdjfbbd]

@@saultoons I have the same breed of dog

[@saultoons]

So cuuuuute! I want a ginger one 😂

[@Sndjsjdjfbbd]

@@saultoons mine is white and ruby

[@halobread]

Few tips to make a good character - 1. Make sure everything has a reason, make it so your character's backstory makes sense. 2. Don't be lazy, put enough effort into making the character until you like it. 3. Remember to try out new things from time to time. It might help you. 4. Be creative!

[@saultoons]

Nice tips! :)

[@halobread]

@@saultoons :D

[@rcarrascc]

Be creative? No shit! xD

[@aneerudh1712]

@@halobread ew cringe stan. dream cheated and his friends are only for the dough

[@nvbrit]

5. Still cant draw a character? Murder people untill youre ready!

[@Tteus15]

Even if the translation is not the best, I managed to watch your video with the subtitles on and your teaching is spectacular. Whenever I wanted to create something, I felt like I didn't have the creativity so I never know where to start, I always copied something and kept trying to modulate it. Your video was instrumental in making me see how I will try to create my arts from now on, and it made me learn to speak your language. A hail from Brazil

[@saultoons]

Thanks for watching even though it's not in your language

[@sudhansubalasahoo]

WOW I followed the tutorial and made my character in under an hour i thought i was bad at pixel art but i was surprised thanks for the tutorial!!!

[@saultoons]

Great job! See it's ezpz :D Thanks for watching

[@joanfase2693]

Knowledge + jokes + cute dog is definitely a good recipe! Thanks for this video, i learned (and laughed) a lot from it!

[@saultoons]

Thanks Joan I'm glad you liked it and found it useful :D

[@notpowder5831]

@Saultoons Plus you replied every single comments. Respect +

[@saultoons]

Thanks for watching Item 😄 I try my best haha

[@muhammadwaqas6102]

why in the world does this man not have 10 million subscribers even if you dont draw pixel art this is some good ass quality content

[@saultoons]

hahaha thanks muhammad! I appreciate the support :D

[@talade5556]

acesprite's contour tool is amazing, i literally was moving the mouse around in a cloak shape and completely by accident made an awesome wizard character, it looked like a little beanbag with stumpy legs, a red cloak and 2 eyes that were 2 pixel high lines

[@mateuszpatua3016]

the first minute of watching, and I'm already in love with this channel I'll stay tuned! :D

[@saultoons]

Thanks for watching! I’m glad you like it :)

[@NEERAJKUMAR-iy9kn]

who says pixel art is easy, it's an art and art is difficult to learn !.

[@saultoons]

Yup, definitely takes some practise, just like any other art form. But it is more accessible because it doesn't require any fancy tools or drawing tablets :)

[@hisyam1664]

if i think its easy, it will feel easy

[@saultoons]

@@hisyam1664 MANIFEST

[@Old_Man_Jay]

@@hisyam1664 Agreed! It's all perception.

[@elitestream10.14]

I am on week 3 of learning this art form and my lord its been failure after failure, as a graphic designer I assumed it would be a grab and go project but man oh man was I dead wrong..... Still having fun though ;)

[@hoangviet2023]

After a year, thank you so much for guiding me into the pixel art industry and inspired me from the first place

[@saultoons]

No problem at all, thanks for watching my videos and for all your support

[@cjkorra23-k4s]

Hey! You just earned a new subscriber! I've been trying to practice pixel art for months now using Aseprite and of all the tutorials that I've watched, I like yours better! It's simple, straightforward and very entertaining. I'll be watching some of your tutorials from now on :D

[@saultoons]

Hi Christine! Thanks for subscribing and for the kind words. I hope your learning journey goes well, if you have any questions then feel free to join the discord and I’ll do my best to help out!

[@guitarzero1836]

Just wanted to say thanks for all these tutorials, started with your donut video and came here. You're an awesome teacher and i'm loving aesprite. As someone with no artistic flair aesprite makes me feel like I can do something awesome and you've helped foster that feeling. Thanks again :)

[@saultoons]

Hey no worries at all. Pixel art is super accessible and it’s a great place to start. Everyone can learn art and create things unique to them so it’s cool to see you picking that up! Thanks for watching :)

[@theotherlucas]

I'm just speechless the quality of the video is fabulous

[@saultoons]

I’m glad you like it! :)

[@khiemgluong]

I'm at that part in game development where most mechanics have been implemented, and now I just have to make the assets pretty.

[@saultoons]

That’s a nice place to be! Going to be so exciting seeing your game come together :)

[@rmt3589]

Me: *about to timeskip* Saul: BORRRRRING!!!

[@saultoons]

I can read minds in the future :o

[@DocDoesGamingTV]

Seeing your creative process for the *forg* is incredibly refreshing for a newbie such as myself 🐸

[@saultoons]

FORG 🐸 hahah glad it could help Doc

[@frozenboyabhi37]

Respect. You deserves a subscriber. Replies in single comment 👏👏. Thanks for this informational video.

[@saultoons]

Thanks FrozenBoy, I appreciate you watching :D

[@pat1938]

dude I appreciate the humour almost as much as the tutorial, thanks for the great content!

[@saultoons]

No problem at all Pat, I'm glad you enjoyed the video :D

[@michaelnawrocki7913]

Your dog is so funny and cute. Keep up the great work!

[@Sapleee]

First video of yours I've seen, love it! Also, the dog is an added bonus.

[@saultoons]

Glad you liked it! Yes Lady is cute 😁

[@ЯковБурнацкий]

Dude, you're awesome. Best pixel art lessons one can find.

[@saultoons]

Thanks a lot

[@kylin3197]

Thank you for teaching your creative workflow to us! So much more efficient than mine hahaha, gonna try this for my 2024 goals

[@kylin3197]

*thank you so much

[@haranananana6579]

Great tutorial! Also your dog is adorable~

[@saultoons]

Thanks so much, and Lady is the cutest, we need more of Lady in videos :D

[@reesequickley1497]

best content ive seen for tut vids in this category by far..

[@saultoons]

Thanks Jiren! I’m glad you like the videos! More coming soon :)

[@torzinddd]

Thank you Saultoons! Huge fan of your work, this video helped me to improve much!

[@saultoons]

No problemo! :D

[@KhaiNguyen-nq9lu]

I subscribed your channel at first seconds, so funny and knowledgeable man!

[@saultoons]

Thanks for subscribing! I’m glad you like the videos 😄

[@alesnaumovich2509]

Yay, I have found new favorite KZbin Channel!

[@saultoons]

I appreciate you 🥰

[@stolenalt]

0:57 this joke made me subscribe.

[@bootyboy4223]

Yeah, a frog wasn't really a good example to show how easy pixel art can be, you did a real good job though. The chubby cheek version you made at 8:32 was my favorite.

[@saultoons]

Haha yeah all spindly log leg n stuff 😂 pixel art so fast you can make millions of frogs tho

[@bootyboy4223]

@@saultoons Yeah you right, that software probably makes it easier too, don't have to put each pixel in by hand. So in a case of a higher bit figure it would be less time consuming.

[@saultoons]

Bboyslaya yeah aseprite is great is definitely recommend

[@Fropaa]

thnx bro im currently entering my first game jam i didnt know how to make pixel art and this helped me so much thnx

[@saultoons]

Glad it could help, good luck on the game jam! Feel free to share your progress on the Discord, we'd love to see :D

[@Fropaa]

@@saultoons i will

[@cold_horizon]

Thank god, i came through this channel. These vids are really useful

[@saultoons]

Glad you find the videos useful! Thanks for watching :)

[@madmax4405]

Came for the tutorial stayed for the doggo

[@saultoons]

YES!!!!

[@RockmanTr]

I love character design! Nice work!

[@saultoons]

Thanks Kerim, Appreciate you :D

[@junithehitman]

“HAH! GOT-EEE!”😆😆😆 Great vid bro👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

[@saultoons]

Appreciate it!!

[@barrysrandomness]

I absolutely love this and have really enjoyed working with Aesprite. Which color palette do you use? I've been trying to figure out which one to go with for a game I'm currently making and I really love the one you're using.

[@l.t.4706]

teriffic! thanks for making this excellent lecture. I think it was such a good tip for beginner. 00:42 I'm a job-seeker(or just a old student) who wanted to work in motion graphic part. my life had not been related to drawing things so far, but your video makes me pick up the pen. maybe within a week, I can create a new logo file for me see you again!

[@saultoons]

You got this, thanks for watching :D

[@hmmmhmmm4736]

I can’t believe you don’t have more subs I love your channel I just found it

[@saultoons]

Thanks for the kind words! It's cool to see the community growing, I'm glad my videos have been helpful or entertaining for people :D Be sure to check out the discord there's a bunch of people there now hanging out haha

[@saultoons]

😁

[@hmmmhmmm4736]

Saultoons ok

[@hmmmhmmm4736]

I’ll check the dc

[@saultoons]

@@hmmmhmmm4736 awesome :D

[@ayjay5157]

1 second into the video and I'm already subscribing

[@saultoons]

haha thanks for subbing :D Glad you like it

[@Vex7eX]

Best tutorial in KZbin!

[@MrNotSelc]

Underrated channel

[@saultoons]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@GakaShi]

I found the best video for me waaaaaaa😆 I badly want to try Pixel Art just lately! I know it's kinda late for me, but I'm used to Charcoal Portrait, Pencils and sometimes Watercolour with the Realistic, and Anime before, but I've never tried Pixel Art and I love them so much since when I was a kid, I just don't know how to start and didn't even tried to research before 😂 Thanks so much for making this kind of video! I know this is not a easy tutorial for a beginner or no experience at all at digital art, but I've also done some digi art before (but no pro) so I can get your moves and words here. I just need to start now lol. Thanks again! 👾🤖👾🤖👾 *Btw, if others out there want to check my Artworks, I don't put them here on my Channel, I just upload them on my FB.

[@saultoons]

You got this! I find pixel art to be very different from a lot of other mediums but it's so fun and relaxing. Best of luck with your journey :)

[@villain4307]

You're talented! I hope you get into the algorithm.

[@saultoons]

Thanks Man on the Moon, that would be nice eh! 🤣

[@villain4307]

@@saultoons Man, you got a patreon where I could support you on?

[@saultoons]

@@villain4307 Not yet, but this is something I will be setting up. Keep an eye out in Discord or on this channel I will advertise it :}

[@villain4307]

@@saultoons Great to know!

[@Dorius253]

That joke at the beginning made me genuinly giggle, take my sub

[@saultoons]

hahaha bad jokes are the best kind

[@scorpion-6183]

Such a great tutorial. Hope I'm gonna improve more on my design. Thanks a lot, Saul! Cheers.

[@saultoons]

No worries Kevin, good luck! :D

[@Shuvvl]

Thank you for the video, dude! I want to animate with pixel art, however, I can't even think of where to start when making a pixel art character.

[@saultoons]

No worries at all! I hope this at least made it a little easier to approach

[@Shuvvl]

@@saultoons It made it waay easier! Thank you for the video!

[@javascriptgames8546]

I really enjoyed the video!! Great Job!

[@saultoons]

Thanks I’m glad you enjoyed it :)

[@EnderLlamas]

I'm watching so many of your videos so I can work on sprites for hopefully my own game. Your videos are really awesome, and I'm not constantly confused. Thank you for this tutorial!!

[@saultoons]

Thanks! I hope they help and good luck with your game :)

[@EnderLlamas]

@@saultoons Thank you!! :D

[@coco_canadian9011]

Same for me I’m just a kid but I’m determined to become a popular game dev 🤗

[@saultoons]

@@coco_canadian9011 Good luck! :D

[@Zylops]

You are #milkgang approved... Also i have NO IDEA why someone would dislike this video, i mean wtf? The dudes trying to help u.

[@saultoons]

Thank you Mr Milk Gang :D Dani is cool and big inspiration :D

[@AK-sj6vt]

dislikes are form orange juice gang :D

[@saultoons]

Those motherfu......

[@AK-sj6vt]

@@saultoons :|

[@jlgaming9997]

@@AK-sj6vt Chill dudes an alliance had been formed months ago

[@gbarbosa7]

Thanks, what a great tutorial and great tips by the way, I'm just subscribing :D

[@saultoons]

Thanks for the kind words Guilherme! :D Appreciate the sub

[@Delq0]

I have a cavalier king charles spaniel as well nice to see others love them too

[@Delq0]

@@saultoons very true

[@Delq0]

@@saultoons also I’m making a game like an RPG 10 bit design and I need some help with backgrounds getting the shapes and character movement can you please help me I’ll make a video (more like a slideshow) on my channel showing them currently

[@MK8Warrior]

9:53 could we copy the outlines of them as the base then modify it as our own?

[@saultoons]

I would prefer it if you didn't, I'm going to use these for a future project

[@MK8Warrior]

Cool

[@shady9022]

Making tools are easy but characters are hard, very helpful.

[@saultoons]

Glad I could help Shady! Hope your development goes well :}

[@Sundaydish1]

I use a mid grey for silhouettes and use white for highlights and a dark grey for shadows. Then add detail and then colourize.

[@saultoons]

Thats cool :D

[@crystalcorrea762]

This video was awesome! Thank you!!

[@saultoons]

No problem, hope it could help!

[@MhanolloGhames]

Wow, this very good.

[@saultoons]

Thanks a lot, glad you like it Mhanollo :D

[@youtubewatcher6124]

Thanks for the inspiration man, wanting to make my own sprites but always lose my purpose along the way.

[@saultoons]

You got this! I struggle a LOT too when I make my work, a lot of making something is also about trusting the process, continue making decisions, continue pushing on with your work and you will get a result in the end :D

[@NEVERSOBEROFFICIAL]

Lovely dog man! Love the vid.

[@saultoons]

Yesss!!! Thank you :D

[@torylawrence3704]

Hello there I came across your channel I was honor to watch your video you gave me hope to try pixel art for sure and have me laugh as well. I hope you keep making wonderful videos like this. Made me subscribe to your channel and like it as well. Thanks for this. Takecare ps: u reading this thanks for your time reading it appreciate it for sure thanks again bye.😊 keep up the work

[@saultoons]

Welcome aboard, thanks so much for the kind words

[@Aidentnz]

Haha dude you have the BEST style of doing tutorials!

[@saultoons]

Thanks Aiden!!! :D

[@Eliezer_Elie]

Im was working on a video and i need to draw pixel art for that video and this helped me so damn much thank you so much i dont know how to explain how much you helped me😭

[@xs4e3dx21]

Your videos are really cool man! Happy that I found your channel and subscribed! 1-The question is in what format did you download the color pallet on lopsec? 2- How do you zoom in and zoom out if you are using Drawing Tablet?

[@saultoons]

Yo! Thanks for the kind words :D To answer your questions 1 - I usually just take a png and manually create the colour palette in Aseprite with the colour picker, because sometimes I noticed it doesn't work well if I try to do it automatically or load the other files into Aseprite. There is probably a better way than this - I'd recommend asking on our community discord because someone might have a more efficient way to do it :D 2 - Use the zoom tool, z for shortcut and then just click and drag :)

[@ak_oneoneone]

This is so very informative, can you show us the process of how you animate pixel arts? Im sure itll be very helpful too. :)

[@saultoons]

Hey! Yeah that sounds like a good video I can do :)

[@tristangonzales3589]

@@saultoons Oh yea, animated pixel arts would be good too. I love to learn it too so I can join the creative competition of Faketown.

[@creeperjo7]

2:26 look at the picture of the green and blue frog sitting on the same stick, Kermit and the bois

[@saultoons]

hehehe the bois

[@catherinepatton6961]

I love your videos! They're fun and easy to follow. I just started trying pixel art and the frogs you made are awesome.

[@saultoons]

So glad you find the videos helpful and enjoyable Catherine! Best of luck with your pixel art learning journey, more videos to come... eventually haha :D

[@floodexx3871]

Thank you this helped me a lot Nice frog

[@saultoons]

Thanks for watching

[@saisusato2871]

Thanks man! Im gonna be maing games in pico 8 & i have never done pixel art before. This is gonna help a ton :D (also nice beard)

[@saultoons]

Good luck! And thanks :D

[@mrdark3020]

You’ve got yourself a new sub

[@saultoons]

Thanks Mr Dark :)

[@daniellopezhernandez3069]

Amazingly done amigo! :-D thank you very much!!!🙏🙏🙏

[@saultoons]

Gracias Daniel! Thanks for watching 😄

[@verdefoodvlog]

First video I don't get bored watching! Excellently explained, thank you Sensei !

[@saultoons]

Glad you enjoyed it 😁

[@bekirerenpeker2493]

theres not much tutorial kinda videos for this and the vide is funny and the dog is just so CUTEE

[@saultoons]

Glad you like :D thanks for watching

[@Old_Man_Jay]

a minute and 10 seconds in and I'm already laughing my ass off! Subscribed! XD

[@saultoons]

Glad you like it Jay :D Thanks for watching

[@akakatiek2800]

This is a really in defphthf video. Thanks Saultoons 😂

[@saultoons]

hahaha fu

[@xxgonta]

this is underrated channel

[@saultoons]

Thanks so much :D

[@Verbalaesthet]

Your videos are amazing. Im working on a game right now and it is inspiring to watch these kind of tutorials.

[@saultoons]

Thanks a lot, good luck with your game :D

[@boneitch]

Came for the tutorial, stayed for the dog

[@saultoons]

Hahah she is the star of the show

[@MomentsWithBrandon]

can you make another character design video, but like human form, just started getting into pixel art and your videos have been super helpful

[@saultoons]

Yes thats a cool idea, I'll add it to my list :D

[@MomentsWithBrandon]

@@saultoons my boy, appreciate it 🙏🏻

[@hristoborisov3713]

love the comedy

[@saultoons]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching Hristo :D

[@funlabsdesignstudio]

Funny how pixel art seems more frustrating to me then drawing out a fully detailed hand drawn character then digitizing it or using vector art etc. Lol. But it's probably just because those are my primary mediums that I am used to working in. I have done some pixel art in the past but definitely interested in more of it thx to your vids! Great Tutorial bud! 😁👌🏼

[@saultoons]

Yeah, it's a different beast, eh. Just like picking up any new medium there are going to be some frustration problems initially. Just got to try and have fun with it :D Thanks for commenting

[@funlabsdesignstudio]

@@saultoons Definitely a beast, skillful one though. Was fooling around with your pixel Challenge at 24px x 24 px but dang hahaha for a pixel noob like me it's definitely a challenge 😂

[@jonnyincomox]

My gake away from this video is... That Lady is a good girl!! ❤🐶😂

[@NicotheMerchant]

That was great. Thanks for making the video!

[@saultoons]

No problem Nico, I'm glad it could help :)

[@paprika8795]

thanks for mindset, its more than showing how to draw pixel by pixel. preparation is most important. also, doge

[@saultoons]

Yes, preparation and allowing yourself to experiment, not trying to be perfect first time :D Fail faster and you will get to the nice art :} Doge

[@LoxyTheFoxxo]

How long should it usually take to get a character design you like? (For a beginner)

[@saultoons]

Can take a while, especially if you’re a beginner. Don’t know exactly how long sometimes I can take me an hour or even two because I can find it frustrating lmao

[@Franekblack2601]

Which pixel scale was used for the pirate characters of the first seconds of the video? They have so much detail. Awesome

[@saultoons]

About 30px height and 20px width :)

[@Franekblack2601]

@@saultoons Thanks! I am trying to learn, but I just see there are very little pixels to paint a character with detail, but yours look really nice!

[@saultoons]

@@Franekblack2601 Yes I still had to keep these quite simple but a lot more possible in this size than 16px thats for sure :D

[@Franekblack2601]

@@saultoons I tried to paint something in 32x32 pixels, but i left zones without painting ofcourse, maybe I can try 30x20px like you said :)

[@robindabou]

where can i send you my frog? I LOVE HOW IT TURNED OUT!!!!!

[@saultoons]

Twitter or discord or any socials! :) it’s in the description

[@emma_lj]

hit like on this before we even got to the art because Lady was barking at herself 🤣

[@saultoons]

hahaha Lady does that a lot bless her :'D

[@marverickbin]

How to make them with separated animations for each part of body? I want the face tô be angry or happy while doing jumping, running, etc... Also, can I Change clothes, change the texture, etc in game? Or create a customizable system? User select eye color, shape, skin tone, etc?

[@chrisroos3311]

love the vid man very funny very helpful

[@saultoons]

Thanks Chris!!!

[@chrisroos3311]

Ceep making good content bro

[@Amrmattar-w7u]

Thanks! i improved alot!

[@halobread]

You make very good content! :D

[@saultoons]

Thank you bread boy halo 😇

[@ctechjourney]

I'm here because Saultoons is good-looking and he has beautiful eyes hahahah. Thank you for this video!😁

[@saultoons]

hahah thanks for the love

[@ieddy_crea]

Saludos desde Perú!! Me encanta tu trabajo

[@saultoons]

Hola Perú, muchas gracias por el cariño!

[@nguyentuyenn211]

This is what i looking for

[@saultoons]

Glad it could help

[@MorrisDuBose]

This was awesome thanks

[@saultoons]

Thanks Morris!

[@aminafaisal9909]

"usuly i go a lot more in DeBt" died there.

[@saultoons]

Glad you liked it :'D

[@shangobashi]

Man, the beginning was not boring at all 😂!!

[@saultoons]

hahah glad you enjoyed!

[@blackfrom80s64]

Awesome content. Thanks for sharing!!!

[@saultoons]

Thanks for watching

[@pachozrastafar]

A wonderful lesson for thanks

[@saultoons]

No worries :D

[@divyanshchauhan3263]

Do we need a stylus or working with mouse will be okay?

[@saultoons]

Mouse is just fine that’s what I use :)