I've had people from time to time ask me how I pixel, and I've never really been sure how to explain. It hasn't been until the past few years that i've really thought too much about what I was doing beyond experimenting and learning new things. I think I've rounded out some basic guidelines I usually follow and a friend wanted some advice so I decided to attempt some sort of explanation

Below are some step by step images and commentary. Please note that there is no one right way to create a piece of art. This Step by Step is meant only to impart some understanding of how I do things . In Pixel art alone there are many many 'styles'. I encourage anyone reading to look up more than one tutorial and seek critique if trying to learn their own pixel style.

Please excuse any spelling mistakes, and take note that I use Photoshop 7.0, but the same principals should apply to Newer Versions as well as possibly Gimp and other programs as well.

Please do not trace/edit/or recreate any images in this tutorial. The images here are meant to show you what I was doing step by step, the apple is just an example. This tutorial is not teaching you how to pixel an apple . (Feel free of course to pixel one yourself, just do not use my outlines)

I'm going to assume that anyone reading this has at least a basic visual understanding of what pixel art looks like, but here's the finished example for this tutorial.

Below are some very basic rules* to follow when creating Pixel art .
definition of pixel art varies from person to person sometimes, so my word isn't be all end all here haha <3.

• Pixel art is made using the Pencil tool set to 1px

  This tool can be found in Photoshop, Gimp, MSPaint, and other Image Editing Programs.



• Pixels are placed individually (one by one)

  for outlines and shading. Bucket/Fill tool can also be used to fill large areas with a single colour.



• Tools like Dodge, Burn, the Paintbrush, any special 'effect' added renders the piece no longer 'True Pixel Art'
  

  
  

• Drawing* with the Pencil tool set to an Opacity lower than 100% renders the piece no longer 'True Pixel Art'

  *Note that you will see later that I do use opacities to create my palettes sometimes, but using opacity while working on the actual piece creates extra colours out of your control.

Other Examples from my Gallery

I never work on a white background. The contrast looking at pixels that close tends to hurt my eyes. Try using a light neutral grey colour.

Start out by creating a new layer(see image below sketch) above the Background layer and doodle/sketch what you want to Pixel, but use the Paintbrush Tool (1px). This is just a preliminary sketch to help us out later.

Before moving on to step two. Make sure you have your sketch layer selected and set it's opacity to somewhere around 50%. Just light enough to pixel over, but dark enough to still see.

Create a new Layer to Pixel on

• Select the Pencil tool (1px) and try following the darkest pixels of the paintbrush line you created. I've used a dark grey, but you can use any colour really so long as it is darker or brighter than the sketch behind your pixel layer (so you can see where you've placed your lines)

hmm something doesn't seem right here still. We have wibbly lines!

With Pixel art it can be important where -every- pixel is placed. Making a pixel segment too long or too short can create jagged and wibbly bumps in your line when viewed from 100%.

In order to avoid these jagged lines for smooth surfaces (like the apple), we need to take some numbers in to account and turn our Wibbly line in to what I call a Gradiated line. We need to gradually angle/slope the pixels.

Below is an example of an unGradiated line vs a Gradiated line.

Notice how on the un-gradiated line that the segments (groups of pixels that create smaller lines within the line)are very fragmented in their length. There are segment lengths of 3 right next to segment lengths of just 1 for example.
 This creates ‘juts’ or angles that often create detail we aren’t looking to be there.

In the Gradiated line no segments are touching another segment with a length any more than 1 pixel longer than itself until it reaches the top where the ‘curve’ ends. For example, if the segment was two pixels long. The segments touching it would be typically 3 pixels, or 1 pixel long. The length of the pixel segment beside it will determine the rate of decline/incline of the slope/angle.

Think of diagonal 1 pixel segments as segments unto themselves as well. I’ve marked these in green so you can see their decline as the slop rises.

Changing the number of pixels in segments will change the slope/angle as seen below

There is a lot more information I could go in to on this subject. I may try to go further in a separate tutorial at a later date, but for now here is what I ended up with after applying the above and just using my own best judgment or trial and error (zooming out and viewing 100% then zooming in again and making small changes).

Now that we have our basic Pixel lines you can delete or hide your doodle/sketch.

Palette Intro

Before we can start shading in our lines we need to create a Palette.
There are many ways to create a palette depending on different factors like lighting, style, size of the image, etc.

I may create a separate tutorial in the future that goes more in depth with palette creation and colours. For now I'll give a brief explanation of some things before moving on to actually creating our palette for this example.

The size of your image and/or the area you are shading can make a difference in the number of colours you use, and the contrast between each of them.

• The smaller the area the fewer colours you need to convey the same amount of detail. Too many colours in a small space can make things look muddled and hard to read. Too few colours in a larger space without Dithering (Dithering Step by Step coming later) creates jagged visible lines in your shading
• The smaller the area, the more contrast you need to convey the same amount of detail. Too little contrast makes things muddled and hard to read. Too much contrast in a larger space creates jagged visible lines in your shading.
  
  So to recap.
  Small areas = More Contrast, Fewer Colours
  Large areas = Less Contrast, More Colours
  
  Normally my larger areas have at least 7 colours, but it will again depend on the size.

I'm unsure about other Programs, but in Photoshop, you choose your colours using the Color Picker.

- Double-Click this in your Toolbar to open the Color Picker.
-Click the arrow in the right corner to switch between the two colours selected.

I won't touch on using the color Picker right now (there are tutorials for this already), but this is what it looks like.

Here is the Palette I created to use with this Step by Step.

Below, I'll explain how it was created.

I've named the colours for convenience in this commentary .

• First choose a Base Colour for each part of the image using the 'Color Picker'.
  In this case I'm pixeling an apple so I need a red, a brown, and a green. I've named these colours, b3, r6, and g6.

• Then, choose a darker version of each colour. This will be your Outline Colour.
  Try to keep them around the same darkness and saturation to the eye regardless of how light/dark the base colour is. I've named these colours b1, r1, and g1.

• Next create an 'Inner Line' colour
  I create this colour by selecting the Outline colour (r1 for the red), setting the pencil tool to around 70% Opacity and colouring over the Base colour (r6). I end up wth r2, and g2.
  
  (There are no 'Inner Lines' on the stem so the Brown palette does not need this colour!)


So Using your base(r6) create a square of colour. Then, select your outline colour, set the pencil tool to 70% and colour over top of the Base colour square you just made.  The colour you create is your Inner Line Colour.

Remember to set your Opacity back to 100%!

- Pencil Opacity located on 'Options' Bar (Window>Options)

• Create a Highlight Colour
  This I create by selecting the Base colour and upping the Brightness and Lowering the Saturation using the 'Color Picker'. I have no set amount for how bright I make this, I just go by eye. I end up with b4, and r7.
  
  
  Take note! The brown highlight is Brighter because it will be for a smaller area. Therefor as mentioned earlier, I need more contrast between these colours.
  
  (There is no Highlight colour for the leaf because the green is already fairly bright. Use your own judgement here)

• Create a Midtone between the Base and Inner Line Colours.
  I create this colour by selecting the Inner Line colour (r2), setting the Pencil tool to around 60%, and colouring over the Base colour (r6).
  (note that because the brown area is so small i decided it only needed 4 colours. To find this colour I actually set the Pencil tool to 50% instead of 60%). I end up with b2, r4, g4.


So Using your base again(r6) create a square of colour. Then, select your inner line colour (r2), set the pencil tool to 60%  and colour over top of the Base colour square you just made.  The colour you create is your Midtone.

• Create the Remaining filler shades required.
  To create the remaining colours I Selected the Midtone (r4), set the Pencil tool to 50%, and coloured over both the Inner Line Color (r2), and The Base Color (r6). I end up with r2 and g2 from the Inner Line Colour, and r5 and g5 from the Base Color.


So This time create new squares of colour using your Base(r6) and your Inner Line Colour(r2). Then, select your Midonte (r2), set the pencil tool to 50%  and colour over top of the Base and Inner Line squares you just made.  The colours you create are your remaining filler shades..

And so here we have our finished Palettes!

Shading Begins!

This tutorial doesn't touch on *how* to shade things according to light source. There are many tutorials about this subject and it doesnt specifically apply to just Pixel Art. This is again to just show my process

• Use your Base Colours to 'fill' the open areas of your Outlines. (b3,r6,g6)
  Select the Paint Bucket Tool and make sure that Contiguous has a checkmark beside it. 'Fill' Each area with the colours you want by clicking in the open spaces contained by your lines.
  
  The Contiguous option allows you to fill in only the contained area you click in. Otherwise it would fill -everything- of the same colour you are clicking (in this case transparent since there is no colour yet.)
  
  - located in the Options Bar along the top when the Paint Bucket is selected. (Window>Options)
  
  


• Use your Outline Colours and fill or pixel the Outlines. (b1,r1,g1)
  You have a few options here. The first being to simply go back over the outlines pixel by pixel with their respective new colour.
  
  or, You can  Use the Paint Bucket Tool to 'fill' the Pixel Segments with their new colour. (again keeping contiguous selected)
  
  OR, you can 'lock' your layer, select a larger pixel size for your pencil (Say..3-5px) and then scribble/colour over your lines. Locking the layer keeps the original shape of the layer. No transparent pixels can be filled or coloured in. no current pixels placed can be erased. So it's a fast way to fill an entire layer with new colours and not 'go over the lines' so to speak.
  

• Use your Inner Line Colours and pixel over any 'Outline' contained 'inside' that coloured area. (r2,g2)
  Each separate 'area' of the pixel (apple, leaf, stem) should be contained within the Outline Colour (b1,r1,g1). Use the Inner Line Colour only within these areas for now.

• Select your Midtone (r4) and begin Shading with the pencil tool where you think shadow might hit.
  
  For now we're just thinking in two colours. Shadow, and highlight.
  
  

• Select your lighter Filler colour (r5) and create some shading between the Midtone and Base Colors (r4 and r6).
  
  The larger the areas of colour touching each other, the larger the area you will need to shade in between them (note the larger area of this new shade at the bottom of the apple compared to near the stem).

• Select your darker filler colour (r3) and add some shading between the Midtone (r4) and the Outline/Inner Line (r1/r2).

This Step is Optional for beginners.

• Using the Inner Line Colour (r2), Add some Anti-Aliasing
  Anti-Aliasing is pixels you've added to try and 'smooth' contrasting shades together to avoid jagged lines against darker/brighter colours.
  
  I won't go in to it right now but here is at least a visual example of how I do this. Look at the previous image again to compare.
  

• Select your Highlight Colour (r7) and shade in where you think your light source would hit the most area.
  
  

Everyone Makes Mistakes!

Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes it's hard to see things from so close up. Always make sure to zoom back out and take a look from proper scale.

Here I fixed an area on the left where I thought it was too dark.

After shading all the areas this is what I ended up with!

There are still some shading mistakes in this example, but I hope you enjoyed learning my process!

So...We're done right?....or are we?

Dithering - Coming Soon
Anti-Aliasing - Coming soon
Palettes In Depth - Coming Soon

Have a Step by Step Request? Let me know