Table Of ContentWhy use someone else’s pixel art About the Authors: M Y o
M ake our wn
a
when you can create your own? k
Jennifer Dawe e Pixel Art
is a self-taught animator Y
and character designer o
who has worked as a u
Hand anyone a pencil and paper and they can start drawing, but it’s just as easy to draw digitally professional pixel artist for the past r
using a keyboard and mouse. 15 years. You can usually find her on
o
Twitter @gmshivers posting doodles and
With Make Your Own Pixel Art, pixel artist Jennifer Dawe and game designer Matthew Humphries answering questions about drawing w Create Graphics
walk you step by step through the available tools and pixel art techniques. You’ll also learn the and digital art.
n
importance of shapes, colors, shading, and how to turn your art into animation. By the end of the
book, you’ll be creating art far beyond what’s possible on paper! Matthew huMphries p for Games, Animations,
Learn how to: is senior editor at PcMag.com and ix Jennifer Dawe
a professional game designer. Over
e
Create pixel art using the most popular art software and the common tools they provide the past 15 years, he has worked l Matthew huMphries and More!
for Disney, 20th century Fox, and
a
Draw with pixels, including techniques for sculpting, shading, texture, and color use Games Workshop, among
others. You can find him r
Use the basics of motion to animate your pixel art creations on Twitter @mthwgeek. t
Save, share, sketch, and add emotion to your art
D
a
w
With a dash of creativity and the help of Make Your Own Pixel Art, your digital drawings can e
•
be brought to life, shared with the world, and form a basis for a career in art, design, or the Ages 10+ H
u
video game industry. m
p
H
r
$19.95 us ie
s
$25.95 can
The FinesT in Geek enTerTainmenT™
www.nostarch.com
Shelve in:
computers/Digital art
M Y o
ake our wn
Pixel Art
M Y o
ake our wn
Pixel Art
Create Graphics
for Games, Animations,
Jennifer Dawe
Matthew huMphries and More!
San Francisco
Make Your Own Pixel Art For information on distribution, translations, or bulk sales, please contact No Starch Press,
Copyright © 2019 by Jennifer Dawe and Matthew Humphries. Inc. directly:
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or No Starch Press, Inc.
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any 245 8th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copy- phone: 415.863.9900; [email protected]
right owner and the publisher. www.nostarch.com
ISBN-10: 1-59327-886-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
ISBN-13: 978-1-59327-886-1 Names: Dawe, Jennifer, author. | Humphries, Matthew, 1978- author.
Title: Make your own pixel art : create graphics for games, animations, and
Publisher: William Pollock more! / Jennifer Dawe and Matthew Humphries.
Production Editors: Serena Yang and Janelle Ludowise Description: San Francisco : No Starch Press, 2018.
Cover and Interior Design: Mimi Heft Identifiers: LCCN 2018032665 (print) | LCCN 2018038672 (ebook) | ISBN
Developmental Editor: Jan Cash 9781593278878 (epub) | ISBN 159327887X (epub) | ISBN 9781593278861
Technical Reviewer: Susan Lin (paperback) | ISBN 1593278861 (print) | ISBN 9781593278878 (ebook)
Copyeditor: Paula L. Fleming Subjects: LCSH: Computer graphics. | Computer games--Design. | Computer
Proofreader: Emelie Burnette animation. | Computer art--Technique. | BISAC: COMPUTERS / Digital Media /
Compositors: Serena Yang and Kim Scott, Bumpy Design General. | DESIGN / Graphic Arts / General.
Classification: LCC T385 (ebook) | LCC T385 .D424 2018 (print) | DDC
006.6--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/20180326655
No Starch Press and the No Starch Press logo are registered trademarks of No Starch Press,
Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their
respective owners. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trade-
marked name, we are using the names only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the
trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark.
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every
precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the authors nor No Starch
Press, Inc. shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage
caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in it.
Dedicated to Christopher, Amanda, Say,
and of course, to you, the aspiring pixel artist!
About the Authors
Jennifer Dawe is a self-taught animator and character designer
who has worked as a professional pixel artist for the past 15 years.
You can usually find her on Twitter @gmshivers posting doodles and
answering questions about drawing and digital art.
Matthew Humphries is Senior Editor at PCMag.com and a profes-
sional game designer. Over the past 15 years, he has worked for
Disney, 20th Century Fox, and Games Workshop, among others.
You can find him on Twitter @mthwgeek.
Contents 1
Pixel Art Tool Guide
Preface
Installing Aseprite 2
xv
Working with a Canvas 2
Creating a Canvas 3
2
Saving Your Work 4
Opening Your Work 5
Shapes and Shading
How Aseprite Is Organized 6
Layers 17 Silhouette Puppets 28
Box and Circle Selection 22 Forming Basic Shapes 28
Mirroring Images 24 Shading Outside the Lines 29
A Bit About Color 25 Using Primitives to Shade 32
You Are Ready! 26 Shading Techniques 35
The Inside Is the Outside 39
viii ContentS
