Programmers are known to not have a strong suit for art related disciplines, pixel art is no exception. In this post, I’ll share 5 tips for making good pixel art from the point of view of a programmer. This is to help other solo devs coming from a programming background to make better pixel art for their games.
Now, you might be wondering if I’m qualified to share tips related to pixel art? Below are two pixel art asset packs I made. If you like how they look, then the question is answered.
Here are all the asset packs I’ve made so far :
Tip #1 : Nurture Good Taste in Pixel Art
How do you know if a sprite looks good or not? You might have assumed that you just need to look at it and your brain determines whenever it’s appealing or not. Maybe the colors clash or the pixels are not placed symmetrically, etc… all things that you should detect naturally.
However, it’s not that simple, an art piece can go against commonly held rules and still look good. It can look good to one person but not to another.
While it’s true that whether a sprite or any piece of art looks good is subjective to some extent, it’s undeniable that some of them are widely considered more appealing.
This subjective nature of art is what a lot of programmers struggle with. You might be used to having a compiler compile and run your code. If your code successfully runs then you know that at least your code works.
With art however, you need to acquire good taste that will effectively act as your own internal compiler when doing pixel art. It will guide you during your art process and allow you to realize when things don’t work (ex: Color clashes, etc…).
The question now becomes, how do you develop good taste in pixel art? The simplest way is to look at well regarded pixel art online. It can come from games where the art is praised or from pixel artists online. When observing each piece, try to notice the details. If you do this enough, you’ll build an internal understanding of what makes good pixel art.
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