#it's good that you don't know this software

[screwpinecaprice]

infinite kisses! [reuloaded]

I learned that Fire Alpaca has an animation option, so I could actually see it moving while editing instead of just guessing in Medibang. So have had it adjusted to make it less snappy as originally intended.

[fir-fireweed]

hihi !! i'm a young person EXTREMELY interested in writing and coding my own interactive novel, and i just had a few questions if that's okay !!!!

i replayed cantata for the fourth time today (i'm very much addicted), and i was wondering what software you used to code it? i really like the layout of it and how easy it is to understand, which is a feature i'd very much like to replicate !!

thank you so much for the hard work you put into cantata ᥫ᭡ it was one of the very first interactive novels i read, and it really inspired my love for this genre of games !! again, thank you for being you, and i'm super duper excited to see where chapter three leads me !! ᥫ᭡

also, thank you for taking the time to read this ask, even if you don't have the time to respond to it. if you have any tips or tricks you would like to share, i'm all ears, and again, THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!

Hello! Welcome to the world of writing and coding! I’m relatively new here myself. 😁

I use a program called Twine. Within Twine are different story formats. Cantata was built in Twine Sugarcube, while my other story Viatica was built in Twine Chapbook. Sugarcube has a bit of a steep learning curve if you’ve never coded before, but the good thing is there are a ton of resources out there to help. I’d also recommend starting with a pre-built template. Being able to dive into and deconstruct the code in a template has helped me to understand it better.

I used a template by Vahnya for Cantata which can be found here.

This template by albie for building character pages was also extremely helpful. They also include a pdf of instructions to walk you through it.

If you’re new to Twine Sugarcube, I’d recommend this guide by manonamora. I’ve found it very helpful.

As far as tips or tricks, I’d recommend starting small and knowing your limits and constraints. I’ve seen so many grand ideas for epic, multi-book IFs; and while the premise is exciting, the reality is most will never be finished due to the sheer scope of work involved. I’m a big proponent of baby steps and project planning. 😁

My first story, Viatica, was adapted from an existing novella I wrote years ago. It was easier to adapt that then create a new story when I didn’t know the first thing about coding and branching. But now that I do, I feel much more confident in writing Cantata. And I feel it’s a much more polished and better crafted story because of that.

Be kind to yourself, have patience, and above all, enjoy the writing process! If you have any other questions, please don’t be afraid to ask. I’m honored that my story inspired you and I’m very happy you reached out! 🫶🏻 Good luck!

[lidoshka]

✨My tools of the trade ✨

I've been trying to explain my art process in this post here, but it seems there are some tiny details I forgot to mention 😅

I use a wacom tablet that my mother bought for me 10-14 years ago. Yes, it's that old, but if you look at it, it looks in pretty good condition, and the reason is:

Rice paper.

When my mother bought it, she advised me to wrap it with a protective cover (she wraps her cooking notes in fabric, she placed plastic over her children desk tops, she covered the tablet protector in plastic), but after thinking about it for a while the idea had some merit.

So I looked for a paper thin enough and rice paper that's waxed/polished on one side was the best choice. (Artists with tablets can confirm that after a while the drawing area starts looking like the bottom of an old pot, but this one still looks nice!)

This wacom tablet came with 3 wand tips, and I'm almost done with the second one!

And the software I use is Photoshop. It's an old version and I don't even know where the installation cd is anymore.... If something ever happens to my computer that'd be it, I'm not ok with paying online for the software.

With the wacom pen you get very thin lines, my fav brush is plain dot, but sometimes you get better results with the lasso function:

👌😌

So this was a long explanation, thank you all for reading up to this point, here have a small drawing as thanks!

[nerdinsandals]

EYES PART TWO✨✨✨✨✨

So I wanted to go over how I do most of my eye coloring as well. Most of my eyes are variations of this method, and you can do it using cel shading (solid-edged brushes) or soft shading (softer-edged brushes), or even a combination of both! It really doesn't matter. But because this is long enough already, I'll put this part under a read more.

I'll be using this Misty sketch that I don't think I'll finish because it's clean enough already so I don't have to do lineart just for this haha. As you can see, I usually outline the white of the eyes as well so I can stay aware of the shape. I erase these lines once I apply my flat colors.

I'm using Paint Tool SAI 2 for this since it's what I draw in, but you can do all these steps in pretty much any digital drawing software (and 99% of them can be done even on MS Paint if you don't care about layers lol).

So the first step would be laying out the base flat colors. You can keep each color on a separate layer or merge them all together, it really doesn't a make a big difference so whatever feels most comfortable for you works just fine.

(I also made the lineart blue because I think it works better with the bright colors than the black but this is totally optional haha)

Okay so I know this sounds like the "how to draw an owl" meme but I'm going to start by shading everything else except the eyes. Overall shading isn't the main point of these tips so we'll save that for another day haha, but I recommend doing this so you have a clearer idea of where the light is coming from and where it's hitting, especially in more dramatic lighting situations, so the eyes don't look like stickers slapped on the picture. Of course, you don't really need to shade everything else first, but this is what I like to do for this kind of drawing. :P

We'll be using this teal-green color as a base to pick our shadows.

I'll be picking the teal-green color twice using the dropper tool, so both color selection squares (bottom right) look the same as a starting point. This will help you see the difference between the colors more clearly:

Since the colors in this drawing are vibrant, but not overly saturated, I won't be touching the further left or right sides of the square (which iirc is technically called HSV -Hue, Saturation, Value- square) to pick the shadows. Since the other shadows are slightly pinker than the base color as a personal choice, I also want the shadow to be a bit cooler than the teal-green color, so I will be moving slightly towards the blues on the wheel and slightly downwards on the square. Something like this:

Now it's time to apply this color to the iris! I make sure to leave a circular-oval shape at the bottom without any shading.

I think this looks good enough! But if you don't want to commit to a color, you can always put it on a separate layer so you can adjust the hue, brightness, saturation, etc., individually until it looks just right for your taste.

I already added some extra depth to the higher part of the iris with the lineart, but I'm going to pick a second shading color anyway just to show you the process. This time, instead of starting with the base teal-green color, we're going to pick the cooler, darker shading color twice so we can use it as a base:

And again, we're going to go a bit cooler (bluer) on the wheel and a bit lower on the square. Something like this:

And we apply this color to the top part of the shading area, following the curve:

You can leave it like this since we're doing a more solid cel shading style, but you can also use a soft brush or apply Gaussian blur afterwards to make this deeper shading subtler:

Or you can duplicate the solid layer, blur it and just have both at the same time! Just do whatever looks good for you. I think I'm going to stick with this one:

You could stop here and this would be considered complete! But I like to add two circular highlights (one bigger, one smaller) to the bottom of the iris. I don't remember when exactly I started doing this because it's been so long, but I feel like it's one of the few constants in my art style haha

So yeah, let's do that! First, pick the base teal-green color again:

And because the shadows are cooler, I'm going to move the wheel in the opposite direction so the highlight is slightly warmer. So, I'm going to move just a bit towards the green on the wheel, and towards the higher part of the square (and slightly to the left so it's lighter).

The result would be a lighter, greener color:

Again, you can draw these on a separate layer so you can adjust the color however you want.

Just for fun, I'm also going to add a highlight next to the big white one in the same teal color as the base of the iris:

If you want, you can duplicate the highlight layer, blur it a little bit and set it to a mode like Screen or Overlay to make the eyes shine a bit more:

And of course, we can’t forget the sclerae! In order to shade them, we’re going to pick the white color. Again, pick it twice so you can see the difference side by side:

Since we’re going with cooler colors for the shadows, I’m going to go to the blue area of the wheel to pick the shadow color. I’m going to move a bit to the right on the square to make the blue slightly deeper while remaining light enough to work as a shading color for the white.

And now we apply this color to the top part of the eye following the curve of the eyelashes/eyelid! Remember that eyes, even when stylized, are representing an orb. I’m sure a straight shadow could look pretty cool in a very stylized art style though, it’s just not what I’m going for here.

And we’re done! There she is, all nice and shaded!

Keep in mind that you don’t have to do every step exactly like this. Sometimes I don’t feel like picking the colors manually, so instead I shade with a light, desaturated purple, blue or red-orange color (depending on the base colors) on a separate layer and set it to Multiply! Which can be a real time saver.

The purple in particular is my personal favorite because works well with a lot of other colors!

Aaand I think that would be it! I hope this was helpful. Feel free to ask if you have more art questions. :D

Your art is so amazing especially with the human characters, got any tips on human tutorials if you don't mind me asking?

Thank you!! :>

I'm always glad to share some tips! Is there anything more specific you need help with? Humans have many different parts after all haha

[wisteriagoesvroom]

i tried looking up online what sap4hana even does but could only find confusing corporate that has a lot of words but says absolutely nothing. so i can only conclude from the only reliable evidence presented to me (wiz on tumblr telling me) that the only thing it does is being Evil.

you're absolutely correct

[thesourcabbage]

WOOOO!!! I'm so excited about Azris week!!!!! :D I'm so looking forward to seeing what everyone has come up with!! YAY!!

1. What drew you to Azris?

I accidentally came across Azris while looking for Amren/Varian fanfics. I did a double take: "What in the world?" But they make sense. The shared cruelty adopted due to circumstance, the kindness hidden beneath their masks. It's good stuff. Plus, enemies to lovers is peak.

2. What themes do you explore most often in your fics? Do you have a favorite image or location that you return to again and again?

I tend to return to the theme of emotional healing via love and shared understanding. Love, to me, includes loving a person's flaws, and boy do these two have flaws lmao. I really enjoy the idea of both of them seeing each other for who they are -- rough edges and all -- and accepting and loving that about each other.

3. What is your favorite fic/art that you’ve made? Why?

This is quite hard!!

Fanart: Buoyant (NSFW due to Azriel's 🍑). I think this is when I felt like I was finally starting to find my passion for art again. Huge thanks to @the-darkestminds for inspiring and prompting this art.

Fanfic: A Taste of Evening Honey (Explicit, Not Complete). This was the fic that got me creating again. I started writing at the advice of my career counselor and this fic was the result. I think I'll always be sentimental about this fic.

4. What is your writing/drawing/painting setup? Do you have a routine that you follow?

Art: Hardware: Wacom Cintiq 22HD with a 8Bitdo Zero 2 bluetooth gamepad as a handheld input remote. I use JoyToKey to map the gamepad inputs to keyboard inputs, which makes swapping to brush, paint bucket, etc easier. Software: Clip Studio Paint. Brushes: Frenden brushes.

Fiction: Ellipsus babyyy. Shoutout to @makinglongwordsslutty for recommending it. I love it!!

5. Give a favorite headcanon about Azriel and Eris, separately, and Azriel and Eris, together.

Azriel: Lonely AF. Emotionally fixates on people (such as Mor, Elaine) in order to avoid dealing with his own loneliness; this is a toxic trait despite his best intentions.

Eris: Wears a mask in order to survive Beron and navigate Court politics. He's worn the mask so long that it is part of who he is. It will take a long time for him to figure out his identity after Beron is killed. Constantly vigilant and stressed. Textbook-definition tsundere.

Azriel & Eris: My favorite for these two is a slow burn. I really like the gradual unwinding of their years of resentment, and having that turn into an unexpected affection. I love the idea of one of them realizing they can't take their eyes off the other, and not entirely knowing what to do with that knowledge.

6. Have you worn wigs?

Yes, when I used to cosplay as a teen LOL

7. Will you wear wigs?

Maybe? Idk they're itchy man lol

8. What upcoming projects are you excited about?

YO IM SO EXCITED FOR AZRIS WEEK. I'm gonna be posting a fanfic every day and I am so HYPED to share what's been cooking.

9. Name some influences on your writing or art style - could be fellow writers, poets, singers, nature, etc.

Art: HamletMachine (18+), SDKay (18+), Jordie Bellaire's coloring

Fiction: @makinglongwordsslutty, a lot of random Stucky and Johnlock fanfics. While I don't want to write like these authors, I feel like Rebecca Yarros gave me the confidence that I could write, and Brandon Sanderson gave me the confidence that I could write what I want for as long as I wanted (on top of his awesome lecture series he just finished up??)

10. What encouragement would you give someone who is just beginning a project? Someone who is stalled on a project? Someone losing steam/interest?

I want to stress that this advice/encouragement is strictly subjective. We're all different. I'm hoping that whatever I share can be one of many tools that folks can use to troubleshoot whatever friction they're encountering in their creative journey.

Beginning: Embrace the suck. I've always felt most liberated when I tell myself that what I'm writing/drawing is allowed to suck. There's so much bad media out there, that like, I should also be able to be shitty too. It's okay to be bad. What matters is that you exorcise the idea monkey out of your body so it can live in the document/picture instead of your brain. Just make.

Stalled on a Project/Losing Steam or Interest: I'm excited to see what other people say since this is a broad/complicated subject. I'm going to try to address the few aspects I've encountered:

Burnout/Lost Passion: I'm defining this as, knowing what you need/want to write/draw, but you don't want to actually write or draw. Writing/drawing doesn't bring joy anymore. You don't look forward to it.

What worked for me is being creative in a completely different medium. I'm talking about switching from oil painting to playing the saxophone. I've found, swapping from digital art to writing, that while the output is vastly different, the creative process is very similar. I'm defining creative process as having an idea and translating that idea into a medium. I found that this helped me release my creative urge without the baggage of the medium I was previously burnt out on. For me, by exploring writing, I was able to take the creative pressure off of artmaking, giving me the mental and emotional space to experiment and rediscover what I enjoy about artmaking.

Got this one from an inspiration panel from comic book editor Barbara Randall Kesel: try consuming media outside of your medium. If you're a writer, go see a live dance performance. If you're an artist, read a book of poetry. Creativity is a single facet of a full life and wanes in the "rise and grind" mindset. There is inspiration in life, the everyday, the mundane.

Frustration/It's not coming together: I'm defining this as, wanting to write/draw, but the scene/picture you're working on isn't right and you don't know why.

Taking this from quickest to longest solutions. Take this as an "if this doesn't work, then try the next thing":

Art: Flip the canvas. If that doesn't work, zoom out. This will typically reveal that your character's left eye somehow decided to melt off the person's face without telling you

Take an hour break.

Sleep on it.

Move on to the next scene/another art piece for a few days, then come back.

If the answer hasn't come to you by this point, talk with another trusted fellow creator and ask them to take a look what's going on.

If all else fails, try to get it done to the best of your ability and move on. We don't all bat 1000. Not every scene/picture is going to be a zinger. Just let it go and move forward. Done is better than perfect.

Wow that was very long lol. Thank you very much for reading through this. This has been very cathartic for me hahaha 😅😅😅

Azris Week 2025 Self-Spotlight

Only five more days until the main event! To continue fostering more community between Azris creators, instead of having user-submitted writers or artists answer some questions, creators can interview themselves!

Pretend you can see my jazz hands.

These questions are for ALL Azris creators - writers, mood board creators, artists, you get the idea! At the end of Azris Week, anyone who has filled out the below interview will get added to a master list so that everyone can see your thoughts. Feel free to add your own questions at the bottom, if you think of anything else you’d like to say about your Azris Week creations.

If you aren’t doing anything for Azris Week 2025 but want to participate anyway, go ahead! No one will stop you and you’ll still be included in the master list.

Questions

1. What drew you to Azris?

2. What themes do you explore most often in your fics? Do you have a favorite image or location that you return to again and again?

3. What is your favorite fic/art that you’ve made? Why?

4. What is your writing/drawing/painting setup? Do you have a routine that you follow?

5. Give a favorite headcanon about Azriel and Eris, separately, and Azriel and Eris, together.

6. Have you worn wigs?

7. Will you wear wigs?

8. What upcoming projects are you excited about?

9. Name some influences on your writing or art style - could be fellow writers, poets, singers, nature, etc.

10. What encouragement would you give someone who is just beginning a project? Someone who is stalled on a project? Someone losing steam/interest?

[tobsart]

Learned how to use Clip studio Paint!!! :D

[alertarchitect]

So! A new Doom game got announced!

Here's the trailer for those interested, it will help with what I'm about to go into:

As a bit of a Retro Throwback Shooter Shitter myself, I have some Thoughts. Read on if you're interested.

So, first of all I like the premise of exploring the time the Doom Slayer spent fighting demons alongside the warriors of Argent D'Nur. It's a time period that was purposefully left pretty damn vague in Doom Eternal, and the Slayer's lore before waking up again wasn't even really talked about much - if at all - in Doom 2016 from what I remember, since they were trying to play it a little safe due to Doom 2016 being a soft reboot of a series that hadn't gotten a new game in 12 years at that point, with the last title (Doom 3 and its various editions that attempted to improve it a bit) being a pretty big departure that had a wealth of issues, such as it being a Doom game with one of the worst shotguns ever put into a shooter. So it's a cool idea to explore this time frame of the Doom Slayer's history, and possibly show the events leading to the Slayer's imprisonment in Hell before he was rediscovered and subsequently awoken by Samuel Hayden in Doom 2016, including the Makyrs' fall from grace.

Second, I'm actually kinda hyped to see id Software still working on making retro throwback shooters. I was worried they'd get shuttered and their IP sold off after Rage was such a flop back in 2011, and they didn't make anything after it for 5 years until Doom 2016 came out, so it's nice to see they've found their groove again - making some of the best examples of the retro throwback shooter subgenre. Doom 2016 started the BoomShoot Renaissance, and Doom Eternal is still one of the best examples of the genre, mechanically. They are masterclasses in using an old formula while keeping the level design and visuals fresh with modern game design principles that have improved a lot since the 90s, along with new game mechanics to keep the moment-to-moment gameplay feeling fresh as well (such as the weapon / stat upgrade systems, the movement abilities you get in Doom Eternal, etc.). Seeing them pushing that even further is a treat to behold, and I'm confident it's going to be a pretty damn fun game, as long as it doesn't get forced into being $70.

Final point, though, is a bit of a downer for me personally. Why in the fuck are they making a game in the Doom series that's going for a more medieval-ish feel, when the Quake franchise is right fucking there and begging for a better modern entry than goddamn Quake Champions?? Seriously, making a Quake game calling back to the first game in the franchise - with the Lovecraftian inspirations, the more medieval-ish setting, the unique monsters like the Shambler you didn't see much of past Quake 1 - would be a fucking money printer. But no, Microsoft wants them to play it safe so they can get a guaranteed blockbuster because Quake Champions hasn't done very well since it came out of early access in 2022, which is definitely a fault of the Quake franchise not having any consumer interest and 100% for sure not because Quake Champions pivoted into being a fucking hero shooter trying to emulate the feel of old arena shooter deathmatching!! It's not like a soft reboot wouldn't be sorely needed after the goddamn disaster of a story that was the Quake 4 campaign! It's not like a modern Quake game that actually relies on having a fun weapon sandbox instead of relying on taking your opponents off guard with fucking superpowers on cooldowns is something the fanbase they're trying to pander to would nut in our fucking pants over or anything!!!!

TL;DR: This game looks really good and fun, and I like to see id is still making banger games, but I'm actually kinda angry that they'd rather make a Doom game with medieval vibes rather than using that other fantastic retro shooter IP they own to make something that kind of vibe would actually fit into better.

[bishounen-jump]

i Really don't want to buy another apple phone but choosing an android is overwhelming

[anonymusbosch]

really truly Feelings about coming back to my hometown and seeing it as an outsider (I only knew it as a child with my motion constrained by school and parents and being under 18) and an outsider (it's changed since I've been away these last 8 years) and an outsider (showing it to my partner and finding it both familiar and unfamiliar, and special and inadequate) and an outsider (my parents and sister have all moved and my childhood home is no longer mine - staying in a building with a door code to learn and furniture still being moved in) and an outsider (my favorite places have changed, moved, closed, repainted) and an outsider (new murals! new buildings! new bike lanes) and an outsider (how the Fuck do the bike lanes on the east bank connect) and an outsider (it's changed [you can never step in the same river twice] and I have too)

[eimearkuopio]

I would absolutely be getting burned as a witch. I'm autistic, I have ADHD, I am a cis woman who suspects she may have a DSD but has decided it shouldn't fucking matter, I'm not the smartest person I've ever met but with no false modesty unless I'm in a situation with a highly biased sample I'm usually the smartest person in any given room, I'm opinionated and my opinions are actually pretty good AND subject to change when presented with new evidence in a way that my neurodivergent brain can process and I am allowed time to digest it, and I was born without fear and recent experiences have burned away the last traces of the fear that the people who love me went to great lengths to instil in me for my own good.

Here's one of my opinions. True, bone-deep, apparently irrational rage only comes from one of two things: fear, or pain. Fear is when you think anger can protect you from imagined future suffering. Pain is when you think anger can protect others from imagined future suffering. Anger from pain is righteous anger; it seeks to protect others from what you fear for them, instead of seeking to protect yourself.

Communication is key, because we are all difference and we all have different limitations to overcome and vulnerabilities we were either born with or had thrust upon us by a cruel world. The most bitter irony is that if we fail to communicate with the people we love about what they truly need protecting from, and instead harm ourselves by shielding them from the things we fear, we can do more harm than good. A mother with a fear of drowning who births a mermaid will spend her whole life clinging to her child instead of controlling her fear and letting the child swim. You can't drown a mermaid; but you can drown yourself trying to save one, or become nothing but a millstone around the neck of someone who can thrive in what you fear. Even if your strange half-human half-fish child can survive on land, she cannot thrive without the sea; and just because you fear the storms and the pirates, you are not protecting one who can dive into the serene depths by forcing her to limit herself to what you feel is safe. There are dangers in the deep, but she knows the way and has no fear and is willing to brave them to find pearls of great price. Her soul cries out, BE NOT AFRAID; not because there is nothing in the world to fear, but because fear forces us only to listen to our instincts, not our minds and our hearts, and instincts are for surviving in the moment, not for building a life where the true dangers are fewer and further between.

In other words, they would have tried to drown me as a witch; and when they failed, they probably would have killed me anyway. Better to swim away than to let them burn; but I couldn't do that to the people I would have left behind. I survived your stupid test. I'm not a witch. I'm admittedly not entirely sure what I am, but I would prefer that you not burn me or any others like me you happen to find. I'm honestly not sure what the end result would be for either of us, but I've read enough of the rule books to be pretty sure you're all claiming house rules are canon just because your heavily edited version of the rule book says so. I'm not claiming I'm recreating Rules As Written, or even that doing so is a goal we should aim for; but I do think I've spotted a few contradictions in the law that I would like us to overcome together, and I'm not the first New Man and I really hope I'm not the first New Woman but I am really hoping someone at least has a less dog-eared copy of the house rules they might be willing to discuss with me?

[depresseddepot]

uh oh!!!! starting to feel unqualified for the opportunities I have been given!!!!

[zestyzigzagoon]

I have been writing the final draft of chapter two in past tense for 1.7k words now. WHY would I randomly switch to present tense this far in???

[unpretty]

today was the day we finalized the migration of essential software at work from some old and busted shit that was ready to die at any time, to the new cloud version of the same software that we are no longer responsible for maintaining. which is good because no one was actually maintaining ours. it's just been slowly crufting into unusability for a decade. so anyway they set aside an hour for a teams meeting where they'd walk us through the different interface and how to go through normal processes.

"it's not that big a change," they said. "it's all the same stuff, it just looks a little different," they said.

they did not account for the fact that the primary user of this software is someone who doesn't actually know how it works or what it's doing. they learned how to do their job entirely through rote memorization. they know which buttons they are supposed to press in which order, and that is the full extent of what they know. they also did not account for the fact that this person's processes were learned thirdhand from other people who were not using this software normally to begin with.

it's like. imagine if someone had only ever used tumblr in the app. and you try to get them to use it in a desktop browser, but they cannot figure out how to post. and you go through explaining where the button is and how to format text and add tags, even though you could have sworn it was all the same in the app. but then they're like, "okay, but what's the phone number" and you're like "what" and they're like "the phone number to call to make a post?" and it turns out somehow they still had the ability to post by calling a phone number, and every time they posted on the app they called the post in first and then edited the audio post to transcribe it into text before screenshotting the text for a photo post. and nothing you can say to them will make them understand that none of that is necessary or correct. they shouldn't have even been able to do some of that. they can just type into the post box now, like a civilized person. "okay," they say, "but what is the phone number, though? because when i made my account my friend gave me this checklist and the first thing on it is to call the number."

so anyway we were on that teams call for almost three hours and they still don't have a handle on the new software

[tofupixel]

⭐ So you want to learn pixel art? ⭐

🔹 Part 1 of ??? - The Basics!

Edit: Now available in Google Doc format if you don't have a Tumblr account 🥰

Hello, my name is Tofu and I'm a professional pixel artist. I have been supporting myself with freelance pixel art since 2020, when I was let go from my job during the pandemic.

My progress, from 2017 to 2024. IMO the only thing that really matters is time and effort, not some kind of natural talent for art.

This guide will not be comprehensive, as nobody should be expected to read allat. Instead I will lean heavily on my own experience, and share what worked for me, so take everything with a grain of salt. This is a guide, not a tutorial. Cheers!

🔹 Do I need money?

NO!!! Pixel art is one of the most accessible mediums out there.

I still use a mouse because I prefer it to a tablet! You won't be at any disadvantage here if you can't afford the best hardware or software.

Because our canvases are typically very small, you don't need a good PC to run a good brush engine or anything like that.

✨Did you know? One of the most skilled and beloved pixel artists uses MS PAINT! Wow!!

🔹 What software should I use?

Here are some of the most popular programs I see my friends and peers using. Stars show how much I recommend the software for beginners! ⭐

💰 Paid options:

⭐⭐⭐ Aseprite (for PC) - $19.99

This is what I and many other pixel artists use. You may find when applying to jobs that they require some knowledge of Aseprite. Since it has become so popular, companies like that you can swap raw files between artists.

Aseprite is amazingly customizable, with custom skins, scripts and extensions on Itch.io, both free and paid.

If you have ever used any art software before, it has most of the same features and should feel fairly familiar to use. It features a robust animation suite and a tilemap feature, which have saved me thousands of hours of labour in my work. The software is also being updated all the time, and the developers listen to the users. I really recommend Aseprite!

⭐ Photoshop (for PC) - Monthly $$

A decent option for those who already are used to the PS interface. Requires some setup to get it ready for pixel-perfect art, but there are plenty of tutorials for doing so.

Animation is also much more tedious on PS which you may want to consider before investing time!

⭐⭐ ProMotion NG (for PC) - $19.00

An advanced and powerful software which has many features Aseprite does not, including Colour Cycling and animated tiles.

⭐⭐⭐ Pixquare (for iOS) - $7.99 - $19.99 (30% off with code 'tofu'!!)

Probably the best app available for iPad users, in active development, with new features added all the time.

Look! My buddy Jon recommends it highly, and uses it often.

One cool thing about Pixquare is that it takes Aseprite raw files! Many of my friends use it to work on the same project, both in their office and on the go.

⭐ Procreate (for iOS) - $12.99

If you have access to Procreate already, it's a decent option to get used to doing pixel art. It does however require some setup. Artist Pixebo is famously using Procreate, and they have tutorials of their own if you want to learn.

⭐⭐ ReSprite iOS and Android. (free trial, but:) $19.99 premium or $$ monthly

ReSprite is VERY similar in terms of UI to Aseprite, so I can recommend it. They just launched their Android release!

🆓 Free options:

⭐⭐⭐ Libresprite (for PC)

Libresprite is an alternative to Aseprite. It is very, very similar, to the point where documentation for Aseprite will be helpful to Libresprite users.

⭐⭐ Pixilart (for PC and mobile)

A free in-browser app, and also a mobile app! It is tied to the website Pixilart, where artists upload and share their work. A good option for those also looking to get involved in a community.

⭐⭐ Dotpict (for mobile)

Dotpict is similar to Pixilart, with a mobile app tied to a website, but it's a Japanese service. Did you know that in Japanese, pixel art is called 'Dot Art'? Dotpict can be a great way to connect with a different community of pixel artists! They also have prompts and challenges often.

🔹 So I got my software, now what?

◽Nice! Now it's time for the basics of pixel art.

❗ WAIT ❗ Before this section, I want to add a little disclaimer. All of these rules/guidelines can be broken at will, and some 'no-nos' can look amazing when done intentionally.

The pixel-art fundamentals can be exceedingly helpful to new artists, who may feel lost or overwhelmed by choice. But if you feel they restrict you too harshly, don't force yourself! At the end of the day it's your art, and you shouldn't try to contort yourself into what people think a pixel artist 'should be'. What matters is your own artistic expression. 💕👍

◽Phew! With that out of the way...

🔸"The Rules"

There are few hard 'rules' of pixel art, mostly about scaling and exporting. Some of these things will frequently trip up newbies if they aren't aware, and are easy to overlook.

🔹Scaling method

There are a couple ways of scaling your art. The default in most art programs, and the entire internet, is Bi-linear scaling, which usually works out fine for most purposes. But as pixel artists, we need a different method.

Both are scaled up x10. See the difference?

On the left is scaled using Bilinear, and on the right is using Nearest-Neighbor. We love seeing those pixels stay crisp and clean, so we use nearest-neighbor. 

(Most pixel-art programs have nearest-neighbor enabled by default! So this may not apply to you, but it's important to know.)

🔹Mixels

Mixels are when there are different (mixed) pixel sizes in the same image.

Here I have scaled up my art- the left is 200%, and the right is 150%. Yuck!

As we can see, the "pixel" sizes end up different. We generally try to scale our work by multiples of 100 - 200%, 300% etc. rather than 150%. At larger scales however, the minute differences in pixel sizes are hardly noticeable!

Mixels are also sometimes seen when an artist scales up their work, then continues drawing on it with a 1 pixel brush.

Many would say that this is not great looking! This type of pixels can be indicative of a beginner artist. But there are plenty of creative pixel artists out there who mixels intentionally, making something modern and cool.

🔹Saving Your Files

We usually save our still images as .PNGs as they don’t create any JPEG artifacts or loss of quality. It's a little hard to see here, but there are some artifacts, and it looks a little blurry. It also makes the art very hard to work with if we are importing a JPEG.

For animations .GIF is good, but be careful of the 256 colour limit. Try to avoid using too many blending mode layers or gradients when working with animations. If you aren’t careful, your animation could flash afterwards, as the .GIF tries to reduce colours wherever it can. It doesn’t look great!

Here's an old piece from 2021 where I experienced .GIF lossiness, because I used gradients and transparency, resulting in way too many colours.

🔹Pixel Art Fundamentals - Techniques and Jargon

❗❗Confused about Jaggies? Anti-Aliasing? Banding? Dithering? THIS THREAD is for you❗❗ << it's a link, click it!!

As far as I'm concerned, this is THE tutorial of all time for understanding pixel art. These are techniques created and named by the community of people who actually put the list together, some of the best pixel artists alive currently. Please read it!!

🔸How To Learn

Okay, so you have your software, and you're all ready to start. But maybe you need some more guidance? Try these tutorials and resources! It can be helpful to work along with a tutorial until you build your confidence up.

⭐⭐ Pixel Logic (A Digital Book) - $10 A very comprehensive visual guide book by a very skilled and established artist in the industry. I own a copy myself.

⭐⭐⭐ StudioMiniBoss - free A collection of visual tutorials, by the artist that worked on Celeste! When starting out, if I got stuck, I would go and scour his tutorials and see how he did it.

⭐ Lospec Tutorials - free A very large collection of various tutorials from all over the internet. There is a lot to sift through here if you have the time.

⭐⭐⭐ Cyangmou's Tutorials - free (tipping optional) Cyangmou is one of the most respected and accomplished modern pixel artists, and he has amassed a HUGE collection of free and incredibly well-educated visual tutorials. He also hosts an educational stream every week on Twitch called 'pixelart for beginners'.

⭐⭐⭐ Youtube Tutorials - free There are hundreds, if not thousands of tutorials on YouTube, but it can be tricky to find the good ones. My personal recommendations are MortMort, Brandon, and AdamCYounis- these guys really know what they're talking about!

🔸 How to choose a canvas size

When looking at pixel art turorials, we may see people suggest things like 16x16, 32x32 and 64x64. These are standard sizes for pixel art games with tiles. However, if you're just making a drawing, you don't necessarily need to use a standard canvas size like that.

What I like to think about when choosing a canvas size for my illustrations is 'what features do I think it is important to represent?' And make my canvas as small as possible, while still leaving room for my most important elements.

Imagine I have characters in a scene like this:

I made my canvas as small as possible (232 x 314), but just big enough to represent the features and have them be recognizable (it's Good Omens fanart 😤)!! If I had made it any bigger, I would be working on it for ever, due to how much more foliage I would have to render.

If you want to do an illustration and you're not sure, just start at somewhere around 100x100 - 200x200 and go from there.

It's perfectly okay to crop your canvas, or scale it up, or crunch your art down at any point if you think you need a different size. I do it all the time! It only takes a bit of cleanup to get you back to where you were.

🔸Where To Post

Outside of just regular socials, Twitter, Tumblr, Deviantart, Instagram etc, there are a few places that lean more towards pixel art that you might not have heard of.

⭐ Lospec Lospec is a low-res focused art website. Some pieces get given a 'monthly masterpiece' award. Not incredibly active, but I believe there are more features being added often.

⭐⭐ Pixilart Pixilart is a very popular pixel art community, with an app tied to it. The community tends to lean on the young side, so this is a low-pressure place to post with an relaxed vibe.

⭐⭐ Pixeljoint Pixeljoint is one of the big, old-school pixel art websites. You can only upload your art unscaled (1x) because there is a built-in zoom viewer. It has a bit of a reputation for being elitist (back in the 00s it was), but in my experience it's not like that any more. This is a fine place for a pixel artist to post if they are really interested in learning, and the history. The Hall of Fame has some of the most famous / impressive pixel art pieces that paved the way for the work we are doing today.

⭐⭐⭐ Cafe Dot Cafe Dot is my art server so I'm a little biased here. 🍵 It was created during the recent social media turbulence. We wanted a place to post art with no algorithms, and no NFT or AI chuds. We have a heavy no-self-promotion rule, and are more interested in community than skill or exclusivity. The other thing is that we have some kind of verification system- you must apply to be a Creator before you can post in the Art feed, or use voice. This helps combat the people who just want to self-promo and dip, or cause trouble, as well as weed out AI/NFT people. Until then, you are still welcome to post in any of the threads or channels. There is a lot to do in Cafe Dot. I host events weekly, so check the threads!

⭐⭐/r/pixelart The pixel art subreddit is pretty active! I've also heard some of my friends found work through posting here, so it's worth a try if you're looking. However, it is still Reddit- so if you're sensitive to rude people, or criticism you didn't ask for, you may want to avoid this one. Lol

🔸 Where To Find Work

You need money? I got you! As someone who mostly gets scouted on social media, I can share a few tips with you:

Put your email / portfolio in your bio Recruiters don't have all that much time to find artists, make it as easy as possible for someone to find your important information!

Clean up your profile If your profile feed is all full of memes, most people will just tab out rather than sift through. Doesn't apply as much to Tumblr if you have an art tag people can look at.

Post regularly, and repost Activity beats everything in the social media game. It's like rolling the dice, and the more you post the more chances you have. You have to have no shame, it's all business baby

Outside of just posting regularly and hoping people reach out to you, it can be hard to know where to look. Here are a few places you can sign up to and post around on.

/r/INAT INAT (I Need A Team) is a subreddit for finding a team to work with. You can post your portfolio here, or browse for people who need artists.

/r/GameDevClassifieds Same as above, but specifically for game-related projects.

Remote Game Jobs / Work With Indies Like Indeed but for game jobs. Browse them often, or get email notifications.

VGen VGen is a website specifically for commissions. You need a code from another verified artist before you can upgrade your account and sell, so ask around on social media or ask your friends. Once your account is upgraded, you can make a 'menu' of services people can purchase, and they send you an offer which you are able to accept, decline, or counter.

The evil websites of doom: Fiverr and Upwork I don't recommend them!! They take a big cut of your profit, and the sites are teeming with NFT and AI people hoping to make a quick buck. The site is also extremely oversaturated and competitive, resulting in a race to the bottom (the cheapest, the fastest, doing the most for the least). Imagine the kind of clients who go to these websites, looking for the cheapest option. But if you're really desperate...

🔸 Community

I do really recommend getting involved in a community. Finding like-minded friends can help you stay motivated to keep drawing. One day, those friends you met when you were just starting out may become your peers in the industry. Making friends is a game changer!

Discord servers Nowadays, the forums of old are mostly abandoned, and people split off into many different servers. Cafe Dot, Pixel Art Discord (PAD), and if you can stomach scrolling past all the AI slop, you can browse Discord servers here.

Twitch Streams Twitch has kind of a bad reputation for being home to some of the more edgy gamers online, but the pixel art community is extremely welcoming and inclusive. Some of the people I met on Twitch are my friends to this day, and we've even worked together on different projects! Browse pixel art streams here, or follow some I recommend: NickWoz, JDZombi, CupOhJoe, GrayLure, LumpyTouch, FrankiePixelShow, MortMort, Sodor, NateyCakes, NyuraKim, ShinySeabass, I could go on for ever really... There are a lot of good eggs on Pixel Art Twitch.

🔸 Other Helpful Websites

Palettes Lospec has a huge collection of user-made palettes, for any artist who has trouble choosing their colours, or just wants to try something fun. Rejected Palettes is full of palettes that didn't quite make it onto Lospec, ran by people who believe there are no bad colours.

The Spriters Resource TSR is an incredible website where users can upload spritesheets and tilesets from games. You can browse for your favourite childhood game, and see how they made it! This website has helped me so much in understanding how game assets come together in a scene.

VGMaps Similar to the above, except there are entire maps laid out how they would be played. This is incredible if you have to do level design, or for mocking up a scene for fun.

Game UI Database Not pixel-art specific, but UI is a very challenging part of graphics, so this site can be a game-changer for finding good references!

Retronator A digital newspaper for pixel-art lovers! New game releases, tutorials, and artworks!

Itch.io A website where people can upload, games, assets, tools... An amazing hub for game devs and game fans alike. A few of my favourite tools: Tiled, PICO-8, Pixel Composer, Juice FX, Magic Pencil for Aseprite

🔸 The End?

This is just part 1 for now, so please drop me a follow to see any more guides I release in the future. I plan on doing some writeups on how I choose colours, how to practise, and more!

I'm not an expert by any means, but everything I did to get to where I am is outlined in this guide. Pixel art is my passion, my job and my hobby! I want pixel art to be recognized everywhere as an art-form, a medium of its own outside of game-art or computer graphics!

This guide took me a long time, and took a lot of research and experience. Consider following me or supporting me if you are feeling generous.

And good luck to all the fledgling pixel artists, I hope you'll continue and have fun. I hope my guide helped you, and don't hesitate to send me an ask if you have any questions! 💕

My other tutorials (so far): How to draw Simple Grass for a game Hue Shifting

[maukuja]

9 continuous hours of vector graphics is too many. Free me from the inkscape hell.