#who is one of our pcs!
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some fun quick doodles of d&d pcs and npcs from the campaign i'm dming!
bonus! my little guy:
#chris doodles#it's been so long since i've been able to dm a campaign and i'm having so much fun#we're only on session 2 but everyone's having a great time#so the doodle guys in order:#we've got azalea--a tiefling mage with 3 giant anglerbeast pets#(anglerbeasts are a custom creature i made taking displacerbeasts and adding a cool anglerfish bobble to the end of one of their tentacles)#(and if a player fails a saving throw they can get hypnotized by the bobble and will attack their fellow players for one turn)#next is adira--half-orc lady in charge of the beast's den#which is a monster/creature bounty sector of the silverhands mercenaries#a group of sellswords that run the majority of the security of the port town the party is in.#next is nakris--the dragonborn who hired the party!#an ancient artifact of his people#the amulet of the ironscale#was “accquired” (stolen) by a museum curator#he's been trying to do all the legal ways to get this ancient item back#but it hasnt worked so he's resorting to Crime and hiring the party to steal it back#which means i get to plan a heiiiiiiiiiiiiist mission!!!#its been so so fun#OH AND FINALLY the last one is reinheart!#who is one of our pcs!#a kalashstar war cleric#i plan to draw the other pcs eventually :]
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"cute."
felix giggles from across from you, head resting in his hands as he watches you. there's a milkshake between the two of you (your favorite flavor, because felix always remembers and likes to show off how much he knows you), and he's just wiped away a bit of whipped cream from your nose. his "cute" comment comes from the way you grow flustered, eyes averted as your cheeks warm.
"no, you."
another giggle. "oh? you think i'm cute?" he teases you, "i dunno... i think you're cuter."
(no one would guess that you've been dating for well over two years now. these are the things that happens when your boyfriend has decided it's been too long since he's teased you.)
"no, you." is all you can muster up again.
his eyes light up in delight, because he's already won. you know it, he knows it, yet you aren't going to say he won. you never do. "you can't uno reverse your way out of this one, my star-shine. you can't even speak right now, which i think says that you're cuter." he reaches out, gently bopping the tip of your nose. "so..."
"... no, you," you bury your face in your hands. "you're... you're cuter. stop."
his delighted evil giggles fill the air, "babyyy," he whines, "our milkshake is gonna melt."
"let it."
and he giggles again. "okay," he reaches out, taking your hands to peel them from your face. "i'll stop. you're just so easy to tease."
you take his hands, bringing his knuckles to your lips so you can plant a kiss against them. "thank you."
his eyes are still glimmering, though. "and that," he says, squishing your cheeks, "is why you're cuter."
"felix!"
#nonranghaes.thoughts#stray kids x you#stray kids fluff#stray kids x reader#stray kids imagines#stray kids imagine#lee felix x you#lee felix x reader#felix x you#felix fluff#felix x reader#nonranghaes.skz#men who i am delulu in love with /j#felix im just asking for one date mate. just one date. ill call u handsome and pay for our ice cream#u can talk to me abt ur pc build and ur video games and ill tell u abt my own viddy game lore that i love
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Hate having adhd went to go work on my fallout modpack, got distracted while going to disable the steam overlay, ended up in the points shop, went to go edit my profile, decided to change my pfp, found a buried folder I forgot existed, found some old Veneer art I forgot existed, spent 45 minutes looking at all the old photos, STILL HAVE NOT TOGGLED ONE SIMPLE OPTION THAT SHOULD'VE TAKEN 30 SECONDS AT MOST
#I'm shocked I have these drawings scanned on my pc I don't remember doing that I must've done it before I left in case my mom threw all my#Art out again#Anyway at age 12 I was writing a better '3 merpeople go on land to find a 4th one that has been disguised as a human all his life' story#Than Ma/ko Merm/aids EVER did so uh. Take that Jonathan#God it sucks so bad that kid me would've LOVED MM if it just DIDN'T HAVE THE STUPID GENDER WAR BULLSHIT#Literally the entire first and second season is just. So fucking stupid. I wrote a God damn essay about how they fumbled Erik's story SO BAD#I don't even LIKE Erik BUT THEY DID HIM SO DIRTY#THE CHARACTER POTENTIAL AND WRITING COULD'VE BEEN BETTER THAN ZANE B. S1 OF H2O BUT THEY THREW IT AWAY AND FOR WHAT!!!!!!!#Seriously you're telling me a kid who was abandoned his entire life for being male didn't have a bigger impact on the pod than FUCKING ZAK?#That plot twist of 'oh actually Zak was a merman all along' was 100% so they could guilt free write Erik out#Instead of like. Having him face his actions or redeem himself in like. Any way. He just fucks off. THEN the pod is like lol Zac were sorry#We're sorry for literally not doing anything to you because you were privledged enough to have a mother who was super ultra powerful#So you were never really affected by our actions until JUST now. Unlike that other fuckface Erik who suffered his whole life alone#Also then in s3 there are STILL no mermen in the pod. Not even little mermen babies. No kids and teens they've welcomed back n apologized to#NOTHING#God. Mm pisses me off dude#AND I STILL HAVENT TOGGLED THAT FUCKING OPTIONS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH#Cruddy rambles#God I'm not done I'm sorry fallout can wait YOU ARE TELLING ME THE GUY WHO TELLS US HOW SHITTY MERMAN BABIES R TREATED BY THE POD. IS NOT#THE SAME ONE THE POD APOLOGIZES TO IN THE SEASON FINALE BECAUSE THEY WROTE IN A SHITTY PLOT TWIST?#AUUUUUUUHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG#It's so bad. It's so fucking bad. It's so needlessly gendered and for what. They could've just had 2 rival warring pods#What pisses me off the most is that s3 (4) completely pivots and never really follows thru with the s1 and 2 story arcs#The writers just kinda wash thsir hands of that because 'hey the pod said sorry to zac' BUT THEN NOTHING ACTUALLY CHANGES!!!!#Maybe instead of having a constantly rotating cast of characters s3 (4) could've instead focused on Ondina and Erik's relationship a bit#Maybe have Ondina tell him she wants to just stay friends because she can't trust him. Have him IDK grow and change as a character?#Maybe so you can show kids nobody is born evil and we all need support systems and healthy relationships to grow and become better people??#THAT would've been a GOOD FOLLOW THROUGH#But no instead u just write him out of the show and never show any OTHER mermen who were exiled being welcomed back#Like u had Ondina becoming a teacher... Why not have Zac become a teacher for all the new mermen who were just recently welcomed back??
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y’all keep saying how y’all hope ed becomes redeemable and like who tf cares he did anything wrong lmao. pushing Lucius overboard? hilarious. stranding the crew? hysterical. chopping off iffy’s toes? comedic af. y’all always so worried about a character being redeemable or morally right and it’s exhausting. that’s why modern books are what they are now. boring and lame af. ed is morally gray. he’s always been morally gray. he don’t like killin but he likes maimin and he has anger issues. and he’s hilarious when he does all of it.
#ed teach#ofmd#our flag means death#for the love of god just have fun#y’all always worried about a character being redeemable so y’all can morally like them#it’s so weird cause they’re fictional#my fave characters are the ones who morally gray#idc what anyone says they are 100% more interesting when written well#if you like ed just like him lol#you don’t need to jump through hoops to like him just do it#idk how y’all managed to turn a comedy show into something so serious but y’all did it#this is tumblr tho so idk why i’m so surprised#this is why modern books are unbearable to read#cause millennials started publishing and are too pc to write interesting characters#also stede is literally trying to be morally gray#tumblr once again just sucking the fun out of everything#y’all are like that one friend who shows up while y’all are having fun and they correct someone to be pc and just always ruins the vibe#also PS i mean morally gray characters that are well written and not the morally gray characters that are white men y’all want to fuck#there is a HUGE difference#op
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i know i complained about it a lot already but im actually sooo annoyed about the apple arcade thing like most sonic mobile games are like. just running with no plot or anything. fun way to pass time and they occasionally have cute alternate costumes or bring back characters that havent been around for a while but youre not really missing much by not playing them. that or theyre just mobile ports of already existing games. but now theyre making a mobile game that seems to have an actual story and is introducing a new character and also just looks really cute and fun in general and also they brought back cream as a main character for the first time in like 50 years and theyre not only making it exclusive to apple devices but also locking it behind a subscription service. go to hell like actually
#again somebody better take one for the team and make a pirated pc port. idk how you would do that but surely its possible#welll its just a mobile game ..... i probably wont be missing too much i guess but still kinda disappointing#because i like to play every new sonic game that comes out#its also just a stupid decision on sega's part likeee do they know how much money theyre missing out on by doing this#theres sooo many people who would have bought the game if they made it a one time purchase on a more accessible platform#i already hated apple and their products before this but this is making me hate them more . out of spite#''heres our cool looking sonic game. you can only play it if you have the worst phone or computer known to man btw''. come on man
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Oh your birthday is coming up soon? Nice!
yeah :] i hate being Technically An Adult but birthdays are always nice. i wish i could get an SC plushie but alas. the fiend that is limited-time plushies betrays me
#tommy's foolery#youtooz my detested. slams hands on table.#i got in the fandom JUST as they were selling them so i didn't get the chance to actually start desiring one#i regret it deeply. at least i can probably make my own one day#once we move i want to try doing that sort of stuff though! i think i'll wait 'til we move to our new house though#i probably won't be able to get much for it though#i think i was supposed to have this pc until i was like. 21#my parents have fortunately been forgiving since it turns out intel is a bitch ass motherfucker who pissed on my cpu /ref
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#so maybe i rewrote my bg3 dark urge so i can use him in our rl games... well i changed everything about him but his facial design#dnd character#dnd pc art#when will i have the chance to actually play as him? no one knows#get yourself a wizard who can do both#i swear knowing his bg the two different clothing style makes sense#oc
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things that make me wanna do beautiful conceptual illustrations of melliwyk's party's bard's dad
#KADE HEARTWOOD THE MAN THAT YOU ARE.... OOOOUUGGHH#also: thing that makes me realize that kade being Like That was possibly not a coincidence and reaffirms how cool our DM is#my biggest regret in mel's campaign is not dancing with kade during the fancy ball infiltration session and getting to talk to him#because 1) only quinton knew that was his dad and was not on good terms with him-- in-character mel didn't know who he was#and 2) both melliwyk and I in real life got too caught up in 'oh I know EXACTLY which of these people is our mysterious contact'#'haHAA I have Solved Your Puzzle I don't NEED to talk to quinton's dad cause I already know it's not him :D'#[me rattling the bars to my own past] noooo jaaay that's why you talk to EVERYONE ELSE IN THE ROOM FIRST! JAAAY!! LIKE VIDEO GAMES!!! JAAAA#and then later quinton accidentally got him banished back to the afterlife (where he was supposed to have been the whole time)#before we got a chance to MEET HIM AND TALK TO HIM once we KNEW MORE OF HIS SECRETS RAAAAGGGHHH#.... tl;dr kade had been a champion of the raven queen thousands of years ago and we found his dead body sealed in a hidden vault#the kade who fathered quinton was breaking the rules to send his soul out into the world as a living thing (for Reasons)#the risk of which was that his body was Pure Soul-- if he'd died like that it would have destroyed his soul permanently#ANYWAY THIS IS VERY FUNNY TO ME BECAUSE I'M MAKING MYSELF CRY IMAGINING THE ART I WANNA MAKE ABOUT KADE#BUT I DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT ACTUAL PC QUINTON AT ALL AND FRANKLY HE OFTEN PISSES ME OFF LMAO#melliwyk's DM is one of my favorite DMs and also fellow players because he's Really Fucking Good At This ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#about me
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The Sorority vs the leash I am putting them all on + Leo Dilisnya.
also yes our party is like 1/2 redheads. we used to have more. we thought it was funny.
#curse of strahd art#curse of strahd#curse of strahd pcs#our DM wouldn’t let us call ourselves Fake Out so we opted for the Sorority.#We used to be a party of entirely she/her pronouns with one he/him who we called our weed dealer#then we had a party member die and leave so we now have another guy. but the plot twist is that he’s actually a dealer.#and one of the members came out as nb#also. leo dilisnya.#this does not matter. the sorority is a state of mind#you’re a coward if you think otherwise#CoS: The Sorority#(of shadows)#there was a point where when Ireena was revealed to not be the Tatyana in our game (SAVED!!!) where we were all like#is it me? jesus?#our one off joke became real important#don’t test your DMs with your sillies guys#“Wouldn’t it be funny if we were all redheads?”#it wasn’t.
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i’ve never done pc/pc romance in dnd, it feels so much more exciting than dm/pc romance i’m so hype
#addicted to adding little songs to my little playlists#playlist is all over the place bc i’m imagining a lot of ways this could go#and it might not work out we are seeing what happens and taking it slow#but!!! my girls got a crush#giggling and kicking my legs i know who you liiiiiiike#being a dm i’ve mostly done pc’s exes and some romances#but it’s mostly been like i’ve got a whole cast of characters i’m in charge of#our one and only little blorbos picked each other? and we only have the one?? crazy#hot horse town#<- haven’t used this campaign tag in so long i’m so HYPE we are so fucking back
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Fixed this one in light of recent events
#i ran a session that the characters would not remember the events of and had different people play the PCs for that one session#during which they could take photos that would pretty much be the only information they’d hve on why happened#anyway Riri and her boyfriend Lil’ Gus got married#and if you’re familiar with the Lil Gus cursed magic item. yes it’s that little Gus but he’s our little guy now#and he was literally just born that way#upon finding out she’s married her boyfriend. not even officially boyfriend they went on like one date#and have been together for maybe 1 week before the wedding#but Riri said when gus said that he knows their relationship is moving fast but that he’s happy to call her and have her as his wife#she said. quote “’it’s fine’#but she also told her cousin who was moments ago hunting her for fun that she wasn’t sure why she would be mad at her#dnd#dnd memes#dnd campaign#dungeons and dragons
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"And always with her, twelve hounds"
#kult#kult: divinity lost#kult divinity lost#kultrpg#art#my art#bit of backstory on this one: that's the antagonist from the prologue and the reason our PCs became Aware#she was an abusive monster of a grandma to the friend who was supposed to be sacrificed in the prologue#we ended up exchanging her heart for a service with another entity ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#but she may have had some friends woops
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I made a fanart of a scene from our current dnd campaign. Cyryl, the hexblood rouge is a resurrected soul searching vengeance on those who killed him. His body looks like dried out tree, as his body was burned down. My siren cleric hugged him last session resulting in his hair growing out few fresh green leaves, a symbol of his growing heart. This is a huge step for Cyryl, and maybe we will see his redemption <3
#misiu-patysiu#My siren is probably the only one of pc who is not scared of him#She befriended him first and gave him a nickname#I love his character and how hostile he can be#He has amazing chemistry with other pc in our group#I just wish him all the best#And He likes Lucille#I love this boy so much#dnd#tabletop#d&d#rpg#dnd ocs#dnd oc art
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"Where will I be? After this? After the planet's gone." He pauses. "I have nothing now - my connections to Union trimmed down to nothing but wire, the House of Sanz is out of the question, I've realized things about myself. People I didn't know. Memories that aren't mine. Ideas that - THAT don't belong to me. For the first time in my life, I don't know what my next step is, or if I can trust any of these... ideas of mine." Panic underlines his voice. "You understand. The anticipation of what my next day will be like, or the next hour, the next minute. There is no plan - no big picture - I have..." Yves tenses, his shoulders hunching in on himself and breath heavy with fatigue. `Nothing` is the word, the descriptor that hangs on his tongue. But there is something, the little that there is. Perhaps Elias. Yet, it feels like the slightest distraction, a distraction to the bigger picture - something in him yearns for something else. *Yearns.* He can't help but reach out for it, wrapping his hands around the phrase. It's been in his mind. "Tell me." Then, there's silence and a stare. The emotion cannot be read, and his tone is gone. He will not let his body betray him. "What does Helios do for you?"
#im like#im so fucking floored tonight alright uhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm#dialogue i wrote just to be silly but then i actually got to use it in campaign#yves met with the fortune teller in GHOUL and got caught immediately by other helios members and uhmm#welll#he got kidnapped and taken to a remote location and we all found out there that uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh#well? turns out the two people there taking yves#one of them was the interviewer from the beginning of act 2 who let us into the city of keeden#and the other was a fucking clone of skink#another one of our pc players#i knew she was a clone but i didnt think she'd fucking#im insane.#but uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh#shit is fucked#the military is at our doorstep#a bunch of bombs went off around the city including our mech hangar#and yves might be switching sides with helios. maybe. i dont know.#hands on knees. i dont . know
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Gonna freak
#not plush related#only posting this here cause it vaugely relates to this blog#somehow my ex best friend found me here and sent me an ask#I blocked him not too long ago literally everywhere except here#cause I thought he didn't know about this blog#you'd think he'd take the hint that I want him to Stay Away by me blocking him on everything#but apparently he can't let me go that easy#for years I delt with his manipulating and toxic behavior#even took him back as a friend after he left me for 2 years because I started going out with my datemate (who he didn't like)#and yet he kept trying to control me. kept giving me his crap even when I told him I didn't want to deal with it#finally decided to completely cut ties for good and yet he still tries to talk to me#and comes here#this is my safe space....#I feel almost violated#also I just blocked him but Im on mobile so idk if it worked specifically for plushie-lovey#gonna have to check when I get on pc. but that runs the risk that he reads all this#on one hand idc if he does. but on the other I wish he'd just go away already. Im so done with this....#if anybody took the time to read this thanks#I promise I will avoid vent posts like this as much as possible on this blog#lets get back to our regularly scheduled enjoyment of plushies
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⭐ So you want to learn pixel art? ⭐
🔹 Part 1 of ??? - The Basics!
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
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