Pixelart Fish Tutorial

Hi guys! The pixelart contest is out, check it out here. I'll try to keep this tutorial easy so beginners can also understand :D

I start by finding some reference that I like: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/568579521687878213/
I don't worry about making the drawing exactly like reference, it's more to make the drawing easier. This is a personal preference.

First of all pixel art is art where pixelart are visible, avoid blurry brushes. There are many styles, but for beginners it's better to use small canvas- 100x50 pixels or smaller. I started this fish a big big 187x113 pixels, so I scaled down the canvas.

Use Nearest- Neighbor scaling to scale pixelart up or down.

I draw the shape of the fish first, but you can try drawing outlines instead.

I fill a few colors approximately and I know I'll clean it up later.

I keep in mind that my light is from up and shadows from down.

Sometimes I'll use a multiply layer to draw shadows faster and overlay for highlights. However, you can manually draw shadows, even with most basic program. I've listed some pixelart programs in this post.

Here you can see me do some cleaning up. You see I smooth out many rough edges. I also use dithering- it's a shading method where you blend colors by using patterns instead of adding more colors. I love experimenting with dithering, but one of the most common styles is checkered pattern.

Don't do the following

THIS is a no no, based on the photo I could draw the extra lines/details, but they're too contrasting. In pixelart it's usually better to have less details than distracting details.

Here on top you can see the approximate rules I use for cleaning up lines. The X is an example of how not to draw a line- it's too broken up. Personally as a non perfectionist, I take care of distracting pixels and don't worry about the rest. I like having little imperfections for a more rough realistic feel.

This is an extra step. This isn't traditional pixelart- in traditional you shouldn't use layer options like overlay or layer opacity. However, I love experimenting and testing different options. Here I used a blue layer on top of the fish to make it feel more underwater. I also added the light rays, because I wanted to make the drawing pop a bit.

@adityajainxds told me that he plans to draw pixelart on paper, so I might try it as well for the next contest and tutorial :)

Tips for drawing traditionally:

• Use outlines to make the drawing easier.
• Work from light to dark, layer darker colors on top.
• Use a square notebook/paper or draw squares manually (You can print a paper with barely visible squares)
• Plan the details ahead, it's hard to undo.

I don't have more tips right now, I'll have to try it to see what else to add next time :)

Congrats to @enjar I've sent him the Dragon head for yesterdays comment and he also made a nice tweet

You have a chance to win one tomorrow if leave a comment in this post :) The goal is to increase engagement here and on NFTshowroom
Read more about dragon heads
You can also buy the drawing here for 5Hive. I need 34 hive to tokenize the next head :D

Thank you for checking out this post <3 ^_ Have fun drawing, and I hope you try entering the pixelart contest #1 Deadline is Wednesday 22nd. If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know in the comments :D