I made my first pixel art character last night and I'd like some input on both him and my technique overall.

I drew him at 32x32. His name is Blooman. I was going for a look similar to Baird from Gears of War, except not quite as gritty and without the armor. The game is a 2D sidescrolling platformer/shoot-em-up.

You need to look up some more pixel artists and try to follow in their steps.

http://blackmoondev.com/

is a great pixel game company, they make other things but they have some really decently made pixel art.

For your first design, I would say it is not bad as you certainly understand shape but you are lacking a very clear understanding of how pixel art works. There are several tutorials out there that can give you a full understanding and it would be in your best interest to check them out if this is something you really want to get into.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/pixel-art-tutorials/

Exterminate the black clusters and the black outlines, except the few ones which can be recycled as deep shadow: Blooman will thank you. He'd also like 1 or 2 pixels less space between his legs and equal sized hands, preferably with thumbs.

I changed most of the black lines to darker shades of the bordering colour. I left his shoes, sunglasses, and whatever is in his backpack black. I also gave him thumbs, but I don't think I like the whole thumbs-up thing because he will be holding a gun. I'd like to give him fingers, but I'm not quite sure how to go about that. Would it be beneficial to start over at 64x64? I just thought it would be easier to draw a smaller image and scale it and I don't have my heart set on the pixelated look. Also, his hands were already the same size (3x3) but they aren't level with each other. Should I move them?

Looking a lot better! i think what most people do wrong is to go for the classic hard black color for outlining. If you do want to use a "black" outline, soften down the color, make it a bit closer to gray. and people forget shades.

but yea, a lot of progress comes from trying. try different looks, different mouth, without glasses, other glasses and so on. try try try :P

I spent less than 10 min on this but figured i would show you how you can make it look better:

I changed most of the black lines to darker shades of the bordering colour. I left his shoes, sunglasses, and whatever is in his backpack black. I also gave him thumbs, but I don't think I like the whole thumbs-up thing because he will be holding a gun. I'd like to give him fingers, but I'm not quite sure how to go about that. Would it be beneficial to start over at 64x64? I just thought it would be easier to draw a smaller image and scale it and I don't have my heart set on the pixelated look. Also, his hands were already the same size (3x3) but they aren't level with each other. Should I move them?

Basically, the lower the resolution, the harder it gets to make the little squares look like they're not little squares. But the higher the resolution, the more pixels you have to deal with. It's a balance between simplicity and complexity.

I think your issue is that it looks like you started out already digital, which is tempting to do but not the best way to go. It's almost always better to sketch out a few ideas on paper, preferably after looking at a few references online of similar characters in other games. Paper's important because it lets you throw several ideas out there really quickly without getting too attached to any one. Once you have a handful of sketches, you can then take your favorite parts from each one and start the digital version. For pixel art this is especially important because if you start out with pixels, it can be hard to see how that translates into smoother less pixel-y looking shapes.

Looking a lot better! i think what most people do wrong is to go for the classic hard black color for outlining. If you do want to use a "black" outline, soften down the color, make it a bit closer to gray. and people forget shades.

but yea, a lot of progress comes from trying. try different looks, different mouth, without glasses, other glasses and so on. try try try

Thanks. I saw a tutorial about a week ago that said start with a black outline for your shape. I guess I forgot to get rid of it after.

I spent less than 10 min on this but figured i would show you how you can make it look better:

Cool. You went with 64x64, which I wasn't originally going with, but I can now see that it makes his jacket look much better. Don't like the face much, but that's just opinion. I think I will go with 64x64 now that I've seen this. You've also shown me some good shading.

I changed most of the black lines to darker shades of the bordering colour. I left his shoes, sunglasses, and whatever is in his backpack black. I also gave him thumbs, but I don't think I like the whole thumbs-up thing because he will be holding a gun. I'd like to give him fingers, but I'm not quite sure how to go about that. Would it be beneficial to start over at 64x64? I just thought it would be easier to draw a smaller image and scale it and I don't have my heart set on the pixelated look. Also, his hands were already the same size (3x3) but they aren't level with each other. Should I move them?

Basically, the lower the resolution, the harder it gets to make the little squares look like they're not little squares. But the higher the resolution, the more pixels you have to deal with. It's a balance between simplicity and complexity.

I think your issue is that it looks like you started out already digital, which is tempting to do but not the best way to go. It's almost always better to sketch out a few ideas on paper, preferably after looking at a few references online of similar characters in other games. Paper's important because it lets you throw several ideas out there really quickly without getting too attached to any one. Once you have a handful of sketches, you can then take your favorite parts from each one and start the digital version. For pixel art this is especially important because if you start out with pixels, it can be hard to see how that translates into smoother less pixel-y looking shapes.

I definitely did start out digital. I honestly can't draw much at all on paper. It already looks much better on the computer than I would be capable of with a pencil.

I definitely did start out digital. I honestly can't draw much at all on paper. It already looks much better on the computer than I would be capable of with a pencil.

It doesn't matter if on paper you think it looks bad, it's about hashing out a few ideas before committing to them. They're drafts- for your eyes only. Once you start on a "final" version, you subconsciously become more and more dedicated to what you have and become blind to the flaws.