Pixel Art for Beginners - Dolls
By PattyJean

What is "pixel art"? Pixel artwork is digital art drawn pixel by pixel. Over half of all pixel artists use art programs like Paint Shop Pro(PSP), Photoshop or Gimp. Although these programs are nice to use with their tools, layers and other features; they're not necessary to draw great pixel art. Some of the best pixel artists use the basic 'paint' program that comes free on most computers. Many programs are free or can be found at reduced rates on online auctions. There are also free trials available for many programs.

Beginning pixel artists should first learn to make lineart. Whether you'll be making small images, also referred to as pixels, or dolls; making smooth lines is a must.

Once you have learned to make lineart, you'll start shading. Pixel art is much more than filling in lines with a solid color. Using a pallet, or range of colors, artists add depth to their work for a more 3D effect. Many people offer premade color pallets. This tutorial will not cover how to shade. That is enough information for another tutorial all together. Pixel artists are always trying to improve their shading style whether they pixel shade or tool shade.

To create a doll, you'll most likely start with a base. A base is a premade body without hair and clothes. You'll need to read the base maker's Terms of Use(T.O.U.) very carefully before using their bases. Bases take a lot of hard work. Always give credit for the base you use. Most people prefer a clickable link to their website, email or profile on various sites/forums.

Once you have read the T.O.U. and have the base saved to your computer you can begin your doll. You'll begin by opening the base file in your favorite paint program. If you have a program with layers, you'll want to lock the base layer and create a new layer for the clothes, hair etc. Next you'll draw the outlines for the hair and clothes then begin shading. Once your doll is dressed you can start adding accessories such as jewelry and other props. Finally, you may want to consider a background. This can also be added to a new layer(if possible). Some artists use many layers to improve their shading and separate everything for future editing. If you're able to use a program with layers, I'd highly recommend it.

Now that your doll is finished you'll need to decide which format is best to save your doll as. There are many options such as GIF, PNG, BMP(bitmap), PSP and PSD. I would recommend GIF for most dolls. It's generally a small file size, good quality, transparent backgrounds available and generally excepted by most programs. However, if your doll has many colors such as many tool shaded dolls, you may prefer PNG format to maintain the quality of your doll. A doll with many colors may become distorted as a GIF. Some doll artists(dollers) say their dolls were eaten by the 'GIF Monster'. Once your doll has been saved, you're able to upload it to your host or an online image hosting site such as Photobucket. Then you're able to show it off on your site or a forum etc.

*Happy Dolling*

Future Tutorials:
* pixeled hair * pixel shading clothes * tie dye shirt * dragons *