Tony Tries Stuff

👾 Teacher Series: How to create an NFT looking self-portrait #TonyTries #PixelArt #TH1

In today's post, we look at me teaching how to make a self-portrait pixel art using open source free digital drawing software. Through this step-by-step approach, I hope by the end of this, you have your very own pixel art!

Welcome to TonyTriesStuff,

We here are keen on trying new hobbies to increase our repertoire of skills. Whether you’ve stumbled across this for the first time or are a regular, thanks for taking the time to look through what I have created. Read on to start your journey towards mastering skills that you are passionate about.

Today we are looking at making a self-portrait pixel art. Thanks to freely available drawing software, it’s been a very low bar of entry to start making pixel art. So let’s get started!

Tony Tries Stuff

Pixel art done by me

I first got interested in this skill by seeing a plethora of pixel art become mainstream over NFT. Lots of big-time NFTs such as crypto punks used the pixel art form to get people excited about NFT. I wanted my own self-portrait in pixel art and so I embarked on this journey in late 2021. Over many iterations, I have learned some of the key skills required for creating pixel art.

Tony Tries Stuff

In the process of making pixel art

Investment required: $0

There are two key ideas to keep in mind while creating pixel art

Key idea 1: Zoom out!

Zooming out is a very important part of any pixel art. For my very first pixel art, I was zoomed in way too much and so I had a very clunky looking pixel art with mismatched colours (see the picture of the dog on the top left). Routinely zooming out to get an overview of your pixel art throughout the process.

Key idea 2: Experiment

With a scale of pixel art being as small as a 16x16pixel canvas, it makes each change in location of a pixel look very different. So pair this with key idea 1 and try various locations and colours to find your best pick.

Here’s a step by step process to get to your very own pixel art!

Step 1: Find and download an image processing app

There are many options available to create pixel art. The gold standard is photoshop as it is used industry-wide and so you may have better luck finding tutorials. But there is many open-source freely available software out there. Services such as AlternativeTo provide ways of finding software alternatives. Feel free to pick your favourite after browsing the web. Most importantly, make sure you pick one!

Step 2: Create a canvas with canvas size 32x32pixel or 64x64pixel

This is quite self-explanatory. Find a way to use pixel size to define the size of your canvas. Enter a square pixel grid using 32 pixels or 64 pixels. The more the pixels, the more defined the end product.

Step 3: Find a brush that has a brush size of 1 pixel

Select the paintbrush tool and make the brush size 1 pixel. This should help you draw using one pixel at a time.

Step 4: Find a reference image

Any old picture that focuses on your face and shoulders should work. Make sure the image is set to its own layer and reduce the transparency to help identify what is being drawn.

Step 5: Trace the outline and pick colours to create a base

Create a new layer for your pixel art and start drawing out the boundaries and vaguely defining details.

Step 6: Start fine-tuning each aspect and make it look pretty

Key ideas 1 and 2 come in handy here. Spend time making the pixel art look the way you want it to. Remember the golden rule of diminishing returns.

Step 7: Make pixel art look as close as ideal

It's up to you how long you would like to spend making it look good. I would recommend no longer than two hours for one image.

Step 8: Scale up the image using the nearest neighbour setting

Currently, your drawing is quite small. In order to make it look good on Instagram, you need to scale up the image to something like 300 x 300 pixels or 600 x 600 pixels. Use the nearest neighbour setting to retain the pixel art style while scaling up.

Step 9: Export the image in your preferred format

This is the easy part. Export your image in either .jpg or .png file format. Many other formats can be used to retain higher quality, but in my experience, those formats mentioned are quite widely accepted.

(Bonus) Step 10: Post your image on social media with the hashtag

Share your masterpiece to the world over your platform of choice if you'd like. Be sure to use the hashtag #TonyTriesPixelArt!

Finding a digital/physical art form that you like is a good creative outlet that soothes the mind.

I hope you have a clear idea by now of how to make your very own pixel art. Thanks to open source apps, we can create our pixel art almost for free. Although steps 5 through 7 may be slightly onerous, I’m sure you’ll have beautiful looking pixel art over time and practice!

That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed learning how to make your very own pixel art (TH1). Hope you feel inspired to dig deeper into this relatively simple art form. Do leave a comment and subscribe if you want to be inspired to learn new skills on a week-ish basis.

Until next time,

Tony

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