Pixel Art Lessons: What I Wish I Knew Sooner
I have been dabbling in pixel art for decades, going all the way back to Mario Paint on the SNES. What makes pixel art so attractive for indie devs? We know that some of the earliest, and thus seemingly easiest, games to build used pixel art. But, that choice was often a consequence of technical limitations at the time.
Today, choosing pixel art means you are going up against everything from the fundamentals of Pac-Man and Mario to modern works of art like Dead Cells and Octopath Traveler. After starting to get more serious about practicing pixel art consistently—with the goal of drawing all my own assets for my first Steam release—here are lessons I wish learned sooner.
Just Pick a Tool and Go
One of the first traps I fell into was spending way too much time comparing tools. I'd research features, watch tutorials comparing different software, and basically do everything except actually practice the art itself. Whether it's Aseprite, Piskel, Krita, or something else... my advice is just pick one and start learning its workflow.
Focus on Fundamentals, Not Features
When you're starting out, your energy is better spent on the fundamentals of pixel art like shapes, color, and shading, not mastering every niche feature of a particular program. Need to learn something specific? Look up a targeted tutorial. Otherwise, avoid the endless tool comparison rabbit hole. You can always switch tools later once you actually know what you need from one.
Nail Down Your Workflow
The right tool is simply the one that gets out of your way and lets you practice consistently. Critically, make sure you understand the entire process from drawing the sprite to exporting it and getting it into your game engine. Getting this workflow down as second nature early means you can focus more on the creative side later.
Practice with Constraints
Imagine starting with a 16-color palette for a 64x64 sprite. That's potentially thousands of tiny decisions for every single sprite! While our brains are great at finding patterns so that you can learn what works and what doesn't, you need to give them obvious patterns for them to recognize first. Start out by giving yourself some firm limits.
Fewer Choices, More Creativity
For me, this meant drastically cutting down my palettes. I often use just 2-3 tones of a specific color (plus black and white) per sprite. This forces me to think hard about shape, form, and which details truly matter. Surprisingly, this often leads to art that feels more cohesive and distinct.
Let Constraints Shape Your Style
Constraints actively help you develop a unique style. When you aren't overwhelmed by infinite options, you find creative ways to work within the boundaries. Think back again to the iconic look of many low bit games, that style wasn't purely an aesthetic choice, much of it was born directly from strict technical limitations.
Focus on What Matters in Motion
Our brains are fantastic at filling in missing details, especially when objects are moving. Realizing this meant I could stop obsessing over every single pixel and focus instead on the key elements that define the motion.
Animate the Key Parts
For characters, this usually means paying close attention to the limbs and any other major moving parts. These are the elements players will subconsciously track during gameplay. Getting these right is crucial for the feel of the animation. The rest? You can often simplify more than you think.
Study Examples (Like Dead Cells)
I only recently got around to playing Dead Cells (it's fantastic) and I was surprised to see that the early bow animations often don't even draw the bowstring! But does it matter? Not at all. In motion, especially at higher frame rates, your eye doesn't catch those small omissions. Even when it does, the game still somehow looks and feels right.
Is Anyone Going to Notice?
This became a mantra for me. Seriously, ask yourself: is anyone really going to notice that one pixel you've spent 20 minutes agonizing over? Especially if it's on an NPC tucked away in an endgame shop several hours in? Probably not. This isn't to say you should be satisfied with poor quality, but it is to say that you can often save yourself a lot of time by focusing on the most important parts of your art.
See Your Art In-Game, Early and Often
Pixel art can look very different zoomed in vs. how it appears at actual game resolution. Get your art into your game engine early and look at it in motion, at the scale players will see it. You'll quickly realize how much detail gets lost (in a good way!) and which elements truly stand out.
Be Realistic and Prioritize
It's also about being honest about your own capabilities and the game's scope. Can you draw that final three-headed dragon boss and have it read clearly at 32x32 pixels? If you decide it has to be bigger, are you ready to animate something that's 128x128? Being honest about these questions might help you reconsider your game design. These kinds of questions aren't meant to crush dreams, but to help steer you towards creative solutions that work within practical limits so that you can actually finish your game.
The key takeaway here is prioritization. Spend that extra time polishing your main character's run cycle? Absolutely. Obsess over a background tree that appears for five seconds? Maybe not. Keeping this balance in mind has helped me speed up my asset creation.
Final Thoughts
Creating your own pixel art, especially for your own game, is a very rewarding experience. Remember these key points: don't waste time overthinking your tools, embrace constraints to find a style that works for you, animate smartly by focusing on key movements, and keep perspective by prioritizing what players will actually notice.
Finally, keep practicing! Your skills and workflow will improve with every sprite you create. Focus on finishing assets and getting them live in your game as it will teach you so much.