Digital artists have been experimenting with pixels for over four decades and have designed a variety of methods that use of primitive shapes and colors to display simple but graphic images. These methods include painting on an outline made in black or color, adding small squares of color to fill in areas using the mosaic technique, outlining colors using the limited palette method, breaking larger shapes into smaller ones by means of a grid system, and translating graphics into patterns that can be filled with small dots. The pixel art creation process has evolved to include a number of different methods that can be chosen according to the concept and amount of detail involved. Here are the most popular ways designers create pixel art designs.
1. Using basic shapes
The use of basic shapes is probably the most common way that graphic artists create simple pixel images such as icons, illustrations or game characters. One should know that the transparency and typography of each shape will determine the level of detail you need. For instance, a solid square would work well for a simple icon, a rectangle with holes would work better for outlining a character and so on.
2. Pixel by pixel
Pixel by pixel method is similar to the last one and is probably time consuming for any instrumental artwork unless you are doing something small or simple like icons or game characters. The idea behind this is using small dots of varied colors to fill in an area pixel by pixel which gives you more detail than basic shapes but also makes it take longer than other methods like pattern fills because you have several squares to create.
3. Pattern fills
Pattern fills are a laborious task to do, but they can produce some intricate results and they create numerous colors per pixel. The process encompasses moving colors around in a grid based on the pattern you want to fill and then filling the square with that color. The critical aspects to remember with pattern fills is that you only have one color at a time to work with so picking the right colors for your image is crucial. You do not want any colors that are similar, or so next to each other that they blend into each other, but also do not leave a lot of empty space as it will also get filled up by another color from within your pixel grid.
4. Outlining
This is a drawing technique that can be used to create pixel art images. It involves creating black outlines first and then filling in the rest of the area with color. When you do an outline, you have to leave a limited amount of space between each line (usually about half a pixel) otherwise your image will look blocky and jagged when the lines are too close together.
5. Mosaic
This technique entails placing small rectangular blocks of color on each square of an outline made by the artists to fill in areas which provides them more detail than basic shapes but also makes it take longer than other methods like pattern fills because you have several squares to create.
Pixel art is an incredibly popular design technique used by graphic designers to create pixel-like images. Every one of these artists has their own unique process, which they use and some may not manage to share.
