One little thing you didn't really touch on: it's very important to sketch and mockup your dialog boxes and portraits on the actual game screen first before you really get into the nitty gritty of the pixel art. There's few worse feelings than finishing a whole portrait that you're happy with, but then realizing too late that it's way too small or way too big and has to be rescaled
I am very happy that fire emblem 6 made its way as a sample portrait, they are really my reference when regards to pixel portrait. Also, my favorite game
Man, that stuff about taking a break - I discovered it empirically one day when I had been writing music for some time. XD It's the same there, if you work for too long on one composition, after a while it all starts to sound "the same" and you just can't figure out what's wrong and why you're not satisfied, but if you take just a 20-30 minute break, suddenly everything will sound different after you come back. Not to mention if you were suddenly attacked by inspiration in the middle of the night and worked for couple of hours straight, but then finally forced yourself to bed, next day, when you wake up, you just might not like what you made recently at all... Gotta be careful. :-) But the problem is - it's so hard to stop when you're burning!
15:10 Just a quick tip. The highlights in the eyes are from the bright lightsource. So depending where the lightsource is, the place of the highlight will change. That's why sometimes the highlight is on the pupil, sometimes on the white of the eye and sometimes It's not even showing at all. It's nice to know that since that's the reason why so many manga style eyes are looking flat and weird.
"I do like to play with shapes." Great that you didn't leave your inner child behind! Also, I love your tutorials, they're always fun to watch, quite easy to understand, and you're very kind :)
I am a person who has difficulty visualizing things in my head and I’ve spent the past half a year trying to make humanoids, this video was a huge help, thank you
I said I'd comment on all your videos... soo... Your videos are college education level quality. You cover the history, the why, the styles, and then the workflow thats easy to follow. So far I've gone through the fire animation, color gradients, and how to use Asrpite. I can't praise you enough, these videos are actively changing my life for the better.
6:39 "here we have roy" Is.. isn't that eliwood Btw love the video, ive been looking for something like this! Love the whole channel. Super big fan of the Ludum dare video
My friend, who's making a mobile game, turned me on to Aseprite and your channel. Thank you so much for the in-depth explanations - not just the how, but the why. Liked, subscribed, and commenting for the algorithm.
As a fellow sprite artist, your videos are so helpful! I'm currently working on a game and you've helped me through all the things i struggled with before. Its amazing what a little instruction can do for you. Thanks a ton mate!
Thank you very much! I'm doing pixel art for a while now, but portraits were WAY more difficult to me that anything else. I was looking for exactly a video like yours.
You have given me such a foundation for my game dev journey, from artistic principles to overall game design philosophy! Thank you so much for sharing your ideas!
Thank you for all your tutorials! I picked up aseprite like two weeks ago, and you are really helping me to get a better understanding for pixel art in general.
Hiya Adam, I've been working on a pixel-art styled visual novel and this character portrait is so helpful for me. Even though I've opted to do my portraits at a head-on perspective, seeing your approach is really informative. I thought your discussion on framing was especially insightful. One thing I've had loads of trouble with is making portraits of different emotions come through as sufficiently expressive. In the Fire Emblem sprite sheet you show, the characters have several expressions but all of them are fairly subtle. I've found it a huge challenge to have that expressiveness come through without my characters looking anatomically impossible or misproportioned. Do you have any thoughts on this topic?
It's really hard to stay "on model" when mixing things up considerably between portraits. This is one of those areas where I don't mind recommending copying and pasting a lot of the face into a draft of alternate poses, then modifying it to match the expression you want. In the end you just have to be really diligent to make sure they have the same proportions.
Amazing video as always! Great analogy with "handwriting" by the way. I've been constantly training my handwriting and it actually took me years to get to a point where my writing is good and consistent even when I'm not paying attention. That's what it must be like for artists that just get it right in one go!
You deserve way more subscribers. You’ll get there one day Adam. Your content is amazing. You go so in depth just about the eyes was probably a video of it’s own
got me aseprite today and did my first one :D:D i dont know why but this addicting... im usually using alot of illustrator but i can imagine doing more pixel stuff in the future...
Hey just found your channel and instantly subscribed! I would LOVE to see a video with a rundown of your aseprite set up and hotkeys you use. It looks like your seamless use of hotkeys and presets really makes the workflow much faster. Thanks for the videos!
Thank you for such nice quality content! Keep it up! I really like the fact you drew the eyes last - it helps to see and ensure the form of the head before drawing them.
dang yesterday i was playing some tactics ogre (the ps1 version) it is not a game that i like playing but i love the art and i think the portraits on that one are one of my favorite, it is some damn fine pixelart, maybe a little too realistic for some people, but the way the artist (idk who made them) used pixelart in a more realistic approach is impressive, i downloaded some of them to study them today and then you upload this video, full sync
I feel the exact same way about Final Fantasy Tactics on the PS1. I loved FFTA on the GBA and have been a bit disappointed that the older games aren't as fun, mostly because of how slow the battles play out.
@@AdamCYounis haha we are the opposite way there because final fantasy tactics was my first tactics game and i played it a long time ago and i still love it, years later i tried FFTA and i couldnt get into it but i totally get why people cant get into FFT since it happened to me with tactics ogre, trying to play it now with many years of gaming later i dont have the patient to finish those long battles now >.
30:04 this is kinda where pixel art gets... Tedious. But with all respect to the work, to the quality, of course. In programming there's a lot of this, too. I bet in music, - too.
I went from not managing to draw anything recognizable (in the sense, you can figure out what it is) too actually make people go: "Ho hey! that's a gun! o that's a person! o look that's a sword! that's a zombie!" wille before it was more like: "YOooo that tree is dope!" "ehm... its supposed to be a house" "what"
Hey Adam! Thanks for your insight and helping us all understand pixel work in a clearer manner. Question: you say in one part that all the character sprites are in a 64 x 64 pixels. So to get detailed character portraits for a dialogue box etc, do artists always work 64 x 64 even when they are highly detailed OR do they work in a larger canvas size of pixels that then can scale down equally to 64 x 64? If so, what is a good size to work in for detail?
Is there a chance that you could potentially build more onto this concept, drawing character portraits is something I really need to work on , I followed this through drawing as I went along and was really happy with the results . But when trying to apply what I learnt to a female character I really struggled
Do you have something like whole body but its also on this size? I think this is what the faketown - FakeIDs size are. Its not full face and the nfts have to go through town to town to make it playable too.
I would interpret the simplified eyes a little different: Relaxed eyelids are slightly down. Lifted eye-lids suggest the person focusses on consuming information. So what is marked as "content", to me looks like curiously surprised. Does that make sense?
how i see it, the act of zooming can convey multiple levels of distance in a short space of time, the eye is quick enough to discern more from this moving snapshot, than a static preview might otherwise reveal. I'm no expert, but i'm guessing it's a neat perceptual trick in keeping the working process more organic and flowing.
Question Adam or anyone. Are there any technical difficulties when instead of pixel art portrait, I use a drawing portrait (much like rune factory4,5 portraits)? Also will it look good? I haven't really seen any game use this kind of method. Mostly if the game have pixel art design, everything is in pixel art.
One little thing you didn't really touch on: it's very important to sketch and mockup your dialog boxes and portraits on the actual game screen first before you really get into the nitty gritty of the pixel art. There's few worse feelings than finishing a whole portrait that you're happy with, but then realizing too late that it's way too small or way too big and has to be rescaled
Such a common mistake many poor devs fall into 😩
Sebastian's beach portrait be like:
I love your tutorials! They are undoubtedly the highest quality pixelart tutorials on YT :)
True
yahhh is riley cool tichare
Agreed
yes
I am very happy that fire emblem 6 made its way as a sample portrait, they are really my reference when regards to pixel portrait. Also, my favorite game
Man, that stuff about taking a break - I discovered it empirically one day when I had been writing music for some time. XD
It's the same there, if you work for too long on one composition, after a while it all starts to sound "the same" and you just can't figure out what's wrong and why you're not satisfied, but if you take just a 20-30 minute break, suddenly everything will sound different after you come back.
Not to mention if you were suddenly attacked by inspiration in the middle of the night and worked for couple of hours straight, but then finally forced yourself to bed, next day, when you wake up, you just might not like what you made recently at all... Gotta be careful. :-)
But the problem is - it's so hard to stop when you're burning!
Oh, neat, your videos are being recommended to me! The algorithm is working in your favor!
[ItsHappeningRonPaul.gif]
15:10 Just a quick tip.
The highlights in the eyes are from the bright lightsource. So depending where the lightsource is, the place of the highlight will change.
That's why sometimes the highlight is on the pupil, sometimes on the white of the eye and sometimes It's not even showing at all.
It's nice to know that since that's the reason why so many manga style eyes are looking flat and weird.
"I do like to play with shapes."
Great that you didn't leave your inner child behind!
Also, I love your tutorials, they're always fun to watch, quite easy to understand, and you're very kind :)
I am a person who has difficulty visualizing things in my head and I’ve spent the past half a year trying to make humanoids, this video was a huge help, thank you
You mean like aphantasia? Always wanted to know what that's like
@@davileite780 yea!
Oh! The most useful video about pixel art portrait's in all youtube! Thank you!
Better than my portrait tutorial, well done!
I said I'd comment on all your videos... soo... Your videos are college education level quality. You cover the history, the why, the styles, and then the workflow thats easy to follow. So far I've gone through the fire animation, color gradients, and how to use Asrpite. I can't praise you enough, these videos are actively changing my life for the better.
I don't think you give yourself enough credit, you're up there in the category of really talented artists
love the tutorial!
6:39 "here we have roy"
Is.. isn't that eliwood
Btw love the video, ive been looking for something like this! Love the whole channel. Super big fan of the Ludum dare video
I've been exposed! Actually I'm only familiar with Awakening on 3DS. I never got around to playing the earlier titles.
it's actually Eliwood in a disguise so it makes sense he didn't recognize him
My friend, who's making a mobile game, turned me on to Aseprite and your channel. Thank you so much for the in-depth explanations - not just the how, but the why. Liked, subscribed, and commenting for the algorithm.
As a fellow sprite artist, your videos are so helpful! I'm currently working on a game and you've helped me through all the things i struggled with before. Its amazing what a little instruction can do for you. Thanks a ton mate!
Thank you very much! I'm doing pixel art for a while now, but portraits were WAY more difficult to me that anything else. I was looking for exactly a video like yours.
You have given me such a foundation for my game dev journey, from artistic principles to overall game design philosophy! Thank you so much for sharing your ideas!
Thank you for all your tutorials! I picked up aseprite like two weeks ago, and you are really helping me to get a better understanding for pixel art in general.
Adam, do you have bird friends? I hear chirping and it fills me with such joy.
Hiya Adam, I've been working on a pixel-art styled visual novel and this character portrait is so helpful for me. Even though I've opted to do my portraits at a head-on perspective, seeing your approach is really informative. I thought your discussion on framing was especially insightful.
One thing I've had loads of trouble with is making portraits of different emotions come through as sufficiently expressive. In the Fire Emblem sprite sheet you show, the characters have several expressions but all of them are fairly subtle. I've found it a huge challenge to have that expressiveness come through without my characters looking anatomically impossible or misproportioned. Do you have any thoughts on this topic?
It's really hard to stay "on model" when mixing things up considerably between portraits. This is one of those areas where I don't mind recommending copying and pasting a lot of the face into a draft of alternate poses, then modifying it to match the expression you want. In the end you just have to be really diligent to make sure they have the same proportions.
@18:33 was an absolute eye-opener to me (pun not intended but happily used), thank you very much!
Amazing video as always! Great analogy with "handwriting" by the way. I've been constantly training my handwriting and it actually took me years to get to a point where my writing is good and consistent even when I'm not paying attention. That's what it must be like for artists that just get it right in one go!
You deserve way more subscribers. You’ll get there one day Adam. Your content is amazing. You go so in depth just about the eyes was probably a video of it’s own
got me aseprite today and did my first one :D:D i dont know why but this addicting... im usually using alot of illustrator but i can imagine doing more pixel stuff in the future...
I was just thinking I needed to start on a character portrait, great timing!
Thank you for this channel. I always admired pixel art but never knew where to start or the tools & techniques. Your videos are a live saver.
Just gave this one a go. I don't think I did a very good job but it would have been a lot worse without this tutorial. Cheers!
Great tutorial - really melts away a lot of the intimidation of getting started
Hey just found your channel and instantly subscribed! I would LOVE to see a video with a rundown of your aseprite set up and hotkeys you use. It looks like your seamless use of hotkeys and presets really makes the workflow much faster. Thanks for the videos!
Ya, stepping away is the hardest and most helpful piece of info. Keep up the great work Adam!
Awesome video, learnt a lot! "What if I do this?" has to be the question artists ask themselves the most lol :)
You included great examples that are all staple games from my childhood.
Thank you for such nice quality content! Keep it up!
I really like the fact you drew the eyes last - it helps to see and ensure the form of the head before drawing them.
How I wish I had found your videos sooner. Thank you so much for making these!
Thanks a lot! I wanted to make portraits, but didn't know how to start. This helped me so much. Thanks! :)
The pinnacle of Dialogue Art in my opinion will always be Valkyrie Profile.
these r literally contributing to helping me achieve my pixel art dreams! ☁
btw, do you have any place for us to post what we've practiced from your tutorials? i think that would be fun :)
Just recently discovered your channel and I'm absolutely loving your content bro!
Thanks man your video actually help me make a pixel art of my dad, for his birthday
I loved every second of it!!! In my opinion, you should try making more PixelArt character-humans tutorials in the future.
Thank you so much for your videos. I really appreciate them.
Awesome tutorial! Very insightful and informative. Thanks!
This was really great!
Heya Adam!! Love the vids, keep up the great content!!
note: portraits could also be just the face, the same way it could be front facing and facing 90° for some expressions, but those cases are rare
What a great video! Very helpful
Amaizing as always Adam!
dang yesterday i was playing some tactics ogre (the ps1 version) it is not a game that i like playing but i love the art and i think the portraits on that one are one of my favorite, it is some damn fine pixelart, maybe a little too realistic for some people, but the way the artist (idk who made them) used pixelart in a more realistic approach is impressive, i downloaded some of them to study them today and then you upload this video, full sync
I feel the exact same way about Final Fantasy Tactics on the PS1. I loved FFTA on the GBA and have been a bit disappointed that the older games aren't as fun, mostly because of how slow the battles play out.
@@AdamCYounis haha we are the opposite way there because final fantasy tactics was my first tactics game and i played it a long time ago and i still love it, years later i tried FFTA and i couldnt get into it but i totally get why people cant get into FFT since it happened to me with tactics ogre, trying to play it now with many years of gaming later i dont have the patient to finish those long battles now >.
at 6:45 that's Eliwood bro that's Roy's dad. You've probably already gotten a comment like this, but when you said Roy it just killed me.
30:04 this is kinda where pixel art gets... Tedious.
But with all respect to the work, to the quality, of course.
In programming there's a lot of this, too.
I bet in music, - too.
I went from not managing to draw anything recognizable (in the sense, you can figure out what it is)
too actually make people go: "Ho hey! that's a gun! o that's a person! o look that's a sword! that's a zombie!"
wille before it was more like:
"YOooo that tree is dope!"
"ehm... its supposed to be a house"
"what"
Ive been waiting for this. Great tutorial will you be doing character bust soon too?
This is gold! Thank you!!!
I love ff tactics that’s why you got me here
Hey Adam! Thanks for your insight and helping us all understand pixel work in a clearer manner.
Question: you say in one part that all the character sprites are in a 64 x 64 pixels. So to get detailed character portraits for a dialogue box etc, do artists always work 64 x 64 even when they are highly detailed OR do they work in a larger canvas size of pixels that then can scale down equally to 64 x 64? If so, what is a good size to work in for detail?
This video was really useful.
Great Tutorial🧡
Great job
god bless your channel
1 second in, 'i reccomend you take a break.,' me: okay~ *pauses video
so useful thank you
It would be great if you can do a FF tactics style portraits Adam :)
it was wonderful
Is there a chance that you could potentially build more onto this concept, drawing character portraits is something I really need to work on , I followed this through drawing as I went along and was really happy with the results .
But when trying to apply what I learnt to a female character I really struggled
you are a god
Do you have something like whole body but its also on this size? I think this is what the faketown - FakeIDs size are. Its not full face and the nfts have to go through town to town to make it playable too.
man how about you teach how to drow rooms in bigger size like 500x300 i really like your tutorials :)
I have a question, in what program does he draws all of this, when explaining?
He uses www.getleonardo.com/ for the diagrams and capturing the reference images
@@JoeConstant oh thanks very much :)
thx for the advice
I would interpret the simplified eyes a little different: Relaxed eyelids are slightly down. Lifted eye-lids suggest the person focusses on consuming information. So what is marked as "content", to me looks like curiously surprised. Does that make sense?
"Beep beep. Do a barrel roll!"
I hope a debate starts about Armin's hair... I'm already on the "naturally red hair" side of that debate, if anyone wants to know.
Oh for sure. I reckon if anything, he dyes the undercut brown.
Can I ask what color pallete are you usinggg, is it default or did u make it by yourself?
He always makes his own palettes.
Such a great video! Any way you could make that Fire Emblem portrait page available to download?
I don't understand you have preview in the right side still you zoom out many times to see it
how i see it, the act of zooming can convey multiple levels of distance in a short space of time, the eye is quick enough to discern more from this moving snapshot, than a static preview might otherwise reveal. I'm no expert, but i'm guessing it's a neat perceptual trick in keeping the working process more organic and flowing.
@@FlyPimpDude will try doing it
amazing👏
guess this video tutorial was ur best tutorial in whole ur channel
ty
Question Adam or anyone. Are there any technical difficulties when instead of pixel art portrait, I use a drawing portrait (much like rune factory4,5 portraits)?
Also will it look good?
I haven't really seen any game use this kind of method. Mostly if the game have pixel art design, everything is in pixel art.
What pallet do you use?
Does anyone know where he found the sprite sheet from? I cant seem to find it
0:08 wisdom
Finally!!!!
Waterfall Landscape parallex
What program are you using
DO A BARREL ROLL! USE BOMBS WISELY!
"Men tend to be square" like Minecraft Steve
Is it just me, or do I feel that your character looks like you? LOL... Any way great video.
44:14 that's stardew valley thing lol
Hi, sorry I’m new to your videos. Could someone please tell me what the program is called? I’d love to try this.
Which color palatte are you using in this video? Tried to find it but i think i am missing it
He always makes his own palettes.
hello Adam, what program are you using for drawing pixel art?
It's the very first thing he says when he starts, lol!
Nooiiceee
I have 2 uncles. Neither are named Bob.
I've been saying (ass-uh-prite) this whole time lmao
Raise your old crumpled hand if you had the "barrel roll" reference. 🖐
U R good lol
08:23 "I'm just trying to get something that looks anatomically passable"
that feel when no gf
9:00
Pls add spanish auto subtitles !!!!
yo
dontt steal the scroll? are you kidding you ever look at money. Pretty sure you aren't 2000 years old. Roman money had scrolls.