Ever wanted to make a drawing in pixels but you just can`t get it right? making small Rpg-ish pixel chars is easy, the big stuff takes more time but basically it`s like drawing in real life.

Ok, let`s do a character!

First off, think about it and how he/she is, i first draw at least their faces (concept design for the char), For this i`ve chosen one of my characters from Geistiger G1 (Webcomic), Dedsy Makuhari:

(If link doesn`t works try pasting in adress bar plz, it`s angelfire because i`m having problems with my other webhosting service.)

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/imagen/dedsy.jpg

Note: If u are going to animate a char. try doing a "4 view" drawing (sides front and back). for now face will do.

There. now think on a pose. I`m thinking that she will have an action pose. Jumping while grabbing a spear, yeah. that`s it. Face looking -> this way.

My recommendation is to start with the face. Why? because if u start with the body it`s harder to do a proportional head. Start from head to toes, that`s my tip.
As in drawing, you can use some circle forms to aid you, i went on straight ahead and drew the face, and then continued with the hair.

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/imagen/step1.jpg

Wooh, head done. Now i`m gonna begin shading the hair by choosing Lighter colors in diagonal shapes. i shade the face using another, darker color, (Cel-style shading, like anime uses)

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/imagen/step2.jpg

Basically, the rest is building the body, i recommend doing this using an "outline" and then filling it up and shade it. you`ll see it`s easy, zoom out constantly so you can see if the character is proportional enough.

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/imagen/dedsypix.jpg

There, i know i could have done some more steps but it`s just tips for this.

I found out several methodes that look fine for characters.

1- draw the outline in black, do not use black for things like the jacket`s outlining or clothes etc.. instead, if the jacket (for example) is blue, choose a dark blue for the outlining.

2-You can draw every part inside the pixel in a black outline too.

4-Pure colors, do not outline with black the outer part of the pixels. this looks real nice but in games, you can have a big problem with some backgrounds. but for some games like Guilty Gear X it looks awesome.

Here are some examples of other sprite drawings i have done:

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/imagen/ex1.jpg
-Just a face.

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/imagen/ex2.jpg
-A normal Character from one of my games Falling Star Saga.

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/imagen/ex3.jpg
-From my side project (you`ll see it soon) Fraulein alpha, it`s the first boss, the Chariot (it IS it`s actual size eh?)

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/imagen/ex4.jpg
-Just a drawing, just for fun. Named her Linen.

I hope you get great ideas for your spriting, that`s what this article is intended to be, inspiration ^o^

See you later!