Olivine's posts

I haven't really cared about being perceived as childish since I was a teenager. I still love stuffed animals and stickers. I still love hanging out at the mall (even moreso than I did when I was younger now that I actually have money to buy things.) I still go wild in toy stores. There are toys now that didn't exist when I was a kid that I love. I love love love all the unicorns and mermaids and reversible sequins on everything. I have discovered that slime is infinitely entertaining. I really don't care what anyone thinks. Most people seem to think I'm 5-10 years younger than I actually am, and for all the fear I had when I was younger that people were judging me, most people seem to actually like my whimsical ways. So I'm just doing what makes me happy.

I'll probably be a pirate if I end up doing anything for Halloween. A couple of my coworkers threw a Halloween party last year and I'm hoping they do again. Or someone else I know throws a Halloween party. If no one else does, I might, but I have no experience throwing parties.

I'm buying a house right now and I really hope the neighborhood gets trick or treaters. There are already some people with fall decorations up around there, and it's in a nice neighborhood, so it seems promising.

I used to work at a dollar store and I've found some pretty good books and movies there. There's this thrift store across the street from where one of my friends used to live that always has magical finds. Really cute clothes and sometimes cute dolls too.

It's a nice sentiment if you only apply it to yourself. If you have the emotional intelligence and introspection to realize your flaws, and you are willing to work to overcome them, you're never too broken to be fixed.

When you start applying this sentiment to other people, it gets dangerous. Most people are never too broken to be fixed, but that desire for change has to come from within. You're not going to fix a broken person who doesn't want to change with the power of love alone.

@Tsundererra: I might. These days I start a lot more than I finish. Working full time leaves a lot less time for art.

A good place to start is to look up tutorials.

http://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299 is a very thorough guide. It covers the basics very well, goes over common mistakes, and even gets into more advanced techniques. Even an experienced artist could learn something here.
http://www.yarrninja.com/pixeltutorial/ is another in-depth guide mainly focused on creating assets for video games.
https://www.kawaiihannah.com/pixelart/tutorials/ there are some tutorials here mainly focused on dolling. Great if you mainly want to make characters.
https://lospec.com/pixel-art-tutorials this is a directory of pixel art tutorials. you can find some good stuff here.

There were some other sites I used for tutorials back in the day but they don't seem to be around anymore. :(

And you can always look on google to find more. There are tons out there; you can find something for just about anything you need help with. Also, general art tutorials are also relevant in pixel art. A good foundation in things like composition, color theory, anatomy, etc. is just as relevant in pixel art as any other medium.

You can use just about any graphics software to do pixel art, as long as you restrict what tools you use. No fuzzy brushes, blending, gradients, etc. I started out making pixel art in OHRRPGCE which was this REALLY oldschool DOS-based game maker. Then for the longest time I used Microsoft Paint. The program I use these days is Graphics Gale. It's free (there used to be a paid version but they made it 100% free back in 2017) and it's specifically made for pixel art. Other pixel art specific programs that are popular include Aseprite and Pyxel Edit but I am not really as familiar with those and I don't think they are free.

The size of canvas you use is up to you. It takes longer to make larger things, but it is easier to fit in the details you want. A smaller canvas is simpler, but it can be a challenge to fit everything into a smaller space. It's better to start out making smaller things and work your way up. A lot of the times I'll start making something big and never finish. In general, I'd recommend staying under 300x300 pixels for pixel art, although I've definitely broken that rule plenty of times. Around 32x32 to 100x100 is a pretty fun size to work in; it's quick to make lots of little cute things that size. I tend to make a lot of characters between 100-200 pixels tall. It's a good size to be able to fit in more details without being too big of a project.

Hopefully that helps. If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer. Can't wait to see what you make!

@LupaPrinceRomulus: I play Dungeons and Dragons regularly. I have not played Fate but it sounds fun.

Thank you everyone for the warm welcomes.

@vengeance: And thank you so much for the gifts.

Thank you.

Bark

Just found this site, looking around, looks pretty cool. Looking forward to poking around the community and seeing what this site is about.

I am pretty shy so it might take some time to get me out of my delicious candy shell.