I created a challenge where you draw pixel art every day for a month. Make sure you watch until
the end to see some awesome submissions from you guys and for a special surprise.
Over the past couple of months, the Discord Channel has been growing and I decided to set
some art challenges. We first did a little pixel art pig and that went really well,
but the people grew hungry for more, and as a kind and Noble leader, obviously I obliged.
I wanted to create a daily challenge that was achievable for everyone from beginners
to pros. So, introducing Septembit, 30 days, 30 characters in one-bit limits,
this is black and white only, so you don't have to worry about shading or color or any of that.
It's just about the shapes and forms. The first 27 creatures are 16 pixels by 16 pixels,
with the last three adding more of a challenge in 32 pixels. So this is how it went.
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For each of the small characters. The process pretty much stayed the same.
I got some reference and tried to create a simple and readable
silhouette. If you want to know more about how I approach designing characters, then
check out this video I made which goes more into detail about how I design pixel art characters.
My goal for this challenge was to stick to a consistent style,
as if all of the characters fit inside the same world. I went with this weird,
exaggerated style where the heads are massive and the bodies are small.
I just think it makes the animals look super cute, so I kept going with this.
I actually thought this would make it easier having them all in the same style because I'd
have a template from the last animal, but it was a lot harder than I thought.
The 16 pixel pixels, [Inaudible], 16 pixel canvas was really challenging because
you're trying to fit a lot of detail into such a small area, and I quickly learned that every pixel
is important. For example, removing a pixel from a corner can make it appear more rounded, even
though it's just one pixel. I found myself having to make loads of little decisions like this.
About where each little square would go, but I think that's part of the fun of pixel
pushing pixels around. Peter Piper pushed a pixel. And even further, if we look at the first 4 here,
the dog cat, mouse in pig all have similar bodies,
but if we move just a couple of pixels can change how they look entirely. Crazy. Its
also really fun to play around with pixels to see how I could add some dimension to the character.
Overlaying some of the features helps bring parts forward and give an illusion of depth.
For example, look at the cow's mouth and nose area, which is separated from the head with a
one-pixel border, or the elephants here which is tucked away behind the head. The elephant's
trunk even has parts with the two-pixel border to really sell that shadow effect.
I tried giving each animal their own personality and this was definitely all in the eyes.
We got a grumpy frog, derpy shark, angry eagle and even a confused octopus.
You see how even changing one aspect can completely change how something looks?
I tried adding some texture for the hedgehog spikes,
but for some reason I just hate it and I don't think it reads very well.
But one of my favourites has to be the lion. It took me a while to figure out how the mane
was going to work. I originally was going for a textured look like the Hedgehog,
but since that didn't turn out so well, I tried this inverted technique instead. I really like
how it contrasts well with the body and makes the head stand up. So yeah, the lion is one of
my favourites. The giraffe was probably the biggest nightmare to fit into this style.
How am I supposed to fit that long ass neck into this tiny box?
As the challenge was coming to the end. I definitely felt like I was improving,
even if some were more difficult than the others, but then it was time for the real test.
The big three.
Add some explosions in their editing boy.
I'm editing it, so I gotta, I gotta add the explosions in myself.
With each of the big Three characters I wanted to apply what I've learned so far
while pushing myself even further with some more complex pixel art techniques,
it was surprisingly difficult to jump straight into 32 pixels. So as you can see from the
time-lapse, I usually started with the 16 pixel version and then just scale it up. I thought
that really helped to give me an idea of what the silhouette might look like before scaling it up.
And just like the rest of the animals, focusing on
the basic shape and silhouette was definitely the way to go.
For the Phoenix. I kept the same exaggerated proportions as the rest of the animals,
but I tried using a dithering technique to give the fiery wings some more texture. Dithering is a
great way to get another dimension in the one-bit style, and I really like how it turned out.
Even though the wings took so long, I really love the look of traditional Asian Dragons,
and for this one I had this image in mind of a really curly fiery boy
with his tongue sticking out. That's, that's curly by the way, apparently.
I don't know.
I'm making this up as I go along.
This was actually really complicated to arrange.
I went back and forth multiple times, changing the silhouette. After lots and lots of trying,
I finally figured out the shape and silhouette and I loved how it was looking so I decided
to challenge myself even more by adding some extra details. We got those little
nose hair things standing out from the face. We've got the tongue sticking out,
the scales on the body and even the fire on the tail. I was actually worried this
might look different from the rest of the sheet because of all the detail, but I think because
it follows the same big head small body proportions. I just about get away with it.
The Unicorn was the very last creature on the list, but it also turned out to be my
favorite. I think it's my favorite because it combines everything I learned over the month
of doing daily pixel art. Simplicity, readability, consistency, and the importance of a single pixel.
Overall the shapes are simple and the style is consistent with the rest of the sheet. I use
single pixels to round shapes, but also to keep them sharp. I thought about how I can use multiple
pixels and outlines to create depth and shadow. Now even added in a little bit of texture in
detail in the hair and tail. But my favorite part overall is just how much personality I could get
into the character through the eyes. [Kisses] Beautiful.
And here it is, the completed sheet with 30 days of daily pixel art. Let me know
which character is your favorite in the comments below, but it doesn't just me
taking part in this challenge. There's a whole bunch of members from the community
doing it as well, so, let's take a look at some of those submissions.
Sorry in advance if I'm butchering any of these names, just I'm just going to wing them as I go.
I really love how Seb Pixels gave the animals their own personalities,
especially the pipe smoking giraffe and the Dragon's face is really awesome. Nice work.
Sahara A Martin really thought out of the box with the final three prompts.
Phoenix as in the place, a Komodo dragon for the dragon and Natures Unicorn, the rhino,
for the Unicorn, smart but disqualified. I'm just kidding. They're awesome. Thanks for taking part.
Monster Demon certainly has a way with pixels. Creative use of space for each of these was great.
I really love the way the giraffes neck bends to fit inside the box and the crocodile, too.
Overall. These are a real pleasure to look at and they even went above and beyond with
some animations too. I mean, come on, look how cool this is. Awesome work.
There's some really cute creatures here from slightly spiced. I really love the
rabbit because of how tasty it looks. I'm going to need that one more than slightly spiced.
Just kidding these are all awesome. Great job. Give me the rabbit. A28604407 did some really
great work. Nice job. In all seriousness, the solid silhouettes make the animals read very well,
and the different textures in the Phoenix from the
dithering in the wings and the fire is done so well. Nice work A28604407.
Although you might be a robot, I've no idea.
Fodder Labs went for this more outline-based approach which is
very unique and awesome to see. The owl is definitely my favorite. Who?
The owl, who? The owl. No, I'm doing an owl impression. Who whooing get it? Who ha ha?
Moving on. Katie had only been learning pixel art for a week before starting the
Septembit Challenge and look how awesome these turned out to be. This should be a
great inspiration for all beginners. So nice work for taking on the challenge you killed
it. TamTul was coming in Hot with a variety of different approaches. Here the silhouette look.
The outlined inverted areas and some dithering for some texture.
Great work all around. Hedgehog is definitely my favorite. If only my hedgehog was this good.
Mr. Clefairy did a Pokémon theme while still sticking
to all of the creature prompts. How cool is that? I like that out of the
box thinking fantastic work. Kris the Karns is bringing us a cute array of animals here.
Why is everyone elses hedgehog so good? And that Unicorn is looking pretty thick? Nice work Chris.
I really love the simplicity of the Otaru’s work. It's very readable from the get go.
The crocodile is a personal favorite of mine here. Nice work. [Rambling]
I'm just gonna call you Dendy. Dendy is showing off here with their awesome pixel art abilities.
Making loads of creative and fun little entries. These are such a pleasure to look at,
but my favorite here is definitely the octopus, the whole shapes and the use of pixel outlines
to make it look like it's overlapping. Dayumn. this is a good one. Turtle Power.
Pixel Crystallium took part in crystallized their pixels in the Septembit challenge.
I don't know if that makes any sense, but go with it. OK, just just go with it.
I absolutely adore the bat that they did. It looks cute and creepy at the same time. Nice work.
Sweet Tiny gave everyone a master class on how to use shadows
to define shapes in these animal portraits. Remember what I was saying about my entry,
why I learned how to use multiple pixels to define shadow and overlapping shapes? Well,
these are the submissions that I learned it from. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome work
and helping me learn. There's a nice display of techniques here from Cheshirooh, cheishiru?
The way the dragon loops around the entire box is super satisfying. I love it.
Victor P Corbella went out of their way to create this nice looking border for their
awesome animals to live in. The turtle looks especially pleased with his new home.
Great work. Aleiocus actually finished the challenge on September the 5th.
Which is super impressive. If it was a race you definitely have first place, but it's not so.
Yeah.
DP Minty also took part in the challenge, showing all of their cute creatures, I especially love the
interaction between the cat and the mouse. The cat is looking very scary. Nice work, minty.
Minty, you could say it wasn't mint, could say it was mint like, it was mint that like.
Ghost Lupo shared all of their entries on the discord, keeping that community
alive. I love all of these little creatures, but the dog is just so happy, and the use of
different texture techniques in the dragon for the scales is really creatively done. Nice work.
Nyroton was another early finisher, completing the challenge on the 18th
of September. My favorite is definitely the frog with that super long term. Nice work, but again,
no prizes, not it's not Race common slow down take time. It's nice. Lab
Skull actually took some of the entries and turned it into a game. How awesome is that?
And last, but certainly not least, is sscreatv, not only do all of the animals
look consistent style wise, but they even went out of their way to animate the entire
sheet. Each little animal has their own unique animation, and the final three creatures
interact with each other so creatively. I think I could look at this for hours.
Fantastic work, definitely one of my favourites all around.
Whoo.
Well, we got through a bunch of entries there. I really didn't think so many people would take part
and I am sorry if I missed yours. But if you tag your work with Septembit on social media,
I have definitely seen every single one of them. And it was a huge pleasure for
me to go through those every single day. There will be links for all of these featured artists
in the description so definitely go and follow them to check out more of that awesome work. All
of this Septembeit work can be found on Twitter or Instagram @Septembit. I made some daily collages
of all of the entries so you can enjoy those. And if you want to give this challenge a shot,
just do it. I know it was for September, September, blah, blah blah, but there is
really no time limit. You could do it whenever and I think it's a great way to improve your pixel
art and if you do give it a go, make sure you share your work on the discord and social media.
But now it's time for a surprise. Saultoons Pumpkin Patch
A new pixel art challenge. For this challenge, all you have to do is create a pumpkin using
all or some of the colors from this color palette. The deadline for this challenge is
obviously Halloween. On October 31st, I love doing these challenges with the community where
we can all learn and grow together as artists. So come and join the discord and social media,
let's make some pumpkins.
Spooky Scary Skeletons Sends Shivers Down My Spine.
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Thanks for watching everyone and I'll see you in the next video.
Spooky