Pixel art dolls are pixelated figures, usually humans, which are often seen around the internet in dress-up games and such. This article will help you make your own pixel art dolls using MS Paint.
Step 1
Choose your painting program. Examples include MS Paint, Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, and many others. For this tutorial we'll be using MS Paint, as it's installed on every Windows computer.
Step 2
Find your base. A base is a nude body of the doll, usually a person. You draw clothes, shoes, hair, etc. on the base. Load the base in your editing program of choice.
Step 3
Use a palette to make the shading. A palette is a range of colors, dark to light, to create a sense of 3D and shading. You can make one by drawing five or six samples of different shades of the colors you'll be using.
Step 4
Get started with the hair. Use the darkest shade of the hair color to make the outline of it. Start with an easy hairstyle, or find an example of one on the web. If you mess up, you can undo by pressing Ctrl+Z.
Step 5
Fill in the rest of the hair with the third-darkest shade of the hair color from your palette. This will be your base, and the rest of the colors will later be used for shading.
Step 6
Select the second-darkest shade of hair color from your palette, and add in streaks of it where you see fit. Once you feel you've had enough of it, select the third-lightest shade and add in streaks of that as well. You don't need to have very many of these. Now, draw a halo-like circle over the hair with the second-lightest shade, and add in tiny bits of the lightest one into it. This is the light reflecting off the hair.
Step 7
Zoom out and repeat these steps on the rest of the clothing - find the darkest shade of each color, and use it to draw the outlines of the skirt, t-shirt and shoes. Again, start with something simple, or go online to browse for ideas.
Step 8
Color in the clothes and shade where you see fit. If they look too bland and boring, add in designs - stripes, bubbles, flowers, words, - make it original!
Tips
- Study other doll creators' styles to tone your skills and create your own style. Do not, however, copy their style exactly and claim it as your own. This is looked down upon by most.
- Join forums - it's the best way to get help and find exclusive awesome bases.
- You might want to check out some tutorials. Xandorra's Place has especially great pixel-shading and tool-shading tutorials, and Ice Shadow Dolls has great site-making, sprite, and contest tutorials, among others.
- Xandorra's has a feature called a doll tutorial search engine. Go to Xandorra's, click tutorials on the top navigation bar, and the `Doll Tutorial Search Engine` is top on the side navigation bar.
- Try and ask experienced dollers for tips
