calypsoarts

[calypsoarts]

Do you have any tips for people trying to start learning pixel art and animation?

I really love your work, it all looks so alive!

Hey thank you very much! And yes! I can give a few tips! Firstly, don't worry about making things absolutely perfect! Figure things out, mess around with colors, take it easy!

I'd say on top of the basic stuff, figure out and get used to keybinds and shortcuts on your program of choice. Aseprite (which is my go-to) has a lot of shortcuts and the ability to make more depending on preference.

From there, start out small, this'll help a lot in the start, since each pixel makes more of a difference when on a smaller canvas like 16x16 compared to something like 512x512. You should also take in as much info as you can, watch video tutorials, ask around, join communities, etc. (Cafe Dot Discord is a good place for that.)

If you have a preference on what you'd like to work on, like characters, items, weapons, etc. Start there. It's so much easier getting into things if you're starting with something you love. Colors aren't anything you need to specifically worry about right out the gate. One thing to get into a good habit of is using grayscale to work with the values, and then if your program of choice allows it, go over it with a color layer and the colors you want and see the magic happen!

Animation is a little more complex, but when you're ready for it, there's the principles of animation that I'd recommend looking into. Learning how the fundamentals work is necessary for things to go by smoother. I started out making an animation of a slime bouncing up and down, one of the earliest animations I made. Afterwards I went and started making waterfalls, that got me into the mindset of how to loop animations. Once you get the hang of it, animations (looping ones specifically) is just a lot of small parts moving at the same time, that little bit of movement to follow does a lot to a piece comparatively to a still image.

Overall, like I said in the beginning, don't worry about things, and it'll come with time. Expecting yourself to get something on the first try will only make things harder for yourself, you have to allow mistakes and messing up, experimentation and accidents are how a lot of people make things look as good as they do.

If all of this is a bit much, it's cause it is. Take it bit by bit and pretty soon you'll be impressing yourself so much you'll be shocked at the amount of improvement you've made.

(pssst, here's a playlist I made for starting pixel art, and its in order of complexity, so as you go down the list, your ability will improve)

Playlist

#calypsoarts #art #artist #drawing #pixelart #qna #ask #tutorial #art tips #art tutorials

[calypsoarts]

How long have you been making pixel art? It's so good! I have no idea how it is made

Hello! I enjoy answering this question! I've been making pixel art since November of 2022, so about 17 months or so now.

I've been drawing otherwise for much much longer, since I was a little kid I've been doodling things and having a passion for drawing. I'm still not anywhere near where I'd like to be, but I've been making small steps towards it, a couple minutes a day I'll draw something new and learn from it.

I use Aseprite primarily now, it's excellent for what it has and a lot of flexibility with its shading tool and custom brushes. And thank you very much for the compliment! I hope to continue making such works down the line!

#calypsoarts #art #qna #ask #drawing #pixelart

[calypsoarts]

Oh my god, I've been seeing the hollow knight pixel art animations and I didn't realize they were all from the same person! Dude! You are so skilled, all of them are so pretty I love your work (also u seem to like hermitcraft which is a major W)

Hey! Thank you very much! That means a lot to hear! <3 <3

I'm really happy to have found the support for what I do, reading and responding to all the kind things people have been saying really makes everything I do feel so fulfilling. It really boggles my mind that there's so many out there who react well to my art, and I never would've seen this coming at all when I started making pixel art just over a year ago!

(And yes I love Hermitcraft, I've been watching since the 3rd Season and to put even that into perspective I've been watching Ethoslab since his original survival world, before hunger or sprinting, all of that.)

#calypsoarts #qna #hollowknight #hollow knight #hermitcraft

[calypsoarts]

Crystal Chasm

#calypsoarts #art #artist #drawing #pixelart #hollow knight #thk #hollowknight #thehollowknight #the hollow knight #animation #animated gif

[calypsoarts]

some of ur artwork reminds me of shots in rain world u should try playing it its good

Ah yea Rain World! I have indeed played it, not for long. It was a decent time ago now, but I stopped playing it since the pacing in the beginning was a tad too slow for my impatient self. Maybe in the future I'll give it another shot, but as of right now it will be a maybe.

Thank you though :)

#calypsoarts #qna #ask

[calypsoarts]

Lake of Unn

#art #artist #calypsoarts #hollowknight #silksong #thk #hollow knight #animation #animated gif #hollow knight thk #the hollow knight

[calypsoarts]

how long do your hk pixel art animations usually take?? they’re so impressive

Hello! Thank you very much!

This might come as a surprise, but I don't spend a lot of time working on my Hollow Knight pieces. Overall they take ~3 hours, sometimes less or more depending on what i'm animating.

The Godhome Lake took just over 3 hours, and that was mostly because trying to figure out how to make the floor. Most areas have a flat 2D ground that's easy to translate into the low-res tiling I make, but Godhome has a lot of depth with it's floor, so trying to make it into a tile grid was tough.

Overall I think they'll roughly keep taking the same amount of time, it just depends on what I want to draw next. Good question!

#hollow knight #hollowknight #calypsoarts #qna #ask #qna time

[calypsoarts]

Godhome Lake

#art #artist #calypsoarts #hollow knight thk #hollow knight #silksong #thk #animation #hollowknight #little ghost #the radiance

[calypsoarts]

What's your favorite region of Hollow Knight? ^_^

Hello! Good question! I love the game and a lot of the areas in it. I'd like to say City of Tears would be my favorite, I've always loved the concept of an underground city, and exploring the one in Hollow Knight is always fun to get to when I'm playing the game! Other areas that I also really like are Queen's Gardens and Ancient Basin, also for their architecture. I'm big on buildings and different styles of them, so I'm very excited for Silksong (whenever that comes out) Thank you for the question!

#qna #hollow knight #silksong

[calypsoarts]

bring back tumblr ask culture let me. bother you with questions and statements

[calypsoarts]

King's Station

#art #artist #calypsoarts #animation #animated gif #hollow knight #thk #hollowknight #little ghost #hk #hollow knight thk #the hollow knight

[calypsoarts]

where are my etho girls at

#effo #ethoslab #etho #hermitcraft #fanart #hermitcraft fanart #etho fanart #etho girls wya !!!!

[calypsoarts]

tango my little meow meow

#hermitcraft #tangotek #fanart #tango fanart #hermitcraft fanart #hiratelier

[calypsoarts]

Glade

#art #artist #calypsoarts #pixelart #hollow knight #hk #thk #silksong #hollowknight #animation #digitalart #animated #animated gif #the hollow knight #little ghost

[calypsoarts]

Gardens

#art #artist #calypsoarts #animation #hollowknight #hollow knight #silksong #digital illustration #hk #thk #hollow knight thk #animated gif #animated

[calypsoarts]

Resting

#art #artist #calypsoarts #drawing #pixelart #fanart #hollow knight #silksong #hollowknight #quirrel #little ghost #thk #animation #animated #animated gif

[calypsoarts]

Wishing upon the Skyline