SRB2 Sprite Tutorial (explaining my process)

IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS, make sure to comment down below, and I'll try to answer them!

Program used: Aseprite (Minimal Dark HD theme)

This is an informative stream that I did on Twitch on the December 23rd, and edited into something shorter for anyone to easily be able to watch and learn from it. Granted, this turned out longer than I thought it would, still.

Being one of the SRB2 devs, and given I had a major hand in remaking the whole sprite style for 2.2 to be cleaner, I've had since experimented with the style to test its range and how it can fit varying character designs from all over. The canvas I showcase in here features viewer suggestions for my stream from over the years.

Amy is pretty much the best example I had in mind for showcasing how to sprite a Sonic character. She turned out pretty simple, as I didn't have to add a whole lot of shading detail to her. I will admit I struggled with balancing out her head shape a bit, but MetalWario64's SA Amy sprite was a very helpful reference on how to figure that out! Twitter: 1732199457242960226

After Amy, I drew Link to showcase how I personally adapt human/humanoid characters in SRB2, considering there's presently no set consensus on how to fit humans due to their taller proportions. I used to feel very reserved at making them too tall, but I found it eventually held back the visual of some sprites (this is especially evident in my old Solid Snake sprite seen in some parts of this video), so I just embraced to not restrict myself too much about it, considering SRB2 is a 3D game and thus a bit of difference in size doesn't necessarily impact the gameplay experience. Going for something a bit bigger does feel great for drawing more readable faces too!

With Link, I also showcased one sketching method that is not entirely uncommon in pixel art, where the artist first sketches the sprite in a larger canvas and shrinks it down after. I will admit I'm not one to do this method very often, but I thought some viewers would appreciate knowing about it, in case it better suits them!

ONE THING I overlooked about this method is that in Aseprite, it's more practical to use Layer/New.../New Reference Layer from File. That way you can sprite on top of your sketch without having to worry about shoddy rescaling!

Arthur from Ghosts 'n Goblins is my oddball character choice here, but he also felt like a great example on demonstrating the range of drawing metallic material in pixels here. Though frankly, I do not have as much expertise I wish I had in how metal reflects and works, so make sure you look up for extra reference on that, if needed!

It's hard to cover all fields involving pixel art as a whole. I did my best to explain the core fundamentals, but I still encourage those learning to learn from more sources. Professional pixel artist Cyangmou in particular has a whole collection of his own pixel art tutorials, for example!

https://pixelation.org/index.php?topi...

And once again, I will remind everyone. This is all personal advice, not so much hard set rules on how you should draw SRB2 sprites! Take liberties if you feel the need!

SRB2 characters standing, for comparison and reference: https://i.imgur.com/dBRCKc9.png
SRB2 palette: https://wiki.srb2.org/w/images/f/f6/P...

0:00 Introduction
1:50 Basics
14:29 Example #1 (Amy)
19:44 Example #2 (Link)
25:58 Example #3 (Arthur)
30:17 Conclusion