Original subtitles

Hey, what's up, guys?

Welcome back to my pixel art lesson

In this video, we'll be talking all about developing your own color palettes

and working from black and white.

I want to provide you with all the skills necessary to color quickly.

And this will be a slightly different approach

to the last background where the colors were based off of a photo.

We'll be using color palettes and a lot of adjustment layers starting from scratch.

This video is going to be really chill and laid back

as I talked over my drawing.

I want you guys to follow along as a draw as well.

Let's do my 30-minute background challenge

where we make a background based off of a single object.

And you can really see my process of how I work.

Alright, I'm going to start the timer now.

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So we have 30 minutes starting now!

Since it's playing at real time

I figure I take this opportunity to talk about what I do

to speed up my workflow as well as general bad habits. I tend to get myself in.

All right. Let's get started.

The object. I chose was a green traffic cone.

I'm going to get myself around 5 minutes to start sketching out my scene

and you're free to use any reference images to support your drawing as well.

I'm going to be using a 400 by 225 pixel canvas, like the last background we did.

Again, I'm not too worried about getting a too detailed yet

So I'm using a 2px brush.

All we want right now is a sketch that reads properly.

So green traffic cones are suitable near roads, right?

So maybe some construction is going on too

what's on the street?

a storefront?

maybe a bridge would be a good structure to draw too

and passing by a train crossing maybe?

So I have a layer for my foreground

and another layer for my background where I use a lighter tone

So I want a clear separation of planes.

So while I keep going with the sketch

I want to answer some of your questions.

How do you stay focused?

I get distracted really easily being at home all the time

as a freelancer, especially now during quarantine being stuck at home in the same room

for most hours of the day can feel really isolating and routine-like

I need some sort of pressure to keep me working.

So I like this like a 1 hour timer and write down a goal like

In one hour, I'm going to finish the section of the drawing!

no distractions, no social media, nothing just draw.

And after an hour, take a small break

go outside and get some fresh air, stretch, get some water

and get away from the screen for a little bit

and then come back and continue working.

if you keep on chugging non-stop

because you feel like you have to finish

then you're going to lose a lot of motivation quickly.

So try to pace yourself while you're working on something

and the goals don't have to be big either.

You're just taking baby steps to finishing something bigger

and it's those little accomplishments that are really gratifying

Some people have also asked me how I keep motivated

and making art at a consistent rate for so many years.

artists commonly go through highs and lows in their artwork

and we have periods of burn out when we feel really unmotivated

or if we just don't like what we're making

we make what we love! and because we have more of an emotional attachment to our work

it's hard to separate the two.

Whenever I'm feeling really burnt out

I step away and stop drawing completely for a bit

and do something else like watch a movie or cook.

Lately, I've been learning the recipes for making ramen

and it's been a really good change for my mental health.

I'm able to feel refreshed and ready to draw again.

Sometimes burnout will last longer depending on each person.

And forcing myself to draw only makes me feel worse

and worrying about if I'm doing something wrong.

I also have kind of a backup system where

if I don't feel like making pixel art at the moment.

I can do some digital painting instead.

And that way I can switch between the two.

I can get really restless with my style. So I like to alternate when I can.

I used to have four styles like pixel art, digital painting

traditional inking, and fashion illustration to alternate throughout the months.

But now I only have time to focus on pixel art and illustration.

You might be wondering how I can keep consistent with such a different art styles

and that lies in the color choices and themes that I'm interested in.

Honestly, I've been struggling with consistency.

So I'm surprised that people bring this up to me.

So when I'm drawing buildings, especially in that perspective like this.

I just pretend that I'm drawing boxes

and the further they are the smaller the boxes appear to be.

I know people can be intimidated by drawing like massive cities

and having to fill out all the windows you have to driaw afterwards.

But as long as you get the general shape of everything correctly,

then it'll be okay.

Once I have the initial sketch done, I start to fill in the different tones

using darker greys for the foreground

and light greys in the background.

And it's already starting to look pretty good.

I'm also thinking about a light source coming from the left side.

Maybe a beam of light streaking across

the light will add a bit more dynamic shapes in my scene.

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How are you guys doing on your drawings so far?

We're around 10 minutes in and honestly 30 minutes goes by really fast

when you're drawing a background.

So try to use all the tools to your advantage

Use lasso tools and paint bucket to quickly fill in shapes

instead of manually drawing them one by one.

I also tend to draw smaller which is why it's so zoomed out right now

and I want to see my overall scene

and focus on the big picture instead of smaller details.

Right. Now we have around 3 planes defined, the foreground

and background and the sky.

I immediately start playing around with gradient maps

and I'm looking for warm colors maybe during a sunset.

I have a palette that's dark blue and pink

and I put it on a lower opacity on darker color mode.

I'm just scrolling through all the layers modes

to find something that I like,

but I usually stick with overlay, darken, and multiply as my go-to choices.

Lowering it to around 30 to 50%

gets the most optimal use for me

since the effect is not too intense

but I recommend experimenting with all these layer modes and opacities to see what you like.

Each layer mode can produce a really unique result as well.

Right now I want to build a foundation of color

before adding anything too intense.

Then, I make a duplicate copy of the gradient map

and put it on pin light mode.

Now you start to see that the foreground is more green and blue

while the background is more pink and warm.

So right now the colors are pretty dull

but it lays a good foundation for colors on top afterwards.

I'm pretty happy with this foundation.

So I start to add more layers with supporting colors on top.

Since I only have 30 minutes to do this

I'm not too worried about layer structure.

I'm most likely going to merge the layers together

and draw on top of it afterwards anyway.

I make a new layer on top of the gradient map

and use the magic wand tool with sample all layers checked on.

I then select the tone of the sky

because the sky is its own color

and it will only sell like that area.

I want the sky to be like a light purple and blue sorta dream-like.

I added another layer for the foreground colors

and start defining the colors of the bridge and the elements around it.

Basically whatever the lightest touching will be warmer color

and whatever is in shadow will be a cooler color

I have a couple reference images that I have open as well.

And any time you don't know what something looks like

search it up!

this challenge as well as just regularly drawing

shouldn't restrict you from using references.

People that don't use references must have something amazing photographic memory because

I need to use photo references all the time for literally every single thing

though eventually when you've drawn the same thing enough times,

you will start to remember how to draw it from memory

and the most common thing that I've drawn is probably koi fish and air conditioning.

They're really distinct and recognizable shapes

and I find that it's really useful for defining a scene

You'll sort of have a memory bank of things you gravitate towards

and it will start to grow the more you draw

I added another gradient map, this time

purple and orange to emphasize the warm sunset tones,

and I'm going to put it on color burn mode at 30%

It's looking pretty good.

These are the colors that I've been looking for,

a warm sunset tone with cooler elements

like blue and green to keep it balanced

now, we can pretty much stop here after the traffic cones

but since we still have some time

lets add in some more details and brighten it up.

We can still use lighting and shadow to emphasize the scene as well

by adding a beam of light cascading over.

I like to make a new layer and put it on overlay

and add a really light yellow and set it to 75%

after that I put a layer mask on by clicking here and set the layer mask to black

That way we cant see the layer anymore.

Then I will use a white brush to show the layer content

and it would reveal the lighting effect again.

I use a black brush to clean it up

and get the shape I want

But you can also use the poly lasso tool to get a clean line.

I wanted to follow the direction of light from left to right and apply it

to all the buildings caught in the way.

So after I figure out the lighting

I turn off those layers and I can keep building more colors on top.

Right now we're around 20 minutes in already

two-thirds of the way through.

How are you guys holding up?

I know this might seem a bit fast and the time runs out really quickly.

It's kind of like life drawing where you only have a limited time to work on each pose.

I find that working under a time constraint helps you draw much faster

and discover new techniques that can speed up the process.

Currently, we have the rough composition figured out

and the general lighting and colors.

This is a pretty good place to be

and now all we have to do is just keep figuring out the details.

People have also asked me what it's like to be a freelancer

and if they should take the leap and become one as well.

I'm aware that many of you are still in school or working a day job

and are thinking of working freelance and the entertainment or game industry.

There's literally so many opportunities out there right now and freelancing

is a great way to connect with them.

It's not limited to just big AAA game companies and studios like Disney or Pixar.

There's so many indie game companies out there working on their own games and looking for your talent.

You just have to market yourself properly and reach out to them whenever you can.

I'll go over some general benefits and concerns you guys might have

and there are also concerns that I was worrying about before taking my leap into freelance.

So one thing is that you guys can work in the comfort of your own home

rather than being at a studio or office and commuting everyday

and now more than ever where the world has shut down

where the option is more accepted.

You get to decide what projects to take on

instead of being given something you're not as interested in.

I only take on projects that I have a high interest in and compatibility with the client

and I'm fortunate enough now to do that.

You also get to decide and negotiate what your rates are

and this is a whole other conversation in itself

you dictate what your value is.

And the first thing I learned as a freelancer

is to avoid charging an hourly rate.

If you're working on a background and charge let's say $30 an hour and you finish in 2 hours.

You only earned

The client isn't paying you for your time.

They're paying you for your skill to finish the job.

You also want to think about your monthly expenses.

Let's say it's $2,500 a month and If you're doing freelance

full-time and you're making backgrounds for $60 each

because you're just as fast

you have to make 41 backgrounds a month just to keep up with your expenses.

You're not earning anything else on top of that

and each person's expenses very, but please never under sell yourself.

You're making high quality work.

And if you're making that many artworks per month

eventually, you're going to burn out

Ask other artists and compare rates.

you'll be really surprised how much the value of a single artwork can be.

One other thing is that I have to keep track of all my expenses and earnings for taxes every year

and that may require your own accountant as well.

It will work a bit differently compared to working a regular job.

but if you guys are interested in this

and you want to learn more than just please let me know and comment down below.

So right now, we have the directional lighting in our scene established,

but I'm looking for another light source and have a focal point

and I think a convenience store with blue neon lights will help offset all the warm colors we already have

contrast in light and shadow, cool and warm colors

is what makes things interesting to look at and it grabs our attention.

I'm also going to put a silhouette of a girl

standing outside of the store as well.

My time is almost up

so I quickly select the traffic cones and road markings

and add a shadow over them with the lower opacity to match the lighting direction

and the shadow underneath the bridge.

And our 30 minutes is up! How did you guys find this challenge?

I'm pretty happy with how far I got into sketch

and it was certainly a refreshing challenge for me to do.

I usually take anywhere between 6 to 12 hours to fully finish a background

so doing these really quick color fills is really fun.

I'm probably going to go back and keep working on this in the future.

But for the purpose of this lesson, it's finished

the lighting and colors are clearly conveyed

and the scene reads well.

For this chapter, I wanted to draw along with you guys for a change

and kind of talk about what it's like being a freelance artist right now.

So hopefully I got to answer some of your questions with my experiences.

Adding color to your grayscale artwork can be a really efficient way to figure out your color palette quickly

and it ties back to my lesson about making thumbnails.

But in this case is making color palettes quickly.

Is this really useful for visual development artist in animation

and definitely all about setting the tone of your backgrounds quickly

For your homework I want you guys to use your black and white thumbnail we made together

and make three more colored thumbnails using adjustment layers.

I quickly did cloudy,midnight,and afternoon with gradient maps

levels and the hue saturation slider

just to see what kind of different looks I can get.

with the same composition

and these are all really quick and easy ways to get the look you want

without destroying your initial sketch

but just a disclaimer the gradient map has its limits

and it doesn't provide a wide range of colors

unless you add them in

for me, it just serves as a rough blueprint the mood of the scene if you will

but you probably want to add more colors to get the full spectrum afterwards.

What kind of feeling do you want to convey with this drawing?

What time of day is it?

These are all questions I ask myself when coming up with these ideas.

I'm really excited to see what you guys make.

Let me know. If you have any trouble.

I'll be happy to help! In my next chapter

we'll be making a top-down angled scene with a limited color palette

similar to a top-down video game.

I'm really excited to show you guys what I made since.

This is one of my favorite ways of making pixel art

See in the next one and take care!