Creating Minimal Pixel Art with Photoshop (Part 2)
by Rich Grillotti

Let's Take a Break

Do you take breaks often? If you spend days and nights on computers, which is what I've been doing, don't forget to take breaks! Once every hour or two for 15 minutes or so makes a big difference in my own level of energy, focus and enthusiasm for any project I work on. Plus, just like in any art creation, stepping away from your work now and then allows you some perspective on what you've been focusing on. We lose sight of the big picture focusing on details. If there are any fundamental changes that need to be made, seeing this sooner than later is helpful.

Choosing the scale of your pixel art

Before I move into the next section, I'd like to show you what that cat/bug/flower image looks like at different sizes. The same pixel art has a different impact & style depending on the size your pixels will be seen at. To illustrate this, I rearranged and Cropped the image using the Crop Tool (C) to focus more closely on the "actors" on my stage.

1x1

2x1

3x1

4x1

5x1

Bigger...

Bigggger...

and..

Whoa! That's big. Another crop and resize and the cat becomes new again. Quite a different feel from smaller pixels.

Exercise #8: Image Resizing

Contents

	Exercise #4: Lasso Tool
	Exercise #5: Magic Wand
	Introduction to Layers
	Exercise #6: Layers
	Exercise #7: Layer Contents
	Taking a Break
	Exercise #8: Image Resizing
	Conclusion

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The Series

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3