[Pixel Art] Cactus Tutorial

[Kain Nobel]

Cactus Pixel Art Tutorial
Written by Kain Nobel

Introduction

Welcome to my first article on how to do pixel art! Today we will learn not only how to properly draw a cactus, but my quick layer shading technique. For this tutorial, I utilized Graphics Gale to build the cactus, but similar tools and features should be available in other programs such as the Photoshop and GIMP series.

Step 1: Getting Started



This step is simple, you have to draw out the cactus. I made 2 cactus, 1 standing straight and one leaning to the side, then I flipped them both and put 'em all together side by side. Of course, I'm an over achiever who likes variety, so you don't necessarily have to have 3 or 4 different cacti but it helps that, if you're doing a series of the same plant, to do them simultaneously.

Step 2: Build the "Lines" Layer


For this step, you need the Layers bar visible; tap the Lock icon twice so it is on "Lock Transparent Pixels".



Make sure that your background is transparent or this won't work properly. While you're at it, duplicate that layer because you're going to need it for step 3.

Draw lines: Yup, just select either your Straight Line or Curved Line tool and start drawing lines across these bad boys. If you set this up right, these lines should only appear on the cactus silhouette and nothing else. You'll have to figure out for yourself where the arms connect, I should've probably done this part better but I was in a hurry so yeah :D

Making the shadow: While this should be done as the last step, its already here so I'll tell you how to do it real quick; first, duplicate that layer. Again, Lock Transparent Pixels should be checked on your Layers tab. Anyways, just pick a dark shadow color, use your Box tool, and color these bad boys with it. Next, select all, set your grid to 16x16 and resize it so its half the size of the actual cactus. You'll have to move this up a few frames, but there you go, you have shadow! Put the shadow layer underneath your cactus layer, but don't merge them yet.

Step 3: Build the "Shading" Layer



If you were listening in step 2, you duplicated the original layer before you started your lines 'n such. Now we're going to work with that copy layer. Again, Lock Transparent Pixels should be checked on your Layers tab. Do not touch the cactus with the lines in it, make sure you're using the pre-lines version of your cactus.

Apply Mid-Tone: If that's not self explanatory, basically you're going to cast your mid-tone shading to the cactus. In this step, I basically consider wrapping this shade around where I expect my highlights for my light source to be. In this case, my light source is from the top-left, but use whatever fits in your case.

Apply Shadow Tone: Now I'm basically casting a darker shadow on the areas that I suspect are getting the least amount of light. In this case, the arms on the right are going to get a little more of the dark shade than the ones on the left. I could've probably applied the shading better in this piece, but I was in a rush to get it done.

Note: This cactus uses 4 colors, but I'm only shading this layer with 3 colors. You should make one more color that is darker than your current darkest shade. You will use this 4th color in a minute.

Step 4: Color-Swapping

In this step, things are going to get a little confusing, so you might want to step away for a minute to make a sandwich or get a drink before you start this step.



Anyways, you're going to take your with-lines version of the cactus and duplicate it 2 times (so you should have 3 of the same layer.) Basically what you're going to do is color replacement, utilizing the Lock Transparent Pixels and the Color Selection tool. You'll have to do this step 3 times, so here goes.

Color replace lines: Use your Color Select tool on the base (highlight) color of your cactus, then Cut. Make sure Lock Transparent Pixels is checked. Use your Box Fill tool, select the next darker shade, and run the box over the entire image. If done correctly, only the lines should be darker. Now hit paste, your base should paste perfectly over it all.

Color replace base: This is basically the same thing but in reverse. Use your color select tool on the lines of your cactus, then cut. Now select the next darkest shade (the color before you re-colored your lines.) Box fill, then paste. Told you, its basically the same thing reversed ;D

Result: When you're done, you should have 3 layers that look like the image above.

Step 5: Cut 'Em Up!

Cool, you've made it this far! With that last step, you should have 4 layers; the "Shading" layer, and 3 versions of the "Lines" layers for highlight, mid-tone and dark-tone shades.

3 Quick Steps

Cut the Highlight


Go to the "Shading" layer and use your Color Select tool to select the highlight color. Go down to the Highlight layer, use Inverse Selection, then hit Delete. Again, select the highlight color from the "Shading" layer, now select the Mid-Tone layer and hit delete.

Cut Your Mid-Tones


Go to your "Shading" layer, and select the middle tone color with the Color Selection tool. Click on the Midtone layer, and hit delete.

Darkest Shade Layer

Actually... you're done with this step! Merge the 3 color versions of your cactus and delete that "Shading" layer, you're not going to need it anymore.

Step 6: Adding Spikes


This could've probably been done before the previous step, but I did it afterwards instead. Anyways, I'll make a quick-n-dirty explanation for ya.

Re-Duplication (Part 1): If you didn't make a tilting and a straight-up cactus like I did, you can skip this part. Anyways, duplicate your layer, delete the 2nd and 4th cactus.

Apply Thorns on Edge: Basically, I look for corners and add a pixel or two on them, using one of the two darkest colors. I applied this to the 1st and 3rd cactus.

Re-Duplication (Part 2): Applied your thorns? Cool! Put this layer below the one without thorns. Now copy the 1st and 3rd cacti and flip them, paste them under the 2nd and 4th.

Apply Thorns on Base: No more shortcuts, sorry. This is the painstaking step of adding 2 ascending or descending pixels from top to bottom of each cactus. I suppose you could do this on a separate layer and copypasta and flip and all that jazz, but I did these by hand.

Apply Shadow: I explained this in Step 3, but now that you have spikes you'll have to re-do the shadow.

End Result


Nothing to do now but to reflect on a job well done!

[MetalRenard]

Nice! Very clear explanations and of course the art is brilliant.