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Description
These are the steps I use to make a static sprite. Thought it might help someone. *shrug* Used this image as a reference for the pose and proportions: [link]

Step One: Make an Outline

This may be the most important step. If you don't have a good outline, you won't end up with good pixel art, no matter how good you are at shading or palette selection.

With that said, don't worry about getting it absolutely perfect right away, you can do some adjustments later.

I prefer to do the initial outline in a bright color against a dark grey background. It makes it easier to see what I'm doing.

Step Two - Palette Creation

This piece is pretty simple, it only needs a single palette. I start with an outline color - very dark, but never, ever black. Unless you're going for an old-school NES era style sprite, don't ever use black as an outline color. It flattens the sprite.

Second, I pick a light shade that will be the most prominent color on the sprite. This will be my second-lightest color.

Remember that colors don't just get lighter or darker. They also change tone. Colors generally get more purple or blue as they get darker on your palette. Try to reflect that in your choices.

Step Three - Palette Creation, Continued.

Set your pencil tool to the light color, and set the opacity of the tool to 33%. Draw over the "square" over the outline color. Now set it to 66%, and repeat for the next square. You now have your base palette.

I always choose my highlight color by hand, because how far "off" it should be from your palette depends on how shiny the material you're spriting is.

Recolor your outline to the outline color and flood fill your sprite with the base color.

Step Four - Basic Shading

Now I block out areas that should be very dark or very light, depending on the lighting and the shape of the object. This is where it helps to have a reference image, although with practice you should be able to do it without.

Step Five - Lighten the Outline

The outline does not have to remain uniformly dark. Wherever the light would be hitting it or you want to suggest that this part is in front of another, lighten it up! I also added a bit more shading in this step.

Step Six - Serious Shading

In this step, I shade all the areas that should be shaded and add highlights to all the areas that should be highlighted. I also adjusted the outline a bit - I didn't like how thick the fox was.

You can stop at this step if you don't like dithering or if you're doing a very smooth object that shouldn't be dithered.

Step Seven - Dithering

Here I use dithering to make the transition between colors smoother and give the fur a bit of texture. This step may require you to try, erase, try, etc., so save a copy or make a duplicate layer before starting.

Step Eight and Nine - Recoloring

An optional step. I decided I didn't care for the yellowish color, and so created a more reddish toned palette. I then recolored the sprite itself.

I hope this helps someone, somewhere. But I'm not a great teacher, so it wouldn't surprise me if it didn't!

See the result here .

Description
These are the steps I use to make a static sprite. Thought it might help someone. *shrug* Used this image as a reference for the pose and proportions: [link]

Step One: Make an Outline

This may be the most important step. If you don't have a good outline, you won't end up with good pixel art, no matter how good you are at shading or palette selection.

With that said, don't worry about getting it absolutely perfect right away, you can do some adjustments later.

I prefer to do the initial outline in a bright color against a dark grey background. It makes it easier to see what I'm doing.

Step Two - Palette Creation

This piece is pretty simple, it only needs a single palette. I start with an outline color - very dark, but never, ever black. Unless you're going for an old-school NES era style sprite, don't ever use black as an outline color. It flattens the sprite.

Second, I pick a light shade that will be the most prominent color on the sprite. This will be my second-lightest color.

Remember that colors don't just get lighter or darker. They also change tone. Colors generally get more purple or blue as they get darker on your palette. Try to reflect that in your choices.

Step Three - Palette Creation, Continued.

Set your pencil tool to the light color, and set the opacity of the tool to 33%. Draw over the "square" over the outline color. Now set it to 66%, and repeat for the next square. You now have your base palette.

I always choose my highlight color by hand, because how far "off" it should be from your palette depends on how shiny the material you're spriting is.

Recolor your outline to the outline color and flood fill your sprite with the base color.

Step Four - Basic Shading

Now I block out areas that should be very dark or very light, depending on the lighting and the shape of the object. This is where it helps to have a reference image, although with practice you should be able to do it without.

Step Five - Lighten the Outline

The outline does not have to remain uniformly dark. Wherever the light would be hitting it or you want to suggest that this part is in front of another, lighten it up! I also added a bit more shading in this step.

Step Six - Serious Shading

In this step, I shade all the areas that should be shaded and add highlights to all the areas that should be highlighted. I also adjusted the outline a bit - I didn't like how thick the fox was.

You can stop at this step if you don't like dithering or if you're doing a very smooth object that shouldn't be dithered.

Step Seven - Dithering

Here I use dithering to make the transition between colors smoother and give the fur a bit of texture. This step may require you to try, erase, try, etc., so save a copy or make a duplicate layer before starting.

Step Eight and Nine - Recoloring

An optional step. I decided I didn't care for the yellowish color, and so created a more reddish toned palette. I then recolored the sprite itself.

I hope this helps someone, somewhere. But I'm not a great teacher, so it wouldn't surprise me if it didn't!

See the result here .