I have been pondering how to go about explaining how I work on my emotes, from start to finish!
While I know there are plenty of YouTube videos out there that can offer their own thoughts and processes on how they do emotes, but I figured I'd give it a try.
Back when I started my digital art journey on SAI years ago, I didn't quite understand how one would go about drawing pixel art and I found a site that had a post with images and people describing how they did so.
I still think about how it helped me understand pixel art better back then, so it is my hope that I can do that same.
Here is my process for a regular emote (one without animation)
There will also be a timelapse at the end of of the post!
Research & Reference Compiling -> Sketch -> Lines -> Color -> Rendering
Research & Reference Compiling
Here's a few reference apps that I use to help compile your refs together.
RefCanvas
PureRef
As for inspiration I currently use pintrest besides searching for specific things like references of my character.
And to those who are worried about using references is a form of cheating, I can assure you it is not. It is ok to use references, you can't always recall 100% and having them to the side so you can look at while you work is ok.
The amount of times I could have struggled less with an art piece cause I chose not to use references is too much and I do not want new artists to continue suffering through this.
So please love yourself and use. your. references!
Before you start...
I can not stress this enough, make sure when you are making your canvases, to start big. You can shrink it if you need later, but you never know when you are going to need a larger size.
If you try to resize a small canvas up, it will be all fuzzy and artifacted.
(this is going to be your emote if you don't heed my words.)
At most I will work with a 800x800 px(pixels) sized canvas.
Also keep in mind if you plan to use said emote for merch. (ex. stickers, or keychains/charms, pins)
Sketch
So after you researched and got all your references in order you will start your sketch phase. The most important thing about working on emotes is making sure that its readable.
You don't want to put all these details only for them not to show up in the finished piece.
Another note to add:
it helps to thumbnail to get any ideas out until you got something solid to work with. I find that I get my best emotes when I start doodling on a big canvas and then pick out which ones I think look best.
Lines
I used to dread linework, but I like to think of it as another sketch layer, but it's all cleaned up. Then I go back in during the rendering phase to thicken or touch up some of the lines.
during this phase though, keep in mind of what I mentioned before the start of explaining the sketch phase. Cause this will eventually be on a smaller canvas (after you finish the piece) You want to focus on the details that will be visible. I could have added an additional crescent moon to Usagi's choker but cause it would be too small, it would not be visible.
Color
There are many ways to color, but for me I like to make sure I have one solid color underneath as the base layer, then color over it on another layer clipping on the layer below so it doesn't go out of the lines.
Rendering
So this is just me adding shading and lighting to the drawing, as well as going over the drawing again. Such as maybe thickening some parts of the line art, and cleaning up what I missed initially.
once you are done with the rendering, be sure to make your emote transparent unless you want it to have the paper layer visible.
If you need a resizer for twitch emotes, I use this emote resizer
Timelapse
And we are done!
Thank you so much for sticking around for my brief explanation of my process, I know it may not be fully in depth but I hope it helps anyone who is interested in trying to make emotes.
if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask!
For sticking it out to the end, the emote I made for this post will be a Pay What You Want styled emote.