slynyrd

Secret Kingdom

Static version of Pixelmotion 25. More info in animated post.

Pixelmotion - 25

Secret Kingdom

A utopian society that welcomes all who manage to find it, or at least the legend says so. 

256x160px
16 colors
256 frames (0.8s frame hold)
Photoshop

Sunken Planet - 1

Goldfish - Good all around performance for exploring both the shallows and the deep.

64x64px (128x128px frame)
19 colors
Photoshop

Well, here's the first entry in a new Pixelminis series! The setting is a planet completely covered in water. However, deep in the abyss are ruins of ancient civilizations that prove the water level was once low enough to have vast continents of dry land. While there is a rich eco system of diverse aquatic life forms, all in...

Mini Tutorial Archive

Since February 2025, the MTA available to Pixel Producer Patrons includes only the latest Tutorials, from 151, and up. Tutorials 1-150 are available in 50pc volumes offered in the Shop.

In the event I reach Tutorial 200, 151-200 will also be archived in the shop. Therefore, restricting this access point to 201, up until 250.

Get it while it's good. Special thanks to long time...

Promises in Outer Space

Art featured in Pixelcast 38.

144x204px
16 colors
3 hours
Photoshop

Pixelcast - 38

Promises in Outer Space

Trust me, I'll never let you go...


Music track - Swimming in Space

Tools used
Photoshop
After Effects
Screenflick
Logic Pro X
Final Cut Pro

Lone Space Explorer

Made a Pixel_Dailies today for the theme 'spaceship,' with the restriction of 4 colors including background. Just a quickie for fun, cuz I love spaceships! Took about 40 minutes.

172x100px
4 colors
Photoshop

January Schedule 2020

Notice of change: Pixelblog 25 has been bumped back to January 28th. Thank you for your patience and continued support!

Happy new year! All in all, 2019 was pretty good to me. At the start of the year I was honestly unsure of how much longer I could continue pushing my Patreon without more support. Fortunately, I stuck it through and was able to maintain steady growth. With the introduction of the Producer Tier and offering online mentoring, things...

Pixel Minis series selection round 6

Time to vote for the theme of the next Pixelminis series! I've been in the mood to design some vehicles. Similar to my Star Fighters series, I'll probably create pilot profiles to go along with the machine they pilot. Win win! I just need you to help me narrow down the type of vehicles to focus on and I'll take it from there.

Tutorial - 62 - Items Feedback Animation

Item feedback informs the player of the effect of the item, emphasize when you’ve picked up an item with more clarity, and just makes item collection more satisfying. More tutorials and explanation in full feature.

Full Feature 

Tutorial - 61 - Items Idle Animation

Items that are picked up in the playing field sometimes need a little idle animation to stand out as an item, or just to give them some life. More tutorials and explanation in full feature.

Full Feature 

Tutorial - 60 - Items Reference

Use this reference to help inspire your item creation. More tutorials and explanation in full feature.

Full Feature 

Tutorial 62 Source File

This original Photoshop file shows how I organize the project and execute the animation.

Download 

Pixelblog - 24 - Items

Happy holidays! In this month’s lesson we explore common game items and how to bring them to life with animation.

Full feature 

Native Grasslands II - Complete Gallery

Here's the complete series in one neat gallery. I'm really happy with how it all came together. Every piece has it's own mood, yet there is a consistent harmony. It's not just a happy accident though. When I create a series I have a general plan from the beginning, and I try to establish the style as much as possible with the first piece. I don't have to plan all the pieces ahead of time, I just keep a consistent philosophy and let it grow one artwork at a time. With each ...

Through the Clouds

Static version of Pixelmotion 24.
More info in animated post. 

Pixelmotion - 24

Through the Clouds


I think this is the first time applying my parallax technique to a top-down scene. It was challenging but a lot of fun to set up the scene. Finding a suitable color palette that captures depth and atmosphere was half the challenge. I ended up using colors from Bright Future. The many bright, low saturation colors in this palette are good for creating ...

Native Grasslands II - 9

Oil Tanks off Vineyard Road

64x64px (128x128px frame)

16 colors 

Photoshop

The Kansas landscape is a big inspiration to me and I often feel the urge to connect with it through my art. While this is the last piece in this series, I'm sure you'll see more Kansas themed work sooner than later, and a whole new series III is likely at some point. I'm also interested in making a behind the scenes feature where I go in depth about the creative proces...

Thyrian Defenders - 43

You never know what kind of crazy scenarios the VR Simulator will throw at you. This is simulation 4, which uses the enemies and wind mechanics from Draconia. Since it's not required to destroy all the enemies in the VR mode, we can make the action as crazy as we want. The procedural design provides the perfect compliment to our hand designed levels. So I think it's worth the few months it's taken us to create, but no more new modes from now on! Did I mention we have a spe...

Soloman's Outlook

144x188px

16 colors

Photoshop

Prints & Merch 

Native Grasslands II - 8

Abandoned on the corner of Toulon and Waldo

64x64px (128x128px frame)

25 colors 

Photoshop

Prints & Merch 

Thyrian Defenders - 42

Hey! Almost forgot I had a TD update on the schedule. I've mostly been working on odds and ends with the UI so not a lot of new art content to show. This is a full screen sized image(360x640px) of Taz I've been working on for use in the intro sequence and possibly other cutscenes. The image is letterboxed here to show how I'm thinking to frame it in the sequence, but it actually extends to the top and bottom of the screen so I can pan the image or show more of the body if ...

Native Grasslands II - 7

Limestone Ruins North of Ellis

64x64px (128x128px frame)

17 colors

Photoshop

Prints & Merch 

December Schedule 2019

Hey everybody! We've reached the final month of 2019, and I'm ready to send off the year with another month of outstanding content. As the decade comes to a close I have a lot to reflect on. The first half of the decade I was living in Japan, teaching English, learning a new language, and having many incredible experiences. The second half tells a much different story, with my return to the states and plunge into pixel art and game development. While this phase may not be ...

Tutorial - 59 - Parallax Scrolling perfect loop formula

My step by step process is detailed in the full feature.

Full feature 

Tutorial - 58 - Parallax Scrolling reference scenes

Parallax scrolling is well suited for scenes showcasing atmospheric perspective, such as landscapes, cityscapes, cloudscapes, starscapes, pretty much any kind of scape. Full instruction on how to make parallax scrolling scenes like these in the full feature.

Full feature 

Parallax Scrolling Source Files

Includes the original Photoshop files used to create Pixelblog 23.

Download 

Pixelblog - 23 - Parallax Scrolling

In this lesson I will focus on how to make stand alone parallax animation loops with pixel perfect motion, and explain my personal technique using Photoshop. 

Full feature 

Speeder

Static version of Pixelmotion 23

Art data included in animated post. 

Prints & Merch

Pixelmotion - 23

Speeder


144x188

23 colors

144 frames

Photoshop

Prints & Merch