The 2D Game Artist: Design Simple Pixel Art From Scratch
Make 2D art for games. From icons to animations. Using GIMP - the free Photoshop alternative.
Watch Promo"This course has been an incredible introduction to GIMP. The instructor explains each lecture in a concise and engaging manner. Thank you for this course, it has been a great experience :)"
- Fernando Ortiz
GIMP is a super powerful, free, 2D art package. It's also 'open source' which means it's owned by the community, and constantly updated. Most of the features of the much more expensive Photoshop are available, giving you the power to create industry strength 2D art.
The challenge with this package is it can be intimidating for beginners, especially those who don't have much confidence in art or drawing. We make learning from scratch easy with our simple step-by-step process.
Even if you have no prior experience in drawing, or computer art, we'll take you from the very basics. By investing in a structured course like this you'll learn faster and more effectively than on your own, just check-out our latest reviews.
We provide challenges in every video to cement your knowledge, an active community of students and instructors to help you if you get stuck, and continuous updates to the course to improve the learning journey.
How is the course structured?
- We start by helping you master GIMP's interface
- Then we constrain you to just 8x8 pixels, to get you started
- Moving on we add colour, contrast and more to bring your images alive
- In section 2 we increase our canvas to 32x2 and beyond
- By the end of the course you'll be able to create great looking 2D icons.
Looking for 3D art, Blender, Unity or more? Check out our other courses, let the green leaf logo be your guide :-)
Also included with the course...
- Access to our thriving community forum, and live chat server
- Use of our custom built texture sharing service
- Daily responses to your Q&A.
2D artwork is in demand, and now's a great time to get into GIMP.
Ben & Michael
"Fantastic course as with all GameDev.tv courses! Michael is a fun instructor and I love learning graphics from his courses! As a programmer with zero art skill throughout my life, courses like these are essential. Thanks to GameDev team for giving me a fantastic avenue to become a well rounded game developer."
- Matt Black
What you'll learn in this course:
- Master GIMP's powerful interface
- Convey meaning through shape and colour
- Use GIMPs fundamental drawing tools
- Work with layers for complex images
- Create gradients, drop shadows and reflections
- Organise and professionally export your work.
- Work to a specification like a pro
- Create pixel art assets for your games
- Create your own character
- Becoming a digital artist
"This is once again one of Michael's brilliant courses. I tried a few other "Gimp-like" courses, but never learned to "draw". With him explaining it in so much detail, I now can, without doubt, use this knowledge in not only Gimp (Michael has won me over to Gimp), but in other programs as well. Thank you for an amazing experience. Now back to Blender. :-)"
- Rina Bothma
Your Instructor
Michael has been playing with technology ever since he could get my hands on it.
As a child he happily dissembled his father's VCR (you remember those, right?) His dad wasn't happy, but Michael soon learnt to put things together again so that they worked too!
He's been playing with CGI ever since Paint Deluxe on the Amiga 500 in the 80's, through to the likes of Blender and GIMP today.
He loves being part of such an amazing community of students.
Course Curriculum
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StartIntroduction To Section 1 (2:03)
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StartGetting GIMP Installed (3:19)
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StartGetting Comfortable In GIMP (16:50)
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StartHow To Share & Ask Questions
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StartUsing GIMP At High Resolutions (6:36)
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StartBlack And White Outlines (13:45)
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StartAn Outline Story (11:24)
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StartExporting Your Work (12:53)
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StartIntroduction To Value (11:26)
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StartA Splash Of Colour (13:11)
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StartQuiz 1
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StartSection 1 Wrap Up - Congratulations! (1:17)
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StartSection 2 Introduction (1:13)
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StartWorking To A Specification (9:44)
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StartDrawing Straight Lines (6:53)
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StartIntroduction To Layers And Alpha (17:57)
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StartUsing The Eraser (13:29)
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StartUsing Pallets For Consistency (14:23)
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StartUsing The Paintbrush And Airbrush (17:19)
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StartQuickly Selecting An Existing Colour (8:33)
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StartFilling An Area With One Colour (20:00)
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StartUsing The Selection Tools (19:05)
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StartShading With Gradients (14:57)
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StartQuiz 2
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StartMoving Images And Layers (9:08)
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StartRearranging an Image (4:14)
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StartModifying Your Selections (11:13)
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StartUsing Selection Modifiers (12:15)
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StartCombining Multiple Images (11:11)
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StartMaking A Composite Image (7:41)
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StartMoving Selections (9:03)
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StartDrop Shadows and Reflections (11:46)
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StartFloating Selections (8:10)
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StartKeeping Yourself Organised (12:11)
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StartCreating A Game HUD (8:47)
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StartQuiz 3
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StartSection 2 Wrap Up (1:50)
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Start- Section 3 Introduction (1:54)
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StartWhat is Animation (4:21)
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StartSetting Up Gimp For Animation (12:31)
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StartDeciding On Frame Rate (17:55)
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StartLayer Animation Parameters (12:43)
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StartLayer Boundaries (13:19)
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StartSquash And Stretch (14:43)
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StartMaking a Bouncing Ball (17:24)
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StartMulti Layer Images And Animation (13:11)
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StartStraight Ahead And Pose To Pose (9:24)
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StartGIFs And Layer Groups (15:38)
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StartSlow In And Out (13:11)
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StartTwo Different Feeling Animations (15:26)
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StartQuiz 3
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StartColour Change Over Time (16:30)
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StartMaking An Animated Sunset (16:19)
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StartWhat Is A Sprite Sheet (17:35)
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StartCreating A Basic Sprite Sheet (9:24)
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StartToo Many File Types (8:36)
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StartChecking Your Sprite Sheet Works (3:16)
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StartManually Installing GIMP Add ons (8:21)
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StartAdd On Fuse Layers (9:32)
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StartAdd On Sprite Sheet (10:03)
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StartEasy Repeating Elements (8:27)
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StartBuilding a Modular Wall (11:46)
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StartMocking Up A Scene (13:29)
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StartNested Layer Groups (6:12)
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StartBlending Animation (5:19)
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StartQuiz 4
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StartSection 3 Final Challenge (7:20)
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StartSection 3 Wrap Up (1:27)