Art learning resource.

[BrokenValkyrie]

Eventually I'll need to create new art asset. While I have created some art asset I have no artistic skill. I am wondering if anyone know a few pointer to good resource for beginner like me.

As of the moment the only tool I use is GIMP.

As of the moment this is the only rimworld related art tutorial I can find. https://www.reddit.com/r/RimWorld/comments/5tn1pi/rimworldstyle_sprite_tutorials/ . The resource don't necessary need to be rimworld related.

[sulusdacor]

(i use photoshop myself, but i think most things are the same for the art programms.)

first i would get the vanilla textures as a reference. download is somewhere linked in the forum if you search.

general:
- use a 1% filled black background layer (removes the white pixels ingame around textures, esp when zooming)
- use a soft-focus effect at the end (helps with white stuff + makes the graphic not look to "edgy". if you draw per hand you textures look softer so you might not need this)
- for new textures size 64x64 per square ingame with 72 per inch resolution (if i dont have a vanilla counter part. if i have sth similar i use that as background, similar like in the tutorial you linked, for example for beds i use the vanilla textures as guideline for size etc.)
- have at least some blackoutlines (some exceptions here, as a general guideline look at the vanilla textures and have sth similar to check how big the outlines are.)

the meat:
(i rarely draw mine per hand, if you do the process becomes different)
- for the actual shapes/texture i generally get a picture of the thing i want "that to look like" and another texture ressouce from the game. if a mod has sth that fits in very well with the games style then maybe this too, but prefer vanilla textures. really just as a "style" reference to have.
- start with some basic shapes (circles, square, polygones)
- switch over to the path tool to add nodes, move nodes  or add additional objects on top (this takes a bit pratice. but you don't need to draw per hand and just move shapes/nodes around till you get the look/thing you want.)
- since i use the shapes and nodes you basilly have a layer there (or multiple). over layer properties you can do the rest of the outlines, shadows, colors, patterns etc.
- depending on your coloring you can color this, add patterns at this middle /original shape (shadows and outlines i do on others)(if you want "white" you still have to color some greyish tone here)
- i would duplicate the shape at least 1-2 times, 1 for the bottom layer to produce the outline and 1 for the top if i need shadows (you usally want at least some faint ones)
- you can combine the shapes(paths) too and combine them, copy layer properties etc., makes it quite easy to adjust outlines for example, color etc.
- for the top layer shadow ones you can set the filling to zero so you basicly have a transparent shape that can take on shadows
- for the outlines/bottom ones it does not matter, since they are behind all others, but setting the layer properties to make outlines can give you the outlines most textures have with various strength
- not forgetting 1% black bg layer
- save this usally as a seperate thing here with layers active to make chhanges if needed
- then save the actually png and run the soft filter (layers merged as one)
- if all is done put it ingame and check how it looks
- most of the time there is a bit of going back and adjusting shadows/colors/outlines. so stuff does not look out of place if you do textures the first time

one of my more recent textures in attachement. i think it shows this process pretty well.

sadly does not show the layer effect with gimp and i havent found sth to convert it properly. but you can see the shapes just put on top. adding the layer color/shading etc. some outline and your done. doing material layers is quite easy this way too if you need that.

might not be the fastest process, but it is how i do most of my mod textures and you can get pretty good results this way i think. if you stick to some reference textures i dont think you need much artistic skill for that either.

hope it helps a bit.

[attachment deleted by admin: too old]

[BrokenValkyrie]

This is nicely detailed, I got more than I hoped for.

I was able to open your example with an online photoshop called Photopea, since I am only reading your example it suited my need.

Thanks for the post, its quite helpful.

[larSyn]

- use a 1% filled black background layer (removes the white pixels ingame around textures, esp when zooming)
- use a soft-focus effect at the end (helps with white stuff + makes the graphic not look to "edgy". if you draw per hand you textures look softer so you might not need this)
- for new textures size 64x64 per square ingame with 72 per inch resolution (if i dont have a vanilla counter part. if i have sth similar i use that as background, similar like in the tutorial you linked, for example for beds i use the vanilla textures as guideline for size etc.)
- have at least some blackoutlines (some exceptions here, as a general guideline look at the vanilla textures and have sth similar to check how big the outlines are.)

i have never tried adding that 1% bg layer or the soft focus to my art...gonna give that a try!  How do you do your soft focus?  Just a gaussian blur layer?  Also, very good advice you've given here.

[sulusdacor]

the 1% black bg layer is the general solution for the white artifacts around textures most/all modders use. for the soft focus i think it was suggest to me by someone else,when i asked about the white edges. not sure if it is used much. from looking at other modders textures i would think so, but just a guess.

for the filter itself:
in my photoshop there is just a taskbar option with: filters -> soft-focus filters -> soft-focusing (then it does it simply XD)

seems to be a preset filter option. never really thought much about what excatly it does, worked fine so^^. (by googeling: says on another site these gives pixels an average value of adjacent pixels and smoothes out some harsher colors transitions.)

you can probably just use other filters too, to have the same effect. simply blurs it out a bit.

it really is a small change if you look at the attached message table psd file and png and compare them(png has soft focus, psd not). the main thing is that it helps a bit with the outlines, since it blurs the black a bit on the outside. that i think helps the textures alone blend in a bit better in my opinion. the inside loses some details, but i think thats fine.

[larSyn]

for the filter itself:
in my photoshop there is just a taskbar option with: filters -> soft-focus filters -> soft-focusing (then it does it simply XD)

seems to be a preset filter option. never really thought much about what excatly it does, worked fine so^^.

Are you using CC?  I'm on CS6 and I don't have the soft focus feature in my filters...   I can achieve the same thing with a blur though, so it's no big deal.