Art | Ages 9-12

Calling all digital artists! In this class we’ll use Piskel to create and animate 2D pixel art. You can create an emoji, sprite, or design.

What is pixel art?

Pixel art is a form of that often calls to mind early video games. It is created using . But what is a pixel? Before Class:

Watch What is a pixel? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ptJaJT8jAM Look at some examples of pixel art:

https://www.piskelapp.com/user/6252422433341440

Get started with Piskel

Piskel is an online 2D sprite editor. Sprites creates in Piskel can be uploaded to Scratch.

Before class: Open an internet browser (like Chrome, Firefox, or Safari).

Go to www.piskelapp.com

Click Sign in.

Log in with your Google account.

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Create a Sprite

Before class: Click Create Sprite

You’ll see the Piskel workspace

Tools Canvas FPS, Layers, Transform, Palettes

Click on the pen tool to start drawing. The pen tool fills in a pixel with the colour you have chosen.

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To choose a colour, click the colour selector at the bottom of your tool bar.

A will pop up.

Double click on the colour you would like to use to select it.

Now you are ready to draw on the canvas!

Draw an outline of your sprite. (Hint: You can use the Paint Bucket Tool) to fill it in).

Here is a sprite I made:

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What we’ll do in class

Welcome, Wonder, and Warmup We’ll welcome everyone to the class. Ask “What do you wonder about this topic?” and do a short warmup activity.

Demo We’ll demonstrate some features of Piskel including how to animate your sprite and share your project.

Here’s my animation: https://piskel-imgstore-b.appspot.com/img/73c45b8c-e3f6-11ea-a1fd- a531d7d2af6a.

Challenge You will have some time (usually about 20 minutes) to work on animating your sprite. Sharing Kids who want to will share their work with the whole group. Reflection We’ll ask you to reflect on your learning.  What did you like about your pixel art experience?  What did you learn?  What do you think you’ll next with this tool?

Share your sprite

You will be asked to share your sprite with the class. Here’s how you can do it:

Click the Save (it’s on the right side of the screen):

Click Save to your gallery.

Click the Export icon (it’s on the right side of the screen underneath the Save icon):

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Use the slider to increase the resolution to 1024 x 1024 pixels

Click Upload

A link will appear. Copy and past the link into the chat on Zoom to share it with the group.

You can email also your sprite to us. Please send it to [email protected]

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Can’t connect using the Zoom link?

If you have problems connecting to the class in Zoom, please contact LibraryConnect at 604.925.7400 or https://westvanlibrary.ca/visit/services/need-help-ask-us

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