Illustration
Hire Pixel Artists for Sprites and Tilesets
Pixel artists create retro-style artwork for games, apps and collectibles, from characters and tiles to animated sprites.
The role
What pixel artists do
A pixel artist works within set canvas sizes and palettes, creates readable sprites and tilesets, animates frames, and exports sprite sheets for game engines.
Typical deliverables
- Character sprites
- Animated sprite sheets
- Tilesets and environments
- UI icons and items
- Exported game-ready files
Tools you will see
- Aseprite
- Photoshop
- Pyxel Edit
- Tiled
- Unity or Godot import settings
Choosing
How to choose pixel artists
What to look for
- Readable sprites at the intended size.
- Consistent palettes and pixel scale.
- Smooth animation frames.
- Experience exporting for game engines.
Questions to ask
- 1What resolution and palette would you use?
- 2How many animation frames would each action need?
- 3Can you create seamless tilesets?
- 4Which engine will the assets be used in?
Planning
Before you post the job
Set technical limits
Agree sprite size, palette, perspective and animation frame counts before production.
What drives cost
Number of assets, animations, directions, size and detail.
Hiring on Open Lance
- Posting a job and reviewing proposals are free.
- Each milestone is funded into escrow before work starts and paid when you approve it.
- Hire fixed-price, hourly, as a monthly Dedicated Hire, or buy a packaged Drop-In.
- Client fees are shown before you pay and added on top of the work.
FAQ
Questions about hiring pixel artists
Is pixel art only for retro games?
No. It is also used in modern indie games, apps and collectibles.
What is a sprite sheet?
An image containing many animation frames or assets arranged for game engines.
Can pixel art be scaled?
Yes, usually by whole-number scaling to preserve crisp pixels.
Related
Related skills
Post a job for pixel artists
Describe the work and compare proposals. You only fund the first milestone once you have chosen someone.