how to draw an emote .

Emotes can be added on forum, blog, and so on . they have to size as font size: between 12x12 and 16x16 pixels. Due to their tiny size, emote are done pixel by pixel: this technique is called Pixel Art and was used in 80's and 90's video games.

So, because of the lack of detail you can add in a emote we will use a gif file which has only 1 byte for color, that mean the picture can't overpass 256 colors, but gif can be animated pictures: it will be very helpful for doing emote.

Let's start . There are lots of softwares for drawing and pixel art doesn't require a special one. here I'm using Gimp but it works on Photoshop or MS paint.

First, you need to draw a circle after opened a new file in 16x16. You would have to drawn it with the pencil sized to one pixel.

Then, add color light as if it's a sphere

Add the details: eye and mouth.

Finally, you can export your emote ( ctr+E ) and choose gif file

To save your file as an animation: you have to make layers. Each layers will correspond to each frame of your animation. The time of each frame and the loop is in the setting window when you export.