I am starting to build my first Android app. I have reached the point where I need to start adding custom graphics and Art to make it look good. However I have also realized I have no skills or knowledge in this area at all.
What practical steps can a programmer take to develop the basic skills necessary to draw/render the kind of small, low resolution artwork suitable for mobile devices (I don’t want to be able to paint a full painting or anything)?
I am particularly interested in any tools that may be of assistance, either software or devices like drawing tablets, as well as guides and tutorials.
NOTE: I know this is not strictly a programming question, and there are probably other Art forums out there, but I want to specifically hear from other programmers in a similar situation how they have acquired the skills to make mobile art.
When it comes to the tools and soft, there is nothing better than Adobe Photoshop (it’s very expensive but you can download CS6 beta for free for limited time now) with a Wacom tablet (Bamboo would suffice here, or Intuos if you have too much money).
Colors are extremely important and color palettes are hard to do for a beginner. It’s not simply a matter of combining two or three hexes. Check out Adobe Kuler and ColourLovers for a little help with that.
Also if you don’t like beginning the work from scratch, there are plenty of PSD templates, just like this one.
And looks are nothing without feeling, so UX (user experience) is extremely important, it’s also an art:). Personally I find the tips in Android Design Guidelines very useful, even if they cover mostly ICS features. You can copy most of the functionality to the pre-Honeycomb apps. There are also lots of tips on UX in the SmashingMagazine.