Help with visuals

Hello fellow Construct2-cons,

I need your good advice on how to create a good game visuals. I can draw but not as good as most of you graphic artists. I would like to start my project using simple pixel art techniques because i find it much easier at least to animate things that way but i was just kind of wondering how on earth do you animate eye popping visuals just like in the arcade game "tiny prince"?. Right now, I don't have the luxury of purchasing high end apps like photoshop and the likes. I'm just using opensourced apps like asesprite 9.1 mostly for objects creation and simple animations. I know there's a lot of free resources on the net but of course i would also like to learn to do this on my own. Any tips, advice, recommendations will do. Thanks in advance.   <img src="smileys/smiley9.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

Tried and true.

http://www.petesqbsite.com/sections/tutorials/tuts/tsugumo/

Thanks inkBOT, i checked it out and i find it very informative. Any other tips guys? Best practices?

Do it small and do it detailed. Big empty sprites are really ugly, and small things are easier to make (but difficult to master). Pick references, some of the classics (SNES, Genesis). Get a small color palette to work with, lesser colors means your sprites will be tied together by their colors

Don't be afraid of lighting and shadowing, and remember that contrast makes a huge difference. That's partly why silhouette games have been so popular and appealing. Use color to your advantage--whether by your character being identified by his palette or by things like a blue-hued environment with orange/red accents highlights, etc. Try to make things look interesting and appealing while avoiding tackiness. Something else skipped at times because it is invisible in a screenshot is motion. It's a visual medium, so try to make things not look static. Have machines? Make them operate. Have outdoor settings? Try some wind.

Just try to have an idea in mind or something inspiring and try to bring it to life.