This is my first blog ever. It is a tutorial type thing where I talk about what I think the steps are to a perfect skin. That's about it. Anyways, lets get started! Why should you take advice from me? I mean I'm not the greatest skinner or anything but I am pretty good at tutorials so... yeah? Awkward statements aside, let's get to the tutorial.

Step 1. Software

The first thing we are going to need to make the perfect skin is good skin editing software. I suggest using 'paint.net'. paint.net is a 100% free image editing software. I think, even though it may not be specifically for creating skins, it has a lot of great tools for skin editing and sorts. I know what you're thinking, "But Connor! There is software specifically for making / editing skins!" You're right, there is. Paril's MCSkin 3D is alright I guess, but paint.net has a lot of features that most skin editing softwares don't like gradient, glow, outline, plug-in support and other features. Unlike most skin editors however, paint.net does not give you a 3-D view of your skin. You have to directly edit a skin template in 2-D format. You can get paint.net at getpaint.net. You can also find tutorials at forums.getpaint.net.

Step 2. An Idea
One of the hardest things in making a skin is getting a good idea. There are two methods for this.

Method 1: Use an existing character for inspiration or just make that character.
If you don't think yourself as the creative type, method one is the best for you. Choose an existing character, lets say Mario from the Super Mario series. Take that character and add an adjective to it. Like Ghost Tracer or Derpy Notch! Make a Hawaiian Mario or a Christmas Mario! Or just make Mario. I mean look at this skin!


This skin has over 500 views and 80 downloads! (Made by Frog2face)

You can also go on DeviantArt and find some characters there, as long as you give credit to the creators.

Method 2. The Super Long One
Prepare yourself for a long read, this generally goes over the best way to think of ideas for skins

1: look at other people's skins
If you are looking for a good idea, you should probably look at other creators skins. I personally use louier and drazile for inspiration. If you want to make a girl skin, look at girl skins. (louier makes great girl skins) (drazile makes lots of existing characters like Mario or Bowser). You can even look beyond just skins and look at art on DeviantArt as I stated earlier.

2: Excersice your idea making.
Do daily or weekly exercises like:
-5 minutes to come up with 5 ideas
-Give yourself 15 minutes to write a page of material
-Draw something

3: Forget unimportant things
One part of the creative skin process is excluding the things that don't matter to skin creation. Get the important info in your head and weed out what doesn't fit.

4: Take some breaks
It is quite important to take mental breaks from working to listen to some music or enjoy nature. This helps clear your mind to help epiphanies (sudden realizations) occur.

5: Ask for peoples opinion on your idea
Ask for experts opinions on your ideas, Drzzter gives some pretty good insight on skin ideas. He is a judge for Planet Minecraft skin competitions. He is a nice guy, but will tell you if your idea is not good.

Phew! That made me feel like a psychologist!

Step 3: Layout Execution / Technique (not killing)
One of the most important things in creating a skin is having a proper skin layout. A skin layout is basically just your skins outline. It is kind of like a coloring book in the way you fill it in. The very first step in actually creating your skin is structuring your skin. Below is a basic skin layout that I am using right now!

We will discuss how to properly do this basic skin layout in this section so without further ado, lets get started. The first thing you should think about is what kind of skin you are going to make such as adult, child, happy, angry, or one of my favorites, multimode skins (not the optical fiber) (multimode skins are skins that when you remove the hat or sleeves, a new feature is revealed). Anyways, back to skin layouts. I will show you some things to consider when making your skin layout.

1: What is this character expressing?
In most cases, your skin should have a personality of sorts. Your head is the main place for you to show your skin's personality. Giving your character a wink or a smile gives your character personality. You can also give your skin personality by what they wear or are.

2: How old / mature is this character?
There are different techniques for different aged characters. Some eyes are more mature looking than others, and you may need a bigger nose or a mole for older people.

3: How would this look in real life?
It is sometimes necessary to think about what your character would look like if it was real. This help's you paint a better picture of the character in your mind.

4: Who am I targeting with this skin?
Some skins appeal to male, female, older, or younger players. Most boys I know like to wear occupational skins, like a doctor or a builder. Some I know wear gaming skins like Mario or Sonic. Most girls I know like unique skins that show their personality to others. I mean this isn't a worldwide study or anything, but it could help you out.

Now we will talk about choosing the layout for specific parts of your skin. Starting the first and most Important part of your skin, the head.

A: The Head.
The head is the most important part of a skin, it expresses your characters personality the most. This section will be divided into 5 sections. Skin, Eyes, Mouth, Hair, and Accessories.

1: Skin.
This section is going to talk about three things, the mouth (sometimes needed), the ears, and the nose. First off, the eyes. The eyes give you a good sense of your characters age or gender. I created an Eye Chart to show the most common types of eyes, I will go over them very briefly afterwards

1, 10: Good for teenagers (14-18)
2, 9, 12, 7: Good for older people (22-35)
3, 11: Good for young adults (18-21)
5, 6: Good for chibi (0-100)
8, 3: Ok for children(4-13)
5, 4: Ok for babies (0-3)

These are just popular eyes I found, you don't have to use them. You can invent your own good eyes for your skin, or just mix them up a little.

Now that we have our eyes down, we can move on to part two, noses! Noses are not always necessary in a skin. Once again I have created a chart listing noses and I will once again go over them very briefly.

1, 6: Good for teenagers (14-18)
5, 2, 7: Good for older people (22-35)
5, 6, 2: Good for young adults (18-21)
3, 4, 6, 8: Ok for children (4-13)
-Babies don't really need noses.