How can I improve my pixeling speed?

[Semont]

I'll be frank with everyone; I've been stuck on one piece for the past 7 months and I can say I'm only 65% complete.

I'm rather annoyed with myself, my incompetence at it's completion and I'm frustrated at how long I've been stuck staring at it.

Is there anything I can do to help myself? What have you done to improve your own speed?

I see people putting out new works in under a week that's far better than what I'm working on, I can't stand how I can't do anything remotely similar.

[Indigo]

do timed speed paints.  start out pretty low - maybe an hour - and see how polished you can get something.  Once that hour is up, the piece is done.  Do not continue it.  Do it again for another piece.  Do this many times and gradually give yourself a bit more time to flesh out the piece.  It'll train you to make the important decisions faster and instinctively.

[PixelPiledriver]

Start a daily sketch blog.
Diversify.
Draw smaller.
Build quick variations and compare.
Use preliminary work as tools
Block in first, detail later.
Try different process orders.

[tim]

Small canvas, big brushes, then refine. There is no other viable workflow.

[Phlakes]

In addition to all those-

1. Practice
2. Practice
3. Practice

It's sort of a cliche but it's still always the best way to get better/faster at anything.

[Ai]

I was never happy with the advice to practice -- it's an indispensible habit, but by itself it's not good advice.
I never took it on until I could put it in context:

You need to do a lot of works, because your artistic ability is constrained by your history. You draw with your mind, not your eye or your hand. The only way to be a better artist is to change yourself into someone who has a better artistic understanding (on a deep instinctive level, which is only acquired through massive repetition.). You have to have the mindset of "I don't have to be good, but I do have to be better".
The weight of all the mistakes you haven't yet made is holding you back.

The 13 simple aphorisms in 'The Cult of Done Manifesto' are very helpful for practicing well: http://www.brepettis.com/blog/2009/3/3/the-cult-of-done-manifesto.html
In this case particularly:

4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.

[Parkerbaby]

I used to be very slow to finish to, but I have slowly begun to pixel faster.

Several things I've experienced:

Perhaps you should try to split the canvas into many different sections so you are not overwhelmed by how vast it is in its entirety (if you're making a large image.)

Another problem that would trip me up is getting stuck going down a path that ends up not fitting what I want. But I've already worked on it so much I feel I can't just scrap it and start again. My advice is JUST SCRAP IT AND START OVER if you are truly dissatisfied with the direction it is heading. Then you won't waste even more hours before you finally do decide to try something else or give up.

I have for many years browsed there forums, since 2006, I have looked every day for new posts and so on (I don't have the time anymore, but I used to every single day) That way you start to have a picture in your mind's eye about what looks good and why and what works and doesn't, based on the critiques and comments from the pros.

But, in general just keep fighting it and you'll learn more and speed up.

[9_6]

Learn other workflows, experiment in different mediums.
It all translates to pixel art. Don't be shy to "break the rules".

Speed will come naturally with experience and routine.

[API-Beast]

In pixel art the technique makes a huge difference, try using a graphics tablet, try larger brushes, try different shaped brushes, try different methods for selecting colors, etc.

[tcaud]

Comparing the Atari ST versions of oldies with the Amiga versions, you can see that the Amiga version is usually a more detailed rendition of ST version. I imagine it must have been a thing of making the Atari ST version, and then coming back later to spruce it up for the Amiga with more shades. Do undetailed drafts involving wide swaths of unshaded color, and then add the shading one depth at a time. This will speed your drawing speed markedly, as opposed to doing a bit of shading after a bit of drafting.