Sprite Advice

I was going to do my own sprites for my game in VX Ace but I'm completely brand new. I didn't know if anyone would be kind enough to give me some tips and advice. I have photoshop and illustrator as well as program called Manga Studio that also does drawing things. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. I don't currently have a set type but I do know I want them to fit in with the RTP from VX Ace. I hope I've given enough information to be helpful :)

Well the number one mistake I see with nearly every beginning spriter is to get the perspective wrong.  RPG Maker games are done in a 3/4ths orthographic perspective, that means you will see 3/4ths of the top and 4/4ths of the sides.  It is extremely common for beginners to only show the side and not put it at an angle from above at all.  3/4th's view is hard but absolutely essential if you don't want to make your sprites look amateurish and looking off.

It's important that your sprites contrast somehow with the rest of the artwork of the game so that they have more visual presence but make sure that it still fits within those visuals too.  Usually this means you have to make sure you have good contrast and you don't get the scale wrong.  To be safe I would suggest drawing the sprite in a mockup at first and then moving it into it's own animation file after you've got enough of a start to know that you're doing that part right.

If you're really new to everything I wouldn't actually suggest starting from scratch.  You'll need good pixel techniques, a good sense of animation, and a good concept of anatomy before you can make a good sprite.  It's not a bad thing to start with editing existing sprites.  The game will get done faster, you'll learn a few things as you go, and you'll have a better idea of what you're getting yourself into.

I have Game Maker Hub so it wouldn't be bad to edit the sprite base of that to make my sprites? Of course giving credit where it is needed.

Yep, that would be a good place to start.

Alright I think I'll try that! Thank you so much!

Also there are two ways to do it, as well. Painting, and Pixeling. For sprites Pixeling as a new person is easier, at least for me. A brush can be difficult to use for sprites, I only use them for tiles to be honest. I still have a extremely hard time with sprites, and tiles for that matter, I can't even make a grass tile to save my life, but I am still trying. I want to use custom stuff for my game, mainly for practice. :p

Personally, I would start with the built-in character generator, or buy and use the Game Character Hub which allows you to save character configurations for later re-use.

At a minimum, these will give you something solid to start with, sprite-wise, so you're not starting from ground zero.