Paint

Microsoft Paint, often called "MSPaint" as a reference to its executable's filename, is an application supplied with Windows installations. Considered to be the most simple application for artwork, it is perfectly suited for first time sprite creation and simple sprite sheet creation. Due to its ease of use and simplistic nature, there is a very common misconception among artists around the web that Paint is somehow inferior to other graphics editors as far as spritework goes. That is simply untrue. Though Paint allows for an easy entry into the worlds of graphics editing and pixel art, it is by no means inferior to other programs from a creation standpoint.

While later version of Windows supply more complex editions of Paint, it's advised to keep to the version released alongside Windows XP. This can be downloaded from MSPaintXP.