Pixel Art

Geo

Two things

1: Describe what you like about this amazing (if any opinion at all) art-form and what you think would be cool to do with the medium.

2: Post the most impressive piece of Pixel Art you can find and try to make a constest out of it to see who can post the most impressive art, or make it youself if you have Viganian talents.

I'll start by posting Collossal Katamari
<img src="http://www.pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/colossal_katamari.png" /

Walker

From www.nickgains.com



I love pixel art, though I do wonder if it's because I'm a gamer. I wonder how many non-gamers would love the style?

Funfetus

Pixeling was cool back in the day, with the demoscene and whatnot, because computers were weak, and there was no good graphics software. It was the only way to make really cool images. Now, the only reason to do it is to show off how patient and dedicated you are, by making good art with shitty tools and shitty techniques. It's like painting with a stick dipped in mud. You might come up with something really amazing, but if you used better toosl, you could have come up with the something better, faster, using exactly the same knowledge and mental skills, only without hamstringing yourself by using primitive tools.

edit: I'm referring to the sort of stuff that Lordyupa posted -- basically, paintings made at the pixel level. Gunter's example is a different style, influenced by video games and icon design, and it's something that pixeling is actually good at, and is still the only way to get that look. That kind of pixeling is still cool.

Geo

I'm just going nuts about this because this is the kind of setting I want to use in a movie and how beautiful it is.

Loganator456

Fromwww.nickgains.com



I love pixel art, though I do wonder if it's because I'm a gamer. I wonder how many non-gamers would love the style?

Very, very cool.

MrRoboto

Pixeling was cool back in the day, with the demoscene and whatnot, because computers were weak, and there was no good graphics software. It was the only way to make really cool images. Now, the only reason to do it is to show off how patient and dedicated you are, by making good art with shitty tools and shitty techniques. It's like painting with a stick dipped in mud. You might come up with something really amazing, but if you used better toosl, you could have come up with the something better, faster, using exactly the same knowledge and mental skills, only without hamstringing yourself by using primitive tools.

edit: I'm referring to the sort of stuff that Lordyupa posted -- basically, paintings made at the pixel level. Gunter's example is a different style, influenced by video games and icon design, and it's something that pixeling is actually good at, and is still the only way to get that look. That kind of pixeling is still cool.

I'm really impressed to read this from an artist, you can't diss a medium just because it's "low tech" or there are "better ways", we still do hand etching and use rudimentary tools to create, and we don't scoff at the people that use oils instead of photoshop and tell them that they live in the past.

Oil painters don't criticize pointillism the same way as digital painters shouldn't do so with pixel artists.

Mankoon

Yea I can't agree with funfetus on this one. I love pixel art. It's great because it's low spec art (I also love low ploy art). The challenge is to try to make an image with a minimum amount of points and colors (originally to be low file size). These limitations is what pixel art is all about. I kind of don't consider those Nick gains images as good pixel art because of the transparent smoke in the first and smog in the second one. Though the first is arguable.
Another reason I love pixel art and 2-d games is because the uncanny valley doesn't touch it at all. It's really far away from realism so the art is never hard to look at ( as long as it was good pixel art to begin with). I can't say the same for Low poly games. Look at a link to the past for snes and then look at golden eye for n64. Pixel art holds up to this day. It's timeless.
Here's my most impressive submission:

Erp >.< More Paul Robertson cause I really like this one.

...

Here's my most impressive submission:

NOOOOOOOO! God damn you Mankoon, not that mindfuckery again. Dammit, now I'm watching it again, gah.

And I don't have any good entries. Pixel art is great though, it pretty much destroys expectations given an awesome enough piece of pixel art.

Funfetus

Let me try to clarify my position a bit here. First off, I'm extremely impressed with the skills of people who make great pixel art. It obviously takes tremendous skill, patience, and dedication. I can understand doing it as a challenge. It's clearly very challenging. Other than that, though, I don't understand why you would try to emulate traditional painting techniques in such a limited way without a clear technological reason for it. Demos in the '90s were a clear technological reason. So are video games. Otherwise -- both of the images that Lordyupa posted are very nice, but the artists could have done a similar image, probably in less time, at high resolution, which could then be used as a wallpaper, or printed at something more than 2" wide. I'd much rather see that. But in general, I'm a person who's more interested in results than processes. I understand that not everyone thinks that way.

Additionally -- only Lordyupa has posted images that fall into the category that I'm talking about. Everything else in this thread is clearly influenced by or emulating video games or icon designs. That stuff is NOT emulating traditional painting techniques -- it's going for a look that can only be achieved through pixeling. I completely understand why you would do that, and I think it's awesome.

As for specifics...

I'm really impressed to read this from an artist, you can't diss a medium just because it's "low tech" or there are "better ways", we still do hand etching and use rudimentary tools to create, and we don't scoff at the people that use oils instead of photoshop and tell them that they live in the past.

Those techniques all create something with a very specific look, as well as creating a physical object. If you want that specific look, or you want a physical object, those are the best ways to get it.

Another reason I love pixel art and 2-d games is because the uncanny valley doesn't touch it at all. It's really far away from realism so the art is never hard to look at (

Somewhat unrelated, but this is exactly the reason that I prefer somewhat cartoony art in comics. When something is too close to reality, I can't help but think about how it's not quite reality, which pulls me out of the story. Even worse is when you can tell they're tracing photographs.

Anyway, here is some pixel art that is awesome.
Preview image which is obviously shrunk, because the full image is huge:

MrRoboto

I still think that pixel art is the digital equivalent to pointillism and thus a valid art form even when its trying to go for a more realistic look.

Funfetus

I still think that pixel art is the digital equivalent to pointillism and thus a valid art form even when its trying to go for a more realistic look.

Isn't the optical mixing of colors the point of pointillism? I don't see any of that in any of these images. If anything, pixeling is just a tiny, tiny mosaic. Anyway -- I don't mean to imply that it's not a "valid art form". I don't think I'd claim that anything isn't a valid art form. I try to stay away from the word "art" in general, except in very specific usages, and not concern myself with what is and isn't art.

MrRoboto

Well, that's what dithering is all about no?

Viga

Genshiken bitches! I wish I knew how to make pixel art.

Walker

Well, that's what dithering is all about no?

It's about the fact that pixeling to make the finished product look like a digital painting is pointlessly tedious. Pixeling to make your art look like it's been pixeled, on the other hand, is just fine because you're going for a look that can only be attained by pixeling.

Mankoon

@Funfetus---I think I see what you're saying but you mean Gunter right? Not lordyupa? He posted one.

only Lordyupa has posted images that fall into the category that I'm talking about

Lordyupa's selection is rather nice.
Here's another

Rochelle

Pixel art is cool because I know I can probably do a cross-stitch on it.

Apreche

Pixel art is cool because I know I can probably do a cross-stitch on it.

Yeah, I've noticed that your cross-stitches are all sprites and such on a white background. Have you thought about trying to do one where the entire image is colored in, background and all?

Rochelle

Yeah, I've noticed that your cross-stitches are all sprites and such on a white background. Have you thought about trying to do one where the entire image is colored in, background and all?

Actually, yes I have. I want to do the scene in Super Mario World where all the Yoshis are at Yoshi's home with the eggs hatched, with Mario and Peach. I just need to work on the pattern as well as find .png images of that scene. I have found a few, so hopefully they might work, but it would be nice to have screen shots of them. It would honestly take a very long time to do, however I'm up to the challenge.

Doing backgrounds can be a pain because it's mostly just one color and it takes up a lot of thread, but overall, it does make the piece look amazing.

Here are some excellent examples.

Apreche

Actually, yes I have. I want to do the scene in Super Mario World where all the Yoshis are at Yoshi's home with the eggs hatched, with Mario and Peach. I just need to work on the pattern as well as find .png images of that scene. I have found a few, so hopefully they might work, but it would be nice to have screen shots of them. It would honestly take a very long time to do, however I'm up to the challenge.

Screenshots like that are trivial to get with an emulator.

Rochelle

Screenshots like that are trivial to get with an emulator.

I thought about getting an emulator, but I'm honestly too lazy at this time to make more effort than I already have by searching the internets for images.

Apreche

I thought about getting an emulator, but I'm honestly too lazy at this time to make more effort than I already have by searching the internets for images.

It's so easy. A lot easier than searching for images for a long time. I tried to make a how-to with as many steps as possible, but I only got to 11.

Step 1 - Download NEStopia for NES and/or ZSNES for SNES. They are both legitimate, legal, good, free, and non-malware softwares.

Step 2 - Go to pirate bay. It will very easy to find a torrent that has every NES game ever, and another torrent that has every SNES game ever. You can also easily find some "best of" torrents or torrents for specific games, but the gigantic combo pack saves time. This is the only step that is technically illegal. It's already technically copyright infringement to make the crafts in the first place, so what the heck?

Step 3 - Install the emulator.
Step 4 - Run the emulator.
Step 5 - File -> Open the ROM of the game you want.
Step 6 - Play the game until you get to the spot you want. (easier with gamepad)
Step 7 - Push the screenshot button.
Step 8 - Exit Emulator
Step 9 - Open the screenshot.
Step 10 - ...
Step 11 - Profit!

Rochelle

Thanks, Scott. I knew there was a reason why I thought you were awesome. ^_~

This will definitely open up a lot more options for future creations by myself.

...

Or you could start a png thread on /v/. 3:)

Rochelle

Or you could start a png thread on /v/. 3:)

Does that require me to go to the 4chans? If so, no thank you. :P

Sail

Just to throw a term out there for people to use when classifying this stuff, something like what Gunter and Funfetus posted is called isometric.

Funfetus

Well, that's what dithering is all about no?

Yes, but to a different purpose. Dithering is meant to be subtle, and it's an attempt to overcome a technical limitation. Pointillism is meant to be very, very obvious -- it's mostly the point of the painting, after all -- and there is no technical limitation at work. It's done to achieve a specific look. Achieving a specific look falls into my category of acceptable reasons for pixeling.

@Funfetus---I think I see what you're saying but you mean Gunter right? Not lordyupa? He posted one.
Lordyupa's selection is rather nice.

I definitely meant Lordyupa. His are the only images in this thread that don't look like they could be a video game. They are very nice pictures, but that's not my point.

Geo

This is the greatest accomplishment in pixel art I have ever seen.

Mankoon

@funfetus: Really? Damn. OK we'll we can't agree on everything.
@Lordyupa: Thats nuts. I once saw a pixel city where people could own plots of but I dont remember the link!
@Ro: The stitch work you do really is a great way to express the pixel art love. I tried looking for The scene you wanted to stitch.
Is it a combo of this and this:
House base
http://ian-albert.com/misc/supermarioworldmaps.php ( link doesn't like being hot linked. Look there for it)
End game pixels that are over layed.

I can put these together for you if you need it !

Funfetus

@funfetus: Really? Damn. OK we'll we can't agree on everything.

Not to belabor the point, but what exactly is it that we don't agree on? I'm not sure that I've made my views completely clear.

Geo

The Pixel art I preferably like is isometric pixle art as I think that is where the real magic lies. Not to disparage other styles, but I have found some of my favorite works in isometric pixel art.

Rochelle

@Ro: The stitch work you do really is a great way to express the pixel art love. I tried looking for The scene you wanted to stitch. I can put these together for you if you need it!

Thank you so much! I do have some images already, but having more is always good. I will probably use the emulator program Scott linked me if I need to get anymore. I can't wait to actually start on the stitching, but making the pattern will take a while.