Pixel Art

99pence · Post by **99pence** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 8:19 pm

I'm really getting into pixel art. I'm rubbish, it's proper hard.

Does anyone else do it?

Are there any interesting sites to check out?

Thanks

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 8:23 pm

Man, I remember in the old days that TekCadet had some resources and links and whatnot. Unfortunately, I know nothing.

Pa

Post by **Ghegs** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:16 pm

I don't do pixel art (or any art...I'm artless), but I did remember Blackeye Software, aside from releasing few kick-ass freeware games, gave some nice instructions on the subject:

http://www.derekyu.com/extras/pixel01.html

Post by **system11** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:34 pm

Pixel art lived and died with the Amiga in my estimation. Go trawling the aminet archives and you'll find a lot of things to draw inspiration from.

Post by **Icarus** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 12:33 am

I love pixel art, but the majority of it nowadays is isometric based. Not that that is a bad thing, but actual sprite design is decreasing.

Having said that, I tend to practice both outside of my design course, and have a few nice links for you to check out:

http://www.armyoftrolls.co.uk/
http://www.eboy.com/
http://www.k10k.net/
http://www.tongsville.com/city/index.html

Here's a very good tutorial on isometrix pixel design:

http://rhysd.syntesis.org/tutorial/index.php

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 12:46 am

I've been getting into it lately, mostly iso-stuff. I don't have anything I want to show at the moment, but hopefully I'll feel confident enough about my pixelling skills before long. It is very tough, you have to pay attention to each and every detail.

My tool of choice? Deluxe Paint IV on the Amiga, of course.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 1:23 am

I used to create my own desktop icons where I ran MacOS 9.2 and previous.

(I learned at iconfactory fyi)

Now that OSX has bigger icons, with shading effects and such, I'm not interested anymore. -_-

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:13 am

I do pixel art for a living, actually.

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 6:39 am

I love pixel art.

I used to do loads of it for living, I did pixel art quite a many years ('85-'95) before switching to do 3D.. I've been thinking of doing some pixel workshop/guide for beginners on my WWW some day..

best thing about pixels is that you can apply your own 'style' much more easily than in 3D.. and they make look easy to do, but it is very challenging to make them look good.
Good pixel artist can do stuff that no 3D guy is able to exactly reproduce; at least not very easily.

My favourite pixel art is all the art from Guwange, Raiden DX, metalslug series, SFighter III; bitmap bros games, cinemaware games.. and in c64 I love bob stevensons stuff (IO, last ninja loading screen)

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:10 am

MJR wrote:My favourite pixel art is all the art from Guwange, Raiden DX, metalslug series, SFighter III; bitmap bros games, cinemaware games.. and in c64 I love bob stevensons stuff (IO, last ninja loading screen)

Great taste you show there.

Bob Stevenson is one of my all time favourites. So many people tried to copy his incredible style from IO, but no-one ever got it right. Simply amazing.

The artists from the Bitmap Brothers are a bit of a mixed bag. You can see that they obviously come from quite different "schools" of doing art. Coleman's approach has much to do with painting. He does wonders with limited colour palettes. But he's also lazy and sloppy. If you really look into his graphics, you'll notice many little mistakes. And his animations are a bit awkward sometimes. Malone, the other artist, has an approach that has more to do with drawing. He abstracizes everything and that's what makes his graphics look better than most of the stuff of people who try to go for something resembling realism. I really admire his work.

Every aspiring pixel artist should study the work of Henk Nieborg. One of the best pixel artists ever, IMO.

Also, looking at the gfx of Secret Of Mana will teach you a lot about colour usage and the structure of tiled backgrounds.

99pence · Post by **99pence** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 12:40 pm

Thanks for the info.

What's the best peice of software to use?

mrMagenta · Post by **mrMagenta** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 2:24 pm

wow! great, now i know his name. i've been wondering about the art in those games.. lionsheart, that's the name i'm always forgetting when people are talking amiga stuff. really nice pixels. though the game is a bit wonky.

i'm not doing much pixelstuff but i like using pro motion.
i'd recommend getting pro motion 5.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 4:23 pm

mrMagenta wrote:wow! great, now i know his name. i've been wondering about the art in those games.. lionsheart, that's the name i'm always forgetting when people are talking amiga stuff. really nice pixels. though the game is a bit wonky.

i'm not doing much pixelstuff but i like using pro motion.
i'd recommend getting pro motion 5.

You mean Henk Nieborg:

http://www.henknieborg.nl/

Herr Schatten, I have an old amiga magazine with an interesting column: they were asking actual developers to reimagine timeless classics. I think there's one where Molyneux recreates Frogger. And one where Bitmap Bros redesign Tempest... And the article came with pictures too!

Post by **system11** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 4:54 pm

Turrican wrote:Herr Schatten, I have an old amiga magazine with an interesting column: they were asking actual developers to reimagine timeless classics. I think there's one where Molyneux recreates Frogger. And one where Bitmap Bros redesign Tempest... And the article comes with pictures too!

I think you should scan that article.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:06 pm

Fair enough, I will. I was waiting for someone to ask

edit: enjoy!

For the reference, the magazine is the italian "K" (issue 43 Oct '92) which was born as a local version of british "Ace" and eventually evolved into a fully italian made magazine. Perhaps the same article can be found in english on Ace.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 8:20 pm

Wow, that Tempest concept looks sweet. I'm not sure if the Bitmaps could have topped Jeff Minter in that department, but I would love to see what they could have done.

As for skilled pixellers, IMO Facet from Lemon (Amiga demo group) has to be one of the all time best.

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 8:42 am

mrMagenta wrote:i'd recommend getting pro motion 5.

Seconded. Pro Motion is THE tool for pixel artists.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:58 pm

Herr Schatten wrote:
MJR wrote:My favourite pixel art is all the art from Guwange, Raiden DX, metalslug series, SFighter III; bitmap bros games, cinemaware games.. and in c64 I love bob stevensons stuff (IO, last ninja loading screen)
Great taste you show there. Bob Stevenson is one of my all time favourites. So many people tried to copy his incredible style from IO, but no-one ever got it right. Simply amazing.

i am still completely floored by some of the stuff i see on the c64. makes me wish i grew up with the thing...