A Pixel Art Drop Box (Page 29 of 66)

I also intentionally chose to turn her hand gripping the balloons around because I thought it looks more aesthetically pleasing.

It just made more sense that way when I was drawing it.

I wanted to make it as near to an exact replica as I possibly could but obviously a few tweaks had to be made.

Last edited by SurfaceDragon (Jul 31, 2011 10:04 am)

I made this originally with the intention to contrast my last image submission.

This image is a fabulous fake.

Most people think that the original version of this was created by Banksy when it was actually originally created by Julien Fanton D'Andon.

Its been notoriously ripped off, stolen, and used by hundreds of different "street artists".

I cheated my ass off to bring this image to you and to show one way to produce fake pixel art.

To make this I simply converted the image(I found the image with a simple google-image search and saved image as...>then edited it) to indexed colors(1bit palette black and white using the free program GIMP), scaled the image down(drastically but not so much that it looses all line definition), manually touched up the image with the pencil tool(this takes some artistic skill and a little time), then scaled the image back up(I chose 400% because I wanted to show off its detail but this step isn't always necessary, cropping the image is also the logical thing to do at this point but not always necessary). And Voila - fake pixel art.

This is the stuff you guys hate and consider fake.

I'm not trying to argue a point and I know you guys are actually very accepting.

I'm still on the fence about the use of stolen or fake material.

Fake pixel art has a place here with pixel art and a place in the future of pixel art as an art form.

Some of it is actually interesting artwork(I'm not trying to make argue a point, its just a statement to lead into the next sentence).

I'll probably feel this way until someone rips off a piece of my artwork and makes a huge profit from it, but that's not the only fear fake artwork brings.

We all know that no one should support stealing artwork because it hurts the artists, the community, and even the reputation and value of an art form.

There is no reason to give me a lecture about ethics and whatnot, I already know.(and I value your opinions)

But there will always be fake artwork, its a part of human nature to mimic whatever it is that we aspire to be or want to create.

I think that there is no way to stop this from taking place.

I personally love replicating(or modifying) artwork that I admire, its normal and its a very human thing to do.

I also love being creative and making original artwork as well but I've actually learned a lot by replicating(or blatantly stealing and modifying) artwork.

I support the creation of fake artwork but I'm firmly against people profiting from fake artwork.

So if your going to replicate or steal a piece of artwork(with the intention to modify or even make fake pixel art from other works) do it but please do it tastefully and don't do it for praise, fame, or money.

Share your work, support other artists, and always strive to grow as an artist and as a person.

Last edited by SurfaceDragon (Jul 31, 2011 1:35 pm)

I call the FakePanda image "fake" pixel art because it could be passed off as "authentic" pixel art(drawn pixel-by-pixel) even though it was actually created by altering an existing image with help from image editing software(even though it did require some amount of skill and manual pixel placement).

I understand that your definition of pixel art is - art drawn by hand pixel-by-pixel comprised entirely out of pixels, correct?

I would consider the BalloonGirlReplica "authentic" pixel art that fits within your definition of pixel art because it was actually drawn by hand pixel-by-pixel.

I rant because I haven't slept in days and I apologize for getting off topic.

I brought up ethics because the Panda image that I used has been notoriously stolen and misused by many different artists without permission from its original creator(most people who are familiar with the piece don't even know who the creator of it is and they attribute it to being created by Banksy even though that's completely false).

And I also spoke a little about my views on ethics(and the use of other people's artwork) because I've read many other posts written by people in this community who have a very strong view on ethics(and the use of other people's artwork).

I would like to inspire other artists to make both "authentic" and "fake" pixel art and to post images of your work here.

I kind-of want to tell people that its ok to steal/use/modify other artists works but I don't want to compel them to use other artists works to seek praise, fame, or money.

I should really try to get some sleep, I can't even think straight or spell properly.

Everything feels completely discombobulated.

SurfaceDragon, they're not by any means calling you out on terms of ethics at all dude, they're just wondering if your recently posted stuff could really be called pixel art.

The question here that is being discussed is what definition of the following best describes pixel art:

  1. Anything made of pixels
  2. Anything drawn pixel by pixel, by human hand.

With this out of the way, I think that pixel art is less of a method, and more of a style. I recently was given a piece of artwork to be used as pixel art from my buddy Shriker. It's absolutely mind-blowing and really awesome. I consider it pixel art, because it looks blocky, it has the qualities of art drawn pixel by pixel, and it is very detailed on the pixelated level. That is what makes pixel art pixel art.

He didn't draw it by hand.

Instead, he did it with Photoshop, keeping the pixel art style in mind. That is what makes it pixel art. There are many means to an end, such as drawing it out pixel by pixel, or doing it in GIMP/Photoshop with computer assistance, and personally, I believe that neither method deserves more praise than the other. They are both two completely different ideas and ways to get the same(ish) result. In the end, if the final piece has the qualities of pixel art, then it should be called pixel art. The end.

On another note, let's change the subject to something other than a worthless forum debate...How exactly is dithering done? Can you guys post some examples of your dithering styles?

The pixel art style, you know. When it has qualities of pixel art. It looks rougher, generally a more minimal colour palette, rougher, it just looks like pixel art. That's an awful description, but I'm sure you get what I mean. If you can look at it and say that's pixel art, that's what I mean.

That's actually a really really cool thread! I'll read the whole thing sometime. It's cray how all these people know all these techniques about it, when they're really not taught anywhere haha. I'm glad that there's a good thread on this, I'm totally going to check that out in detail.

I found this to be extremely helpful while learning/improving my pixel shading and dithering techniques -

http://www.firefruitforge.com/?tutorial … t_-_Basics

Last edited by SurfaceDragon (Aug 1, 2011 4:55 am)

Can we move this discussion/argument to another thread? this one is meant for showing others your pixel art work, and this is getting to be a bit much.