Why Pixel Art

 

I see dead pixels.

So, why the interest in pixel art lately?  

If you've been following along with my blog since the beginning, you've seen my evolution in artwork.  At first, I started with AI-generated images as a sort of tongue-in-cheek view of "this is how a computer visualizes my posts" take.  But, as the first few months wore on, it didn't feel like satire anymore; it felt more like blatant laziness.  Other than generating the prompt that created the image, I wasn't contributing anything artistic to the image that I could call my own.

There are valid concerns over how AI images are sourced and the lack of recompense to artists who didn't give permission to build digital Frankenstein, but I'm a bit more forgiving if you use AI as inspiration rather than present it as your original work.  It's one thing to use an AI music generator to inspire you for your own hooks and lyrics.  You're still making some effort to generate your own creative work.  It's another to capture its audio vomit, claim creativity, and hope for a record contract simply because you were able to type in "create a hit song for me named Baby, Darlin'." 

When I started to experience my AI-image hangover, I didn't really feel that I had the technical chops to use the images as inspiration and extend them with my own creativity.  So, with the exception of my AI-generated logo, I simply stopped using AI images because they weren't mine.  

As time wore on, I felt that I wanted to add a visual component back to my brand, so I dug my Wacom digital tablet out from under my desk clutter, fired up Krita on my laptop, and began to practice.  I was ok at sketching and had practiced it with a real pen and paper in the late 2010s pretty consistently, but moving to the digital realm was an entirely new skill to learn.  

My $40 tablet is simply a black surface that you draw on while looking at your computer screen, leading to entirely new Adventures in Hand-Eye Coordination.  In addition, I had the option to add color without needing to invest in a whole new set of pens and pencils, and ruining the black and white sketches I loved so much, so I had to spend time on that facet of illustration.  

Luckily, I had enough self-confidence to realize that these drawings weren't going to amaze anyone.  But, I was still willing to publish them and hope they conveyed the message I wanted to get across.  

While revisiting my Pinterest account for drawing ideas, I came across my pins for pixel art, which I've had an on-and-off relationship with over the past decade.  Since I'd decided to rediscover more traditional methods of drawing, I thought I'd give pixel art another try as well.  

I'd started pixel art with a vague idea of learning enough to create my own NES-style 8-bit game, but, as I learned more about it, I could appreciate it as its own separate medium that doesn't have to be tied to gameplay.  

Pixel art is looked down on in some circles as being too base or simplistic, and yeah, if you only look at my portfolio as a sample, you could come away with that impression.  I think it's seen as simple because you can literally draw pixel by pixel and create a line or circle without actually being able to do so in a physical medium, which somehow makes it feel like cheating.  

But, unlike AI-generated images, you still have to put in the work, and the difference between a beginner and an expert is readily apparent.  The more you know about composition, color, and line, the better, more complex, and more nuanced your pixel art creations will be.  And, if you have an artist's background, you'll already have a leg up, so your previous mileage matters.

I like it, though, because it doesn't require an artist's background to make an immediate impact.  For comparison's sake, it feels more like the guitar to me than, say, the trumpet.  Once you can strum a few chords on a guitar, you can start to make music, even if it's simple music.  The more time you spend with the instrument, the better you get and the more honed your abilities become.  

Conversely, the trumpet takes some work to get good at initially.  You can't blow into it for a few days and hope to make music.  The reward is in the dedication, but you don't get the same immediate payoff that you would with a guitar.

Also, for the grief that pixel art gets for being basic, the constraint, as I've said before, adds to the creativity.  Mario is one of the most recognized icons in the world and is one of the most basic examples of pixel art in the world.  The designers were forced to build a character in a 16x16 grid with a rudimentary color palette and wound up with a masterpiece.  But, remember, don't fall into the trap of thinking simple is easy.

Still, that's the main reason I like pixel art - its barrier to entry is lower, and its feedback loop is short.  But I also like it because it has its own aesthetic.  In the same way that pastels in painting present a certain vibe, so too does the retro look of pixel art.

And, I like that it just gives me more options if my traditional sketches don't work out.  I was happy with my yak-in-a-barbershop illustration a few posts ago, but my initial penny farthing drawing looked way too simple.  Converting it to pixel art actually doubled down on the simplistic expectations - because pixel art is expected to be simple.  A little animation added a small bit of panache that made two circles and a few sticks turn into a valid concept without overcomplicating the message.

I've enjoyed my experimentation with pixel art so much, I may even overhaul my logo yet again:

Until next time, my human and robot friends.