Introduction

Pixel art is a unique style of digital art that’s been used by artists and gamers for years. It’s about creating images pixel by pixel giving them a retro vibe. It might look and seem simple but it is not. There is a lot more to it. You have to get the right colors, shading, and overall makeup.

History of Pixel Art

Pixel art has roots dating back to the early digital graphics and video games scene from the 70's and 80's. During that time technology was still very "new" and graphics had limitations. It made artist work with a small number of pixels and a limited color palette. This led to the iconic pixel visuals like Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., and The Legend of Zelda.

Essential Tools for Creating Pixel Art

If you’re wanting to build pixel art, you’ll need the right tools. Here are some of the most commonly used software programs.

1. Aseprite

  • A professional pixel art tool with an intuitive interface.
  • Offers animation features, layers, and custom palettes.

2. Pyxel Edit

  • Ideal for creating tilesets and game assets.
  • Easy to use.

3. Photoshop & GIMP

  • General all purpose image editing software with pixel controls.
  • More powerful but may require additional setup for pixel art workflows.

4. Piskel

A free browser based pixel art editor.

Great for beginners and quick animations. (What I used)

Coding In Pixel Art

Pixel art is not just about drawing or art it involves software engineering aka JavaScript and other programming languages.

1. Setup Your Canvas

  • document.getElementById('pixelCanvas') This gets the HTML. canvas.getContext('2d') This initializes the canvas to use 2D rendering.

2. Pixel Size

  • pixelSize = 10 each pixel in the artwork will be drawn as a 10x10 pixel square on the canvas.

3. Character Matrix

  • This 2D array shows the pixel art. Each 1 represents a filled pixel that will be drawn on the canvas. Each 0 represents an empty space.

4. Function Draw Pixel Art

  • for (let y = 0; y < character.length; y++) Will loop through each row in the character array.
  • for (let x = 0; x < character[y].length; x++) Then loops through each column in the character array.
  • if (character[y][x] === 1): Checks if the current position is a 1.
    ctx.fillRect(x * pixelSize, y * pixelSize, pixelSize, pixelSize) Draws a filled rectangle at the exact position.

5. Call the function

  • This will execute the drawPixelArt() function rendering the pixel art onto the canvas.

Conclusion

Pixel art is more than just a retro art form it’s a powerful tool that continues to grow. If you're creating game art, normal artwork, and animations. If you can understand the fundamentals and coding aspects it can enhance your pixel art projects. Get your stylus or start coding and bring your vision to life.

Resources:
https://www.istockphoto.com/illustrations/pixel-cat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_art
https://www.pixilart.com/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/zelda-pixel-art--757871443539534867/
https://www.piskelapp.com/p/create/sprite

Author Of article : Charles Eugene Read full article