I understand where you're coming from and in fact I agree with you, but what about the following point;

Isn't art about pushing the boundaries? Why must we follow the guidelines of the "experts" instead of branching out in our own creative manner. Why can't we develop our own style so that one day people will follow us.

Wouldn't it be ever so devious of us...

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<sub>Zac
Emoticonist

Pigs Don't Fly | I Don't Speak German</sub>

Hmm, the program I have has a transparency tool, but it doesn't work in layers...

So if want to know which color something should behind a glass, I should figure it out myself?

Well you put up a good argument but then it would not longer be PixelArt. It would be DigitalArt where you can have fun playing with all the different tools. It isn't as if I am telling people they can't use gradients or transparencies or the burn tool....go for it, push them boundaries, see how good you can get at it...just please don't upload it into pixelart.

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Ann aka ShoneGold
PixelArt Gallery Moderator

pixelart chat [link]
pixel art forum [link]

Dude, it's pixel ART, not pixel NAZIS. Freaking art is for creative distribution of your own thoughts and ideas, who care how you make it? No street artist is going to go and yell at some new dude for mixing up wheat paste (posters) and free hand stuff with some tags thown in, in fact he might get props. We like to see stuff different in the world, so why not in pixel art?

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Currently: ROCKING THE WORLD.

pixel art is digital.... and it is art.... so it is digital art.

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Currently: ROCKING THE WORLD.

I know I made a point about transparencies to you, but there are things I have since thought about concerning them, plus another that I thought of after reading Zac's comment.

Firstly, the method of transparencies detailed in the forum thread from PixelJoint given is a cheap way of anti-aliasing work to give it a less jaggedly look. Instead of carefully selecting brighter (or darker) colours to blend into the background, the same colour is multiplied, and the opacity of each individual pixel is changed, progressively lower, approaching 0%.

Now, I consider this to be a cheap and nasty shortcut. HOWEVER, we should not confused, or perhaps consider, the use of transparencies for AA (anti-aliasing) and the use of transparencies for glass/window effects.

I believe there is a difference between using transparency techniques for the two different reasons, and both give different things to the artwork. Transparencies are utilised differently in glass effects than in AA purposes, in that they are used purely as a tonal variation to give the impression of glass. It allows for the use of inner-room details (such as in buildings), while allowing to give the impression of a window being there.

I realise that the colours that are created after applying a transparency can be manually placed, but considering the amount of colours/detail is covered in some situations, and the tone that may be requested, it can be an extremely laborious task of choosing exact colours that would match how that colour would change under a tone. It's not something that any person with limited pixel art experience can do, and hell, not even I can do it.

Not allowing for the use of glass effect transparencies can certainly turn off a lot of people, who suddenly find they need to trial and error colours in order to give a good effect. While it isn't impossible, it is quite hard.

Secondly, I believe that there is a difference between DeviantArt and Pixeljoint. PixelJoint is made up of very experienced pixel artists, and the site has that reputation down-pat. As a result, the chances of having beginner pixel artists is small.

Comparing that to DeviantArt, we have a much larger group of beginner pixel artists, some of which do not know the fundamentals of the art style. This shouldn't change the way learning pixel artists should go about their work, but the skill level, and the understanding of 'true pixel art' would expected to be quite lower here than over at PJ.

Thirdly, the usage of tools was mentioned, and essentially it was ruled that tools which altered the colour value of a pixel for you, or did work for you that you could already do, where not permissible. Would that also not allow the use of layers in Photoshop or any other program?

The use of layers makes a pixel artists life easier, as it allows them to be more liberal in their pixelling technique. It allows for a less hassle, as mistakes are easier to rectify and pixels are erased into nothing as apposed to another colour (as in MSPaint).

Lastly, and this is the thing I thought of after reading Zac's comment, is that I don't believe that we should be bounded by rules when it comes to art. After all, art is art, and it did come first before the genre was added to it. What I mean is, is that while there may be a certain type of 'true' pixel art, is it not possible to have a variety of modified pixel art styles? Styles that embrace and utilise both simple pixel art and specialised digital tool techniques?

I can understand where the want for and understanding of 'true' pixel art comes from, but I don't think (nor like the idea of) limiting ourselves and our creative capabilities, simple because it cannot be considered pure pixel art.

I apolgise for the length of this reply, but there are a number of things I needed to question/queery i regards to this event.

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StylePixelStudios - Pixel and Vexel Art
[link]

Yes it is digitalArt>ixelArt...and then you get to the definition.
Then there is DigitalArt >hotomanipulation....and then you get to the definition
Then there is Digital Art >vector art...and then you get to the definition.

...so on and so forth....you get the idea.

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Ann aka ShoneGold
PixelArt Gallery Moderator

pixelart chat [link]
pixel art forum [link]

Certain features have to be present in a piece for it to be considered, let's say, Baroque. Same for Renaissance. Or other art styles out there (sonets aren't if they aren't, well... sonets.). PIXEL art is the direct manipulation of each pixel, whereas the artist has exact control of each and every pixel placed. Differently from using the Smooth tool from Photoshop, which works automatically and you do not have control over it, the Pixel Artist who wants to smooth things out do it himself. That's the brilliancy of it.

Not saying that you cannot mix stuff with pixel art, you can, and it can be great. It just isn't pixel art anymore. [link]
this piece has great quality pixel art in it, but due to the background it is not in the pixel art section.

So, if you want to push boundaries, GREAT, count me in, but do no try to fit that into a pre-defined "category". After all, pushing boundaries is creating a new category

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Tangerine, tangerine...

Every apple is a fruit, but not every fruit is an apple

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Tangerine, tangerine...

I guess so.

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Ann aka ShoneGold
PixelArt Gallery Moderator

pixelart chat [link]
pixel art forum [link]