Keeping the PixelArt Gallery tidy


This year I will be making a concentrated effort to help educate people about Pixelart at dA.

In order to build PixelArt up at dA I need to keep the Galleries clean and tidy and free from miscategorizations. So a set of guidelines needs to be established in order for people to understand why I may have moved a piece of work out of PixelArt.

Part of those miscategorizations stem from a misapprehension of what PixelArt is and is not so here is just a small definition of what sort of boundaries I work within when I am inspecting work in the PixelArt Gallery.



A basic outline of PixelArt at dA

PixelArt is as much about application and the creation of the piece as much as its appearance. PixelArt requires demonstrated hand laid pixels on a pixel by pixel basis, over the majority of the work

PixelArt is created by using the pencil tool set on 1 pixel and is created mostly on a click by click basis.

No computer generated tools may be used...no computer generated text, no shading tools, no gradients, no brushes, no auto anti aliasing, no reduced opacities, no spray tool....a small/limited amount of flood fill may be used.


A limited colour palette is also a rule with many in PixelArt.....under 256 colours. This is something which is desirable but I have no intention of counting the colours of every piece of PixelArt uploaded into the Galleries. I will however, take careful note of this colour count when I am featuring a Daily Deviation.

Artwork needs to be created under high magnification...between 600% and 1200% to lay each pixel....

A piece may take several hours to several months to complete, depending on its size and complexity....it is an immensely time consuming form of art. It is likened to cross stitch embroidery or mosaic tiles.



Isometric as opposed to non Isometric...



Isometric PixelArt

Isometric is a means of creating a type of 3D look about the work. Genuine isometric 3D is created using a line of 30degrees from the horizontal...this is not really possible in PixelArt as the line would not be even, so Isometric PixelArt is created at an angle of approx 26.565 degrees.

This is done by a very simple process....draw two pixels...go up one pixel, draw two pixels and so on until the piece if finished. So it is 1:2 pixel ratio one up two across. Confused yet?

Here is a Tutorial Newsletter I did in an effort to explain the very basics of Isometric PixelArt. [link]

Non Isometric PixelArt is everything else not drawn at an angle of 26.565 but maintaining the previously stated rules of PixelArt.



Doll Week

I am planning a Doll Week at dA. For seven days straight I will be featuring only Dolls from our Doll Gallery as a Daily Deviation.

Please feel free to suggest one doll per note with the Dollers name in the heading.

This will start on Monday the 10th of February and run through the full week until Sunday 16th of February.



Fanart

Just a quick reminder that all Fanart from now on should be added to the Fanart Gallery. Anyone seeing any Fanart displayed in the PixelArt Galleries please press the button and report it as a miscategorization. Here is a flash demonstration of reporting a miscategorization by ^shell4art



Daily Deviation Features for December 2007 and January 2008