AI-Assisted Reference and Photobashing for Pixel Artists In November 2022 I published my AI and the Future of Pixel Art article both here and on Twitter and publicly documented my initial experiments integrating diffusion models into pixel art workflows. Since then, I've explored it much more thoroughly and have
Art is a Two-Way Street Art can be a private experience, but, now more than ever, it rarely is. Art witnessed only by its creator effects no change except in how it makes the artist feel in creating or viewing it. Others cannot be inspired by it. No matter
Cartridge Mindset: Just Do it Right the First Time The expectation that the content we consume is final and unchanging has been undermined for some time now—it's not out of the ordinary to notice the album art for a song on Spotify has changed, or even that parts of the
AI and the Future of Pixel Art Creative industries are undergoing a 0 to 1 moment. If you didn't know, now you do. The impact that AI will have and is already having on creativity cannot be understated. The whole "but AI can’t draw hands right"
Fundamentals of Isometric Pixel Art In pixel art, "isometric" refers to work which utilizes the graphical projection of isometry rather than traditional (also known as linear) perspective. While all forms of perspective require at least one vanishing point, isometric pixel art has no vanishing points. Because of
Choosing the Right Resolution for your Pixel Art Even—perhaps especially—when your pixel art is not encumbered by the requirements of a particular game or project, it is crucial that you select your resolution wisely. To figure out what size your sprite should be, you need to answer two questions: 1.
Social Media for Pixel Artists Although many, if not most, people utilize social media in one way or another, I find that an honest discourse about its use as a legitimate tool for any sort of personal or business endeavor can either be quite taboo and often vitriolic, or
Dithering for Pixel Artists Dithering is a technique in digital graphics which uses patterns to create the illusion of greater color depth in situations with real or self-imposed color constraints. In historical applications of pixel art, dithering was often a necessity, as old platforms were limited in various
Color Theory for Pixel Artists: It's All Relative Although we all have our preferences, there are no objectively "good" or "bad" colors. There is also no such thing as an objectively "perfect" color choice—there are only choices which, after trying them, we may discern if they are more or less effective in the context of the specific piece
Boob Basics for Pixel Artists (and Everyone Else) Breasts are, in my opinion, one of the more difficult aspects of the human form to convincingly capture in pixel art. Anatomy is a massive topic on its own, and I would recommend reading some traditional art books on the topic if you'
Anti-Aliasing Fundamentals for Pixel Artists The pixel is the smallest unit of digital displays and of pixel art as a medium. The arrangement of these pixels in rows and columns creates something called "the grid," which is the implied vertical and horizontal lines that divide individual square
The Care and Feeding of Clients As I said in my previous article on applying for freelance pixel art jobs, the majority of your time and energy as an artist should be allocated towards the actual creation of the work. However, a crucial and seemingly often overlooked aspect of being
Getting the Job As someone who has been on both sides of the client/contractor relationship, often simultaneously, I thought it might be helpful to share my thoughts on the extremely unideal process of hiring freelance pixel artists via social media. There are certainly ways in which
Hello World Hey! I’m Lux, a professional pixel artist from North Carolina. I’ve found social media platforms increasingly inadequate for any actual discourse or education, so I thought I’d return to the good old blog format for those purposes. I am writing a