For The Legend of Zelda's 35th anniversary, we want you to redesign Link's classic NES sprite:
https://www.spriters-resource.com/fullview/8366/
This challenge is based on the same premise as "The New Bomber" challenge we had back in 2014, which you can check out if you want some inspiration:
https://pixeljoint.com/pixels/poll.asp?id=1395
The sprite must be original work - no sprite edits will be accepted. Feel free to change style and game genre, too!
Canvas size: Max 48x 48.
Colours: Max 8.
Transparency: Required, don't forget it counts as a colour!
Animation: Optional.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
The Precious pixel pixel art challenge is complete and we have three new champions. This week's challenge awards go to the following pieces:
Thanks so much to all who took the time to vote and participate in the challenge! Check out the Precious pixel forum thread for more information.
This week, we want you to imagine & pixel the Commodore 64 demake of an existing game that wasn't actually released for Commodore 64. You can add/remove/change any features of the game as you want. You do not need to stick with one of the C64 graphic modes, however:
Optional bonus challenge: Meet the criteria of one of the graphic modes of C64.
Canvas Size - Exactly 320x200 px, horizontal.
Colours - Max. 16 use the C64 palette:
Transparency - No.
Animation - Optional.
This weeks theme is sprite sprites!
You will be creating 2 sprites of a sprite, pixie, fay or fairy. The two sprites need to be the same character, drawn in two different sizes. One needs to fit on a 64x64 canvas, the other on a 16x16 canvas.
Both sprites will be submitted on one larger canvas, max 100x100. You don't need that much room, but this way you keep some space between the sprites if that helps to present them better.
For an example have a look at this image from Damian, obviously these are 3 sprites (and not pixies) but you only need 2.
Bonus challenge: Also add a 32x32 version of your sprite! (so 3 in total)
Good luck with your pixie pixels!
Canvas size - Max 100x100.
Colours - Max 20. Use the same palette for both sprites.
Animation - No.
Transparency - Yes, required.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
The level challenge is back with its 5th installment! We've done the desert, we've done the jungle, now it's time to make the most creepy of them all - the dungeon. This week, we want you to design a mock-up of a new, original video game showing a dungeon, catacombs, sewers or tombs level. For this particular game you are restricted to 11specific colours, these colours are shown below.
Canvas size - Unrestricted.
Colours - Max 11. Must use only the colours from the palette below:
Animation - Optional.
Transparency - No.
Previous level challenges: Underwater, Lava, Desert, Jungle
The pantone colors of the year 2021 are Ultimate Grey and Illuminating (yellow).
You are challenged to use these great colors for a great design. A design of your own designer furniture! A chair, table, shelf, couch, or even home accessories such as a lamp or a plant pot are welcome.
Because I'm feeling generous, you get to use 2 more colors of your choice, and the 2 from pantone:
Bonus challenge: Make the furniture really impractical. What's better than a designer chair you can't sit on?
Canvas size: Max 160x160 (smaller is fine)
Colours: 4, or 5 if you use transparency. 2 colors from the palette, and 2 free choice.
Transparency: Optional
Animation: Optional.
You've just come back home, but have forgotten your front door key. You can hear sounds coming from inside - somebody or something unexpected is in your house. What can you see through the keyhole?
For this week's challenge, both the preview file and the detail file are part of your submission. For the preview file, you will be using the keyhole template. Think carefully about what happens outside of the keyhole in the full piece! What you see through the keyhole should be the same scene as the main file (could even be a crop), but should not fully reveal what really is going on.
Restriction: You must use the keyhole template for your preview file, and your full piece (no template, normal square canvas) will be the detail file. Both use the PICO-8 palette.
The detail file will be a 100x100 square.
Canvas size: 100x100 (for detail image)
Colours: 16, PICO-8 palette
Transparency: Only for the preview, around the keyhole template.
Animation: Optional.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
Happy new year pixel-heads! Have you missed a challenge from the past year? Did you start but couldn't find the time to finish? This week, we want you to pick any weekly challenge from 2020 and make an entry (check the ALL CHALLENGES coloumn on the right. The first challenge of 2020 was Welcome to the Arena).
Please make sure you write in the description which challenge you chose and make sure you follow it's rules and limitations. Have fun!
Canvas Size - see the corresponding challenge
Colours - see the corresponding challenge
Transparency - see the corresponding challenge
Animation - see the corresponding challenge
Christmas is next week, but did you know it's already Christmas now on other planets?
This week we want you to depict Santa Claus from another planet and its outlandish customs.
You must use at least one pure color (#ff0000 / #00ff00 / #0000ff)
Canvas Size - Minimum 100x100
Colors - Max 25. You must use at least one of the colors provided above.
Transparency - No
Animation - Optional
It's time for tiny towers! On a very narrow canvas, you are challenged to make some kind of tower structure. Existing, or based on fantasy, however you like.
Canvas Size - Width: exactly 16px. Height: Minimum 64px, taller is allowed too.
Colors - Max 16
Transparency - Optional
Animation - Optional
The L stands for Letter pixel art challenge is complete and we have three new champions. This week's challenge awards go to the following pieces:
Thanks so much to all who took the time to vote and participate in the challenge! Check out the L stands for Letter forum thread for more information.
Challenge winner Eggy is proud to present you a challenge themed around her favorite thing: wizards!
Draw a scene involving one or more wizards of any kind. For this you will pick 2 palettes from the list below, one is exclusively for the wizard(s) and one only for the background. So both the background and the foreground will have exactly 4 unique colors.
Bonus challenge: Depict Gargamel (Eggy's favorite)
Canvas Size - Max 120x80 or 80x120
Colors - Exactly 8, pick 2 palettes, separate foreground and background as explained above.
Transparency - No.
Animation - No.
This week, we want you to pixel a block of material - any single material in the shape of the first letter of its name. For example an S-shaped stone block or a W-shaped water. Feel free with the material selection, it's perfectly ok to choose a mixture such as soil or even stuff like plants (such as "G stands for Grass"). You're free to make a background or leave it transparent.
Please name your piece in the format of "X stands for Xxx".
Canvas Size - 100x100 max.
Colors - Max 12
Transparency - Optional.
Animation - No.
This week we want you to pick one of the four templates and create a card based on the element associated with it.
Fire (orange) - Air (yellow) - Earth (green) - Water (blue)
It can be a creature, a spell or anything of your choice.
In the description, you can write what the card does in details, etc.
You can modify the template as you deem fitting, but the card color has to remain similar to the template color.
Bonus Challenge: Make an entry for each element.
Canvas Size - 78 x 100 (same as template)
Colors - Max 25
Transparency - Optional, only for the corners.
Animation - No.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
Pick a country and depict something which you associate with that country. That might be a person, a dish, a location, or anything else.
Your palette is the exact colors that you find in the flag of the country in this wikipedia list. No AA colors or inbetween colors, only the main colors of the flag. Colors used in the emblem icons on flags are also allowed to be used, however should there be many colors in a flag then the maximum amount of colors you can use is 8. No extra colors, so for many countries this will become a 2 or 3 color piece.
If you click on the flag name in the list you'll most often find hex color codes in the wiki article about the flag.
The size of your canvas will depend on the flag you pick, it needs to match the same width/heigth aspect ratio as the flag. You can find a list of aspect ratios here. So for example if your flag has an aspect ratio of 2:3 and you make the height 50px, the width becomes 75px. If you don't know how to calulate this: Multiply your height by the number in brackets () on the wiki page. If you choose a flag with an irregular shape your canvas needs to match that shape, and the rest of the canvas is transparent. Maximum height is 80px.
This challenge idea comes from keeling00
Canvas Size - Height: max 80px. Width depends on the height and the flag you choose.
Colors - The main colors of the flag you choose only, as given by the wiki page. Max 8, should there be more colors.
Transparency - Only if the country you choose is Nepal. Otherwise no.
Animation - No.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
Today is the Day of the Dead, and this week we want you to draw the portrait of someone who has passed away, using the palette below by Frosty Rabbid. It can be someone from the history, somoene famous, your relative or perhaps some imaginary person. It does not have to be realistic either.
Canvas Size - Max: 100x100
Colors - Max 8 from this palette
https://imgur.com/mumswG3https://imgur.com/mumswG3https://imgur.com/mumswG3
https://imgur.com/mumswG3https://imgur.com/mumswG3https://imgur.com/mumswG3https://imgur.com/mumswG3https://imgur.com/mumswG3https://imgur.com/mumswG
Transparency - No.
Animation - No.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
Draw a character which performs an action, and animate it in just 2 frames. This could be any kind of action, like walking, cooking, washing, punching, as long as you can display it with just 2 frames.
Canvas Size - Max: 100x100
Colors - Max 16
Transparency - Optional
Animation - Yes, 2 frames.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
It's time to vote for the latest pixel art challenge: Pixelween: The End.
All weekly challenges until October 25 are part of Pixelween, a contest with prizes. Read the announcement for more information. This is week 4, the last week.
All current entries can be found in this forum post, please let us know if your entry is not displayed correctly!
You will be drawing the last scene of your movie, in which your story ends. You are recommended (but not obliged) to somehow follow up the scene of the first weeks, as your Pixelween entries will be judged together as a whole.
Use one of the following prompts:
You are free to interpret these themes in any way you like. Stereotypical horror/halloween tropes and characters are allowed but not required. Please clarify in the description of your entry which prompt you've used.
Technical requirements this week: 4 colors, 3 from the palette below and 1 free choice!
Canvas Size - exactly 130 (horizontal) x 80 (vertical) pixels.
Colors - Max 4 (3 from palette and 1 free choice)
Transparency - No.
Animation - No.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
The Pixelween: The Plot pixel art challenge is complete and we have three new champions. This week's challenge awards go to the following pieces:
Thanks so much to all who took the time to vote and participate in the challenge! Check out the Pixelween: The Plot forum thread for more information.
All weekly challenges until October 25 are part of Pixelween, a contest with prizes. Read the announcement for more information. This is week 3, but even if you missed out on week 1 and 2 you can still participate and win!
All current entries can be found in this forum post, please let us know if your entry is not displayed correctly!
You will be drawing another scene of your movie, in which a conflict takes place. You are recommended (but not obliged) to somehow follow up the scene of the first weeks, as your Pixelween entries will be judged together as a whole.
Use one of the following prompts:
You are free to interpret these themes in any way you like. Stereotypical horror/halloween tropes and characters are allowed but not required. Please clarify in the description of your entry which prompt you've used.
Technical requirements this week: 5 colors!
Canvas Size - exactly 130 (horizontal) x 80 (vertical) pixels.
Colors - Max 5.
Transparency - No.
Animation - No.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
All weekly challenges until October 25 are part of Pixelween, a contest with prizes. Many prizes have been added since it was first announced! Read the announcement for more information. This is week 2, but even if you missed out on week 1 you can still participate and win!
You will be drawing another scene of your movie, in which the plot develops. You are recommended (but not obliged) to somehow follow up the scene of the first week, as your Pixelween entries will be judged together as a whole.
Use one of the following prompts:
You are free to interpret these themes in any way you like. Stereotypical horror/halloween tropes and characters are allowed but not required. Please clarify in the description of your entry which prompt you've used.
This week you will be using the Japanese Woodblock palette (from polyducks):
Technical requirements:
Canvas Size - exactly 130 (horizontal) x 80 (vertical) pixels.
Colors - From the given palette only (max 12).
Transparency - No.
Animation - No.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
All weekly challenges until October 25 are part of Pixelween, a contest with prizes. Read the announcement for more information.
You will be drawing a scene of the start of your very own horror story, using one of the following prompts:
You are free to interpret these themes in any way you like. Stereotypical horror/halloween tropes and characters are allowed but not required. Please clarify in the description of your entry which prompt you've used.
Next week there will be 4 new prompts for part 2 of your story, so don't worry about planning ahead too much.
Technical requirements for this week:
Canvas Size - exactly 130 (horizontal) x 80 (vertical) pixels.
Colors - Max 16
Transparency - No.
Animation - No.
We're exicited to hear who will be joining, let us know in the comments with an "I'm in"!
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
Challenge winner Quiara wants you to create a Punch Out sprite.
One of the most iconic games of the 8-bit era was Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! The character animations in that game were fairly impressive for its day... but what would its cast look like in 2020?
Create a sprite of a fighter facing forward, following the restrictions below. As a bonus challenge you can try and match the style of the original fighters.
For some inspiration, here are a bunch of original character animations.
The sprites need to use the NES palette:
Canvas Size - Min: 30x80, max: 64x130 (when using minimum sizes, the sprite needs to touch all walls of the canvas)
Colors - Max 7, 6 from the palette + transparency.
Transparency - Yes, required.
Animation - Optional.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
Draw a scene which involves water. For example: a calm lake, a gardener watering their plants or a mockup of an underwater level, anything goes as long as there is some water visible.
The twist: there are no "blue" values allowed. You can use any colors between [0,0,0] and [255,255,0], but make sure that each color has 0 for the blue component! If using hex codes, colors will be #XXXX00. (This also means no gray, white, or magenta, as all include some value in the blue channel).
Canvas Size - Max 128x96 (any orientation)
Colors - Max 16, all having 0 for the blue component.
Transparency - No.
Animation - No.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
Seeinng the succes of the Discord Pokemon collab, it's about time that we too do another pokemon related event!
There are a lot of specific rules this week, so read on carefully, and feel free to ask questions.
You are challenged to make 3 original creature designs, also called fakemons. While they can look like they fit in with the Pokemon world, the designs have to be 100% original! The 3 creatures must follow each other up, one could evolve into the next. For some examples, check out these sprites, especially in the top rows there are a lot of series of 3 in there.
For each individual creature you can work with a maximum of 4 colors: Black, white, and one of the color pairs from the pallete (one row). You could do all 3 creatures with the same palette, or optionally have 3 different palette creatures, but within the 56x56 square you must work with one of the 9 given palettes!
The template must be used, but you are welcome to modify the borders and border style as you see fit, but only using the colors that are already in use.
You can try and adhere to the Pokemon style, or go as crazy as you like, it's all up to you!
The template:
The list of palettes (every row is a seperate palette):
Canvas Size - Exactly 182x68 (56x56 per creature)
Colors - Max 8 (Max 4 per creature, from one row of the palette. No mixing of palettes)
Transparency - No.
Animation - No.
For extra inspiration, here is a link to the original It's Evolving challenge
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
Last time, the Tiny Sprites challenge canvas was a bit... tiny! So this time you'll get some more space.
Create a tiny animated character. Here is an example: 
Canvas Size - Max 17 x 17.
Colors - Max 17.
Transparency - Required.
Animation - Required.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
Using either only tall pixels 1x2 or only wide pixels 2x1, you are challenged to draw a scene which focusses on one of these 4 dinosaurs:
Triceratops - Tyrannosaurus - Brontosaurus - Stegorsaurus
A wide or tall pixel scene means that all pixels take up double the amount of space, aligning to either grid below. You have to pick one, you can't mix the grids. For an example, have a look at this recent widepixel image from Christoballs.
Templates:
or 
Also the colors are very specific: Perfect black (#000000), perfect white (#FFFFFF) and any perfect grey of your choice, meaning that the red, green and blue component all have the same value (such as #A0A0A0 or (160, 160, 160))
Canvas size - 100x100 for the final image (so 100x50 widepx or 50x100 tallpx)
Colors - Exactly 3, black, white, and one gray of choice.
Transparency - No
Animation - Optional
This challenge was suggested by Stickman
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
Use these simplified shapes of Senegal, Cambodia or Bolivia as a canvas for your pixel art this week! Choose any one of your liking, or as a bonus challenge try and enter 3 times!
Senegal
Cambodia
Bolivia
You are allowed to rotate by a multiple of 90 degrees or flip the canvas. All pixels need to be placed within the template area, the rest remains transparent.
For inspiration, you can have a look at hidden in Georgraphy I and II.
Canvas Size - The exact template size (may be rotated or flipped)
Colors - Max 17 (must include transparency)
Animation - No.
Transparency - Yes, required
Inspired by the recent Nintendo leaks which showed prototype character models for Luigi in games such as Super Mario 64, this week we challenge you to redesign a Luigi sprite!
What would Mario's favorite brother look like if you were in charge? We recommend he remains green and tall, but other than that you can draw him however you like!
Canvas Size - 64x64 max
Colors - max. 8 colors. Transparency is a color too!
Animation - Optional.
Transparency - Required, no background!
Back in 2008, PJ member 7even suggested a legendary challenge idea:
To pixel a medival knight, using one of these 7 prompts and the 7 colors that belong to it.
7evens obsession with knights led him to create the succesful game Rogue Legacy, but with 90 entries to the weekly it was clear that more pixel artists are fascinated by these characters!
Which is why we're rerunning the challenge! So to recap:
Pick a number from 1 to 7, and create a 100x100 image of a knight using the 7 colors of the palette (no black & white, no mixing from other palettes). As always, mutliple entries are allowed.
Canvas Size - 100x100 exactly.
Colors - 7 colors, from one of the 7 palettes.
Animation - No.
Transparency - No.
This year we met a visitor who comes to us every 6766 years. We will hardly be able to enjoy its short-lived brilliance again. In its honor, capture the scene of the celestial passer however you want; the condition is that the comet is the dominant part of the scene.
The palette for this challenge is SLSO8: 
Canvas Size - 120x100 max, either horizontal or vertical.
Colors - max. 8 colors, only use colors from the SLSO8 palette
Animation - Optional.
Transparency - No.
If you were to build your (childhood) dream house, what would it look like? We are taking a nostalgic trip back to the Isocity days, and challenge you to create the isometric building of your dreams!
Here is a tutorial about how isometric projection works, in case you need a reminder.
Canvas Size - Max. 200x200
Colours - Max. 20 colors.
Transparency - Optional.
Animation - Optional.
Extra requirement - Must be in isometric projection!
You've drawn monsters with pixels but what if pixels were actually monsters themselves? What would they look like? This week, we want you to design & draw a monster that is somehow inspired by a pixel! You can draw it as a sprite or within a scene or mockup.
Canvas Size - Max. 100 x 100
Colours - Max. 16 colors.
Transparency - Optional.
Animation - No.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
This week, we want you to draw a scene with one character in an unusual size in comparison to the environment (unusually large or small); as if either the character or the surroundings imply the existence of giants.
Canvas Size - Max. 200x140 (vertical or horizontal)
Colours - Max. 14 colors.
Transparency - No.
Animation - No.
 |  |  |  |
 | Ash Wednesday 46 days before Easter Sunday (February or March) |
 | Chinese New Year January or February |
 | Groundhog Day February 2nd |
 | Mardi Gras / Shrove Tuesday / Carnaval / Carnival Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (February or March) |
 | President's Day (USA) Third Monday of February (February 22nd) |
 | Valentine's Day February 14th |
| More holidays | |