On a purely technical level, Elk's dragon is impressive for its massive scale and the amount of detail and pixel-refinement found through (most) of the piece.

Same goes for Fool's castle in the iso category. The sheer amount of detail is gorgeous.

But sheer technical talent and scale aren't everything. My all-time favorite is probably helm's 'Plotting Revenge':


The technical skill is certainly there, but there's also an underlying narrative, the piece has a strong emotional impact. The look in the face tells a story, as does the tension in his hands. The surroundings add the appropriate moodiness. Plus it's so finely rendered, even though it's in tall pixels.


Edited by cure - 05 November 2011 at 1:38pm

@ cure

That is a FINE choice.  Not only for its narrative and mood, but for how it really brings out the power of the pixel.  All of the objects, most notably the metal tin showcase this.  It is so characteristically pixel art, but still looks incredibly defined.

@Dumbo

I like your choice too, because you chose a small animated sprite, which is probably what is most associated with pixel art.  And that to an outsider, it would seem like deceptively simple piece

There are WAAAAAAAAAAY too many good pieces to just point to one and say "that one".





But I suppose The Spartan is as good of a number one contender as any.

I love the color scheme and the effect created by the pixels :)
I'm more focused on the traditional pencil and paper art. I'm not sure how you guys feel about that but I could share it with you if you are interested :)

@ Sergiotron
Those are some of my favorites too :)

@Jal
I think that is what I said to myself when I first saw that piece to :p

I think my favorite is this piece by Helm:


I think it was the first piece I favorited.  I'm a big fan of the tall/wide pixels and c64 palette, and I think Helm does it best.  I chose this out of his selection because I feel that the harsh definitions in the body are meant to be disturbing, but it is the opposite to me.

 I love the male form anyway, but it is the austerity in the face, hands, and muscles, which is made even stronger by the skeletal look.  To me, he's starving, but instead of looking sickly, his disposition is one of power and beauty

I was thinking about choosing that orcs piece. I like the compositional and narrative elements of 'just the tip' much more, but the scale and detail of 'orcs!' is certainly to be admired.

Simple but extremely well executed, animation is great, gives a good sense of strength and weight and character design is cute :3 All in a very small size!