Pixel Joint Forum: Pixel art ideas

Until you figure how your creative spirit runs (there is no secret or tips) you can enter weekly challenges which are designed especially for those without an idea or going artist block.

If you really mean that visual imagination is not your thing then art is not your thing... :/

PJs FAQ <•> Sticky Reads

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Here's some cool activities from art school...

1. Get a couple medium dark Copic greyscale markers (I like diagonal tipped for shape variation). Make a variety of marks 8 or more times on different areas of a clear vellum paper. Scan in these different sets of marks. Put them each on a separate layer in Photoshop or a similar program. Then combine the various layers through different blending modes and see what sort of strange combinations emerge. These can be the start of a painting if you see something that gives you a good starting idea. The painting I made was a woman rising out of lava facing a golem held together with green energy.

Lord of the Mechs - My favorite assignment of all might have been when our teacher came up with the idea of blending Lord of the Rings with some sort of Robotech etc mechs world. We each drew a name (I got Legolas) and everyone built that character and their associated mech. What would Legolas' mech look like? What would Sauron's mech look like? Goblins? Trolls? Dwarves? It was such a fun concept to build art around! I'd love to see something like this for a pixel art weekly...

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In general I'd recommend developing your visual library. Do image gathering on the internet. Get books about various subjects. Don't try to art without reference!!! Here are the sort of books that I have lying around the house:

World History, Visual History of the Warrior, Creatures of the Ocean, Birds & Birdwatching, Dinosaurs, Strength Training Anatomy, Animal Anatomy, Rocks & Minerals, Rainforest, images taken of earth geography from space, etc etc...

Art of...The Hobbit, various artists, various games, old game foldouts and instruction manuals, old Star Wars art books from the '80s, etc...

various Fairy Tale books, early art and animation of Disney, various how to make fantasy art books, etc..

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Author	Message
Axteryo Seaman Joined: 14 June 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9	Topic: Pixel art ideas Posted: 16 June 2015 at 12:36pm
	How do you guys come up with your ideas of what to make? I'm not very good at visual imagination, unfortunately.
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jalonso Admiral Joined: 29 November 2022 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13537	Posted: 16 June 2015 at 12:47pm
	Until you figure how your creative spirit runs (there is no secret or tips) you can enter weekly challenges which are designed especially for those without an idea or going artist block. If you really mean that visual imagination is not your thing then art is not your thing... :/
	PJs FAQ <•> Sticky Reads
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rhlstudios Commander Joined: 17 September 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 106	Posted: 16 June 2015 at 1:25pm
	It might sound silly, but draw random shapes on a page and turn them into something. Like these shapes here, http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk43/karnizarchada/wac/challenge001-template.png try turning them into things (Like this person did here http://40.media.tumblr.com/4b1c53ae594b53d31f81e0ddd02fa7bc/tumblr_mfqzzydqAj1rvfh0po1_1280.jpg ) Don't stress over it or take it too seriously, it's just a fun little way to exercise your creativity :D
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Iscalio Commander Joined: 29 March 2023 Online Status: Offline Posts: 224	Posted: 22 July 2015 at 10:43pm
	Here's some cool activities from art school... 1. Get a couple medium dark Copic greyscale markers (I like diagonal tipped for shape variation). Make a variety of marks 8 or more times on different areas of a clear vellum paper. Scan in these different sets of marks. Put them each on a separate layer in Photoshop or a similar program. Then combine the various layers through different blending modes and see what sort of strange combinations emerge. These can be the start of a painting if you see something that gives you a good starting idea. The painting I made was a woman rising out of lava facing a golem held together with green energy. Lord of the Mechs - My favorite assignment of all might have been when our teacher came up with the idea of blending Lord of the Rings with some sort of Robotech etc mechs world. We each drew a name (I got Legolas) and everyone built that character and their associated mech. What would Legolas' mech look like? What would Sauron's mech look like? Goblins? Trolls? Dwarves? It was such a fun concept to build art around! I'd love to see something like this for a pixel art weekly... ****************** In general I'd recommend developing your visual library. Do image gathering on the internet. Get books about various subjects. Don't try to art without reference!!! Here are the sort of books that I have lying around the house: World History, Visual History of the Warrior, Creatures of the Ocean, Birds & Birdwatching, Dinosaurs, Strength Training Anatomy, Animal Anatomy, Rocks & Minerals, Rainforest, images taken of earth geography from space, etc etc... Art of...The Hobbit, various artists, various games, old game foldouts and instruction manuals, old Star Wars art books from the '80s, etc... various Fairy Tale books, early art and animation of Disney, various how to make fantasy art books, etc..
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