It's sign-up time for...

(21st ANNUAL)

• Only sign up if you're sure that you'll be to able to complete your gift, by checking the dates below. If you don't complete your gift you won't be able to join next year's Secret Santa and make someone very sad. Also you will miss the unique Secret Santa profile award.
   
• Provide some indication of your likes/dislikes: this is important! You can be as specific or broad as you like, but be aware this is all your Santa has to go by if they don't know you!

• If you have at least a few pieces in your PJ gallery, your Secret Santa will know you better.

• You'll receive your partner's name via private message (gallery PM). Consider turning on email notification for this in your profile settings!

• Start making your gift, you have over a month!

• Submit a gift box to the gallery (not the artwork!), and send your gift artwork in a message to Mirre. See the submission guide below.
• Here's a sample post if you are somehow still lost.  You can format however you want, however please include "I'm in!" or something similar in your post.
  
      "Count me in!
      I like:
      hating fun, being a curmudgeon and getting free stuff!!!!
      I do NOT like:
       chocolate, childrens' smiles, and also Christmas (which probably makes things a bit awkward, really, but oh well)
      Thanks! P.S. no spiders"

 

Submission Guide

 

Important!!! Follow these submission instructions carefully, to not spoil any surprises:

• When you've finished your gift, first choose Submit Pixel Art from the main site and upload your gift wrap (see Gift Wrap section below) as the preview (small) image and do not upload anything else. The description should only say “Secret Santa” and should not include the name of the person you’re gifting, at least until the official reveal.
• Note: For the Secret Santa purposes, you can upload the template gift wraps below. Still, custom wraps rock!
• Now, send your real gift to Mirre by PM or email. You can use imgur.com, or if you can't, you can send it in a DM to her on Discord or to linnaeahl@gmail.com. We will edit and change your pixel art submission with the real one, so we can reveal all presents at the same time. Please don't post your gift anywhere else before December 27th, that would spoil the surprise.

 

Dates

• November 7th ~ November 20th - Sign-ups in these weeks only! Send this post to your friends, share on Twitter or Bluesky and post in your Discords. If there's anyone you'd love to get a gift from, send them this thread!
• November 21st - A PM with your partner's name will be sent out to you; keep it a secret and start early!
• November 21st ~ December 24th - You have nearly a month to make and hand in a beautiful pixel present!
• December 17th - if not already all done, you need to send Mirre a WIP of what you are making by this date, to show that you're working on something. 
• December 24th - Last day to send in your gift!
• December 27th - PRESENTS !!!

Feel free to ask questions under this post, or PM Mirre if you're confused about anything or have any questions to ask after consulting the FAQ below.

 

Santa's Help Desk

What kind of gift do I make?
Anything you want, just so long as it involves pixel art. Tailor it to your partner's listed interests, or towards them and their work if you are familiar. Any subject you think will be well received is fair game. You can make them a mockup, animation, sprites; you name it! If you're worried about time, don't overly complicate things, relax and do what you do best.

But I'm quite likely to be embroiled in some sort of ~festive revelry~ around the end of December; can I still take part?
You can send your gift in as early as you like. The 24th is the deadline, but submissions will be accepted from the time you receive your partner's name via PM, up until the 24th. It's not fun to try and rush this stuff leading up to Christmas, getting it done with time to spare is highly recommended.

I'm not going to manage finishing my present in time, will I still be banned from next year's Secret Santa?
WIPs will be OK temporarily... It's better to have your WIP under the tree than nothing, but please finish quickly afterwards to avoid consequences. If you know you won't be able to finish, for whatever reason, let Mirre know ASAP so that something else can be sorted out for your partner.

I think making a present for so-and-so would be really fun, I wish I was their Santa!
If you finish your present early, you're more than welcome to make gifts for multiple people. Spread the holiday cheer! But concentrate on your partner first.

 

Gift Wrap!

You can use one of these generic gift wraps as the preview icon of your gallery submission:

Alternatively: Make a custom wrapping for your gift; in this way you can have a bit of fun teasing the contents within. Just submit this in your gallery as the preview image. So it should be max 100x100 px. Here are a few examples from previous years... with a link to their gifts, for ideas. (you can't use these! come up with your own!)

by Wolfenoctis

by Jeremy

by Drazelic

 

 

Still awake? Read everything? Great!! If you sign up below before or on the 25th of November, you'll be added to this list. After you submit your gift, we'll mark you on our list with a little  

The winners are Ashadorn, velvetChaika, Incognito2074 and CoconutsForest.

The 20th century begins now, and it will be divided into decades. The first theme is the 1900s: Art Nouveau, automobiles and aeroplanes, discoveries in atomic physics, ballet, and the end of the Belle Époque!

The link to the canvas: https://maetheria.com/

https://i.ibb.co/Pvv07CB5/maetheria-79-cropped.png

We have to honour PJ traditions. We were stealing from Mirre 2 years ago, and from Trigonomicon last year. We will steal from Weerdmeester this year, because we can (and because we owe Weerdmeester a half of year of amazing challenges).

Pick any Weerdmeester's animated artwork (it can be an animated preview for an nonanimated piece) and use it as a base for your own challenge entry. It can be a tribute, a continuation, your version of it, a study with a twist, the same but with your style elements, or a similar piece that emulates Weerdmeester's style.

Link your chosen piece. You can also add a description explaining why or how your artwork is inspired or corresponds to what you have chosen.
 

Pixelween 2025 is over... exept not because it's the Bonus Week!

The theme is Origin.

You will be continuing your horizontal landscape to the left hand side this time.

Where did the guest come from? How did they end up exactly there for their fateful meeting? When did they come from? Why did they... come... from? What in the...?

Do feel free to interpret the theme (origin) and format (landscape panorama) as you wish. Thinking outside of the box is always encouraged! The only real limitations are the palette and canvas size! And remember that it needs to connect on the left side to the first weekly challenge entry you made, or the one that is furthest to the left.

This weekly challenge is not mandatory to participate in to qualify for the competition, but encouraged for those who enjoyed themselves or wish to challenge themselves. You are also able to use a couple of days from this week to polish your previous entries/parts of the panorama, for the competition. It will not be the whole week though, so get your tweaks in soon!


BONUS BONUS CHALLENGE - use the bonus week entry to connect your panorama on both sides and create an endlessly flowing animation (which you can show or link in this artwork's description).

Pixelween 2025 continues with it's fourth week...

The theme is The End.

You will be creating a horizontal landscape on this theme. The following weeks will attach to the previous weeks' entries on the right hand side. So to summarize: a horizontal landscape panorama going from left to right.

They have gone through it all. A meeting, a journey, a loss. All that remains for them to experience is the end. Or is it?

Do feel free to interpret the theme (the end) and format (landscape panorama) as you wish. Thinking outside of the box is always encouraged! The only real limitations are the palette and canvas size! And remember that it needs to connect to the previous week and the next week's challenge entry.

This week's width was decided by a vote on Discord. This week concludes the competition entries. Two out of four parts must have been submitted in time for the Weekly Challenges to qualify your entry for the contest. There will also be a bonus week next week that is not mandatory to participate in, but encouraged for those who enjoyed themselves or wish to challenge themselves.