The winners are Ashadorn, Incognito2074 and CoconutsForest.

The next theme is 17th century and the Baroque era.

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

The following pixel artists produced Pixel Joint's top rated pixel art for June 2025.
Many thanks go out to this month's top pixel artists, and all the members who took time to rate!

At the window
by Yes-I-Do

The Tower
by hby

Heaven
by Zorreta

Bird of red
by ink

Man vs Machine
by Imagician

Red-Eyed Relicmonger
by VoyPix

To the earth
by hby

Field of red
by ink

Maze Mice - Garden Stage
by specialmin64

prtrt
by TofuPxl

PS C:\Users\Admin\Desktop\Pixeljoint Top 10>

The winners are Incognito2074, Ashadorn, CoconutsForest and mrmunzzzz.

The next theme is Renaissance.

What to draw:

• Artists painting frescoes and sculpting marble, merchants trading silk and spices in sunlit plazas, and inventors building watermills, clockwork devices, and printing presses;
• Inquisitors watching from cathedral steps, plague doctors moving through narrow alleys, and cities caught between beauty, fear, and discovery;
• Masked festivals in Venice, Leonardo da Vinci sketching flying machines, and musicians playing lutes in candlelit courtyards.
   

What NOT to draw:

• Anything from the Age of Discovery — no explorers, no galleons, no maps of the New World.

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

https://i.ibb.co/N2rB4BHL/maetheria-54-fragment.png

https://i.ibb.co/zWHTLjDc/maetheria-51-cropped.png

Check out the results of the Roman Empire challenge. The winners are velvetChaika, James TDG, mrmunzzzz, Solarboy, NineBlackCats, Calythera and Yatsuki!

The next theme is dedicated to the Dark ages and Vikings.

What to draw:
- The fall of Rome, the barbarian invasions and the early Middle Ages;
- The Byzantine Empire, the Arab Caliphate and nomadic tribes such as the Scythians and Huns;
- Vikings.

What NOT to draw:
- The High Middle Ages with its knights and troubadours.

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

The winners are cardo de comer, JamesTDG, velvetChaika, mrmunzzzz, NineBlackCats and ArseniiMolokov

The theme of the next challenge is Roman Empire. It will run until May 3rd.

What to draw:

• The Roman Empire at its height — marble forums and triumphal arches, aqueducts, and coliseums roaring with the clash of gladiators;
• Legions crossing the Alps, battles with the Carthaginians, Hannibal’s war elephants and the wild Celts; triumphal parades with golden chariots and laurel-crowned generals;
• Cruel and decadent emperors — Nero playing the lyre as flames consume Rome, Caligula declaring war on the sea and naming his horse consul;
• Early Christians hiding in catacombs, Caesar’s final breath, senators in heated debate, and she-wolve nurturing the founders of an eternal city.

What NOT to draw:

• Anything depicting the fall of Rome, barbarian invasions, or the dark centuries that followed.

Join in here: https://maetheria.com

https://youtu.be/s365Bxr9V54

The winners are velvetChaika, Nebularis, and cardo de comer.

The theme of the next challenge is Ancient Greece.

What to draw:
 

• The ancient Hellenes during their golden age — their poleis, temples and statues, ships, battles with the Persians and among themselves;
• Athletic games, theatrical performances, philosophical debates, and Dionysian dances;
• The Olympian gods, satyrs, nymphs, and monsters like cyclopes, centaurs, Medusa the Gorgon, the Minotaur, sirens, and the Lernaean Hydra;

What NOT to draw:
 

• Anything related to the history of Ancient Rome

The challenge runs until April 19th. Join in here:  https://maetheria.com/

The winners are velvetChaika, cardo de comer, and Aetherion.

🔥 From stone to bronze—civilization rises! 🔥
The next theme is The Bronze Age, Agriculture, and Ancient Civilizations.

"Go up on the wall of Uruk and walk around,
examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork.
Is not its masonry of kiln-fired brick?
Did not the Seven Sages lay its foundations?"
— Epic of Gilgamesh

It runs until March 29—join in here: https://maetheria.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mbNrTV2hGk

The winners are сardo de comer, velvetChaika and JamesTDG. The theme of the next challenge is The Stone Age and the dawn of humanity. It will run until March 15.

What to draw:

Hunter-gatherer tribes, similar to those still found deep in Africa, Indonesia, Siberia, and North and South America;
Their art: outfits, tattoos, war paint, shamanic accessories, and ritual masks;
Sacred structures: stone dolmens and megaliths, and wooden totem poles.

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

Don't forget to comment on the pieces you like!  Not only does a comment have the potential to make the artist's day, if you post a lot you'll win one of the fancy new trophies!

 

 

February top commenter awards go to:
 

1. QueenKami
2.   Tipleloop
3.   gawrone

And February most favourited award goes to:
kumori

Official Pixel Joint Group Picture 2025 collab starts now. This year's topic is class photo. We will be representing ourselves with portraits including upper bodies. Any form of representation is allowed. It doesn't have to be a realistic portrait; it can be any style and any form.

The first sitting row is reserved for the mod team only, and all users will take their standing spots in subsequent rows above. On the day of launch, only the second row is open, but we will unlock new spots while your submissions are filling in.


Link to the forum post: https://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=27704


Rules:

1) The mandatory palette is Fading 16 by CopheeMoth.

2) Claim your spot on the PJ forum the same way as ISO collab tiles are claimed - the first comment takes the spot. The spots differ in size (64, 72 or 80 px wide), so choose the one you will need for your art. If you don't see your preferred size available, wait for another level to unlock. If you decide that you need a different size after the claim, you can change it by releasing one that you have and claiming another.

3) Your avatar (if you are going for an anthropomorphic being) should be located in the middle of your spot, facing front, with the head in the middle. You should fit the elbows more or less above the heads of two characters from the level below you.

4) You have to present your WiP in 3 days and then a finished picture in another 11 days (14 days total). If you currently do not have time, don't claim. Others are waiting too. Don't worry, the collab will last until the end of the year. Any modifications to a finished submission are allowed only if moderators will accept them, but only in the inside of your work; the top outline, once sealed, cannot be changed.

5) If you manage to present your WiP in 3 days, but fail to finish the whole thing in two weeks you will loose your spot claim. You are able to reclaim it only if someone already didn't claim it for themselves. If that happens you will have to claim a different available spot, and adapt the bottom of your WiP to a new surroundings.

6) All top edges of the row need to be connected with a "white" border. The first person who finishes their claim decides on the shoulder height connection. If your neighbour is done before you, you have to connect yours to theirs. It is better to share WiPs with your neighbours and work in the spirit of collaboration to prevent difficult problems to solve later.

7) You cannot pass the white outline under your spot and draw on top of finished pieces from the previous row.

8) Extending your character to your neighbour's spot is allowed if your neighbour agrees to it, and mods allow it (look at Mirre's mermaid tail example). Also, working together with your neighbour with things like holding hands or a two-headed monster is allowed.

9) Your finished work has to be submitted with transparency above the white outline (around the head and shoulders), and if parts of your artwork do go overboard to your neighbour's spot, add transparency and your part only, without their part.

The final collection has 88 animals made by a total of 70 contributors. Unsuprisingly, mammals where the most well represented class of animals, with a total of 38 mammals, of which five were cats. Second place goes to Birds(21), followed by Reptiles(7),  Insects(6), Ray-finned Fish(4), Amphibians and Arachnids(3), and Cephalopods(2), with a lone Hydroza, Crab, and Tardigrade rounding out the bottom.

 

 You can read the original challenge announcement and rules here.

The Origin of Life challenge has ended, and the winners are velvetChaika, Mirreon, cardo de comer, and Knutick. Check out the details: https://maetheria.com

Nature’s diversity still holds so much potential, so we’re extending the life’s emergence and nature theme for another two weeks! Humans and civilization will have their time to shine in future eras—no need to rush them just yet.

What does "pixel perfect even mean nowadays?
I Wrote an article, which examines the meaning and history of the term
You can read it on my Ko-Fi:

ko-fi.com/post/Pixel-perfect-has-no-meaning-Z8Z01ADBJH

The Cosmic Challenge has ended, and the winners are Mirreon, Calythera, Ritta and Varaneu! Check out the project's website for details: https://maetheria.com/

The theme of the new challenge is The Origin of Life. It will run until February 15.

What to draw:

- Botanical ornaments
- Amoebas, insects, fungi, animals, dinosaurs, and other creatures in their evolutionary process
- Everything that grows and blooms: plants, flowers, and fruits

What not to draw:

- Humans and anything created by them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2gk5yizQj8

A new exciting project from @elwis, the creator of Tapacron, which, by the way, is celebrating its first anniversary (check out what has been drawn over the year: https://tapacron.com).

Maetheria is a multicolored substance made of pixels, created by daemons using fire, or pyros. As one of these daemons, your mission is to build the universe alongside other artists.

Every two weeks, a new challenge will begin, inspired by the epochs of history:

    The Birth of the Universe
    The Origin of Life and Dinosaurs
    The Stone Age
    The Bronze Age
    The Middle Ages
    …and so on, journeying through history to modern times and beyond into the future.

The best creators will earn pyros and ascend the daemon hierarchy.

Other Rules:

    Interconnected Growth. You can only add pixels next to existing ones, so the entire Maetheria is interconnected and grows outward from a single starting point.
    Pixel Freezing. Pixels freeze over time. Once frozen, they can’t be changed (only King Kleitos has the power to alter them).
    Central Symmetry. At the start, the canvas will feature central symmetry, encouraging mandala-like designs.
    Quality is more important than quantity. The goal is to create something beautiful, so there’s no need to rush. It’s better to have fewer artists, as long as they create something amazing. Images unrelated to the challenge theme will be removed by the Black Patrol.
    Non-commercial Essence. Creating a universe for the sake of art is the sacred duty of daemons. The project will have no monetization or ads.

Come on in, draw, and invite your friends: https://maetheria.com/

With a record number of 72 total gifts, it took us a while, but they are finally all collected on the Forum. It's been an amazing turnout not just in terms of quantity, but also quality, so if you've haven't already caught all of them in the gallery take some time to browse the fruits of December's labour:

Secret Santa 2024 - Gifts!
 

Secret Santa gifts will be revealed on Twitch 27th December at 15:00 CET


https://www.twitch.tv/gawr1pixel/schedule?seriesID=9d1f9762-0cd2-4af1-b7b9-d63258d198ea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9bvugoNXTs

https://youtu.be/SGRovZCy5Mk

hby - Wins a printed Masters of Pixel Art book volume of your choice, and a software key.




 

amberMechanic - Wins a 25$ steam gift card, a Masters of Pixel Art e-book, and a software key. Space-AgeWrangler - Wins a 25$ steam gift card, a Masters of Pixel Art e-book, and a software key. 4th: kumori - Wins a Masters of Pixel Art ebook, and a software key. 5th: Tipleloop - Wins a Masters of Pixel Art ebook, and a software key. 6th: kumori - Wins a game/software key. 7th ex-aequo: Grimm_Dingo - Wins a game/software key. 7th ex-aequo: rogue_frog - Wins a game/software key. 8th: StevenM - Wins a game/software key. 9th: kumori - Wins a game/software key. Please give a big hand to everyone who showed up this year to participate - the contestants, the winners, the judges and spectators alike. Hopefully you all walked away with something, even if it's just an appreciation for what everybody brought to the table - and, extra hopefully, you'll be looking forward to entering as well next year! But if you just want to stick around and watch, that's good, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obXMbCNHK88

The nights grow dark and the wind blows cold. The horror of Pixelween is upon us once again!

This year your task will be to create book covers for horror stories! Each week during Pixelween, the weekly challenge will give you a combination of a horror genre and a time period (voted on by the PJ Discord), and you have to create a book cover that matches the combination.

Rules:

To be eligible for the Pixelween prizes, you must submit to at least 2 of the 4 weeklies. As long as at least two of your submissions are on time, you are allowed (but not required) to submit more up until October 27th, the final deadline. Technically having a complete set is not required to win, but it sure helps!

Prizes:

• 1st place will receive a printed Masters of Pixel art book volume of your choice, and a software key.
• 2nd & 3rd place will receive a 25$ steam gift card, a Master of Pixel art e-book, and a software key.
• 4th and 5th place will receive a Master of Pixel art ebook, and a software key.
• 6th - 9th (and possibly more) place will receive a software key, see info below.

All who participate shall earn the rare Pixelween trophy.

How to enter:

To participate, your works need to be submitted to the four Pixel Joint challenges, the first one which starts on the 30th September.

If you've missed out on one of the challenges you can still submit your entry to Pixel Joint, as long as at least 2 of the scenes are posted as part of a weekly challenge within the deadline. While it probably won't be necessary, poking one of the moderators when you post your entry after its challenge deadline is a good idea.

You can find the result of last year's Pixelween Here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZU4H0OYg-A

https://youtu.be/wagL7ezZB60

We will be aiming towards a "relaxed" realistic style. That doesn't mean photorealistic, but the animals need to be at least anatomically correct as much as possible and have mostly correct proportions. We will not be accepting anthropomorphic bipeds in clothes, or kawaii. But some cute facial features (like smile or bigger eyes) are allowed and encouraged. We are also require animals to be chosen from currently existing on planet Earth. This mean that this time we will not be accepting any extinct animals (for example dinosaurs) and fantastic, fictional or hypothetical animals (dragons, unicorns, aliens, cryptids, etc.).

We hope that the whole collab will look coherent; so the proportions in sizes between the animals will need to be somewhat realistic. We will not be able to correctly represent the size of an ant and a whale, but they need to make sense, so: ant < rabbit < wolf < elephant < whale. We will be sorting your choices into canvas size categories - the smallest will be 32x32px for animals like insects, small birds, rodents etc., and 160x160 for the biggest ones like elephant. This could change as we might need to adapt while the collab develops; but only by including additional rectangle canvases as needed using 32x32 blocks.

Everyone is required o use the Comfy52 palette made by bess. And to add "white" outline made with the brightest colour from the palette - #e5efef. You can do only one "white" outline or double outline with "black" (#1a1f2e) outline or selective, creative outline under it (for example, if your animal is a snow owl or a polar bear). Whatever outline option you choose, the most external outline have to be full "white".





As the collab progresses, we will compile a list of species already used, sorted in alphabetical order, to make it easier to join.



Rules summary:

- choose your animal species form existing, earthly animals;
- ask mods if it is still available (or check the list), and if it is specific enough;
- ask mods which canvas size category is your animal;
- provide a WiP within a week, and a finished entry in a month to keep your species claim,
- draw only a non animated sprite with no background, using the provided palette;
- aim for the "relaxed" realistic style, as far as you can, and if you approach any struggle, feel free to ask for help on discord # animal-atlas-collab channel.
 

Examples made by PJ staff:

- Sea otter by Irenaart on 64x64 canvas.
- Black and rufous sengi by Gawrone on 32x32 canvas.
- Vangunu giant rat by The Nerd on 64x32 canvas.
- Aldabra giant tortoise by Carl the PJ Discord bot on 96x64 canvas.
- Silver gull by Vrine on 64x64 canvas.
 

Let's use our pixels to show how beautiful and diverse the animal kingdom is.




BONUS:

This is a group picture to which you may bring a companion. Do you have a spouse, a partner, a sibling, parent, kid or a best friend who loves pixel art and animals, but doesn’t pixel themselves? Or maybe does, but doesn’t have a PJ account? You are allowed to chose and draw a second animal to represent them. However, you may only do one extra, and you will not get a second trophy for it.

The Tapacron pixel chronicle is six months old! 🥳 Thanks to everyone who participated and left wonderful drawings! Let it continue this way. As is our tradition, we are publishing new time-lapse.

https://youtu.be/zWZPb00SLjA

Let us remind the rules for those who have forgotten them or are seeing the project for the first time:

👾 The canvas grows by 1 pixel every day starting from January 1, 2024.
👀 When someone colors a pixel, others see it in real-time.
⏱ If a pixel isn't recolored for over 30 days, it freezes and stays that color forever. Pixels not frozen are marked with dots.
🤏 To draw, zoom in on the canvas.
🌈 Drag the palette for more colors.
💉 Eyedropper tool: pick color by long-pressing the desired pixel on the canvas
😎 No need to register; all pixels are anonymous.

The project link: https://www.tapacron.com/

Cyangmou released a FREE collection of 38 tutorial charts, which can be used on their own, but also work as a collection. They cover mostly basic geometric projection, and explain a lot of types with foundational information and examples. 

Since parallel projections with pixel-exact lines get close to no attention in classic literature, this guide... 

• ...describes the full set of pixel-specific projections which only apply to computer graphics
• ...is meant for digital computer graphics for which different rules apply than for paper and plans.
• ...this guide follows a color-scheme, so the colors of objects will tell you which group of projection or perspective they belong to.

I want to make this freely available for everyone, as it's really hard to get this  knowledge anywhere else, since it's a total niche subject. If you want to share the materials, please refer to the information in the readme .

Use this for reference, for teaching or for your own art. I hope you'll learn something and have fun with this!
You can download the whole collection on my itch.io account:
https://cyangmou.itch.io/isometric-games-dont-exist

https://i.ibb.co/8xDYLFj/Screenshot-from-2024-06-03-22-33-17.png
 

Time-lapse video: https://youtu.be/T9Om8Glo7ok

Add your pixels to the chronicle here: https://www.tapacron.com

The epic pixel chronicle Tapacron has turned three months old! Currently, 261 people have participated in it. Link to the april time-lapse video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l74JKwEIdhE

RECENT UPDATES: An eyedropper tool has been added. You can pick the desired color by long-pressing on the chosen pixel on the canvas, and the palette will scroll to it.

Brief recap: Tapacron is a pixel chronicle where everyone can participate. The canvas expands by one pixel every day starting from January 1, 2024. To draw, zoom in on the canvas using the mouse wheel or a gesture: https://tapacron.com

Hello everyone! My name is elwis, and I want to share a project I've been working on all of last year: http://tapacron.com

The idea is to create a pixel art chronicle over decades, capturing popular events, persons and memes. The project is ad-free, non-commercial, purely for art.  

How it works:

The canvas grows by 1 pixel every day starting from January 1, 2024.
When someone colors a pixel, others see it in real-time.
If a pixel isn't recolored for over 30 days, it freezes and stays that way forever. Pixels not frozen are marked with dots.
 To draw, zoom in on the canvas.
Drag the palette for more colors.
No need to register; all pixels are anonymous.

Come on in, draw, and invite your friends! Let's create something epic together.

FUN FACT: The project is inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, the 70 metres long embroidered cloth that depicts the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

Ho ho ho everyone! I hope pixelling your gifts is going well.

I have some important information.

The Secret Santa 2023 Stream will be available on Twitch this year to make it accessible to more people. Last year we had it on Discord, but it capped it at 25 people and non-Discord users could also not participate. So we moved onto Twitch this year (it will be my Twitch premiere!) to make sure all 48 participants and any other curious people can watch it. But please excuse any beginner mistakes on my part!

The stream will be held on December 26th at 21:00 GMT+1. To find out the time in your time zone, please check the schedule link. The timezone in the schedule is based off the location your computer is set to. 

Here is a link to the scheduled stream: https://www.twitch.tv/linneart/schedule?seriesID=5711339b-0199-4347-845d-207d6527b404



Additionally if you are participating; I have extended the deadline to the 25th. I will be preparing an image slide show for the stream, so preferably send it latest the evening of the 25th (I'm on GMT+1). You can send it in a DM on Pixel Joint, send me an email at linnaeahl@gmail.com, or send it to me on Discord. Upload your wrapping preview to the Public Queue as soon after as you can - I need the wrapping too! (Remember to not actually submit your gift, or write who it is for.)

As a side note: if you realise now that you will be unable to make a gift. Please let me know ASAP so that I can let our Backup Santas know and they might be able to prepare something in time.


~ Mirre

EDIT: The complete list of all gifts can now be found on the forums here

Another year, another bountifull harvest of Pixelween entries both amazing and terrifying. The competition has been close in terms of scoring, and the final standings include a few shared postions, but we have now decided on a winner!

This year's entries were judged by a team of amazing pixel artists & veteran community members: Gecimen, Trigonomicon, Weerdmeester, Irenaart , StevenM, Jeremy, vrine, Skamocore, Aamatnieks, Cyangmou, and Hapiel.

With that out of the way, here are the winners:

Reo - Wins a printed Masters of Pixel Art book volume of your choice, and a software key.

gawrone - Wins a 25$ steam gift card, a Masters of Pixel Art e-book, and a software key.

Mermaid and hby - Each wins a 25$ steam gift card, a Masters of Pixel Art e-book, and a software key.
   

4th: Oke - Wins a Masters of Pixel Art ebook, and a software key.

 

5th: Mirre (#1) - Wins a Masters of Pixel Art ebook, and a software key.


6th: Matt and Umbohr - Each wins a game/software key.
   

7th: Tipleloop, Space-AgeWrangler, and bluexel - Each wins a game/software key.
       

All participants will receive a trophy, they should be in your profile soon.

We will be in contact with the winners shortly to arrange their prizes. Also, should the prizes be passed down, more winners will be announced in this news post.

That's all for this year! Let us know what you thought of this year's Pixelween in the comments. A big shoutout to all who participated, and we'll be back next year with a new challenge!

It's time to sign up for...


(19th ANNUAL)

The time has come once again. Pixelween awakens from it's unholy slumber. Beware it's tricks and get ready for the treats!

This year, you will be crafting 4 scenes that connect vertically over the course of four consecutive weekly challenges. Each challenge will be a new type of spooky scene that connects with the previous one. All of the scenes added together as a vertical panorama shall be your Pixelween entry. Think of these submissions as a collab with yourself, since you do not know the next week's theme in advance. 

Rules:
To be eligible for the Pixelween prizes, you must submit to at least 2 of the 4 weeklies. As long as at least two of your submissions are on time, you are allowed (but not required) to submit more up until October 25th, the final deadline. Technically having a complete set is not required to win, but the fates favor a finished vertical panorama.
The winning entries will be chosen from all eligible entries by a jury of select PixelJoint members, perhaps with the help of some dark outsiders who for now remain in the shadows...
The weeklies also function as normal weekly challenges, with the usual prizes. Your success in the weeklies does not influence your chances in Pixelween judging.

There will be a fifth bonus challenge that can be added onto your entry but isn't part of the judging.

The palette begins with 8 colours but will gradually increase and participants can vote for which colours to add the next week on PJ Discord. For every scene the canvas size will be 140 x 80.

Prizes:

• 1st place will receive a printed Masters of Pixel art book volume of your choice, and a software key.
• 2nd & 3rd place will receive a 25$ steam gift card, a Master of Pixel art e-book, and a software key.
• 4th and 5th place will receive a Master of Pixel art ebook, and a software key.
• 6th - 9th (and possibly more) place will receive a software key, see info below.

More rewards (software keys) will be announced soon! From these, the highest placing winners get to choose first, and if a winner does not need a software license it will be moved on to the 10th place, and so on.

The latest of Pixeljoint's traditional ISO collabs, CarnISOl just got complete! 33 different participants, made 98 tiles in 2 years. Make sure to check out the amazing result. Many thanks to all the participants who made this real! Special thanks to Irenaart who provided the palette, Krugelix and vrine who made 13 tiles each!

Please stay tuned for the color competition for the next collab - mISOlogy! This time the theme will be - as the name suggests - mythology!

 

Join us on the Photo Board,

Kemono Games released on 15th June its first game: ProtoCorgi available for Steam & Nintendo Switch.

Some Pixel artists of the PJ community worked in the game as Metaru and me!

You can buy the game here:

-Steam  

-Nintendo e-Shop