Retro Art: One Pixel at a Time


Bruce Lee, pixel art, retro, The Red Rabbit
I think Bruce Lee would be proud
I was born in the spring of 1977 and was five months old when Elvis died. As far as I can tell, that is my most current claim to fame, though that time I defeated the game Ghost and Ghouls ranks up there in a close second.

In the late 70's computers weren't common place as they are now, in fact they weren't even common in business yet. It took the industry changing launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1983 to make home based gaming a real idea.

Freddy Krueger, horror, pixel, retro
The first games had a staggeringly low bit rate of 8 which meant graphics for had to be minimal, lacking gradation and detail. This resulted in simple animations and blocky layouts. At the time, games like Mario Bros. were all the rage and my friends and I played them daily, having 'sleep overs' as an excuse to eat pizza and stay up late. I don't remember anyone really worrying about the graphics or lack thereof, the important aspects of the games were the replay value and reaching top scores.



That time period led me, in a meandering way, to my current life as an illustrator. I live in a world where 8bit graphics are a retro design concept and many games are being created for mobile devices that take full advantage of the idea. I hope to create one of them.


So what makes pixel art look so damn cool?

Well, from the perspective of people only playing the games, it provides a sense of nostalgia. It also gives a nod to those players who, like me, From the perspective of artists who utilize pixel art (like I do) the creative process uses colour theory, image balance and takes advantage of the human brain's ability to 'fill in' the blanks as part of it's pattern recognition capabilities. When all this plays out, you have a powerful design that communicates all the necessary qualities of the game without the need for fine details, in fact, more details only take away from the feel of the retro 8bit graphics.

So, today I find myself in the fortunate position of having both a healthy sense of nerdiness and a level of creative/artistic skill that lets me create retro pixel art.

Do you like pixel art? Do you have an idea that would benefit from pixel art being part of it? Contact me: jason@theredrabbit.com

marvel, hulk, spiderman, magneto, venom, ironman, thor, thanos, Wolverine, Xavier, pixel
Can you name them all?


About me:
I'm a full-time freelance illustrator and designer focusing on the ideas and future success of other freelancers and entrepreneurs. Contact me and lets have a chat about your idea.
Studio: 778.786.1209



Author:
Jason Hilton
Owner/Operator
The Red Rabbit Studio
www.TheRedRabbit.com

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