Pixel Art: My life experience with pixel art

Hello, I'm Pablo García! And today I come to talk to you about pixel art, an art that has accompanied me from my childhood to my adult life. Like any child of the 80s, I grew up watching those giant pixels on the screen and, although at that time I did not know what I was seeing, I was fascinated.

What is Pixel Art?

First, let's go to the basics: What is pixel art?. Imagine each of those little squares of color you see on your screen as a small piece of mosaic. Exactly! Each "pixel" is like a brick and pixel art is simply the art of arranging those bricks to create images. Sounds simple, right? But you'd be surprised how complicated it can be to create art with these constraints. Every pixel counts.

What makes pixel art special is the intentional limitation. Today, with so much technology, we could create images with billions of colors, but pixel art is a return to basics, to a time when artists had to work with limited color palettes and small resolutions. It seems easy, but as they say out there: less is more.

Origins of Pixel Art

Pixel art as we know it today started in the 70s and 80s. Think Space Invaders or Pac-Man. Whew! Those games marked my childhood, and everything we saw on screen was made of fat pixels. The reason? The graphics of the time were very limited in terms of resolution and colors. Artists had to be very creative with what they had, which led to the development of a unique visual style.

But it wasn't until the 80s, with the arrival of consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), when pixel art exploded. That's when we saw the birth of characters like Mario or Link, figures that today are icons not only of video games, but also of pixel art.

Pixel Art and Video Games

If you grew up playing Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda, then you already know all too well the impact of pixel art in the world of video games. These games defined an era, and what many don't know is that pixel graphics were a technical constraint of the time, not a conscious artistic choice (at least at first). Video game graphic artists had no choice but to work with what the processors could handle: very few colors and low resolutions. But what's amazing is how they knew how to make art out of that.

The 8-bit, which represents the number of colors available on these early consoles, created a visual identity so strong that, even today, it is still used. It is no coincidence that current games like Minecraft or Celeste use this same visual style.

My personal experience with Pixel Art

My relationship with pixel art is not only as a spectator. As a kid, I spent hours designing characters and scenarios with graph paper. Did anyone else do that? I drew as if each square of paper was a pixel, and I did it with a care that only a fanatic child of video games could understand. Already in my adolescence, when I finally had access to a computer, was when I really turned to digital art. I used basic programs, moving pixels one by one to create my own works.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that pixel art taught me patience and perseverance. My goodness! Adjusting each pixel so that an image made visual sense required brutal concentration. But, what a satisfaction when you finished a piece!

Evolution of Pixel Art

The most curious thing about pixel art is how it has evolved. What started as a technological limitation in the 70s and 80s, has become an art style in its own right. Today, many artists, indie game designers and even modelists are embracing this retro style.

And you know what? With the rise of nostalgia for retro video games, pixel art is back stronger than ever. It's not uncommon to see t-shirts, posters and even art exhibitions in this style. Even big brands are adopting it for their products. It's the vintage of digital!

In addition, we now have much more powerful tools like Photoshop, Aseprite or Pixilart. These platforms allow artists to create and animate their pixelated works more easily than ever. Even I, at this point, am still dabbling in pixel art, using these tools to keep up with the times and, above all, for pure fun.

Pixel Art Today

In the midst of 2024, when everyone seems to be obsessed with 4K resolutions and ultra-realistic images, pixel art is still relevant. And not only that! It is more alive than ever. The indie games are a clear example of how this aesthetic is back to stay. Games like Stardew Valley and Terraria demonstrate that, although hyper-realistic graphics are fine, the magic of pixel art is still irresistible to many.

Why? Simple: there is something fascinating and nostalgic about seeing how a few pixels can form images that tell us stories, move us, and transport us to a completely different world.

Also, pixel art is an accessible art. Anyone, with the right tools, can start creating their own designs. And that's the beauty of it: it doesn't matter if you're a beginner or an expert, what really matters is what you want to express. And that's what makes pixel art so special.

The Future of Pixel Art

So what is the future of pixel art? I think it has a guaranteed place. Despite technological advances, there will always be room for this simple but powerful art. Why? Because it's not just about graphics, it's about emotions. And those emotions, whether we want or not, are linked to the nostalgia we feel for those simpler times.

And there will always be new generations of artists who will fall in love with those magic squares, just like I did so many years ago.