Art

I made a 64 x 64 pixel art portrait. For a longer description, see this blog post.

Here’s what I could come up with today, a duck in a pond drawn as 64 x 64 pixel art in Divoom’s pixel art editor.

There’s no better way to learn than to just jump in and start drawing and animating, I guess. Shown is a simple animation loop and a color gradient through the 16 colors of the Sweetie-16 color palette.

I thought that 64 x 64 pixel is too small for anything worthwhile, until I saw an image (locked inside an app) by professional artist Laura Aragon in the Divoom pixel art community. Holy cow, I have to up my game to get near this level of artistry. I’d like to see how she made it.

This 64 x 64 “selfie” pixel art portrait took much, much longer than it needed to. I drew an outline in Pixquare, and replicated that in the Divoom pixel editor, after which I colored the sketch. The image is a screenshot, framed in Procreate, because Divoom’s export filter is no good.

On Christmas day I thought it appropriate to go oldskool with ballpoint pens on copier paper. While clearly not finished, I thought I captured some of the original in my sketch, of which I’m proud as a sign of progress.

I reworked a pixel art piece I did earlier this year in Pixaki, imported it via the photo library into Divoom’s pixel art editor, took a screenshot inside the editor, and added a frame around it in Procreate. Of course, it is expected that I draw in Divoom’s app, which I find clumsy.

While awaiting the arrival of my LED panel I made this 64x64 pixel art portrait from imagination. Alas importing into the Divoom app introduces unwanted anti-aliasing, almost impossible to get rid of. Ah well, it works for smaller panels too.

Just got a notification, arrival within 15 minutes 😊

I refined yesterday’s stapler pixel art in the Divoom pixel editor at 64x64 pixels. Now I’m waiting for the LED panel to arrive, so I can test it. 🥁🥁🥁💥🎉🥳

Apparently, getting better at drawing requires some attentive drawing practice, and observing what one is looking at before even drawing. I noticed foreshortening in the face, so I tried to draw that (see process video). As an initial sketch it is descent, but I think I need more practice.

I found this ornate stapler on Sketchfab and took a snapshot of a side view to study and draw. I wanted to see if I could turn it into 64 x 64 pixel art somehow. The sketch took me 4½ hours, and the pixel art version an hour or so.

I believe this is what happens if I don’t really understand the subject I’m drawing and just draw shapes. I suppose a bit of analysis before putting the stylus to the iPad would’ve resulted in a more solid drawing. Based on a toy rocket I found on Sketchfab, of which there are many.

Using several steps I created and refined this sketch, based on a wooden toy duck from Sketchfab. It isn’t a copy, but a recreation based on observation. I can see its flaws, and, therefore, I need to practice drawing solid basic sketches before trying this method on drawing portraits.

I redesigned my blank sketch sheet in a pixel editing app (Pixquare). The grays are obviously for shading, and the four colors are for blocking in straight lines, from big to small:

• green - overall dimensions
• red - rough outline
• orange - inner shapes outlines
• blue - darkest areas outlines

If I want to get any good at blocking in sketches, I probably should start with an easier subject matter, and work my way up to portraits. Here’s my sketch (and its process video).

As soon as I go a little more in the direction of stylized drawing, I find the quality of it increasing. This sketch is loosely based on Preston Blaire’s animation drawing, using a reference photo to get the details in. I’m somewhat pleased with the result, but know I can do much better.

I really should try a portrait tutorial, work on my art fundamentals, and draw a skull from lots of angles to improve my drawing skill. This portrait is from a photo reference, and I think it’s meh, though better than what I’ve drawn a week ago. So there’s progress.

Such a messy messy sketch, with lots of mistakes I can learn from. I’ve redone the nose and mouth, which were placed in the wrong position. They still aren’t correct, though, but better. Unlearning bad habits is hard, yet I will get there.

Has it been two years already since @relayfm left Twitter? Original post here.

Quick sketch of Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor.