It is said that good artists draw everything. So I drew a bike on a 32 by 32 pixel canvas using a limited color palette. Of course, I used a reference.
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I had some sleep over me not bonding with the How We Feel app. Like I’ve learned not to give human traits to animals, treat them as their own being, seems I’ve learned not to anthropomorphize e-devices and apps. Since those are dispassionate, I’m allowed to be the same. That’s my rationalization 🤔

I suppose when taking symbolism too seriously it turns into stereotyping. Here I combined some of the state symbols of Texas ⭐️ into a 16 by 16 pixel character.
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I used a photo reference I took myself of my cat Aziz and tried to recreate a somewhat realistic piece in pixel art on a 32 by 32 canvas. The light is coming from the left and the cat is grounded by a shadow. I’m happy I could capture his cautious nature.
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I can imagine so many websites are being blocked in the European Union by their owners when one disallows tracking, is because they are in bed with Meta (aka Facebook). Meta is known to collect highly personal data, including health data, for attention farming. The Threads app is no exception there.

I don’t put myself above tracing to better understand what I’m drawing. It’s a shortcut used by artists since the invention of the camera obscura, and known to be popular around the second half of the 16th century. It’s like with cheat sheets in school; not needed if you’ve written enough of them.
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I suppose rate limiting Twitter users to 10,000 tweets per day for verified users, 1000 for existing unverified, and 500 for new unverified users, will force people to do something with all that free time. Might I suggest paying attention to that stranger across the dinner table, aka spouse?

Not caring so much about the final result doesn’t always bring greatness, but it brings results which may turn out to be great, or at least descent. Art is as much about the making as it is about showing what you made. Artists, great or not, ship.
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I remember The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as a great spy series from the early 1960’s, starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as American Napoleon Solo and Russian Illya Kuryakin. So I drew Solo in pixel art from reference. I haven’t seen it in ages, so I don’t know if it holds up to today’s standards.
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Art used to be an opportunity for self-reflection, art for art’s sake. With mechanical reproduction, art became a commodity, entertainment. With these immersive exhibitions and AI generative art, even the original is nullified. It’s entertainment for entertainment’s sake.

It is sometimes said that practice makes perfect, but a better saying is that practice brings improvement. This is even without a conscience effort—i.e. an art self-critique—to improve. In pixel art readability is always an issue, as with any stylized art. It often relies on shape and contrast.
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The funny thing is how much you need to compromise your art to keep a likeness if your canvas is only 32 by 32 pixels. Still, it IS possible to cram a whole scene into it, if you put your mind to it and squint a lot. I’ll be so happy once I’m able to do that.
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Another pixel portrait, building on some of the art fundamentals I refreshed recently, and really need to do more of to continue. Still using the 16 bit art nouveau palette, which I like a lot. More in the alt description.
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This is still a crude study of a master painting by a 19th century animal painter under the pseudonym “Raphael Olaria”, which I partially painted over with pixel art (256 x 173) on my iPad with a limited color palette called “16 color art nouveau."
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Here’s some simple fan art animation inspired by Leo Laport’s This Week in Tech show I made 14 years ago, and which still makes me jump for joy when I see it.

I suppose one has to start somewhere. My animal drawing is still lacking, especially of those long-haired breeds. Still, I gave it my best attempt. Maybe I need to study some master paintings.
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This one of 32 by 32 pixels took me several hours and two iterations to complete.
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Creating portraits in pixel art reminds how important it is to be mindful while making art, not to just follow a recipe or rely on what you’ve done before. Each artwork has to be intuitive at first, then more contemplative as you continue. Then take a break, and start again, using one’s intuition.

More creativity, I suppose?
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I suppose it’s good to try being creative…
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