| As modern video games themselves continue to push the graphical and artisitic boundaries, more and more naysayers are beginning to open their eyes to look at the medium as a valid artform. For us hardcore bunch of gamers, we've always appreciated how game artists drew wonderful and unique sprites; even moreso in early video game art knowing how under pressure these early pioneer artists were constrained with the low powered hardware. Last summer saw an artshow in California called I AM 8 BIT, celebrating and modernizing the classics in video game art. Other dedicated artists have followed suit to saluting nostalgia, including the one in this feature. |
| He calls himself "8-Bit Artist," and he preserves on canvas his admiration for the beauty found in simplicity, showing once again how the NES continues to live on in the memories of its fans. |
 |
|
How's he do it? "My paintings are all done on stretched canvas with acrylic paints. My technique is I will find a screen shot with my emulator, or just make up my own screen shot using sprites and I draw them out on graph paper, block by block and put which color the block is, kind of like my "map" to the picture. I will decide which sized pixels I will use, I have paint brushes the size of different squares like 1/2 in. or 1/4 in. and just go from there. I don't really grid all that much but the main focal points of the painting. I don't use a masking technique or anything like that (thats where people will tape off every part that one certain color so they get perfect lines); I dont like doing that, I think it takes away from the human element." |
8-Bit Artist has only been painting for six months, but in that short time he has already a vast assortment of NES-related paintings in his portfolio depicting fond memories from his childhood. To read more about 8-Bit Artist and his work, you can visit his Deviant Art gallery and MySpace or you can contact him at rawkthreads@yahoo.com. |
