ENTRY # 6: 8-bit Pixelation Art

To go now in the complete opposite road of my previous post about vector graphics portraits of celebrities, I present to you the world of 8 bit pixel art. To many, this may be better known as “Nintendo” or “Gameboy” art. If you were born in 1982 and after, you surely experienced this type of graphic at full-blast. Tiny little colored blocks combine to form crude shapes and outlines that roughly define a person. After some time perusing the internet for digital artwork, I came across these pixelated representations of the cast from the movie “The Big Lebowski”.

 Despite John Goodman being real flesh and bones and his 8bit version being a series of dots; it is pretty impressive how much of his relative personality is captured in such a simplified form. It goes to show that what pixels you chose to represent a feature can say so much or so little in an image. The amount of detail representation that can be shown in such a small space and limited pixels is entirely up to the skill of the artist. A good artist might have you asking if what you see is what they are actually trying to convey. It brings up the question of realism: Does the artist want to share what you see or feel like what it is like to be in that space. 

Effectively, the 8bit space is a nostalgic play on the senses. The realism in it is entirely fictional, but the association of the 8 bit world from the 80s enables you to bridge the connection of what “The Dude” would really seem like if he was bowling on your Gameboy screen.

ENTRY # 5: Vector Graphics Realism

Vector graphics is the use of geometric lines and points to form a vector. The vectors are essentially strung together like a mathematical equation to describe an image by representing an array of pixels. In more recent years, I’ve come to learn that these vector graphics methods have truly begun exploring their usefulness by advancing greatly through such software as Adobe Illustrator and Fireworks. After having explored some basic lessons in getting familiar with Illustrator in our lab, the powerful uses of vector graphics really stands out in the amount of sharpness, clarity, and flexibility of control.

 After spending some time searching online out of my own curiosity on the subject, I’ve come across examples celebrity portraits that have been drawn in these types of software using vectors. The transition from real to computer-graphic becomes much more subtle to the eyes. The vector portraits retain some of the human essence and leave the image looking hyper-real. I can’t help but think that this must be the way the graphics are done for characters on the leading-edge game consoles like the PS3 and XBOX 360. The graphics artists are surely using vector graphics modeling to produce stunningly real human characters and other objects.

 Interestingly enough, a strange opposite-like effect is achieved when exaggerating a vector portrait like the one of Thom York below. Because he looks so real, modifying his image looks more like an effect applied to a real person than it does to a bitmap version of the portrait. The limitless amount of detail rendering holds infinite potential to logo and graphics design as well.