When is Pixel Art not Pixel Art?
I thought it prudent to update the tribe on the nature of pixel art and how it relates to us here on the Shire. There are a lot of newcomers to the server lately (which is awesome, go tell your friends to join too), and it seemed like an opportune time to revisit the age-old question, "why is pixel art banned?". Now, we're not covering this now because there was a violation - on the contrary, the newer members have been following building rules well. But, it's good to revisit 9 1/2 year old rules now and again just as a good refresher, and nip this in bud before it might blossom into a problem.
Some of you may have come across Pixel Art on the Shire. And it's true, there is some pixel art on the server. But when we say pixel art is banned, we mean the giant, one dimensional, pixel-art-for-pixel-arts-sake kind of pixel art. Stuff like:
and:
These sorts of pixel arts have no practical application on the server. A small handful of you especially bright players may have noticed the Shire is a cohesive world - complete with roads, trains, ships, and planes. A world of cities, towns, empires, and dark secrets. It doesn't have.... nonsensical pixel art. Imagine this for a moment... look outside your window right now, wherever you may be. Can you imagine a flat, woolen Sonic the Hedgehog at the end of your street, 50 meters tall, precariously swaying in the wind, moments away from collapsing and crushing your house? No, that's absurd.
Now, that being said, as I mentioned, there IS pixel art on the server. But, as the title suggests, pixel art is not always pixel art. What might be some examples of non pixel art pixel art? Any thoughts?
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Yes, you in the back with the mohawk. "Statues?" YES! Excellent answer. Statues are a great example of non pixel art pixel art. In fact, I'd argue statues are pixel-art adjacent, at best. They're practical, they make sense in the real world, they're three dimensional. Great example. Any other thoughts?
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Yes, Allison, you have your hand up. "Billboards?" Allison! Genius! That's a great one. Billboards. We know them, we love them. Actually I hate them, but I digress. Billboards are a necessary evil in some of our bigger communities. Fulfwotz has them. Orikami has them. And of course, Clementine has them. They're unavoidable in a modern society. Along these same lines might be signs for businesses, or large ads in, say, a baseball stadium. Let's see, can we get one more suggestion on when pixel art is not pixel art?
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Brandon, are you on your phone? "Yes". I said no phones, please. And please spit out your gum. Do you have any thoughts on this, Brandon? "uhhhh... what about like... what if no one can see the pixel art?" Ok... Ok I see where you're going with this. So, underground? "Uhhh yeah, yeah underground". Great point, Brandon. Underground is a great place for pixel art. One of the hallmarks of the Shire is large, hollow mountains, and 99% of them have something interesting inside of them. That can mean funny easter eggs like pixel art. If you've got an itch to make some fun (yet tasteful) pixel art, doing so underground is a great place.
I've complied a number of screenshots from around the Shire showing what is acceptable pixel art (and a few examples of what is not). How bout you flip on through this here album. As always, if you have any questions, just ping me or another admin here or on discord.
Peace and hair grease.
Comments
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That was an interesting read, however you missed the artwork that @fatllama left me several years ago. Shame. SHAME!
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I've seen a lot of custom paintings around, where can one make these?
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you may request them for a project - you'll need an image where the sides are in multiples of 128px.
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