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Do you remember your first experience with pixel art? I remember animating pixels for the first time on the Etch A Sketch Animator when I was 8 or 9 years old. It was in 1989... Good old days.

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3540/3349184445_30b12c1c08.jpg?v=0)

My first pixel art was recoloring a Protoman sprite from Megaman 7 and thinking I was hot shit.

Actually, maybe long before that there was a drawing program on my dad's computer that ran in DOS or something.  I used to try to draw my own games in it all the time.

Like, 2004 or 2005, I was introduced to, THE INTERNET. In which I joined a Nintendo forum and recolored Pokemon sprites. Then moved on to custom Pokemon sprites.

Then I found THIS:http://www.geocities.com/skulkraken2002/

AND I PRACTICED. Got better. And now I sprite how I sprite.

I'm always amazed to see people from the N64/Playstation era doing pixel art. It proves the value of pixel art as a true art form and not just nostalgia.

BTW, those Tsugumo tutorials are great. I read them many times a couple of years ago.

When I was like 7 we had DOS or some ancient version of windows or something, and I used to paint tiny things in the paint program, and the tiled backgrounds that were only allowed to be like, 4*4px.

Found RPG Maker 2k in like '01 and edited the default sprites minimally.

Later, around maybe '03 or so, I found Game Maker and cracked open paint and made a low-res character out of nothing but circles (named Redd, file long gone).

Later I moved to recoloring Megaman sprites - NES styled because I hated the massive feet of the later games.

Somewhere along the line I found Pixelation and that's where the fun began.

This is the oldest thing I can find, made shortly before (or shortly after) I joined pixelation.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/Xionight/Link1.gif)

Used nothing but MSPaint for the longest. Later changed to GGale. Have never looked back.

I started with making recolours and edits of Sonic sprites back in 2000. Then I quit for quite a while, and picked pixelart up again in 2005 when I went to college and met a classmate with the same interests, after which I just practiced a ton and learned a lot from lurking at Pixelation.

I started at 2007 I believe somewhere in August:
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/ynlraey/2-7.png)

and a kind soul (who is now my boyfriend) made a really good edit of it and taught me a lot of stuff :)

I think what got me mostly in pixel art was when I played Alter A.I.L.A
It was just this realization, nobody cares if your game is that high res or whatsoever as long as the game is fun!

Ah, people have very different ways/reasons how they got into pixelling. Mine was that I wanted to be a game designer ever since I was little (I'll admit that my old dream was to own Squaresoft). So I decided to try out making a game, though until RPG Maker 2k came along, I only planned for some.

Anyway, I think it was around 1997 or so when I first got around to actually pixelling stuff. It was in a very old computer and I didn't transfer over any files to my new one so I don't have the graphics anymore. I think I probably deleted it anyway.

It looked something like this, as this is the style that I based it off of:
(http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/1019/85251409.png)
I didn't animate the sprites or anything, so they just faced forward. It was very blocky from what I remember and I think I made an absolutely huge map with it as that would be the map for the whole game. I used MS Paint back then.

I didn't get to seriously pixelling stuff until 2005 however, where I made a game in RPG Maker 2003 with all custom graphics. That's when I really took a liking to it.

(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/ynlraey/2-7.png)
I remember this sprite. Wow, was it 2007? You've improved a ton since then! <3

I still have your edit!
(http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/ynlraey/2-6.png)
<3

Impressive improvements there. I'd high five you but that's impossible.

Mario Paint was my first pixel art. I remember having grid paper and copying down sprites from Mega Man X and putting them in Mario Paint, then making little scenes. Good times.

(http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/7885/improvemntn.png)

Left is 07', right is now.

I Was 12 back in 07'...

Gaze upon this awesome animation, made seconds after I discovered the joys of pixelling.

Then I realized Pixen was shit at duplicating colors.

(http://fc84.deviantart.com/fs27/f/2008/143/7/c/Long_by_godsavant.gif)

 :o :o :o :o Why have I never seen this toy?

Kid Pix!

:D :handthumbsupR:

Yessss. :laughter:

I loved using Kid Pix when I was 2nd and 4th grade, it was the best.

I remember KidPix!  I also remember getting excited to finally play it with a real Sound Blaster when we got one of those.  And then I was disappointed because the TNT had a much cooler explosion sound through the system speaker.

My first pixel art was... just now.
(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc163/a_random_dude/billyp.gif)

The one picture I remember, I spent hours fiddling with it.  I believe it was on a 286 we got from my aunt as our first computer, so it was a DOS program.  The picture ended up being a weird system of caves/tunnels, filled with ants and other random things.  I think they had a pond...  :D :biglaff:

Don't have the picture anymore, but it was a lot of fun :P

Old- (http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2940/modelmrevamp.gif) -New

I made walkcycles for most the static characters in that. Especially the monsters, like the mummy and the Frankenstein...

However, I was doodling in OS/2 Warp's Paint tool long before that... God, I must have been about five at the time. I learned how to dither from studying the techniques used for the folder icons, among other icons. My massive quantities of pixel art from then are long gone now, though.

The best image I can provide due to all the data from my first three or four computers being gone is this, the first image in my Photobucket account. Nowhere near my first though, and definitely not one of my better works. I was maybe 13 at the time?

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v229/sergiocornaga/fatblob.gif)

My first pixel stuff would be in Deluxe Paint 3 on the Amiga 600. I remember I used to do mockups of lemmings levels and stuff. I had a demo of Kid Pix, but I just spent most of my time in that stamping cutesy frog images everywhere then dynamiting the screen. >:D

This was my first attempt at pixel art:

(http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/nightmareb.png)

I've been messing around in Paint since I was, like, five, but everything I did back then wasn't very good. I remember I made a ton of pixel art overusing the circle and rectangle tools and not having any shading. I had all the animations for a ton of characters (though none of them were any good, of course) and even included a couple stickmen because I thought stickmen were cool.

Of course, I haven't improved much since then, but I've gotten some more of the basics.

my first pixel art was when I was a kid and used MSpaint to zoom in and make an entire castle scene, made with guys who spread their legs out at 90 degree angles to stand. 

if i had any of my really old pieces I'd post them, but even the oldest I have now (8 or so years old) don't even begin to capture how bad I was back then

(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p118/WildStik/CHECKERBOARDKNIGHTMARE.png?t=1236988498)

This is basically my first pixel art. I don't count the Futurology fanarts.

Aside from KidPix, I made a sprite of Bob-omb from Mario entirely out of circle tools. Lineart AND shading.

Blahh, I started pixelling while playing Graal Online 9 or so years ago. Nothing that old survived.
Here's a timeline:
First thing I submitted to PixelJoint: (hotlinked because I'm a lazy bastard)
(http://www.pixeljoint.com/files/icons/vikerbiker2.gif)
First thing I posted on Pixelation:
(http://www.pixeljoint.com/files/icons/clockwork_pixelportraitiii.png)
1 Year ago (lineart by Arachne):
(http://www.pixeljoint.com/files/icons/arachne_line115x.gif)
2 months ago:
(http://lorne.lastchancemedia.com/Images/two/Betty2.png)

where is the now?

THERE IS NO NOW :outraged:
Where are you, now? Not on AIM! :P

I think most of my actual pixel art, outside of Kid Pix/MS Paint scribblings, started with Sim Life and the Sim City 2000 Urban Renewal Kit.  Then I went on to using the Urban Renewal Kit plus print screen to make graphics to make crappy add-ons for a game called "Creatures" and my early website attempts.
(http://creatures.boogatech.com/iceenorn.gif)
The website stuff still exists, but really creeps me out now so I won't post it.

After that, I didn't really do much pixel stuff until I got into Graal in 1999, and some of that still exists.  It's hardly any better than that Icee up there.  Then Graal started costing money.  Pretty much between 1997 and 2003, I had been bouncing between the Creatures series, Graal, Active Worlds, and some crappy RPGM2k project, never managing to complete any of my over-ambitious ideas, and then I got a scanner, attempted to do some webcomicing, and then discovered Flash and never did any pixelling until last month when I did this:

(http://www.boogatech.com/images/sprites/something.png)

...but I still do everything vector or digital painting.

As far as I remember my first pixel art was this:
(http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1668/yellowhousetrans.gif)

Now that I look at it.. it is not that bad at all  :handthumbsupL::-\ :handshakeR:

(http://i.servut.us/i/puu4f.png)

This

Hah hah.  It sucks, but it was first.

(http://fc52.deviantart.com/fs38/f/2008/320/2/9/Home_Planet_by_Masna0.png)

I remember KidPix. Me and my classmates had the whole KidPix studio at our school, although we only used drawing and slide show. We used the slide show in the most crazy ways too, although just for stick man DBZ fights. By setting the timer to 0 and having lots of frames we could make actual animation. Using the side swipe transition you could make a laser expand across the screen. Using scramble/fade (random pixels change very fast from one picture to the other) you could make people teleport. Ah, the fun we had! Now that I think about it, that was only 4 years ago. Seems like so far away though.

That's very resourceful of you!


My first pixel art was.... something, ages ago.

I must see it!

(http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/2641/apico.png)
(http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/sandmandeath.gif)

These are the oldest i got. Done in 03 or 04. Cant remember which one is older  :crazy:

Some REAL first-attempt pixel artwork:

Screenshot from a game:
(http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/808/playingcrapscreen1.th.png) (http://img90.imageshack.us/my.php?image=playingcrapscreen1.png)

Sprite:
(http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2851/terell.png)

Before MDickie, ZooRace and whatnot there was me.

Not sure if those would be considered "pixel art"

My first PA ever!  :tearsofjoy: This is where life began.
(http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/9494/alienpokemon3pf8.png)
I don't think it was that bad :P

What? You don't believe I plotted every single pixel by hand for these sprites?

On a serious note, yes they may not be considered "pixel art", but I thought MS Paint art is also considered "pixel art". My bad if that's not true. :)

It is pixel art. Jim, stop failing at elitism.

My definition of pixel art.
"where every pixel serves a purpose"

That my friend I call a scribble.
If its pixel art then, please tell be your definition?

And if your jokeing, then its probable that I fail to see the funny side.

That post screams :mockangry: sarcasm to me?!!  :-X  :handmoneyR:

(http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/4823/gentleman.png)

Made in 5 minutes; the first "proper" pixel art I've done as far as I can remember.

I remember when I was 5 or 6, I was trying to make a scene of a campfire under a starry sky in MS paint. I was almost done, and I was filling in the sky and making stars, but for some reason I kept accidentally paint-bucketing the whole sky (I have no idea how) to be one color. Not knowing about Ctrl-Z or anything, I restarted the sky from scratch about... 3 times. Then I had to go somewhere and I just closed the applicaltion. That's as far back as my memory goes for pixel art.

Nope, it's a drawing made using an unsmoothed brush.

Either that, or it's pixel art which masterfully apes the "unsmoothed brush" look.

Mine looked like a box done in MSPaint.

Wait...

You made that today did you?  :P :eyebrows:..

I don't have a date for this (short of 1990-1995), but it's about the oldest original thing I can find.

(http://junk.mikekasprzak.com/old/designs/1990-1995/Sprite01.jpg)

Even though I couldn't use that many colors in a sprite (short of the SNES/SMS/Genesis), I could in my pixel dreams. ;)

I'm surprised I haven't chimed in on this one yet. I loved the animator. Spent many hours twisting it's nobs.

Here's some picts from my game Gravity Whip:
(http://cymonsgames.retroremakes.com/pages/gravwhip/PLANDATA.gif)

(http://cymonsgames.retroremakes.com/pages/gravwhip/Shipdata.gif)

Actually made a game with these pixels, sort of (http://www.cymonsgames.com/gravwhip). And these are real pixels, not just pixels for the sake of pixels. DOS MCGA, 256 color palette, 320x240 resolution. In action it looked like this:
(http://cymonsgames.retroremakes.com/pages/gravwhip/gravwhip.gif)
Tho I had to fake that screenshot because when the game is running windows doesn't like giving printscreens.

Wow! Pixel art on grid paper... This is old school.

I used to draw tilable pixel art wallpaper designs in Paintbrush. I still remember a big X-Files green, glowy letter X I made once.

Absolutely not! That box is my life's work! I've put countless hours into that box! It means the world to me!

I remember doing almost exactly that... haha, now I can't live without undo.

When I was thirteen-ish I got to a sonic fan/sprite comic community/forum. My first anything I ever did was a recolored Sonic. I thought I was THE shit back then.



Also, in that same forum we had a thread about "your first sprite" and a guy said he once recolored a sprite on MSPaint but he didn't know about the bucket tool. He did it with the pencil tool. Pixel by pixel.  :wtf:

The first one I ever posted on Pixeljoint.
(http://www.pixeljoint.com/files/icons/redavatar.gif)

Precursor to The Path? :D

my first animation!!! :D

(http://abstract-games.net/files/anim.gif)

animation made with graphics gale free, gif composed with gimp (because I don't know how to export gif from graphics gale...and so I've lost my frame timings :( )

p.s. I know it sucks ahahahah

Save as > .gif ?

Don't think that's available in the free version though.

yep

no Save as > .gif (at least in the free version)

(http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs39/f/2008/358/e/7/facepalm_by_kYnQuinhe.gif)
I think this was my first and only pixel art attempt if I recall correctly

^{edit: oops, slight thread necromancy, sorry.}

(http://sadmoons.com/xxx/black-moor-pixelart.jpg)

First thing I ever made :)

That is very very good for the first one :)

First animation and first character (then add first post on tigsource :p)

http://www.screentoaster.com/watch/stUkJSREZIR11bQl9YXl9ZUVZQ/3_frames_astronaut_animation

Ingame render:

http://www.screentoaster.com/watch/stUkJSREZIR11bRVpZWlJbU1Nd/3frames_jump_powered_by_box2d_and_pygame

As you can see, I use Graphics Gale too. Simple and nice tool.

My first pixel art has been lost years ago. I really first started with MSPaint back in the early 1990's doing what I would call mockup's now. I really had no idea what I was doing, not that I really do now...  ;)

Here are a couple of my first pixel art.
They were done two years ago.

(http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n141/JaJitsu/Jim_Henson_by_JaJitsu.jpg)
(http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n141/JaJitsu/Drummer_by_JaJitsu.gif)


This one i actually redid later but people seem to like the old better.
(http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs15/f/2007/083/3/b/Power_Rangers_by_JaJitsu.gif)old (http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n141/JaJitsu/Power_Rangers_Version_2_by_JaJitsu.gif) new

The older ones are better because they don't move their hands that much. Looks just cooler.

fun epileptic power rangers

I can't say I agree. The newer ones are much, MUCH better.

I don't remember my first pixel art. I know I always ignored the traditional 8bit style and went for those streetfighter sprite tutorials.

This is the only one I have left, my shellcracker from Sonic2.
(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww141/theyesfish/shellcracker.png)

It was something like a smileay of an arrow that I edited to point the other way. EXCITEMENT ENSUED.

The very first bunch of pixels I got to appear on the screen must have been those depicting the balloon in the C64 user's manual.
Then, other sprites and characters followed, but they were not really pixelled, as graphics were "pushed" by means of numbers in code.
The next step was taking a cassette case + inlay and sticking to the inlay a 24x21 grid (that's the size of C64 sprites, BTW) so that I could draw on the transparent case surface with a felt-tip pen and wipe what I did not like/want with a cloth.
And - oh, boy! - I still have that stuff!!! :o :-*
Here it comes for your delight ;) - please excuse the low quality of the picture:

(http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/6162/cassettepaintingqt0.jpg)
(http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/6964/inlayzs4.png)

The powers of two at the bottom helped me with calculating the binary values to put into the code.

Here is something I drew after reading a tutorial on pixel art by Derek Yu the other night

(http://www.selftitledgames.co.uk/Graphics/PixelArt/DinoHead.bmp)

I think my first "pixel arts" were either on graph paper or using a character-graphics editor for the Atari 800 - in the graphics mode that let you use artifacting effects when filling every other column. Later I did some stuff in MVP Paint(shareware DPaint style program), MS PaintBrush, etc. I got pretty familiar with 320x200x256, but to my 8-year-old self it seemed impossible to get the look that the commercial games had, just filling in pixels with the mouse :biglaff: (really, it was more a case of me not having coordination, patience, or ability to see the underlying construction of the picture.)

The sprite in my avatar is part of a platformer anim set, and the last "significant" pixel effort I can recall doing recently - that was last year. I still don't draw or pixel as often as I tell myself I should, and roughly half the time I come up with totally abysmal results. Regardless, I will keep trying :gentleman:

Ha! I found my first, that I remember.
It was for a small "Sprite a Member" competition at GMClans.
The member I drew was named Core 12
Jul 3 2006. I was 13 at the time.

(http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/402/core12.png)

I got 1st out of 6, but I haven't improved any since then.
I'm a programmer, goddamit, not a pixel artist. ;)

My first pixel art was all drawn on graph paper and entered in hex. This was before I thought to actually write a paint program... this was about 1985 or 86 I guess. Sheesh.

I made a ton of stuff but nothing pre-PC survives. I sometimes wonder what I'd make of it if I could see it again.

(http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/778/firstdora.png)
...This, almost a year ago.

haha it's so simple and cute.

you learn good. :wizard:

Why thank you gentlemen!  :gentleman:

Here is one of my first pixel pics.

(http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m349/fucbillgates/Monster_Head.gif)

oh man... the first pixels i've done were waaay back in mspaint (windows 3.1 in a 386!) tracing warcraft 2 & cannon fodder from magazines (and wishing a PC that could run it!).
Next thing I remember were a LOT of sucky, pillow shaded sprites and fugly animations for old (and bad) games developed in DIV games studio while in highschool.

I can't get any of them 'cause altough I still have those bmp in floppy discs, got no drives to read them, DIV stopped working after windows 98, so I erased everything. :shrug2:
That was before knowing about fenix project and learning that in the interwebs there is always some kind soul trying to make old programs work in newer enviroments... maaaan, I suck!

My first pixelart probably was on C64 sometime 89-90 or so.
Later I made stupid fullscreen (320x256) animations in Deluxepaint on the Amiga, all of which are lost. Between I would say 1996 and 2003 there was not really any pixelling.

And this was the first thing I did in April 2003 after reading the old Tutorial on Dereks page, the one with the purple monkey! Since then I been pixelling steadily.
(http://ptoing.net/pixel_ampelkopf_ani.gif)

My first pixel art was done a few years ago using MS Paint.  I'm not really an artist, so I dunno how it turned out.  It's my avatar!  You can see the full version here:

(http://www.dreamofwinds.com/art/Masculine.gif)

I think that accurately sums me up.

Oh, i never knew your avatar was pixel art, haha

All done with a 2-pixel brush.  :D

his shadow looks like he has boobies

I think that's the point.

Heh, yeah that's the point.  Someone asked me to draw "masculinity" once.  This was the result.

wow Donald that's pretty cool  :o

My first attempt was when I got the Mario Paint Guide Book and I copied the grids into MSPaint.