Making perler bead art?

[Pix3M]

Should considerations be the same or should I treat perler beads a bit differently?

[Seiseki]

I don't see how it's any different..
Apart from the "pixels" being tiny beads..

Also an image in-case someone is wondering what this is:



Wow, I really have to get my hands on perler beads!

[Mathias]

I'd say it's no different. Do it the same way.

[Seiseki]

Just make sure that the plate your building on has a straight grid layout, but I guess that's kinda obvious.

[Ambivorous]

The black beads appear to be bolder than any other colour beads. The hole in the middle of the beads appears black, so black beads appear solid.

Outlines should also be designed differently. Usually your background is at the same resolution as your artwork, but in the case of beads your background has an almost infinite resolution, and many more colours.
To me the goomba in Seiseki's image looks the best as it has no outline at all. Though against a different backdrop that could change.

So if you have a choice, I'd change the outlines a little, or possibly even remove them. That said, any pixel art that has been beaded still looks pretty awesome.

[Seiseki]

Mushroom, you mean the goomba? 

[PixelPiledriver]

I made a tiny one of these a while ago and noticed:
The longer you iron them the more the holes of each bead will fill in, and the entire thing will become flatter.
The result can be somewhat inconsistent if you choose to do this, the edges between each bead sometimes warp.
There is probly some way of making it more uniform, using some sort of hot press instead of an iron.
But the holes are kind of fun.

[Seiseki]

The holes are smaller on the backside though and the beads melt together more.
But I'm not sure which side is the best one, since the back gets kinda messy too.

[r4c7]

To make it different from standard pixel art you could try making it offset like this, too:

Can't wait to see what you make!

[ptoing]

Also, don't bother with antialias too much. Antialias does not really look all too great on non-screen media.

[Seiseki]

The largest issue for me is finding the right colors.
I ordered a bucket online with 1500 pieces, but I think it's only around 10 different colors.. Guess I'll have to get another bucket from another manufacturer to get more variation.

I wonder if there's a store near me that sells individual colors.

[Pix3M]

The largest issue for me is finding the right colors.
I ordered a bucket online with 1500 pieces, but I think it's only around 10 different colors.. Guess I'll have to get another bucket from another manufacturer to get more variation.

I wonder if there's a store near me that sells individual colors.

For this reason, I hope to find a package with a bunch of colors so I know what my palette is. Now the next step is actually ordering some beads for me to use... and learn how to use an iron.

I get the impression that we're gonna be working with some hard-to-use palettes since they were meant for kids, not so much artists with bigger goals.

[Seiseki]

Just make sure to avoid the transparent ones and the *shudders* ..ones with glitter..

Using an iron is pretty easy though, just put some baking paper on top of the beads and go back and forth, don't stop for too long or you risk discoloring.

[Carnivac]

I've often found people have recreated my work in these things (my mini-ThunderCats and my Doctor Who sprites being the most common I've come across and one guy even did my avatar, framed it and stuck it on his living room wall).  They're actually pretty cool.   I haven't the patience to do them myself though.  Bit too fiddly for me.

[PypeBros]

-- --
Colors seems to be available, just maybe harder to get than the LEGO-colored starter kidt.

I wish there was an Arne palette alternative kit, of course

[Seiseki]

Nintendo should sell a nes palette in perler beads, I bet people would buy that

[Pix3M]

Colors seems to be available, just maybe harder to get than the LEGO-colored starter kidt.

I wish there was an Arne palette alternative kit, of course

I feel paranoid enough to worry about imperfect monitors displaying those colors inaccurately so I don't wanna trust photo sources just yet

[Seiseki]

So I kinda failed with my first one, I ironed it too hard, making the plate warped and also slightly melting the pegs.. 
Now I gotta buy a new plate, would be nice with a larger one, the one I had was 18x18 pegs which is perfect for 16px sprites though.

Gotta get new colors too, as there wasn't any skin color and only one blue and green.

Edit: Wow, not having proper brown and skin colors is extremely limiting..
Also, it would be nice to have at least one gray color, haha.. I'm really working with bare minimum here..

Edit 2: Since my palette had both red, orange and yellow I thought I'd try iron man. I made a first edition, then decided to give it more interesting shading.
No images of the first version in perler beads because the camera ran out of batteries. But here's the improved version I did digitally:

[PixelPiledriver]

Wow, not having proper brown and skin colors is extremely limiting..
Also, it would be nice to have at least one gray color

[Seiseki]

Yeah I need to find a place that sells other beads than Hama..
Hama beads are terrible, they contain less pigment than other beads which makes them slightly transparent and blotchy..

I also made the mistake of buying mixed bags, it's a pain to sort out