AuthorTopic: Pixel Art Night Class?  (Read 8555 times)

Offline AtskaHeart

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Re: Pixel Art Night Class?

Reply #10 on: November 28, 2013, 12:21:31 pm
I'd definitely not make it too theoretical (when I did, I had really bad experiences, even when people attending to the classes were college students). The best way to go is somewhat the 'easiest'. Make it simple, fun, practical and I'd also suggest to focus a lot in iconic pixel art. It's also good to show a LOT of references. Regarding practical taks, they could start with small images such as a 16x16 favicon and then go for a portrait and a small character sprite (4 frames, for example), that would be a good introduction to pixel art, to its iconicity and animation, respectively. 2 hours per classes would be pretty nice.

It would also be awesome if you could post a summary of your experiences and what called your attention most, what you would include and what you would exclude from your classes.

Offline r1k

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Re: Pixel Art Night Class?

Reply #11 on: November 28, 2013, 10:39:50 pm
I would try not to be as strict in the definition of pixel art as say, pixeljoint is.  People who arent already invested in the art form probably wont take well to an 'this is what pixel art is, and everything outside of it is wrong' type of approach.  Cyangmou has a good point about including things like swords&sorcery type style since theres no reason artists these days cant utilize pixel art technique for work that extends past 'pure pixel art'.
Also, a while back there was an article on pixeljoint about an old man who did pixel art in mspaint of landscapes.  They didnt really fit pixeljoints definition of pixel art but they were still good and might be something good to show as well.  If anyone else remembers what Im talking about maybe they have a link or something.

Offline Helm

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Re: Pixel Art Night Class?

Reply #12 on: November 30, 2013, 02:44:22 am
I don't think for a class a prescriptive definition of pixel art matters at all, actually. Just descriptive. Look at loads of visual aids and lead a group to understand what pixel art is from looking at the common throughlines in the examples.

Offline Corinthian Baby

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Re: Pixel Art Night Class?

Reply #13 on: December 03, 2013, 07:51:50 am
Got an email back saying that they like the idea, and need to check schedules and stuff. I'm excited  ;D

In terms of having one set definition of pixelart, I agree with Helm, it's not really necessary. The best professors that I had in art history offered multiple perspectives to any given subject. I can explain pixel art as it manifested as a necessity to visually aide video games, and how it evolved onward from there, how people in the modern pixel art community keep certain rules in its canon, and how new technology alters and changes what pixel art is; how it has shifted and progressed as a medium.

Though it might get a bit too theoretical and the class is meant to be a hands on creative endeavor it would also be fun to get into differing ideas of interpretation/iconography in pixel-based video games.

@r1k, I remember that video, and though yeah to us it's not pixel art with a capitol P and A, but it was still very touching and may be something cool to show students.

Certainly if this manifests, I will post my experiences here for dissection/discussion.

Offline Helm

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Re: Pixel Art Night Class?

Reply #14 on: December 03, 2013, 07:51:10 pm
Keep in mind that historically pixel art wasn't devised for videogames, but for general computing. I think a lot of people would recognise the early 1bt macintosh icons as pixel art, for example.

Offline Corinthian Baby

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Re: Pixel Art Night Class?

Reply #15 on: January 14, 2014, 08:02:12 pm
Had a meeting with them recently and agreed on 2 hr sessions on monday nights for 3 or 4 weeks per run. Trying to brainstorm marketing ideas since the more students  I have, the more money I'd make. Conflicted between the benefits of niche vs. how esoteric pixel art can be.

Anyway they want me to make a curriculum and test the class on one of their teen groups to see how receptive they are. The real class will probably start in the spring. Thinking of starting with icons and gradually going to characters and tiles, maybe portraits. I've never made a lesson plan or anything before so any help is appreciated.  :y: