Secret Santa 2018 Sign-Up - All PMs Sent!

[Atnas]

13th ANNUAL
PIXELATION SECRET SANTA!

You don't know what's going on? Here it is: You sign up for this, get a random partner assigned to you, and you make a pixel art gift for them. In turn, somebody else (you don't know who) will be making a gift for you! Gifts will be revealed on Christmas.

Take a look at a previous year's Secret Santa here: 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012 - 2011 - 2010 - 2009 - 2008 - 2007 - 2006 - 2005

Taking Part

• Only sign up if you're sure that you'll be to able to complete your gift, by checking the dates below. If you don't complete your gift you'll be banned from next year's Secret Santa and make someone very sad.
• Provide some indication of your likes/dislikes: this is important! You can be as specific or broad as you like, but be aware this is all your Santa has to go by if they don't know you!
• If you only have a few posts, put your social media in your profile so that people have a better idea of who you are when making a present for you.
• You'll receive your partner's name via private message (PM).
• When you've finished your gift, send it to me by PM; not in the thread here. That would not be secret.
• Finlal, ARandomLake, Acrontoff, Maxcreed and Yinochi may NOT participate this year because they failed to submit a gift on time last year. Do not let this be you!
• Here's a sample post if you are somehow still lost. You can format however you want, however please include "I'm in!" or something similar in your post.
  

  Count me in!
  I like:
  rocks and grass, luigi, mining equipment
  I do NOT like:
  bright colors, green, and spiders.
  Thanks! again, no spiders
  

Important Dates

• November 21st~28th - Sign-ups in this week only!
• November 28th - A PM with your partner's name will be sent out to you; keep it a secret and start early!
• November 28th~December 22nd - You have a little under a month to make a beautiful pixel present!
• December 22nd - Last day to send in your gift!
• December 22nd~December 23rd - Very last chance! DON'T make our lives harder if you can avoid it, finish before this time period. Send me your WIP if you aren't finished.
• Night of December 24th (A few hours before EST Christmas) - PRESENTS!!!!

PM me if you're confused about anything or have any questions to ask after consulting the FAQ below.

SantA's Help desk

What kind of gift do I make?
-Anything you want, just so long as it involves pixel art. Tailor it to your partner's listed interests, or towards them and their work if you are familiar. Any subject you think will be well received is fair game. You can make them a mockup, animation, sprites, textured low poly models; you name it! If you're worried about time, don't overly complicate things, relax and do what you do best.

But I'm quite likely to be embroiled in some sort of ~festive revelry~ around the end of December; can I still take part?
-You can send your gift in as early as you like. The 23rd is the deadline, but submissions will be accepted from the time you receive your partner's name via PM, up until the 23rd. It's not fun to try and rush this stuff leading up to Christmas, getting it done with time to spare is highly recommended

I'm not going to manage finishing my present in time, will I still get a strike?
-WIPs will be OK temporarily... It's better to have your WIP under the tree than nothing, but please finish quickly afterwards to avoid consequences. If you know you won't be able to finish, for whatever reason, let me know ASAP so that something else can be sorted out for your partner.

I think making a present for so-and-so would be really fun, I wish I was their Santa!
-If you finish your present early, you're more than welcome to make gifts for multiple people. Spread the holiday cheer! But concentrate on your partner first.

Gift Wrap!

When you send me the PM with your gift, designate one of these wrappings (A1, B5, etc.) This gift wrapping is what your Secret Santa will click on under the tree to receive your gift.

Alternatively: Make a custom wrapping for your gift; in this way you can have a bit of fun teasing the contents within. Just PM it along with your gift. Here are a few from previous years... with a link to their gifts, for ideas. (you can't use these! come up with your own!) by wolfenoctis by regulus awesome by Jeremy by Drazelic

Read everything? Great! If you sign up below before or on the 28th of November, you'll be added to this list. After you submit your gift, I'll mark you on my list with a little

Participants

• 
• Fry
• DieMango
• Knightsunder
• aamatniekss
• Dex
• magickbird
• loni_art
• FoxTurtle
• Blato
• Doppleganger
• Gecimen
• pistachio
• Zanorin
• Veksell
• Opacus
• Ma3vis
• Eggy
• Rallfried
• orangemagik
• Jim16
• EdJr
• KoiKidd
• skamocore
• yaomon17
• Kelnan
• Jeremy
• Fajny Hades
• tomic
• Theodote
• Magran
• Klimach
• Drazile
• zoekmath
• vectorwing
• ilkke
• ||||

Please only sign up if you are absolutely certain you can finish your gift. Have fun!

[Fry]

I'm in.

I like - isometric buildings, survival horror, coffee, dogs and SNES.

I dislike - mechs and military stuff

[DieMango]

Count me in boi!

I like:
-Cute animu girls with very elaborate Hair designs
-Huge complicated Weapons
-Military Robots

I dislike:
-Swords and Sorcery
-Lolis
-Summer

[Knightsunder]

My first true Secret Santa 

I like: cyberpunk, hockey, pink, snow, wind, mountains, robots
I dislike: plant life, rain (fog is amazing tho), green

[aamatniekss]

Joining this for the first time, dunno why I never did.

Likes -
Dark fantasy, high fantasy, basically all kinds of fantasy
Medieval time period and everything before it
Horror creatures
Nature
Human body
Fishing

Games I like - Gothic <3, Dark souls, Grim Dawn, Mount&Blade, Witcher, HOMM3, CIV V, Pharaoh, Tropico, Risen, TES series, Fallout series, Subnautica

Dislikes -
Modern Times
Scifi
Military things
Mech stuff
Anime
Cutesy stuff

[Dex]

I'm in!

Likes:
High fantasy / dark fantasy concepts
Owls
Landscapes
Snow-laden mountains
Figurative artwork + anatomy
Realism
Favorite games are the Dark Souls / Bloodborne series, if that gives you a general idea of my favorite atmosphere.

I don't particularly dislike anything other than chibi/cutesy artwork, but honestly I'm appreciative of any gift made for me. Make something you'll enjoy making!

[magickbird]

I'm in for the first time!

I like:
- birds;
- spooky and mystical stuff (especially vampires);
- middle ages and dark fantasy aesthetics.

I dislike:
- sci-fi;
- stuff like chibi;

[loni_art]

count me in! 
ill let this be a little looser
likes!
 minimalism
 chunky stuff
 strong colors
 cute!
dislikes!
 wide color schemes
 unfocused stuff
 

[FoxTurtle]

*Hacker voice* "I'm in"

I like:
Dota 2 (favorite heroes are Ogre Magi, Omniknight, Ancient Apparition, Drow Ranger)
Star Wars
Fantasy
Sci-fi
Current memes
Faces
Pixel clusters
"Clean" pixel style
Cool, interesting, or dramatic lighting

I dislike:
Old, dated memes
Intentionally unflattering cartoons (all other cartoons are fine)
I don't really dislike much stuff

[Blato]

Thank you Pixelation, very cool and pretty good

like:
Marvel movies
Cool and good textures/tiles
Bad memes
tf2
sidescrollers
typography/logos
Landscapes (or just generally natural things, like the aforementioned textures/tiles)
weapons
Realism (must be realistic realism, unrealistic realism breaks the laws of nature)
Probably some other things

very much dislike:
Anime
overly bright/saturated colors
Anime
those bad pixel art cityscapes I see everywhere
Anime

[Doppleganger]

I'm in!

Challenge for my Secret Santa:
Choose something from category A, and something else from category B, and make your gift a mashup of the two choices. Or get creative and use the list(s) in whatever way inspires you.

Games I like

• Tomba!
• Star Tropics
• Super Mario 2
• Bubble Bobble
• Burgertime

Themes I like

• Pastel Dreamland
• Gritty Underworld
• Outer Space
• Dramatic Mood
• as an RPG

 

[Arcade Hero]

Stuff I like:

BW illustrations
vintage stuff
pin-up
trippy things
sexy clusters
skateboarding
wild west
creepy things
Tim Burton's stuff

If you don't know what to draw it's ok! You can draw whatever that makes you happy


I changed my mind, sorry :c Too busy and I think I can't participate this year. Good Luck everyone!

[Gecimen]

As in every year I'm in.

Like: Weird palettes, unusual lighting, machinery, weird organism, wildlife scenes, unusual number of eyes.

Dislike: Anime, cute stuff.

Challenge: This year if you're up for the challenge draw a piece that has blood in it.

[pistachio]

Up in it this year.

Like:
Dodos. Ninjas. Orange/green. RPGs. Cyberpunk. Ridley Scott. Guillermo Del Toro.

Not like:
Crap art, flat art, knockoffs.

Not a lot, just keep it cool and make something good.

[Zanorin]

I'm in

Things i like:
- Characters (more than objects, landscapes, etc - please draw me a character <3)
- Fantasy (heroic fantasy, and basically - fantasy)
- Natural backgrounds (with plants and stuff)
- Long, voluptuous hair
- Redheads
- Badass/boyish girls
- Cool/original character/clothing design
- Pokemon (especially the first 3 gens)

Things I dislike:
- Excessive dithering/noise
- Modern, sci-fi, futuristic, military, realistic settings and machinery
- "Anime-chibi-cutesy-manga" characters (I do love japanese animation masterpieces like Akira or Miyazaki's work tho)
- Isometric pixel art
- Lack of contrast and lack of volume

But I'll like anything you make me anyway :3

[Veksell]

I'm in.

Likes:

- Characters
- Steampunk
- Fantasy
- Gothic
- Night
- Mystical
- Musicals
- Mushrooms
- Birds
- Snowglobes
- Purple colour
- Nice surprises

Dislike:

- Too cute things
- Nude stuff

[Opacus]

It's been way too long since I pixeled, and for the first time in years I have a calm December, so count me in!

Stuff I like:

• Science fiction: cyberpunk, steampunk, dieselpunk, dystopias and utopias, bio-mechanical stuff
• Mechs, anything from US/EU style clunky war mechs like Mech Warrior, to hyper stylised Japanese mechs like Gundam (though I think my love for mechs is kind of a given by now )
• Spaceships, space stuff in general
• Game mock-ups (shmups, rpg's, metroidvania, Zelda-like adventure games)
• Beautiful, fantasy rich landscapes
• 80's revivalism
• Mythological stuff and crazy creatures

.

[Atnas]

I'm adding a new rule this year:

If you only have a few posts or an empty profile, put your social media/gallery (if you have them) in your profile so that people have a better idea of who you are when making a present for you.

I'll PM the people who already posted with 1 post

[Ma3vis]

is it too late for signing up? Count me in, if you can
this will be my first year to participate

Likes:
* Dark Souls demakes
* Gameboy and 1bit stuff
* vintage sword n sorcery
* creativity and originality
* rain, fog and greenery
* celtic and medieval themes
* scary survival horror creepypasta (but only if it's real intense)
* trippy psychedelic art with fun uses of purple
* steampunk

Dislikes:
anime, loli, waifus
and chibi's baka
fallout 76
westerns
witcher
gothic - Tim Burton
cutesy
memes
cityscapes
shoot emups or FPS
dragon ball z
comicbook stuff
military and brutalist futurism
nudes or smut

[Eggy]

Okay! I had fun doing this last year, so I might as well have a go again. *cracks knuckles*

I'm gonna (more or less) copy-paste my list from last year, though my likes have changed slightly within the past year. The first bullet is my biggest want, so please pixel that if you can!

Here's what I like:
- Toot the Gumble from Bottersnikes and Gumbles. This little guy is my favorite, he has a simple cute design and a messed up backstory, and I love him to pieces. Since this guy is from an obscure show, if you need to you can read about him here (you'll need to scroll down and click the picture labelled "Toot" to view his rotatable picture and biography), and here's some refs as well: [1][2][3]
- For that matter, the Bottersnikes are cool too. I really like Chank and Smiggles
- Gargamel (the cartoon/comic version)
- Nightmare Fuel - Well, not exactly eldritch abominations or zombies or the like, just dark stuff that would scare someone
-My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, my favorite villain being Queen Chrysalis
-Old cartoon classics, think stuff like Dexter's Lab, The Jetsons and Smurfs
-Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
-Birds - I love parrots, corvids (crows, ravens, jays and magpies) and birds of prey (especially owls) the most
-Crossovers and/or parodies
-Freaky messed-up things hiding behind something seemingly cute and harmless (e.g. Eversion, Pony Island, Watership Down the movie, you get what I mean)
-I like a healthy mix of slightly muted and slightly vibrant colors with varying shades inbetween, take a look at the DB32 palette to get the idea of what I mean
-Ace Attorney, Miles Edgeworth especially. Just started looking at the franchise, and both the gameplay and Miles' character design really appeal to me for some reason
-Anime style I don't mind!

Here's what I don't like:
-Please, please, PLEASE don't depict anything that has to do with toilet humor
-No graphic gore please - Some blood is fine though
-Nothing 18+
-Quicksand (or whatever those watery things you slowly sink into when you struggle are called). I hate these with a fiery passion
-Insects, with exceptions being bees, ladybugs, butterflies, bumblebees, grasshoppers and praying mantises
-Nothing over the top, i.e. try not to go too crazy :p Basically I'm not very fond of excessive exaggeration.
-Realism, if you are doing any fictional characters - this is not a strong dislike, but I wish to have them keep to their original artstyle. Semi-realism and/or extreme detail is fine, just as long as they don't boil down to "what X would look like in real life" (e.g. a pony from MLP:FiM very closely resembling an actual horse/pony)
-Frilliness - As much as I am a girl whose likes include MLP and cute animals, I don't like it when something is overly saccharine
-Machinery-oriented pieces. Well, I'm not against stuff like robots and sci-fi per se, it's just that I prefer natural, organic sceneries and creatures as the main theme

[Rallfried]

Count me in!

Like
Nature (Forests, Swamps)
Lost, abandoned Places
Spooky and mystical Stuff
The color green

Dislike
Anime Characters

[orangemagik]

And another year... count me in.

Likes: sci-fi, post-apocalypse, cyberpunk, retrofuturism, girls in spacesuits, girls in armor, soulsbourne.

Dislikes: lazy work.

[ndchristie]

I definitely do not have time for this, just wanted to say I'm glad it still happens every year

[Jim16]

I love Pixelations annual Secret Santa. I'm in.

I notice Pixelations twitter hasn't tweeted this? Might be worth doing for those who are unaware its time to sign up.> I'd retweet it.

Things I like.
-Most Fantasy: Harry Potter, Terry Pratchett's books, Lord of the rings just to give you a few ideas. I'm happy with you creating your own fantastical world, give it a Christmas theme if you want.

Dislikes.
Not all that much, I won't be disappointed.

[DieMango]

Everyone dislikes anime for some reason 

[EdJr]

I'm in! Hope the rust wears off soon enough.

Pasting this from previous years because I'm that lazy tradition. (And I haven't changed that much.)

My order is: Do whatever you want.
However, if you're anything like me, you don't know what you want. So here are some really unimportant and random things you can use as guidelines.

I like:
- Nature. (Including but not limited to the entire Universe.)
- Organisms. (Any, really. From fennecs to Dictyostelium discoideums to potatoes. Dragons also count. Humans are usually pretty boring, though.)
- Dystopias.
- Low saturation.
- Smoooth animations. (Who doesn't?)
- Experimenting with concepts, styles, etc.
- "Meaningful" art (i.e. the picture is linked to some deeper idea), things that make you think and/or want to kill yourself. (Like philosophy in general.)
- Experimentation and originality; being surprised.
- Knowing you enjoyed doing it

I don't like/care much about:
- Artificial landscapes.
- Fanaticism in general. (Religion, money, cars, sports, women, etc.)
- Mainstream stuff in general ("nerd culture", "gamer", "otaku", memes, movies, etc.)
- Most of the things common sense dictates as disgusting or repulsive. (Except spiders et al. They're super cool.)
- Some pixel art styles: isometric, "modern", extremely old. (All of them with some exceptions.)
- Christmas. (Is that too hypocritical?)

Again, these are pretty unimportant and random, so don't stick yourself too much to them if you don't feel like it. Just challenge yourself (or not) and have fun!

[KoiKidd]

Yo, I'm in. First time participating. Hope I'm doing this right.

Looking forward to spreading some pixelated cheer.

I like:
- Settings: Fantasy, Cyberpunk, Modern, Post-Apocalyptic, Retrofuturism,
- Games: Souls series, Dragon Quest, Earthbound/Mother, Fallout, TF2
- Art/Misc: Vivid colors, sprites, game mockups, action poses
- Anime/Manga: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Akira, the Monogatari series...

I dislike:
- Uhhh, just don't do anything extremely grotesque/disgusting lol. Cool horrific/gothic creatures are fine.
- Chibi art

My likes are just suggestions. Run wild with whatever you spin up in your creative process.

[skamocore]

Something different this year.

 :

Dark purples
Sci-fi stuff
MS-DOS
Things that are simultaneously cute and disturbing
This particular cluster:

XOOX
OOOO
OOOO
XOOX

:

Humans
Christmas themes

[yaomon17]

I'm in~

Like:
Big things - Leviathans, Goliaths, Megastructures, big sense of scale stuff etc.
Anime things
Mechs
Robots
Muscles
Cool elemental particle effects
Big snappy impact animation
Unique/weird/alien creature designs
Bulky armor
Cyberpunk
Steampunk

Dislike:
Normalpunk

[Kelnan]

I'm in!

Likes:  Christmas, Catholicism, sci-fi, Pokemon, Harvest Moon.

Dislikes: Horror, dark themes, gore.

[Jeremy]

sign me up babey!!!


birds, especially geese
flowers & plants
broken statues
orange
difficult-to-work-with palettes
patterns
typography
saturated colours
james turrell
scifi
fantasy
westerns
dinosaurs
post-apocalyptica
mythology
robots
constructivism
don't mind christmas


anime
googie architecture
futurism

[Fajny Hades]

I'm in!

  I like:
Art Nouveau
Surrealism
Strong contrasts
Purple colors
Music
Vinyl records
Mythology
Marble statues

  I don't like:
Insects

[tomic]

haven't pixeled much lately
so my fingers are itching. i'm in.

with these LIKES:
- donkeys & giraffes
- tanks and guard donkeys
- man in the high castle
- landscapes, skies and clouds
- structures, rocks and pixel clusters
- tastefully presented cleavage
- low color counts

DISLIKES
- cuteness from japan^tm
- unicorns.. and horses (zebras are okay though)
- dolphins

[Theodote]

hello everybody!
it's my first secret santa here so i hope it will go well

i like:
- floating islands
- frogs
- 2000s culture (from 2000 to present)
- nature, green
- rain, fog, grey sky, clouds
- anything related to e-music: synths, midi devices, etc.
- geometry, especially angular
- teal colour

i dislike:
- amoral stuff
- jjba (don't @ me )

[Magran]

Yeah boi, I'm in it! (first time  )
I like:
-history (especialy Ancient Roman)
-archeology
-steampunk
-creativecharacter designs
-fictional (imaginary) vehicles
-pirate theme
-soviet theme (lol)

Games I like:
Don't Starve Together
Besiege
Kingdom Classic
Darkest Dungeon

Dislike:
nude stuff


P.s. its not a problem if you don't know what to draw, anything'll make me happy 

[Klimach]

Hi! I'm in for the first time. Hope it's not too late))
I like:
- mystical stuff;
- middle ages;
- dark fantasy;
- characters;
- cool backlights))

I dislike:
- anime;
- isometric

[Atnas]

last day for signups! please share the thread with anyone you think would be interested. c:

[Drazile]

Woah, I almost missed this!

Likes: Unusual & saturated colours, jungles, beaches, birds, reptiles, cephalopods, cities, futuristic settings that arent dystopian, fashion, Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Splatoon, Jet Set Radio, French house, plunderphonics, Daft Punk, Brockhampton, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the emotion "happiness"

Dislikes: Ogres, trolls and goblins, gritty realism, romantic comedies, reality TV/game shows, capitalism

[zoekmath]

i wanna participate
here is my twitter https://twitter.com/Zielach_

i like:

soft/cute/not saturated colors especially purple
animal girls but mostly fox girls and cat girls
arcades
videogames ofc but mostly not story centered ones

i dont like:

violence or gore or sadness
western style

[vectorwing]

I feel like the guy who almost missed the bus, but managed to sprint towards it before it left. Anyway, let's do this!

I'm quite fond of:
- Robots
- Steampunk
- Nature landscapes
- Fantasy
- Retro technology
- Space
- Inventive character designs
- Elegant architecture, whether ruined or pristine

I'm not really a fan of:
- Anime; specifically the more generic artstyle found in a lot of subpar works. I tend to enjoy ones who deviate and have more unique art (Cowboy Bebop, Studio Ghibli, Mechs and such).
- Fanservice

Greetings from Discord, Atnas!

[Opacus]

Everyone dislikes anime for some reason 

Always surprised by this too! Seems to be some general disdain for anime in the pixel art scene. Always been this way far as I know, anime's been the most named 'dislike' at Secret Santa for as long as I can remember. Haven't people seen Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Evangelion, Mushishi, Samurai Champloo or Cowboy Bebop? So many great anime out there if you know where to look. The ones I named largely steer clear of the over the top typical big-bright-eyes anime style and opt for a more mature style too.

Though I have to say, while I like anime, I probably would dislike getting a portrait of an anime character as Secret Santa present. A background scene from Akira or Ghost in the Shell though? Yes, please!

[Jim16]

The studio Ghibli movies have some great animation, awesome backgrounds and mostly tell creative, interesting stories.  Well worth watching too. I can fully understand that there are people out there who prefer realism over cartoons/anime though. Each to their own. I'm really looking forward to getting started   

[Eggy]

I actually prefer cartoons over realism to be honest, and I don't mind anime at all. Sure, realism is nice and all, but for the most part I get plenty of it via photos/videos and in real life lol. That and I find the "unrealistic" and sometimes vibrant nature of cartoons to simply be more interesting and appealing overall. Combining the real with the unreal though makes it even better for me - a fine balance with the best from both worlds is my sweet spot.
I'm also eagerly awaiting the moment I can get started on my piece

[Ma3vis]

there's a consistent trend that Anime/Porn/Politics tend to break communities into low-effort posting content farms. It's not that they're the cause of it but simply that they're common features of communities such as DeviantArt, Tumblr, etc. I am sure this correlation is not lost on everyone

[DieMango]

Maybe i am used to pretty nicely made Anime characters on Pixiv.
I have to say that a well made 24/4 Anime character still Needs certain knowledge and skill to pull off

And lazy work is always bad. Dont see ,,Anime=lazy'' in my eyes.

Well i guess i am the only one directly asking for the Thing People dread the most. I mean shouting that i like mecha woud have been to obvious

[ilkke]

Oh snap! Hopefully I am not too late!

I like:
Everything and anything, but especially nature

I dislike:
Things that are too derivative

[Atnas]

Will leave this open til this evening! Make sure to share the thread with anyone who you know would like to participate/usually participates. We weren't able to send forum-wide emails this year like we were the other years so turnout is a bit lower.

[||||]

Hmm I think I missed it, but if you'll let me slide in last sec; cool! If not, no problem.

I like humanoid figures, interesting palettes, fantasy of all sorts (sci-fi to medieval/ D&D type stuff). I like geography, landscapes, classy architecture, vehicles and other objects as well.

 Pretty much anything will fly, except harm to innocents, gore and overly grotesque art (or anything disgusting).

All I ask is you don't be lazy really.
Orangemagick's dislike- I agree w/ 100%

[Atnas]

Everyone's got their partner, have a good time pixelling! Remember to start early