AuthorTopic: Where to learn Pixel Art?  (Read 8663 times)

Offline schifers

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Where to learn Pixel Art?

on: April 11, 2008, 07:00:18 pm
Guys,

I live in Brazil and we don't have here a big gaming industry. There is few schools where we can learn 3D modeling, digital painting or even pixel art.

We have many colleges and universities that can teach you traditional art, but it is rare to find someone who can teach you digital art.

There is one more problem. I don't have too much time to learn art attending classes inside the school.

So, my doubt is, do you guys know a good place where I can learn drawing, painting, digital painting, pixel art, on-line?

I'm looking for an on-line course that can teach me those subjects. I was browsing Art Insititute of Pittsburgh's site (www.aionline.edu) and I found a Bachelor's Degree on Game Art & Design.

Do you guys know this place? Is it a good place to study?

Do you guys know some place else where I can learn these subjects?

Dou you guys know some courses that I would pay for modules and not a full bachelor's degree?

Thanks in advance...

Bruno.

Offline JonathanOfDrain

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Re: Where to learn Pixel Art?

Reply #1 on: April 11, 2008, 09:25:04 pm
There are no short cuts to any form of art (except maybe screen printing and abstract art).

I don't live in Brazil, so I don't know how much I can help. I don't think you can goto a school for pixel art, if you can that'd be weird. You really should probably look around the forums. A lot of the people here are going to school for art or already did. I know Adarias is a doing something in fine arts, he's really good with a pixel. Helm is a artist for comics/graphic novels, I don't think he went to school. If I'm wrong about any of this I hope they correct me. My point is you don't need to goto school for pixel art to be good at it. Most everything you learn from sketching, painting and sculpting even is applicable to pixel art and vice a versa.
To be honest I think if you practice enough and don't whine you'll be a decent pixel artist in no time, assuming you've drawn or painted or something before. A formal training is a really nice thing and any degree you get from it looks really good on a resume. Getting your BFA is usually proof that you know what you're doing with art.
This forum is usually really good about getting some constructive criticism, you might develop some new friends who could also help you out.
I would avoid proprietary schools like the Art Institute. They don't give back as much as they should. I know a handful of unemployed graduates of Art Institute in Boston. Also learning something so unique as art over the internet is kind of weird. You'll have to look into a bit more and make your own decision. I thought it was weird taking a math class only, but that's just me.
I know most community colleges allow you to take a few classes. You can do that.

Do more research and much more drawing.
Hope my advice helped.

Offline schifers

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Re: Where to learn Pixel Art?

Reply #2 on: April 11, 2008, 10:02:19 pm
It helped a lot. Thanks for the advice. I will keep practicing for my own. The thing is, it seems that if you didn't start to draw when you were very young, the thing turns to be a bit more difficult. I keep trying to do good draws, but it seems too difficult to reach a level that I can tell that I'm good. I will come back to my books and web tutorials. Thanks again and I hope I can some day post something in a forum that people will like. To post something, you should at least like what you are doing and I still don't like my drawings. Keep practicing, like everybody says, it seems to be the key for learning drawing. Bye!

Offline Cow

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Re: Where to learn Pixel Art?

Reply #3 on: May 20, 2008, 01:07:32 am
Practice only goes so far. If you lack the natural-born talent and the advantage of starting very early in life, you can forget becoming a competent artist.
That's just plain old not true. :<

Offline Sherman Gill

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Re: Where to learn Pixel Art?

Reply #4 on: May 20, 2008, 01:12:40 am
Practice only goes so far. If you lack the natural-born talent and the advantage of starting very early in life, you can forget becoming a competent artist.
Bullshit. Practice and trudging through feelings of worthlessness are all it takes. Being born with imagination helps, but your imagination, like most parts of your brain, gets better the more you use it.
Of course, starting early is an advantage, but if you start later atleast you probably don't have to unlearn as many bad habits ;D.

But seriously, I absolutely sucked at art until I was about 12, I have super-shaky hands and any circle larger then a penny that I draw looks like it was drawn by a three year old. The only reason I'm any good at all is that I taught myself about values and form and started doing life studies (Not enough of them, though :() a few years ago.


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Offline Godslayer

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Re: Where to learn Pixel Art?

Reply #5 on: May 20, 2008, 01:51:35 am
Practice only goes so far. If you lack the natural-born talent and the advantage of starting very early in life, you can forget becoming a competent artist.

Good one.
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Offline skw

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Re: Where to learn Pixel Art?

Reply #6 on: May 20, 2008, 02:50:52 am
Practice only goes so far. If you lack the natural-born talent and the advantage of starting very early in life, you can forget becoming a competent artist.
horseshit! however, just like with, say, foreign languages. . . the sooner you get to something, the better you get *at* it. there's also anoher quote which says that if you aim at nothing, you'll achieve it every time.

in Ancient Times, for example, artist were not treated as talented guys with imagination (like we take them today), but rather regular craftsmen. anyone could learn how to make art, anyone can do the same now, it's just a matter of patience.

edit: whoops, a new reply has been posted; no energy to answer that tonight. . .
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Offline Sherman Gill

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Re: Where to learn Pixel Art?

Reply #7 on: May 20, 2008, 03:04:05 am
Being a good artist is different from being successful. :P
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Also, point out to me a person who became a nationally or globally renowned artist and didn't start at a young age or possess an incredible amount of what people call talent.
How the fuck am I supposed to find out whether a successful artist started drawing early in his life?
I could bring you hundreds, if not thousands, of biographical writings that don't say anything about whether the person drew when he was young. It's something you only really write about if it happens.
However, I'd have to point to the classical eras, when apprenticeship was common and people had to handmake their tools. You think they drew alot as a kid when it either cost a lot of money or a lot of work?

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There is no money in art nowadays. Anyone who argues otherwise is lying to you, because if it was so lucrative, there would be as many artists as there are business majors, doctors, lawyers, etc. I'm being realistic here. Less than 1% of the people here on Pixelation will make it into anything. Of the population that does, less than half will actually make a respectable living out of it. The market for 2-D has been dying since the mid-90s, and it's on its last leg now.
I think less than 1% of the people on Pixelation plan on doing pixel art commercially. :-\ Also, I'd say there's only been a steady increase in interest in pixel art, and even more so in 2D art in general, since the playstation/N64 era. Of course, that's another thing I can't prove. Besides that, it's true, it'd be a hard living, but fuck, I'd rather do art and live in slums then work as a lawyer and live in a mansion.

There's also a lot of people who work commercially here. I'm not entirely certain about any of these but I'm pretty sure Ben2theEdge, Baccaman, AdamAtomic, and Helm all make a living out of it.

Unfortunately, both of our arguments are based primarily on opinion, so I doubt this will be resolved any time soon :(.
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Offline Helm

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Re: Where to learn Pixel Art?

Reply #8 on: May 20, 2008, 08:27:27 am
A lot of people here make a living out of the arts, they just don't have any reason to shout it out.

"Practice only goes so far. If you lack the natural-born talent and the advantage of starting very early in life, you can forget becoming a competent artist."

Competent craftmanship is largely up to proper method and repetition of execution. These things can be taught to almost anyone. Craftmanship, while taking a lifetime of work, is the 'easy' part. Artistry is an issue of vision and esoteric desire and that is not something you hone or learn, it is something you live, I think. Here in pixelation we deal in craft, technique, so on. These things can be learned by anyone.

Offline Feron

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Re: Where to learn Pixel Art?

Reply #9 on: May 20, 2008, 09:27:50 am
Bullshit? That's funny. How many of the famous people on Pixelation have actually made it into the industry and became recognized? How many make a living (enough to live off of + luxuries) off of art? There's only one person I can think of who comes here and made a living from it at one point, and that's Henk Nieborg. (sp?)

i for one know that Sven (ptoing) is living of freelance graphics.  I think its Adam's main job too.

Plus i don't ever remember henk nieborg coming on this forum.