- Artist Feature
- 06/20/2021 @ 10:19 AM
It starts with pixels.
Atari, the NES, Sega, the Commodore 64. An art form born out of necessity, from hardware limitations. And yet beautiful in its own way. As the possibilities opened up, artists began to create incredible works – the LucasArts games, Capcom and SNK fighting game backgrounds and more, although often trying to hide those technical limitations. And then the PS1 happened. The world moved on. Except, that is, for some of us.
For a growing group of artists, pixels offer a challenge. A unique form of expression. We can embrace limitations or break right through them but now all for the art of it, not the practicality. You have a set number of squares so how will you fill them? Each choice is yours. What we have seen over the last two decades is an inspiring level of creativity and a newfound mastery of the craft. A craft championed by the likes of eBoy, the Godfathers of Pixel Art, and masters like Paul Robertson and then rediscovered by some of us who grew up with those classic influences and many younger artists who didn't.
Cut to the emerging NFT space and at the heart of it you will find Cryptopunks. Unique minimalist pixel portraits, Cryptopunks solidified the medium as being core to the space and resulted in no end of similar pixel art projects. But perhaps not everyone is quite aware of just how far some skilled, talented and dedicated artists are pushing the form.
And so Pixel Art NFT Week is a celebration of these artists and a celebration of the craft. From the likes of Mae and BAN-8KU from Japan to Moertel from Germany to Dmitry Patyakin from Russia and, from Australia, pixel royalty Paul Robertson, the week showcases the talent, offers an insight into their artistic creativity and their process and displays some of the best work in the space.
The future is pixels.
Pixel Art NFT Week runs June 14th to 18th with the SQUARED metaverse exhibition running at ARC Novo to the 22nd. Keep an eye out for Twitter Artist Showcases, live chats and events.
Genuine Human Art
Award-winning pixel artist, director and animator, Genuine Human Art has created music videos for GUNSHIP and art for acts such as The Midnight, Waveshaper and many more. Known for his neon-drenched cyberpunk art about human connection, Genuine Human Art entered the cryptoart space in 2020, quickly becoming a celebrated artist in the scene. He now gives focus to his personal art explorations aiming for deeper forms of expression. Genuine Human Art is the organiser of the Pixel Art NFT Week, aiming to shine a light on the best the medium has to offer. Find him on:
Twitter, KnownOrigin, Foundation, SuperRare
FEATURED ARTISTS
Pixel Art NFT Week
BAN-8KU
BAN8KU is a pixel artist working in Japan since 2013. With his panoramic and pop works, he is involved in visual production for companies and events and leads the main visuals for SHIBUYA PIXEL ART. In his work, he places importance on positive and energizing images, recently exploring luminescence as a way to visualize data as well as to express the brightness and vitality of life. Find him on:
Crypto Princess
Crypto Princess is a self-taught pixel artist and NFT creator. She is the creator of Crypto Princesses, a collection of colorful and amazing beauties inspired by anime and video games. Also she creates cute animated pieces that show moments from the life of the fairy kingdom. Her goal is to bring more cute and joyful things to the world!
Crypto Princesses: Dream Edition
Dmitry Petyakin
Dmitry Petyakin is a Russian pixel/lowpoly artist. Having spent his childhood playing Sega/NES games and drawing comics, he began in pixelart in 2017. He has produced backgrounds for games, including visual novel 'Vengeful Heart'. In 2020 Dmitry entered the NFT space with his genesis piece 'Servants of Fear'. His work was recently featured in Pranksy's and XCOPYART 'NFT boxes'. Find him on:
eBoy // ‘Godfathers Of Pixel’
eBoy was founded in 1997 by Kai Vermehr, Steffen Sauerteig and Svend Smital. eBoy has worked with some of the finest clients and partners: Adidas, Coca Cola, DKNY, Google, Louis Vuitton, Kidrobot, MTV, Nike, Pepsi, Paul Smith, The New York Times, Wired Magazine, Yahoo! and more. Their work has featured in galleries in Germany, USA, UK, Japan, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Brazil, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, Turkey and China. Find them on:
Genghis Kwan
A love for comics, manga, video games, all things geeky, led Herbert (Genghis) Kwan to animation college to train. There, he met artists like Steamboy and N-joo and, with their endorsement, he was inducted into Udon Comics and became a colorist. After graduating from Seneca College in Toronto, he worked at various game studios as a concept artist/illustrator and now has become an artist in the NFT space. Find him on:
Instagram, Twitter, Artstation, Foundation
Gordon Zuchhold
Gordon Zuchhold is a German pixel/voxel artist based in Chile. His work is heavily influenced by the cyberpunk genre, exploring cities bathed in a neon-lit haze. Gordon entered the NFT space in late 2020 and keeps creating worlds that provoke the viewer's imagination. Find him on:
Gutty Kreum
Gutty Kreum is a Canada-based pixel artist. Heavily influenced by both urban and rural Japan, he tries bringing a feeling of nostalgia and calmness with every illustration. He has created background art for "River City Girls" and his work has also been featured in the physical and digital version of the book 'The Masters of Pixel Art - volume 3'. Find him on:
Twitter, SuperRare, MakersPlace, Website
Instant Onion
Nelson Wu is a Chinese Canadian pixel artist and illustrator. He is heavily influenced by the everyday nostalgia and simpler times especially in Asia; bringing light and colour into every illustration. Nelson graduated OCAD University and is currently working in the videogame and entertainment space. He has made background art for Cococucumber's "Echo Generation" and has also taught his own pixel art course on Class101. Find him on:
Jamfactory aka Gavin Strange
By Day, Gavin Strange is an award-winning Director and Designer for the UK creative studio Aardman Animations. By night he goes under the alias of JamFactory, indulging in all manner of passion projects from music to movies. He’s a keynote speaker, giving creative talks around the world from Mexico to Manchester and he’s the author behind the motivational mantra ‘DO Fly’, published by the DO Book Company. Find him on:
KnownOrigin, Foundation, Website, Twitter
Kristy Glas
Kristy Glas is a self taught 2D artist, who started out with pixelart and has branched out to other art styles. She’s the creator of Pixel Cats, but also known for colorful worlds merging fantasy and sci-fi. Her artwork is uplifting and vivid, filled with various details and symbolisms open to interpretation. You can find her at:
mae
Award-winning Japanese pixel artist (Shibuya Pixel Art Contest 2020 Grand Prize), animator, sound creator. A former elementary school teacher, mae creates his art with the belief that art has the power to save the mind, drawing a world full of love and liberation. He has developed a new method called Pixel Impressionism and strives to take his expression further. You can find him on:
Maxwell Step
Maxwell Step is a pixel artist based in Montreal, Canada. He got into pixel art mid 2019 and has been using this medium to illustrate ever since. He tries capturing the essence of people with every illustration. Maxwell got into the NFT world in December 2020, and saw there was an opportunity to showcase his unique pixel artworks. You can find him on:
Moertel / Stefanie Grunwald
Stefanie is a self-taught and award-winning pixel artist from Hamburg, Germany. She quickly gained recognition for her gloomy, detailed nighttime animations. Each of her artworks tells a very personal story. Sometimes inspired by places she's been to, sometimes capturing an entire stage of her life, but always allowing to catch a glimpse of her view of the world: soulful, somber and joyfully tragic. You can find her on:
numo
numo is a self-taught pixel artist from Germany. He started his art journey in 2020 and joined the cryptoart space in February 2020, quickly becoming a respected artist in the community. He is the creator of the cute CryptoTeddies NFT collection - a collection of different themed Teddies in pixel art. You can find him on:
Twitter, Foundation, CryptoTeddies: Collection, KnownOrigin
steamboy33 // Arnold Tsang
Arnold Tsang started his career in 2000 as a comic book artist and is currently the Character Art Director of Overwatch. In 2020, he started the pixel art cover band “The Pendulum”, creating pixel art versions of the band and various other characters playing music together. His pieces are inspired by famous artists, creators and personalities, and using the pixel art aesthetic and 2D animation he tries to celebrate those creators and their creations. Find him on
Foundation, Artstation, The Pendulum, Twitter