Pixel Art

Lecture Topics:

History & Digital culture

The Temple of Art

Pixel Art

(see detailed lecture)

Screenings:

The Story of Computer Graphics

Visiting artist:

none

Readings:

none

Studio skills:

Critique of Emotion Sketches

Hand in Manovich reaction papers

**Pushing pixels and making the pixel art head portrait:

techniques in:

Photoshop: setting up an original image, png/gif file formats, pencil tool, fill tool, seeing and simplifying color.

Image-Ready: importing folder as frames, tween, timing, save as optimized

Project:

1. Create a pixel art head (of your agreed upon classmate in your section team).

2. Then make an animated gif of all of your team’s images. See samples below.

Task:

Using techniques covered in lecture, studio and your own artistic research, create a pixel art head (of your agreed upon classmate in your section team) using the paint, eraser and fill tools, keeping in the tradition of the pixel art viewed in class.

Then put all completed team heads into a folder. In Image-Ready “import” that “folder as frames”. Use the tween tool with with 5 frames to add, all layers, check all parameter boxes (position, opacity, effects). Then use .5 second frame delay time interval for each frame. Then go to file, save optimized as, images only gif (animated gif).

Deliverables

1, 290 x 400, 72 ppi resolution, png pixel head of your agreed upon classmate in your section team.

1, animated gif of all 4 heads tweened with .5 second frame delay time interval

See example:

Pixel Art Head:

Animated Gif:

Grading Criteria:

1. Assignment completed on-time

2. Adherence to the size and file format specifications

3. Appropriate use of tools.

4. Exploration and application of creative tools in Photoshop and Image-Ready

5. Quality and clarity of class presentation

6. Likeness of your image to the actual individual

7. Quality of your animate gif morph