wjs7744 wrote:Oops, sorry, I was too busy looking at the pretty pictures.
And yeah, I'd be interested in hearing how these are made, I notice that they have aliasing.
As RP1 put it: They are produced using a non-vector based package. Some people use MS Paint, I use Paint Shop Pro, as it gives you the lengths of lines. My process is to find a reference line drawing, scale it to the correct size, use colour controls to make it pink, or green or something not found in the final drawing, and then to overpaint it. (Two sins in one - overpainting and using line tools, which isn't "pure" pixelart!)
And me, I use Photoshop and virtually the same process, only I open another layer on top of the reference, and do all my drawing (which, as you noticed, is done without anti-alias) in that layer. I usually reduce the opacity of the reference layer to about 50% which makes it a light grey shade. When I'm finished I simply discard the reference layer: less cleanup of "stray" pixels that way.
In addition to the reference drawing a couple of nice high-res pictures help with detail, and eventually unit colors. The biggest challence is to decide what detail to leave in, and what really can't be depicted. I mean, a single pixel depicts a square six inches on each side, that kinda limits things...
For some added depth I usually paint the lower pixels of a fuselage in a slightly darker tint, to create a bit of depth. Same thing goes for overhanging structures. This effect is really visible in larger drawings like boats, although it IS present in even the smaller things like planes.
And before someone asks "Why no Vector based program?", that's very simple in fact.
I was inspired by someone whose website is now gone, years ago. He posted a series of Royal Navy ships in the 2 pixels = 1 foot format, in GIF format. I started my own series of drawings in that format, others followed, and the rest is history. The pixelized format also makes it possible for people with very low-end graphics programs (MS Paint!) to work on it, and besides, half of the fun is to see how much detail you CAN get in a drawing in this format. Just look at the planes and helicopters. Making them recognisible is a real chore a this scale, but a lot of fun.
As an aside, for all but the largest ships the drawing will fit nicely on a computer monitor without having to be shrunk.
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects."
R.A. Heinlein.
