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Pixel art[note 1] is a form of digital art drawn with graphical software where images are built using pixels as the only building block.[2] It is widely associated with the low-resolution graphics from 8-bit and 16-bit era computers, arcade machines and video game consoles, in addition to other limited systems such as LED displays and graphing calculators, which have a limited number of pixels and colors available.[3] The art form is still employed to this day by pixel artists and game studios, even though the technological limitations have since been surpassed.[3][4]
Most works of pixel art are also restrictive both in file size and the number of colors used in their color palette because of software limitations—to achieve a certain aesthetic or simply to reduce the perceived noise. Older forms of pixel art tend to employ smaller palettes, with some video games being made using just two colors (1-bit color depth). Because of these self-imposed limitations, pixel art presents strong similarities with many traditional restrictive art forms such as mosaics, cross-stitch and fuse beads.[2]
The precise definition of pixel art is a subject of debate, but an artwork is usually considered as such if deliberate thought was put into each individual pixel of the image. Standard digital artworks or low-resolution photographs are also composed of pixels, but they would only be considered pixel art if the individual pixels were placed with artistic intent, even if the pixels are clearly visible or prominent (see Definition).
The phrases "dot art" and "pixel pushing" are sometimes used as synonyms for pixel art, particularly by Japanese artists. A much more popular variation is the term spriting, which sometimes refers to the activity of making pixel art elements for video games specifically. The concept most likely originated from the word sprite, which is used in computer graphics to describe a two-dimensional bitmap that can be used as a building block in the construction of larger scenes.
- ^ "Grand dictionnaire terminologique - art du pixel". gdt.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b "What is Pixel Art? - Definition from Techopedia". 2022-05-26. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
- ^ a b Lee, Cindy (2021). "Chapter 14: Best Practices for Pixel Art". In Dillon, Roberto (ed.). The Digital Gaming Handbook (1st ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 275–286. ISBN 978-0-367-22384-7.
- ^ Silber (2016), p. 11, preface.
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