Approved: Connect the Dots: A Pixel Art Competition

[The 100 Mega Shock]

The Dots, Connected

Awarded for contributing to the Get-Together 8 Pixel Art Contest.​

Second Helpings

Awarded for placing second in the Get-Together 8 Pixel Art Contest.

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And many more.

Pixel Art, Dot Graphics, Sprites - all terms used to talk about graphics created from the simplest things displayed on our computer screens, the pixel. By carefully manipluating the placement and colour of each individual pixel, artists have been representing a massive range of characters and places for over 30 years. This event is for anyone from the budding spriter to the experienced pixel artist to come together in celebration of Pokémon pixel graphics for fun and community spirit.


Get ready for Big Money*, Big Prizes† - I love it‡

The challenge is simple - create the best piece of art you can weilding the simple yet powerful abilites of pixels. Use any type of computer graphics software, from the humble Paint to specialist applications like Graphics Gale, or fully-featured graphics suites like Photoshop and GIMP.

As long as what you're drawing is in some way related to Pokémon, there are no other restrictions in terms of theme. Consider ideas like a summer scene, a scene of companionship, or rivallry - or just draw your favourite Pokémon, whatever suits you best.

If you're uncertain about drawing pixel art and wish for help and advice, be sure to check out the Pixel Art forum.

Format
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Maximum Image Size: 256 x 192 px


(Equivalent to a single DS screen)


Maximum Colour Count: Unlimited

Animation: None

The preferred image format is either PNG or GIF. (More on this below)
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Three Big Rules
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As this is a pixel art event, there are a few rules which apply to all images submitted as to ensure that they can be classified as 'pixel art' along with being in a state that can be adequetely judged.


1. Entries must not be saved as JPG files.

JPG images are what's known as a 'lossy' format, which sacrifice some detail in the image to lower the file size. This is barely noticable on large images like photos, however the compression techniques don't know what to do when they find pixel art, and cause the destructive effect you can see above. Any submissions that appear to have been saved in JPG and affected by the compression will not be considered valid.
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2. Entries must not show signs of automatic resizing (enlargment or shrinking)

Using a drawing program to automatically enlarge or shrink an image causes the pixels to be distorted, either blurring them or casuing the size of each pixel to be irregular and 'jumpy'. Both of these effects make it harder to accurately dicipher pixel art and as such, any entries that show signs of pixels that have been resized and therefore distored by computer will be deemed invalid.

It is preferred that entries are submitted in their original size. If you need to make an image larger, people can use the zoom function in their web browsers, or copy it into a program such as Paint and use the zoom tool from there, without modifying the original image.
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3. Entries must be drawn in pixels only

Most drawing software allows the user to draw with both simple pixels and smoother brushes, what are known as 'anti-aliasing' - as seen on the second part of the image.

This is an event for pixel art, as a result submissions must only be drawn in pixels, not using the smooth anti-aliased tools seen above. You can use whatever program or tools to draw with, like lines or shapes as long as they don't cause this effect.
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Submissions
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Submissions can be made by including your entry along with your post.You can upload your image to any image hosting service such as [URL="https://www.imgur.com"]Imgur​

, Tinypic, Photobucket and many others.

Users who do not have the ability to add links to their posts may sumbit theirs via adding them as attachments to their posts ('Manage Attachments'), and other members who prefer to do this are also free to submit their entry this way.

The submission period ends on 11:59 PM [EDT] on Monday July 18 like other events, after which no more entries will be accepted. Shortly after the entries will be evaluated and judged, looking at the qualities of the concept of the piece, how well it has been designed, and the quality of the pixel art itself. Everyone who enters the contest with a valid piece will recieve the aforementioned particpation emblem in appriciation of their effort and contributions to the community while those who submitted the top three entries will also recieve special individual emblems, guaranteed to be a conversation piece for years to come.



Good luck for anyone who wishes to enter, and have fun.


*no actual money is involved
†prizes are not that big
‡i dont
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FIN​