Friends are Pixels

humans are quite special in that we have a strong grasp of patterns*. we are experts in spotting irregularities and seem to prefer certain kinds of mathematical ratios in construction, imagery etc (fibonacci and all that).

*this might be linked to our highly developed understanding of causalities - they can also be thought of cause/effect patterns that our pattern recognition deals with. now ... if only we listened a bit more to that part of our brain..


anyway, when the resolution gets coarse enough, pixel graphics are just grid-constrained mosaic - something that has been with us for a long time and that has survived myriad of generations of aesthetic changes. there are certain continuums that are generally more pleasing than others, simple, crisp, beautiful curves and dither patterns that just feel right. and there are all kinds of deviations that hurt our eyes - unnecessary nooks and crannies, double pixel arcs (where lines seems to form clumps, breaking the illusion of continuity) and patterns that do not flow.


which of these line divisions make nice-looking lines and which are not pleasing to your eyes?

when someone is learning pixels, they generally have to learn their mosaic. as an example, drawing a vector shape and just rendering it without anti-alias usually leads to something that's 70% there but has lots of little details that make it shoddy. if a fully realized pixel artwork was a painting by one of the Old Masters, those attempts are akin to the portraits that you can get from street "artists" by supplying a photo of your dog.
on an advanced level pixels are not about mathematical perfection and correctness of shapes, more about continuity, use of positive/negative shapes and patterns - the author must believe his/her eyes and not the tools they are using. and to be effective, you have to have your own set of "tools", the shapes and pixel line angles you know to work well.

uh .. that's about enough of pseudo-science and opinionated monologue for today, right?

<3 t.. / polyfonken