PixelBlock Art

RIP Steve

2011-10-12T09:07:00.001-07:00

1955-2011

Golden Axe

2011-05-18T11:41:00.001-07:00

Golden Axe, originally uploaded by dash16.

Mossy Cobblestone

2011-05-18T11:14:00.001-07:00

Mossy Cobblestone, originally uploaded by dash16.

Cake:lie

2011-05-18T09:22:00.001-07:00

Cakelie, originally uploaded by dash16.

The cake is not a lie… in Minecraft.

Diamond Pickaxe

2011-05-11T07:46:00.001-07:00

Diamond Pickaxe, originally uploaded by dash16.

When you absolutely must tunnel through 8 miles of solid rock as fast as possible, trust none other than the one and only Diamond Pickaxe™.

Iron Sword

2011-05-11T07:45:00.001-07:00

Iron Sword, originally uploaded by dash16.

It's dangerous out there. You'd better take this with you.

That's a nice everything you've got there...

2011-05-11T07:37:00.001-07:00

Creeper, originally uploaded by dash16.

It's been far too long since I've uploaded anything here. I just haven't been inspired to make anything, and when lately when I did get inspiration I find I don't have the blocks I need. I have every pixelblock color except light yellow and dark blue, and the pixelblocks company is seemingly going dark. Their website has slowly lost features (Digital Stained Glass, then the store where you could order individual colors) and currently just displays a "coming soon". I'm hoping this just means they are scaling back their web presence to focus on other things, but I fear the worst.

Anyway, I've been playing a $#&! ton of Minecraft lately, and since the game is very retro in graphics the art assets are perfect to translate to pixelblocks art. It's a bit tough considering it uses 3D models, and my works are mostly 2D, but I've made it work. To kick off this set, I've started with the iconic Creeper.

For those not in the know and haven't played Minecraft, the Creeper is a creepy (eh, see what I did there?) looking green creature that silently moves across the landscape looking for things to explode. It does so by exploding itself, and has a short countdown before it detonates. They have no arms, 4 stubby legs, and sometimes just stare at you from a distance if you make eye contact. Always carry a bow and arrows and pepper that sucker from a distance.

Contact info

2010-05-30T00:24:00.000-07:00

I was going through my blog settings and noticed I had setup the contact email to go to an address I don't check often, my MobileMe account @mac.com. Some of the messages sent to it were forwarded to my primary email account @gmail.com, but after reviewing my junk mail folders for my MobileMe account I see that some messages that have been sent to me over the past couple years went unanswered. For that I apologize; I typically respond to emails sent to me as some of my followers may know. If you've reached out to me in the past and found my lack of answer displeasing, by all means don't hesitate to try and contact me again. I've fixed the glitch.

Kratos

2010-04-08T15:27:00.001-07:00

Kratos, originally uploaded by dash16.

And now for my pièce de résistance. My buddy who is a huge God of War fan requested Kratos. I searched around for a sprite and found one on a DeviantArt page from someone claiming to be an artist on the cell phone God of War Game. Turns out it converts really well to my PixelBlocks palette, but I ran out of light grey and grey building it! I had to add some more white to some areas, I don't think you'll really be able to tell. I am really happy with how it turned out, I plan on keeping this one for some time.

Ninja Gaiden

2010-04-08T15:04:00.001-07:00

Ninja Gaiden, originally uploaded by dash16.

Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden. Yet another request. I'm happy with how this one turned out.

Battletoad

2010-04-08T15:02:00.001-07:00

Battletoad, originally uploaded by dash16.

Another co-worker request. I chose Rash from Battletoads. I picked a cool pose, but unfortunately it wasn't able to stand up on its own in the real world. Way too top heavy, didn't balance and the leg was very skinny so it was floppy too. I stood it up against my iMac and another monitor, snapped the picture, then took him apart for parts.

Fire Mario

2010-04-08T15:00:00.001-07:00

Fire Mario, originally uploaded by dash16.

It's been a while since I made any creations, and a co-worker suggested I make the fire suit Mario from the NES Super Mario Bros. Skin tone is pink instead of a light tan; having a limited color palette has this effect. Overall I don't think the piece suffered for it.

RROD

2009-12-31T09:28:00.001-08:00

RROD, originally uploaded by dash16.

RROD FTL.

Minish Link

2009-12-26T13:16:00.001-08:00

Minish Link, originally uploaded by dash16.

Link, from the Gameboy Advance Title, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. Slow day at work allowed me the time to do this between calls.

Luigi - Red Shell

2009-10-21T08:40:00.001-07:00

Luigi - Red Shell, originally uploaded by dash16.

Forgot to post this to the blog when I made it.

Cape Mario - Case

2009-10-21T08:29:00.001-07:00

Cape Mario - Case, originally uploaded by dash16.

So, I've been experimenting with creating a display case for my PixelBlocks creations. Ideally, the case will have two purposes: One, to protect the piece while it ships through the mail, and Two, to serve as a frame for displaying it. It has to be clear plastic, to let light through, yet firm enough to stand up on its own. I like how this turned out, and best of all it was cheap. The screws and bolts and washers were $2, and the plastic sheets were $2.50. I think I'm going to drill more holes, for a total of 8 all the way around so it is really well contained. As it stands, the plastic bows out a bit because the corners are tightened down, and I think if I put 4 more holes in the middle, between each corner it should really hold it in place. It's either that or some beads of hot glue in the corners of the piece. We'll see, I'm going to take it home with me and play around with it some more. I know for starters I'm going to need shorter bolts, as it stands there's at least half an inch protruding from the back.

I'm one step closer to having a piece I can ship through the mail, get your credit cards ready!

WALL-E mk.2

2009-02-01T17:31:00.001-08:00

WALL-E mk.2, originally uploaded by dash16.

Now that WALL-E is out on DVD I was able to get a screencap of the end credit sequence to get the pixelated WALL-E and EVE. Turns out the sprites are pretty complex, I had to clean them up a bit and manually convert the colors to my PixelBlocks color palette. Unfortunately I ran out of dark grey so had to make his eyes black and dropped one of his arms. He turned out way bigger than I expected and have come to the realization that I don't have nearly enough white to make a companion EVE for him.

Goomba

2009-02-01T17:29:00.001-08:00

Goomba, originally uploaded by dash16.

I really like how the Goomba turned out. Dark orange is the perfect color to use for their tone.

Piranha plant

2009-02-01T17:28:00.003-08:00

Piranha plant, originally uploaded by dash16.

This one took a lot of blocks, and ran out of green so I couldn't make the pipe any bigger.

Boo

2009-02-01T17:28:00.001-08:00

Boo, originally uploaded by dash16.

Mario in Kuribo's Shoe

2009-02-01T17:27:00.001-08:00

Mario in Kuribo's Shoe, originally uploaded by dash16.

I'm on a SMB3 kick lately.

Companion Cube

2008-10-31T13:26:00.001-07:00

Companion Cube, originally uploaded by dash16.

This occurred to me the other day and almost slipped my mind. I'm happy with how it turned out though!

EVE

2008-10-01T09:30:00.001-07:00

EVE, originally uploaded by dash16.

Finally finished EVE, had to take apart my big Metroid to do it tho... :(

Baby Metroid

2008-10-01T07:57:00.001-07:00

IMG_0275.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

***WARNING: GEEKY HISTORY BELOW***

At the end of Metroid 2, after successfully exterminating every Metroid (including their queen) on SR-388, Samus found a hatchling Metroid. The hatchling thought Samus its mother, and Samus couldn't bring herself to destroy it so she brought the hatchling to Ceres space station for Federation research.

This sets the events for Super Metroid, in which Ridley attacks Ceres station and steals the hatchling for Mother Brain, who sets the baby loose in Tourian to feast on the most powerful enemies in the game. Samus encounters Metroids again on her way to defeat Mother Brain. The Metroids must have been cloned from the baby Metroid, and are weak to the normal method of freeze and blast with a missile. The baby Metroid however, has grown 3-4 times the size of normal Metroids and is apparently invulnerable to Samus' weapons. The baby attacks Samus and drains her within 1 energy unit of death when it stops, presumably recognizing Samus.

A quick recharge later, Samus finally confronts Mother Brain in 2 forms, and it struck down by a devastating beam of energy from Mother Brain's eye. As Samus lies on the ground struggling to get back up, the baby Metroid swoops in to save Samus from Mother Brain, draining Mother Brain of almost all her energy. The baby then attaches itself to Samus, recharging her with the stolen energy. Mother Brain must have had a reserve, because she recovers and begins to assault Samus and the baby Metroid. The baby, weakened by recharging Samus and the attacks from Mother Brain, falls victim to Mother Brains attacks and dies. It is unclear what happens next. Either the stolen energy from Mother Brain or the baby Metroid's dying act causes Samus' acquired beam weapons to merge into the Hyper Beam, which Samus then uses to defeat Mother Brain.

The Hyper Beam makes short work of Mother Brain, impassable barricade doors, even Elite Space Pirates. It makes a reappearance in Metroid Prime, in the final boss fight. In addition, Metroid Prime 3 introduces a suit that can inject an energy tank into the weapon's system causing Samus to go into Hyper Mode.

How it's done

2008-09-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

Been really busy at work lately so haven't had much time to work on my PixelBlocks art. I figured I'd give an update on the process I go through to make these creations. Its sort of something I figured out on my own, and have been refining the process to make it easier and quicker for me to do.

1) I find a digital copy of the character I want to do online somewhere. There are quite a few websites that post "ripped sprites" from video games, so there's a lot to choose from. Couple of the sites I find them from are Game Sprite Archive and NES SNES Sprites.

2) Once I have the sprite, I convert it to a custom color palette in Photoshop. There are only 20 different PixelBlocks colors (and I own 18 of them), so this can be quite a challege. Some colors don't have an equivalent PixelBlock color, so I have to either fake it or skip doing that character entirely. Magus from Chronotrigger unfortunately was skipped for this reason; I didn't have a good purple. I've created both a palette file I can load into Photoshop and an action that I can run to quickly convert the file. Sometimes the conversion misses colors, and I have to undo and go back and manually change some colors first.
3) Once the image is converted to the PixelBlocks colors, I zoom in on the image in Photoshop and turn the grid on. The makes it easier to build the larger ones, because I can then count the number of blocks I'll need when putting it together. I take a screenshot of the zoomed image, although I suppose I could also simply increase the image size in Photoshop. The zoom is quick and easy to do. I save both a copy of the screenshot and the converted sprite for future use if I want to make one again.

4) I open the screenshot and then start building. I have a bunch of plastic containers on my desk with the different colors sorted out. I start from the top of the image and work my way down, adding blocks one pixel at a time. I don't really have a system for keeping track of where I am, and usually will leave off working on it after completing a section like and arm or head or something so I can pick up where I left off.
5) Once the 2D sprite is built, I make a base so it can stand up at my desk and snap a picture of it. Its better to take a pic of it standing up, because some of the blocks are darker and its better with light shining through them to better define the colors. Otherwise they look like black.

Thats it. There's a couple of other things I'd like to mention. On the PixelBlocks website there is a web application called Digital Stained Glass. Its a great program for taking your images and converting them into blueprints to make your own items. I like to have a lot more control over the items I create, so its not as simple as just running an image through the program for me. I use Digital Stained Glass to count the number of blocks I'll need for an image, as it will count pixels for me and spit out how many of each color you'll need to build it. Also a note on size and price. The blocks themselves are about 3/8 of an inch wide. Even very small images will translate to pretty large items. For your consideration:

sprite, actual size:

zoomed image (blueprint):

actual dimentions of finished product: 11 inches high, 8 1/2 inches wide

total number of blocks needed: 503 (not counting the base)

breakdown of blocks: 269 yellow, 138 black, 83 grey, 7 light grey, 6 clear/white

Pixelblocks sell for $8.00 per 200 blocks, or about $0.04 per block. I actually considered building these out of Legos at one point, but they are actually more expensive at $0.07-$0.08 a block, and there are only 17 colors instead of 20. Wall-e would cost $20.12 to build in PixelBlocks, and $35.21 in Legos.

I hope you've enjoyed the insight into my process. Once I figure out a good cheap way to mount these items, I'd like to do commission based work. One of the challenges I have is lighting, as they look best with backlight. I've looked into framing them, which would work for some items, but anything that uses olive, dark red, dark blue, brown, light grey or dark grey will need backlight to better see the colors.

Wall-e

2008-09-02T17:30:00.001-07:00

Wall-e, originally uploaded by dash16.

If you go to the theaters and see Wall-e and sit through the credits, you'll be treated with an awesome montage at the end of 8-bit characters from the movie acting out key scenes. I haven't been able to find a screen grab of them ANYWHERE, and even tried pulling some strings over at Pixar. This is the result of a free-hand attempt at Wall-e. I'm happy with how he turned out, and is the first model I've made with no pre-existing sprite to go off. I drew my own sprite in Photoshop then made the physical model.

Samus, redux

2008-08-12T08:49:00.001-07:00

IMG_0212.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

I never tire of building Samus pixelblocks art.

Metroid

2008-08-12T08:48:00.001-07:00

IMG_0194.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

I recently retired the Chronotrigger cast from the top of my desk, and am replacing it with a Super Metroid themed one. This is a normal metroid from Super Metroid, found in Tourian on the approach to Mother Brain.

Kefka

2008-05-30T10:15:00.001-07:00

IMG_0113.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Kefka is the super villain from Final Fantasy 6. At one point in the game he uses powerful magic to rearrange the world to his liking, rending continents, moving cities, destroying a lot.

Robo

2008-05-30T10:12:00.001-07:00

IMG_0117.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Robo is a robot from Chrono Trigger's dystopian future. He and Lucca are bestest friends.

Lucca

2008-05-30T10:11:00.001-07:00

IMG_0115.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Lucca as well is from Chrono Trigger. She's the "Velma" of the group.

Marle

2008-05-30T10:10:00.001-07:00

IMG_0114.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

I've been on something of a Chrono Trigger kick lately, even started playing the game again on BSNES on my MacBook. Marle is princess Nadia in disguise, who gets sent through a time gate and unwittingly removed herself from the timeline by accidentally impersonating her great-great-great grandma.

Frog

2008-05-13T15:27:00.001-07:00

IMG_0112.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Frog is also from Chrono Trigger. He wields the Masamune, a powerful magic sword. Originally he was a man, but cursed and changed into a frog by Magus.

Chrono

2008-05-13T08:37:00.001-07:00

IMG_0111.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Chronotrigger was one of the best RPGs on the SNES. Maybe one of the best RPGs of all time. It had everything, awesome story, great gameplay, memorable characters (including the bad guy turned good), and something like 16 different endings depending on what you did, who you saved, etc. The main character, Chrono, actually DIES in the game! You have the option of saving him (which you should), but it is an OPTION. Not needed to beat the game.

Chronotrigger and Final Fantasy 6. If you like RPGs and haven't played these 2, turn in your gamer card, you fail.

Koopa Troopa (again)

2008-04-19T13:37:00.001-07:00

IMG_0106.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

This is a green Koopa Troopa from Super Mario World. Green shells swallowed by Yoshi when spit back out stay as shells. Red shells turn into fireballs. Yellow shells allow Yoshi to stomp really hard and defeat some enemies without even touching them. Blue shells allow Yoshi to fly.

Super Mario and Yoshi

2008-04-19T13:32:00.001-07:00

IMG_0107.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

This is Mario and Yoshi from Super Mario World. It's hard to belive this game came out 17 years ago...

Cursor

2008-03-28T07:48:00.001-07:00

100_4802.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

The mouse cursor from Mac OS X. I may keep this one as well, although it does take some of my precious black blocks.

Mega Man X

2008-03-28T07:47:00.001-07:00

100_4803.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

I decided that if I did the upgraded Mega Man X (armor, boots, helmet, and gun) I wouldn't need dark blue blocks. I like how it turned out. I am however out of black blocks again, and will need to take apart Zero or Mega Man X to make anything new.

An eternal problem, this short supply of black. Must acquire more.

Mooninites

2008-03-21T13:24:00.001-07:00

IMG_0081.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Ignignokt and Err are 2 dimensional beings from the moon. Err especially is a bad influence on Meatwad.

Zero

2008-03-21T13:05:00.001-07:00

IMG_0080.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Zero was my favorite character from the Mega Man X series. I was really stoked to see they'd be making Mega Man Zero games, and have all three of them. They are super hard. I plan on making Mega Man X as well, just need dark blue blocks.

Moof

2008-03-09T16:05:00.001-07:00

IMG_0072.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

This is Clarus the dogcow. Moof is the sound a dogcow makes.

Apple

2008-03-09T14:22:00.001-07:00

IMG_0071.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

I made this with the intention of keeping it. Most of the things I create I take apart when I need the colors from it for something else (most of the time I need black).

Yorp!

2008-03-08T14:08:00.001-08:00

IMG_0063.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Green one eye'd aliens that are almost too cute to shoot.

Almost.

Commander Keen

2008-03-08T14:07:00.001-08:00

IMG_0064.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Game god John Carmack and crew made a couple kids games in addition to the bloody Doom and Quake games. Commander Keen was a great platformer, and had a number of games in the series. From what I hear they are all available on Steam... I need to get me some of that!

Come get some

2008-03-08T13:46:00.001-08:00

104_4801.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Ah, the Duke of everything Nuking. The first two Duke Nukem games were excellent side scrolling platformer/shooters. The 3rd game was a revolution in multiplayer with its outlandish weapons. The 4th game has been a joke in the gaming industry and community for the past decade.

Will we see Duke Nukem Forever any time soon? My money is on MAYBE.

Samus take 2

2008-03-08T08:13:00.001-08:00

104_4799.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

I redid Samus in a different pose with some of the new colors I got. Again, harder to see some of the darker colors now without backlight... I need to come up with a good way to display these.

Check the little Samus on the screen in the background, thats the digital bitmap I went off to build the physical model.

Dun-duh-duh-DUH!

2008-03-08T08:11:00.001-08:00

IMG_0075.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

I got some more colors and the first thing I built was Link from one of the best Zeldas ever, A Link to the Past. Some of the darker colors are hard to see without backlight, hence my MacBook in the background instead of the desk I've been photographing them on.

Red Koopa Troopa

2008-03-06T22:07:00.001-08:00

IMG_0066.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

I'm trying to make Inignot from Aqua Teen Hunger Force and needed green so I swapped the colors from my green koopa troopa to make a red one.

Still don't have enough bricks to make what I want. I did make Err (Urr?) tho, will have pics soon.

Kirby

2008-03-06T16:06:00.001-08:00

IMG_0067.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

I've actually never played any of the Kirby games! Shocker. I have played as Kirby in Super Smash Bros. though. He's awesome.

Look for my Super Smash Bros. Brawl set coming soon, I'll be making all of the classic versions of the characters.

Ms. Pac-Man

2008-03-06T16:05:00.001-08:00

IMG_0068.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

A lot of people don't know that Ms. Pac-Man is not actually the same game as Pac-Man. In addition to introducing a new ghost, the ghosts movement patterns are randomized. In Pac-Man there was a set path that they followed, and people memorized that path in order to set some astronomically high scores.

Plus she has a bow on her head.

Winged Goomba

2008-03-04T09:46:00.001-08:00

IMG_0060.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Nothing like flying fanged mushrooms to ruin your day...

Raccoon Mario

2008-03-04T09:45:00.001-08:00

IMG_0059.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

I'm not sure why a leaf transforms you into a raccoon, or why that raccoon can fly, but a cool power-up nonetheless.

Koopa Troopa

2008-03-04T09:26:00.001-08:00

IMG_0062.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

One of the most common enemies in Super Mario Bros, the lowly green shelled turtle.

Fire Mario

2008-03-04T09:21:00.001-08:00

IMG_0061.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Fire Mario from Super Mario Bros. 3. Quite possibly one of the greatest games of all time.

Yoshi!

2008-03-03T21:18:00.001-08:00

IMG_0052.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

One of my favorite games for the Super Nintendo was Super Mario Kart. Yoshi wasn't my favorite racer, that would be Koopa Troopa (not to be confused with King Koopa, Bowser).

Lakitu

2008-03-01T21:34:00.001-08:00

IMG_0043.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

The thrower of the Spinys. Not sure how he got the cloud to support his weight, or where he stores all those spiny shelled turtles...

Spiny

2008-03-01T21:33:00.001-08:00

IMG_0042.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Red turtle with yellow spikes on its back. Best killed by bumping the block underneath it.

Black Mage

2008-02-28T19:02:00.001-08:00

IMG_0039.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Black Mage from Final Fantasy and the afore mentioned 8-bit Theater. Loves knives and hadokens.

Fighter

2008-02-28T19:00:00.001-08:00

IMG_0038.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Fighter from Final Fantasy. Also, 8-bit Theater. Sword-chucks rule!

Sonic the Hedgehog

2008-02-27T07:33:00.001-08:00

IMG_0046.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Everyone's favorite blue sneaker wearing blur, Sonic! Can't wait to play Smash Bros. Brawl and pit Sonic vs. Mario.

Super Mario!

2008-02-21T07:04:00.001-08:00

IMG_0044.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

It'sa me! Mario!

World 1-1

2008-02-21T07:03:00.001-08:00

IMG_0045.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

I tweaked the colors a bit on this Mario, it more fits with his overall image. The original sprite had brown hair, eyes, shirt and shoes. Very bland.

Jump Man

2008-02-16T08:08:00.001-08:00

IMG_0028.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

A lot of people don't know this, but Mario didn't always have a name. In the original Donkey Kong, his name was Jump Man. Shigeru Miyamoto later named him Mario for the Mario Brothers game, and then Super Mario Bros. was released. The rest is history.

Dig Dug

2008-02-16T08:07:00.001-08:00

IMG_0030.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Dig Dug was an awesome game! I never played it on the NES, but on my Commodore 64/128. As a kid growing up, we didn't own an NES (but I played one all the time at the local youth center). We owned a Commodore 128, and let me tell you that was a game MACHINE. We had tons of 5 1/4 floppy disks with games. Gotta love a computer that requires command line to launch a game.

Pac-Mac Ghost

2008-02-16T08:04:00.001-08:00

IMG_0031.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

This ghost is vulnerable to Pac-Man's awesome chomping powers, at least temporarily.

Wakka-wakka-wakka

2008-02-16T08:03:00.001-08:00

IMG_0032.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

Pac-Mac, classic video game of the 80s. Kinda sad some of the trash games he's been in since the original. Wish I could play the MarioKart arcade game with Pac-Man and the red ghost though.

Duck Hunt, pt. 2

2008-02-14T06:05:00.001-08:00

IMG_0037.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

One of the ducks from Duck Hunt. Anyone play the Wii Play shooting game?

Duck Hunt, pt. 1

2008-02-14T06:04:00.001-08:00

IMG_0035.JPG, originally uploaded by dash16.

That darn dog from Duck Hunt. Anyone ever shoot him?

Link

2008-02-11T10:17:00.001-08:00

IMG_0029.JPG, originally uploaded by dustinnewell16.

8-bit Link from The Legend of Zelda. For as much as I love Zelda, I never actually beat the first game. Never even played the second. Link to the Past was my hook into the series. Perhaps one day I'll go back and play Zelda 1 and 2; I have them on the Zelda collectors disc for the Gamecube.

Samus

2008-02-11T10:09:00.001-08:00

IMG_0026.JPG, originally uploaded by dustinnewell16.

Samus Aran from the original Metroid game. Much easier to do than the 16-bit version.

A Coworker recently asked if I could build the final fight against Mother Brain from NES Metroid for him. I've been looking into how many blocks it is going to take, and trying to figure out the best way to mount these in a semi-permanent state. I'm thinking picture frame, easy to hang on the wall. Would also be nice if I could come up with a way to backlight it, since the pixelblocks are semi-transparent it would look really nice.

Excite Bike

2008-02-08T19:07:00.001-08:00

IMG_0036.JPG, originally uploaded by dustinnewell16.

Excite Bike was one of those games I played, but never really got very far. Still had fun.

Princess

2008-02-08T19:04:00.001-08:00

IMG_0033.JPG, originally uploaded by dustinnewell16.

The princess from Donkey Kong. Princess Peach? Possibly.

Bubble Bobble part deux

2008-02-08T18:54:00.001-08:00

IMG_0034.JPG, originally uploaded by dustinnewell16.

Another dinosaur from Bubble Bobble, with its mouth open.

Mega Man

2008-02-06T06:23:00.001-08:00

IMG_0025.JPG, originally uploaded by dustinnewell16.

The blue bomber! Mega Man was always one of my favorite series games, Mega Man X even more so. Whenever we go to family functions at my wife's aunt's house her little cousin asks me to beat some level or boss in his Mega Man 8 game.

Bubble Bobble

2008-02-06T06:19:00.001-08:00

IMG_0024.JPG, originally uploaded by dustinnewell16.

One of the cute bubble blowing dinosaurs from Bubble Bobble.

Color Palette

2008-02-03T10:27:00.001-08:00

pixelblockscolors, originally uploaded by dustinnewell16. Click the image for the full version.

Currently pixelblocks come in 20 colors. I have the colors in the blue shaded box. Of each color, I have at least 150, some more than double that. I need lots more black, most of the items I want to create have a black border on them.

You can order individual colors directly from the manufacturer, in groups of 200, or get them in sets of assorted colors.

Samus

2008-02-03T09:31:00.001-08:00

IMG_0023.JPG, originally uploaded by dustinnewell16.

Samus Aran from Super Metroid. I'm definitely happy with how this turned out, as I said in my last post 16-bit is harder to do.

Norfair fire monster

2008-02-02T21:15:00.001-08:00

IMG_0022.JPG, originally uploaded by dustinnewell16.

Forgive me for not knowing the name of this Super Metroid creature. They live in Norfair, they are made of fire and creep along walls and ceilings. One of my first attempts at 16-bit characters. Quite hard seeing as I have 12 colors to work with, not the required 65,000+. Still, I think it turned out ok.

Flickr

2008-02-02T21:13:00.001-08:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Metroid

2008-02-02T20:14:00.000-08:00

Mario, Question block and powerups

2008-02-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

Beginnings...

2008-02-02T19:29:00.001-08:00

I started this blog to showcase some of the pixel art I've been building at work lately. About 6-9 months ago we had a vendor fair at work, and one of our partners (Adobe) was giving out these little tins of pixelblocks. I didn't think much at the time, until I started trying to build a question mark block from Super Mario Bros. I found that one tin didn't have nearly enough blocks in it, I was especially lacking in yellow. So my friend Tim started aquiring other tins from fellow coworkers and rounded up about 4 or 5 more.

I built the block, and Mario to punch the block, and a super mushroom. I broke it down and made Fire Mario, with a fireball. I made Samus and a Metroid from the NES Metroid. I gave it a rest for a while and folded origami instead. After folding 1000 paper cranes, 2 giant epcot balls, and a bunch of other shapes I got sick of origami and moved back to pixelblocks. I bought a set with 1200 blocks and a few more colors than I had originally and started building more. I build in between calls, on my lunches and breaks, whenever my mind and hands are not doing something else at my desk.

The 8-bit canvas is a vast one, and if I get creative I can attempt some 16-bit characters as well.