Project Two Panel Three

About the Artist

While I have played Minecraft on and off for years, my pixel art hobby began during winter break at the end of 2020. I joined a realm with some friends, which is essentially an entire Minecraft server that multiple people can play on at once from anywhere in the world.

I can't build realistic houses from scratch, so I was using random Minecraft blueprints I found online. However, I don't enjoy decorating the interiors, so I just made a bunch of abandoned houses for no reason. That's when I decided to switch it up a bit.

The Artistic Process

Originally, I started by looking up pixel art blueprints specifically made for Minecraft. These gave step-by-step guides on how to make simple pieces and characters, which honestly got boring quickly. I wanted something more advanced. I started Googling generic pixel art patterns to look at while playing the game, and eventually started looking up bead and crosstitch patterns for more difficult pieces. Here is an example of a crossstitch reference I used for one piece:

Reference image used for 'This Is Fine' meme

Minecraft pixel art of 'This is Fine' meme

Personally, when I searched for reference pictures to recreate, I looked for images that were clear enough to see the individual pixels, beads, or stitches. I also only used images that had simple color palettes that could easily be replicated with Minecraft blocks. For your convenience, here are some websites I used for pictures.

Grabcraft Pinterest

Most of the pieces I made were vertical and could be seen looming over the world from a distance. However, once one of my friends started putting up realm maps, I realized that our creations could literally be seen on them. I started making flat, or horizontal, pixel art, which was easier in the sense that I didn't have to fly into the sun, but posed its own challenges. As you can see by the realm map, I ended up having a really fun time making horizontal art. I hope you can guess what the QR code links to.

Horizontal pixel art of a Club Penguin penguin

Horizontal pixel art of 'The High Elders' and 'Loops' memes

As I began creating more difficult pieces, I would spend hours at a time on Minecraft. My laptop fan hated me, my mind was numb after hours of repetitive motions, and I was severely judged for my playtime. Here are some tips to consider when embarking on your pixel art process.

Plug in your laptop while playing the game.
Use Minecraft commands to flatten land and fill areas with a bunch of the same blocks. Trust me, if you take the time to learn these, they will save you a lot of time.
If on a Mac, open reference pictures in Preview and physically mark on the images with the pen tool to keep track of rows and columns.
Don't stress out about messing up one or two blocks. It's honestly not that deep and nobody is going to see it (unless you purposely display screenshots of them on a virtual art gallery for a class project).
If you want to take screenshots, press F1 first to make your inventory and cursor disappear. The images will turn out a lot better.
Log off and reevaluate your life choices.

Virtual Minecraft Art Gallery

About the Artist

The Artistic Process

Portfolio

About the Artist

The Artistic Process

The Beginning

Horizontal vs Vertical

Things to Consider

Portfolio