In my random interaction with others heavily involved in Nerd Culture, I was directed to a site which features pumpkin carving patterns, called Fantasy Pumpkins. I may be referred to as the poster child of the bead sprite community, but I suck at pumpkin carving, so I must pay respect to these materpieces.
Awesome!
The forum is called Pixelgasm, and the theme is Nerd Art. If you haven’t seen it yet, it may not seem like much, but spend a few hours on the forum and you will see some of the best amateur art in Nerd Culture. And this is just the beginning.
After just 12 days online, the forum has 54 members, 121 topics and a whopping 2,019 posts. For a twelve day old forum, those numbers are not bad at all.
After this upcoming weekend, we will have finished our first challenge: Dr. Wily for a Day, in which members create their own robot master and create a bead sprite of the boss. My entry is Pot Man (to which I must clarify, I am not a pot head - I simply liked the idea of a Mega Man boss which uses drugs as his weapon).
Pot Man’s powers include Fish Bowl Disorientation, Bowl Blaster, and One Hitter.
After defeating Pot Man, Mega Man aquired the ability Mighty Joint (which is also a reference to History of the World, for those who have seen it).
I wont go into the details to any great degree, but let’s just say that a number of the Bead Sprites Forum members felt the need for a change of venue. It is for this reason that we have created Pixelgasm: Bead Sprites, Pixel Art, Cross-Stitch & more!
This forum will showcase not only Bead Sprites, but all forms of Video Game inspired pixel art, both re-creations and original pieces. If you are into any for of art inspired by video games, feel free to join up.
We are only a few members right now, but soon we will be a thriving community of VG Artists and Craftsters!
If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour… you’re gonna see some serious shit!
My newest project is a 3-D De Lorean from Back to the Future. This project was the result of suggestions from Game Music 4 All’s Anthony. Him and I chat on a regular basis about my projects and his endeavors, which generally leads to either a bunch of mindless banter, or the fruition of something very, very cool.
This time, luckily, it was the something cool.
I’ve shared the pictures of the process as well, just so you can see how many pieces this sucker took. More than S.O.P.H.I.A. and far more beads as well. You’ll find those after the jump.
The recent addition of challenges to the Beadsprites Forum has really gotten attention from the members, old and new. Some are coming out of the woodwork while others just log on much more to check the progress, but any way you look at it, the challenges are a good thing. It also doesn’t hurt that everyone on the forum is nice, despite all of trash talking in the “Place to Talk Trash” thread. I even threw a few BURN! images around for the members to use, but thus far I am the only one using them…
We’ve changed the structure of the challenge a bit for two purposes. The first is to give people more time to complete a challenge and more time to vote. The second is to allow for the first change, but not extend the time between challenges, which we accomplished by begining voting for the last challenge at the start of a new challenge. The next challenge will then last for two weeks, during the first of which members will vote, and the second of which, the winner will have time to come up with the next challenge. Right now, we are in the midst of voting for Challenge 02: Kirby Buffet, and we have begun a new challenge, made by Crausse.
Without further delay, I present Challenge 03: Cross-Genre Character Redux. The basic Idea behind this challenge is to choose any video game character and make a new sprite of them, as they might appear in a different kind of game. For example, using Chun Li from the ever so popular and amazing Street Fighter 2, and drawing her as a Final Fantasy style character sprite.
My choice for the challenge was to use the character Rydia (summoner) from Final Fantasy 2 (FF4 in Japan), and redraw her as a King of Fighters style character.
What do you think? Pretty sexy, huh (in a pixelated sort of way)?
This was actually my roomate’s idea (Blaine). But damnit, I made it!
It’s S.O.P.H.I.A. (the car) from Blaster Master, which was one of my favorite games for the NES. It also had a great, bump ‘n grind soundtrack. So, without further hesitation, here it is.
Below is the original image file I drew to plan this intricate piece - intricate, yet simple in appearance.
If you feel like trying your hand at this one, feel free to use the plans. Please, if you are insane enough to try it - credit me! But I wouldn’t recommend attempting this - I don’t plan on making another one.
The next challenge that winner Welsh-wuff came up with was great. Actually, it was Crausse’s suggestion, but Welsh had the sense of mind to accept it. The challange was to bead a custom sprite of Kirby after eating a character that he had not yet eaten in a game. In other words, no Link, DK, Samus, etc.
There was no restriction on the character to be used, so some of us went a little crazy. My submission for the challenge was Voltron Kirby.
I like how he turned out, don’t you?
To see the rest of the submissions, check out the Beadsprites Forum. If you’re a member, don’t forget to vote for your favorite (*cough* Voltron Kirby *cough*), and if you’re not a member, sign up to vote!
I am about 6,000 beads short of completing one of my more ambitious 3-D projects, a fully 3-D X-Wing, from Star Wars, of course. So far I have assembled one complete wing, and parts of the fuselage, but I’ve run out of white beads. As soon as I order more, I’ll be posting the finished project.
The ambition, however, is not in the bead count, or even the size. Skull Castle contains more beads and is much larger in size. No, this project is more experimental, as the majority of my 3-D bead sprites thus far have been box shaped. This X-Wing, however, has many angles in it, making for some interesting construction methods. Until I have finished the body of the craft, this will be hard to explain, so I’ll just let you use your imagination until then.
After my A-Team van project, I was trying to think of other classic TV shows to use as my subject matter. I thought about other famous vehicles from television and the General Lee, from the Dukes of Hazzard, came to mind. I quickly dismissed the idea, as I was never too in to the show as a kid, only to hours later be commissioned to do that exact piece. Funny, that.
Much like the A-Team van, the General Lee is re-enforced from within using foam core, and the pieces all interlock like a Puzz 3-D foam puzzle.
Like me, many of you may have been big fans of the A-Team back in the 80’s. Well, I still am, and I have the nifty bead art to prove it!
Below you will find all four members of the A-Team, and the classic GMC van they drove around in for the majority of the series, made from beads. These are custom drawn sprites based on the style of the game series Metal Slug, which featured a souped up Contra like gameplay.
First up, it’s B.A. Baracus, better known as Mr. T.
Next, it’s John “Hannibal” Smith, who loves it when a plan comes together.
And what would any good team be without a pretty boy. It’s Face.
Last but not least of the group, it’s the team’s wildcard, Murdock.
And now for what I believe to be the best part of this set - the A-Team Van, which I made from interlocking bead sprite pieces and re-enforced on the inside with foam core. This one contains over 10,000 beads!
And just for fun, an action shot!
