Pixel Illustration = A lot of squares!

So I decided to change my banner/header on my blog. Recently I found a cool group of artist called eboy. They create re-usable pixel objects and take them to build complex and extensible artwork, so I wanted to do something along those lines. Since this image was only going to be small squares I thought it would only take an hour to make. Well I was dead wrong, and it took me a week to make. Since eboy does small characters and buildings more 8 bit or 16 bit video game style I thought it would be cool to blow it up and make it a larger so I aimed 32 bit style. Since I went skateboarding with my dog a few times I thought that would be an awesome picture to recreate. Here is my process.

1. Found a picture on Google images of a guy and dog skate boarding. I didn't feel like drawing one. The image was only used for reference to get my proportions right.

2. Started off drawing my dog Misfit (aka Missy) since she had the most detail I thought she would be the hardest part to create. To get the solid pixels I used the pencil tool in Photoshop to do the outline and the coloring. (It may look like I created her to small for a pit bull, but I have the world's skinniest pit bull.)

3. When I was adding myself in I had to make a few adjustments. I use my neighbor's long board so I had to increase the spacing of my front and back foot.

4. I used another image to make the long board then I added it in to my composition.

5. Now it is time for LAYOUT! So I created a new document using the correct size for good old blogger. Then put what I had so far in.

6. Then added in a ground and some shadows so Missy and I weren't floating in space.

7. Then created some pixel bushes and dirt to give it a little depth.

8. It was then time for the sky, clouds, and subliminal images. I just added a simple gradient sky that then used a pixel filter to make it pixilated and then added some clouds. I added itstartedin82 using two different pixel fonts in the background to add some depth and it just looked cool to me.

9. After I was finish I added a boarder and title of the blog in. I just used an Arial a simple font so it would stand out more from the image. The white boarder also helps blend it into my blog layout. I was going to make it a video game that’s why there is a life bar and some hearts at the bottom, but it really didn’t fit so I took it out in the end.

10. The final product.