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Description
This is the process I used for my newest piece, the black mage from Final Fantasy for the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES. (Or Famicon in Japan)
Final Fantasy is arguably my favorite game on the NES, and it holds a lot of nostalgia for me.

The first frame shows the progress in mapping out the black mage. It looks like it would be pretty simple to make something that is already pixelated on an etch a sketch, but I personally argue that it is more difficult, because you have to be -extremely- precise in every single pixel. It was a challenge trying to draw every square the same size, and I was very lucky that it all matched up. A lot of patience and time was put into making sure it looked like my reference photo. I would say that the first part took about half an hour to 45 minutes.

The second frame Is where I went into the pixels and colored all the dark parts. Simple, no? NO. While this part required the least amount of attentiveness, it took a lot of time. You wouldn't guess it, but I must have gone over every line over 40 times to get it that dark, all while making sure to not shade out of the pixels. One slip up would have totally ruined the image. I had to be very precise and concentrate on staying in the boundaries I created. This part took roughly an hour or so.

The third frame is where it got a lot more fun. I wanted to add my own personal touch to this piece, and the particular shading technique I employed in his robe was first used in my last etch a sketch piece, the laocoon. [link] The shading technique is in the third panel. I am glad I got to use this technique again so soon!

The fourth and final frame is the completed piece. I decided to go with a more streamlined vertical line approach to the shading in the pixels of his epic hat. I didn't want to use a shading technique that used curves, because it would take away from the 8bit feel that I was trying to convey in this piece.

Here's the detail of the completed piece:

facebook fanpage: [link]

Description
This is the process I used for my newest piece, the black mage from Final Fantasy for the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES. (Or Famicon in Japan)
Final Fantasy is arguably my favorite game on the NES, and it holds a lot of nostalgia for me.

The first frame shows the progress in mapping out the black mage. It looks like it would be pretty simple to make something that is already pixelated on an etch a sketch, but I personally argue that it is more difficult, because you have to be -extremely- precise in every single pixel. It was a challenge trying to draw every square the same size, and I was very lucky that it all matched up. A lot of patience and time was put into making sure it looked like my reference photo. I would say that the first part took about half an hour to 45 minutes.

The second frame Is where I went into the pixels and colored all the dark parts. Simple, no? NO. While this part required the least amount of attentiveness, it took a lot of time. You wouldn't guess it, but I must have gone over every line over 40 times to get it that dark, all while making sure to not shade out of the pixels. One slip up would have totally ruined the image. I had to be very precise and concentrate on staying in the boundaries I created. This part took roughly an hour or so.

The third frame is where it got a lot more fun. I wanted to add my own personal touch to this piece, and the particular shading technique I employed in his robe was first used in my last etch a sketch piece, the laocoon. [link] The shading technique is in the third panel. I am glad I got to use this technique again so soon!

The fourth and final frame is the completed piece. I decided to go with a more streamlined vertical line approach to the shading in the pixels of his epic hat. I didn't want to use a shading technique that used curves, because it would take away from the 8bit feel that I was trying to convey in this piece.

Here's the detail of the completed piece:

facebook fanpage: [link]