Pixel Perspective

Working on Bitmap World is both rewarding and challenging. I keep harping on how people tell me that it really isn't art, to which I keep responding that it is. It's a different form of art, but it's real. Granted, BMW has a deliberate cartoony look to it. I liken doing it to the work that many of the pioneer video game creators did, where they had to pixelate everything. Looking back at the old Mario games, going on to the first Monkey Island and onwards, so many of those games were able to create wonderful landscapes and characters one pixel at a time. Just because art, and computer graphics, have graduated up into the striking realistic doesn't take away the skill it took to create those early works. It's just like you can't say that Ray Harryhausen's work is not art or that it's obsolete simply because you can do something similar (and argueably better) with CGI. And before anyone says anything, I'm NOT comparing my art to Harryhausen's. Just noting that I don't think it's wrong to acknowledge and appreciate different art-forms, even if they are vastly different.

Getting back on track. Today's BMW comic gave me fits. Here it is (you can click on the image to see the original and visit the site).



From a drawing perpective, it's was more complicated than many strips that feature more intricate art. I think I did a good job on the exterior of the limo. However, drawing the inside was quite a challenge. Working in such small spaces gives me fits sometimes. Originally Jim told me just to do the funnel-perspective utilizing the whole screen, but I knew that would make the inside look cavernous. I didn't like that idea one bit, and when I did the original mock-up using a reduced perspective, Jim saw my point. I needed to do some sort of zoom-in. I thought of doing a perspective where you would see the interior, but then see the skyline behind the car, giving the effect that you could see both the inside and outside, much like a set of a play. That ended up not working well. So, instead, I just decided to have the interior in a smaller box, and just fill the rest in with the same shade of blue as the night sky. It actually worked out quite well. Jim said it looked like a view from the rear-view mirror, and he's right. This was not intentional, but it works well just the same.

Bitmap World celebrates it's 2nd anniversary in a few weeks. It's hard to believe. Hope you'll drop in and wish us a happy birthday!