*Painting* Art #12: More Mega Man

For Valentine’s Day this year, we tried something new: painting! Besides my few bouts with brushes in art classes, I had never really considered trying my hand at creating on canvas. My girlfriend had the wonderful idea to hit up the local art store so we could spend a relaxing afternoon together brushing our cares away.

Having our own sets of canvas, we both had the freedom to choose our own project ideas. I couldn’t help but use this as an opportunity to create some pixel art. I follow several instagram accounts who do this kind of stuff, and I’m always super impressed with how their work turns out. Naturally, I settled on something related to Mega Man.

The first step was drawing a grid. I took extra care to measure so my art would be directly in the middle. I didn’t want anything to be slanted, so I was cautious about making sure my ruler remained level with the edges.

Once I had my grid and my outline, I simply needed to fill in the squares with the proper color. Another reason I chose this 1UP icon was because I knew it only required a few hues. It’s hard to tell, but I actually used three shades of blue on Mega Man’s helmet. I also had to do a few layers of white for his eyes to cover up the penciled in “W’s” I put on those squares so I knew which color to use there. I stopped penciling in letters after that because I found it difficult to cover the lead.

A few days later, I went over the black again to make sure it was completely solid. The other colors had kind of a swirl to them, and I loved the way that looked. So, I kept it. After consulting a friend about the background, I decided to go with a neutral-ish gray. Again, I initially thought the background would be solid, but I was really liking how the brushwork looked, so I continued with this circular pattern. I think this method helped to make Mega Man’s icon pop in the center of the drawing.

Overall, I’m beyond happy with how this turned out. It took a bit of time, but it’s such a relaxing activity. Both my girlfriend and I agreed that we should make this a regular thing, and now we’re looking into cheap ways to stock up on supplies. What should I make for my next one??

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Thanks for stopping by to check out my art. Do you create your own pixel or video game-themed art? I’d love to see it! Leave me a reply below with a link to your art page. Also, be sure to subscribe to my blog via e-mail to have content delivered directly to your inbox.