Pixel Portrait

GIF

PNG

   For this assignment, each student had to choose an image of themselves and remake it as a small icon. However, it wasn't just a simple outline and colour in job. It was a pixel by pixel task.

   Above, two versions of the same assignment is shown. One is saved as a 'gif' and the other is as a 'png'. At first it seems like there is no difference between the two, but when you take a closer look you can see that the 'png' is just in the slightest bit lighter than the 'gif' (this may just be my screen, but hopefully you see it too). In terms of quality, they are both okay. If I had to choose which one was actually better I think I would choose the 'png' one. Because it is slightly lighter, the colours seem to blend more. When it is darker, each pixel is more defined, and obvious. So having the whole image a little bit lighter, takes away some of the edge but not the whole pixel effect that was supposed to be achieved. But if you want better and bolder colours, then the 'gif' would also be good quality. 

  While trying to complete this assignment, I tried to get the shadows from the hair on the left in the original picture, onto the face. That would be why half of my face is not the same colour as the other. But as I tried to accomplish this, I realized it didn't look that good. That is where my weak point was in this. When choosing colours, I tried to choose ones that were close to my skin tone. But if you think about it, all of your skin is not ONE colour. It is multiple mixed together, and so as you can see, I put many together in order to achieve that effect.

   So the actual process of making this icon was kind of long. It wasn't long in the number of days, because that was only two days. However, because this assignment is basically pixel by pixel, each part of the picture was time consuming. First, I chose the photo I wanted to remake. Then, I placed it in Photoshop to work with it. My white background is 100 x 150 pixels, with 72 pixels/inch. I made sure that the picture was on a separate layer, first, and then created another layer for each part I began to remake (eyes, hair, skin, etc). Then, I grabbed the pencil tool, chose a colour, and started remaking it with the picture underneath. I kept changing colours, and by using the eyedropper tool I was able to get the colours closest to my skin tone and the actual colours of my hair, etc. Honestly, that is it! I just kept colouring each section little by little, until it was complete. Then I saved it, and am posting it.

I hope you enjoyed looking at this art piece, and thanks for reading :)

Bye for now!