8-bit art! It's all the rage! We got ahold of one of the 8-bit art ringleaders and interviewed him this week. You can look for more of this Pixel Picasso in one of the next few issues of Nintendo Power, or just check out his website, or hit him up at his myspace. If you like what you see you can contact him about doing a painting for you. Keep reading for more of his art and some inside info about his art skills and shows, plus a buncha links to other kickass gamer artists and musicians. (P.S. Destructoid Readers - got someone for us to interview? Let us know!) In case you were wondering about his actual technique for each painting: "My paintings are all done on stretched canvas with acrylic paints. My technique is I will find a screen shot with my emulator, or just make up my own screen shot using sprites and I draw them out on graph paper, block by block and put which color the block is, kind of like my "map" to the picture. I will decide which sized pixels I will use, I have paint brushes the size of different squares like 1/2 in. or 1/4 in. and just go from there. I don't really grid all that much but the main focal points of the painting. I don't use a masking technique or anything like that (thats where people will tape off every part that one certain color so they get perfect lines); I dont like doing that, I think it takes away from the human element." Destructoid: Ok, you've done a few interviews before, but I don't think any of them asked you what your favorite color actually is, so let's hear what it is! EightBitArtist: My favorite color is a dark red color, like the background to the Ninja Gaiden 2 Skull Castle painting. Destructoid: Like the Destructoid bg color - perfect! Quick - list THEE Contra code! EightBitArtist: ^ ^ v v < > < > B A (its technically the konami code) :) Destructoid: Sweet, you passed the test - now we can actually start the interview. I know you're a big fan of old school NES and SNES games, would you say that the Konami code is your favorite, or is some other gaming code your all time favorite? EightBitArtist: The Konami Code is of course the most popular cheat code of all time. What other gaming code has t-shirts with it on it and people with tattoo's of it (yes I've seen this) Destructoid: Tell us what a few of your favorite games of all time are. EightBitArtist: Contra is top dog I think, I can actually time attack that game without dieing, my best time is around 13 minutes or so. SMB series, LOZ series, Mega Man series are all staples of a favorite gaming collection. Some lesser popular games that I like are Snow Brothers, Karnov, Kid Niki, Little Ninja Brothers and Spy Vs Spy. Oh and Bible Adventures... really, that game is brutal! Destructoid: Ok, lets get to the artsy questions now. In about one year's time you've done about 50 commisioned paintings and attended about half a dozen gaming art shows. Is your 8-bit art hobby-turned-job just building up its full momentum or are things starting to wind down for you? EightBitArtist: Well, I have sold almost 50 paintings so far, but actually around 20 were commissioned. The others were ones I just thought were cool and painted myself and someone saw it and bought it from me. I was in a big video game music / art show in Baltimore recently called 8-Bit Genocide so I was putting off commissions until that show was over and now that it has ended a few weeks ago, i had about 10 commissions built up. So I would say its steady if not picking up. Which is great, but I started this solely as a hobby but now I have no time to paint the stuff I want. I also work a "regular" job that I put almost 50 hours a week into. If I knew I could live off this, I would quit my job in a second. Destructoid: Where do you see yourself in 2 years as an artist? Think you'll ever level up and become a 16-bit artist? What would you like to do more or less of? EightBitArtist: I can only hope that I am still painting at least as a hobby if not as a little side income. This has become bigger than anything I could have imagined, so I'm just here for the ride. As for 16-bit pieces, I might tackle it down the line, I still want to do a lot of 8-bit pieces. 16-bit pieces would pretty much be the same thing but its way more colors. So they would take longer to paint since its square by square. I do a lot of Mega Man, SMB and LOZ paintings, but I dont mind it too much as long as they are cool scenes. I do have some plans for paintings of my own that I want to do like RC Pro Am, Solar Jetman, 3 awesome Ninja Gaiden paintings and a Battletoads painting. Destructoid: Of all the paintings you have done, which was the hardest/longest for you? EightBitArtist: The longest painting I have done was the Contra Red Falcon painting. The sheer size of it, 36x36 and the complexity of the heart was pretty time consuming. The end result was all worth it though. Destructoid: What has been your favorite 8-bit painting of all so far? EightBitArtist: I really liked the Dr Mario dancing viruses painting I did for someones mom (yeah, i said mom) and i also like the mega man vs wood man painting someone commissioned me for. Ninja Gaiden Skull Castle, Little Nemo and Contra would be on that list too. Destructoid: What painting are you currently working on, and what other paintings do you have lined up for the near future? EightBitArtist: Commission wise I am working on a little 14x11 Mega Man piece for the 86 Gallery in Ventura CA right now. The catch is I must incorporate the number 86 into the painting. So what I came up with is having Flip Top giving Mega Man a 86 like it was a power up with Mega Man jumping towards it, but behind Flip Top is a space suit Metool coming to get Mega Man. Commissions for the future consist of Punch-Out, Little Nemo, SMB2, Dr. Mario, Ninja Gaiden, Metroid and a few others. Paintings that I want to paint for myself that is next on the list when I get free time is I'm going to get a 36x36 canvas, use smaller squares than I did on the Contra painting and paint Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden standing on a stone looking up at Jaquio's castle over looking the forest below. That will top Contra in complexity and man hours. Destructoid: How much is the average price of a commisioned painting that you usually get a request for? What was the most expensive painting request you've ever completed? EightBitArtist: The average price is kind of tough to say since it depends all on the size, complexity,etc. Something small like 8x10 maybe around $40, something bigger like 24x24 youre getting around $150 mark. The most expensive piece I ever sold was the 24x36 mega man vs wood man painting that went for $250. Contra has a price tag of $400 if anyone wants that. Destructoid: What do you usually do with your earnings? What's the last video game you bought. EightBitArtist: I invest or live off my earnings. Boring answer I know, how bout... I stock up on bombs and arrows so I can save Ms 8-Bit from a fat blue pig that kidnaps here every weekend. The last video game I bought was actually Rygar for the PS2. I enjoyed it. Destructoid: Do you plan on buying any of the three next generation game consoles? EightBitArtist: I didn't plan on it. I bought a PS2 and its basically my dvd player since I only own 6 games for it and never rent. I usually only play my NES, SNES and Genesis. Although the Wii looks like it could be awesome (my pants got tight when I saw Pit in the new smash bros trailer), but if I bought a next gen game console, consider my painting hobby done cuz that would take a back seat. So more paintings! Destructoid: Has any game company or business tried suing your ass for making money off of their icons and artistic copyrighted creations? EightBitArtist: Nope, not at all. What I do is basically in the same realm as all the video game cover bands out there. I was actually contacted by Nintendo Power and am going to be in their Community section they have in a few months, so that's amazing. If you told me when I was 10 that I was going to be in Nintendo Power, I would have fainted. Haha and when I actually saw the email in my inbox, my first reaction was "Uh oh." Its free promotion for them, I would embrace it which it seems they have. Destructoid: Do you plan on attending any future game art shows/galleries? EightBitArtist: No shows are booked as of now, but I know that Video Armageddon 2 in State College PA will be happening again in the fall it seems and 8-Bit Genocide 2 (or 16-Bit Genocide) will be happening again as well in Baltimore MD at the Load of Fun art studio. If I could get into the iam8-bit show for 2007 that would be awesome. I've been told by the curator that they dont "allow pixel art" into the show, so everyone should email them and tell them they need to put me on the bill for next year! Destructoid: What's your opinion on the future of video game art. What would you like to see more or less of? EightBitArtist: Totally more. This could be considered peoples entire childhoods. You can't tell me that it hasn't effected them in some way, shape or form when it comes to their art. Destructoid: We love unique and stylish game art, so give some shout outs for other video game artists you highly respect (gimme names and URL links too if possible please). EightBitArtist: bLiNkY, Jude Buffum, Gabe Swarr, Mr Dandy, Josh Holland, Greg Simkins. Destructoid: Alright, game over, thanks for your time! Expect another interview whenever you cut off your ear and send it to a gaming girl, or whenever one of your pieces gets stolen from a gallery - whichever comes last. Any last words? EightBitArtist: My last words are to say thank you destructoid.com for giving me this awesome interview. Thank you to everyone who enjoys my art and has bought my art. Also I want to take this time to shameless promote all the great video game cover bands out there: Entertainment System, This Place is Haunted, Year 200X, Powerglove, Temp Sound Solutions, Super Dracula, The Advantage, Minibosses, and NESkimos. Also I want to promote the upcoming documentary on video game music/art/culture called "Play." These guys are traveling around the country to shows and documenting the underground scene that is going on. There is a trailer of the 8-Bit Genocide art/music show on youtube.com. They open with my art and interview bands I have already mentioned, so please check it out.