The "history" of pixel car art: a #blogpost about car art using only pixels.

So, many of you have played a new game that’s going absolutely crazy on social media. It’s called Pixel Car Racer. But did you know that the art of pixelling cars goes a long way back?

Pixel cars were not always named what they are. Many years back, they originated under the pseudonym “Manga cars.” They were created by a person under the name of “Shin” and the cars were no what they look like now; back then, they were highly stylized. This style was dubbed “Kuru Kuru” (KK for short) and is still a very popular “gateway” to pixel cars today due to their cute, cartoony and simple style.

Soon after, the idea of pixel cars started to grow. “Tunes” were created upon “bases” people created designed as a blank canvas for others to modify.

A new, more familiar style was created parallel to Kuru Kuru, known as “scaled.” These models are what they sound like: models that are proportionate to their real-life counterparts. Early stages of this style were usually very inaccurate as they were created by eye.

Tuning scaled cars, of course, is equally as popular as tuning KK cars.

Bases are equally as easy to come by as they are difficult to make. Of course, your ever-so-important favorite car of all time, the Isuzu Axiom, probably won’t have a base made for it. If it does, it’s likely old and ugly. New cars as well aren’t pixelled automatically; this is likely due to the dwindling interest in pixelling as an art. However, most popular cars; S-Chassis Nissans, Honda’s, BMW’s, and a few American Muscle cars; often harbor great bases, both scaled and KK.

So, how can I get into pixel cars?

It’s very simple. Do you have Photoshop? Paint? Paint.net? If you answered “yes” to any of those answers, you’re in luck: all you need is a pencil tool and an eraser tool to start. Websites are becoming more and more scarce as the art of pixelling starts to become less common, but those websites that are still active have a very strong community. The only 2 I can think of right now are pixelcarart.com, which might be a good start if you’re only here for the art. They focus on both KK and Scaled cars. Maybe pixelcarworld.com (of which I am a brand-new moderator as of Tuesday xD) is a better fit. It has recently been resurrected… For the 4th time, but there is a roleplaying element which you might find interesting as it is designed as a forum game, with purchases and races and tuning garages. It focuses heavily on scaled tunes, but you can still post KK tunes in your own personal forum.

But how do I pixel?

That, I cannot tell you. You must learn on your own. However, there are a few rules you MUST follow, no matter what. Here are the 4 unofficial yet rudimentary rules to pixelling…

1.) Always use the pencil, not brush, tool and set anti-aliasing off. If you use it, it will ruin the raw creation of the car and is seen as “cheating” in a sense. It also removes some of the sharpness of the picture.

2.) Never, ever, ever save a picture as .jpeg. While it’s definitely helpful to compress very large pictures, it is a very, very big no-no in pixelling, as it compresses and therefore ruins the look of your pixel car.

3.) Always credit other people for using their bases, parts, and others. It really sucks to have your work stolen, so don’t steal other people’s work as well, alright?

4.) Let your imagination go wild. There are /NO/ rules to tuning your car. Want to make a time attack BMW 3-Series? Find a base and let’s go. Baja Nissan GT-R? Hell yeah! Flying time-travelling Mini Cooper with a 2JZ hanging out the back of it? Okay, that’s weird and probably difficult as hell, but it’s po ssible. Remember: Pixelling is only limited by your imagination. And on that note, I shall conclude this blog post. But first…

Pixelling will stay with you if you stick to it. As a pixeller for 4 years, I still have tons to learn. I’m a decent pixeller at best, but many others who pixel manage to pick it up and can tune amazing things in months at most. However, you will learn a lot. It’s a fun past time, yet it still will feel close to you for some odd reason. I guarantee you’ll enjoy it. It’s not just a normal art form… It’s a close-community of friends, family, and more.

Here are links to the websites I mentioned.

http://www.pixelcarart.com/index.php?

http://www.pixelcarworld.com/forums/index.php

NOTE: Every picture in this blog post has been upscaled to fit a screen on the monitor and DO NOT represent the real sizes of pixel cars.