Back to the Amiga: Pixel Art

This is a composition I created for an art contest. I created this illustration on a computer that is likely older than most people reading this. I did the work on an Amiga 3000, which was created by a company called Commodore (which went bankrupt in 1994).

The work was done by hand, using a mouse, in a program invented by Electronic Arts in the 1980's called Deluxe Paint III. My canvas was only 320x200 and I used only 32 colors, which I selected. The Amiga - back in 1985 - was capable of providing over 4,000 colors - a stunning achievement back then.

Since I'm using a CRT monitor the pixels are stretched to fill the viewable screen. Looking at the artwork on my modern Mac, it looks like the size of a postage stamp. Hence why I took photos of my screen rather than submit the original artwork file here.

The beautiful thing about CRT screens is that they create light blooms. So even though the work was made with square pixel tools, the final piece isn't horribly jagged thanks to how the colors blend naturally on the screen.

This computer product line was launched in 1985, the same year Back to the Future was in theaters.

This drawing is a love letter to the company and computer that isn't with us today except as ancient artifacts and curiosities. I blended the iconic image of the Delorean with some modern synthwave/Outrun culture visuals. Even in 2019 the Amiga is quite capable of creating a lot of joy and beauty, I think.