Ever wondered about the artistic genius crafting many of the badges in your favorite game? Prepare to meet the unsung hero – pixel artist Jeca-Tatu. Read on for a quick peek into the mind of your game's pixel artist, and to learn more about the wizard behind the pixels!
How did your story as a Habbo pixel artist start?
Way back in the early 2000’s, after playing Habbo for a while and messing around with Photoshop. I first started by recoloring furni, making custom scenes, etc. Playing with Habbo-related pixel art is one of my first memories related to using photoshop back in 2004-05 or so, so it played a big role on being curious about the software and developing my digital art skills later on. I still have some Habbo fan-art files from 2006 saved in my backups, it's quite nostalgic to look back and see how much my pixel art has improved (thank god) since then haha.
What made you want to join the artists at work project?
By the time I took a break from Habbo, due to getting into university, work, etc., player made badges weren't a thing, so when I started playing again I was really surprised with the possibility of having your very own artwork being used in the game. As an old Habbo player, and a huge fan of the whole aesthetic the game has, that was a huge thing for me and I got really excited. Later on I joined a fan site to design badges for their events and not long after I got my few first badges added to the game, I got the Active Pixel Artist role.
What is the best part about being a pixel artist?
Definitely when I see so many players using the badges I designed <3
Where do you draw inspiration from for your work?
I really like to look back at badges and assets from the early 2000's - in my opinion that's as 'Habbo aesthetics' as you can get. I really enjoy when someone tells me one of my badges gives them 'old school vibes', it's usually what I went for. Of course I also get some references from outside Habbo, following other pixel artists is always good to open your mind, seeing how they see the world and how they put their ideas ‘on paper’, how they trace their illustrations, how they shade them, etc.
Have you ever had a creative block? If yes, how did you have overcome it?
Yes for sure, I’d say it’s something that happens more often than people think. I have a lot of collections of illustrations and pictures divided by themes that I save on other websites, I like to go back to those and just browse through it and doodling whatever comes to mind, eventually I feel more relaxed and something “accidentally” comes out on my paper.
How do you feel about contributing to creating the badges and the general art for the game?
It's really exciting to somehow leave my mark on a game that I played for so long, this role not only gave me the opportunity to make badges (I’ve made something around 50-60 now) but also lead me to the Events Team on the Collectibles side of the game, giving me loads of super cool opportunities.
What have been the main difficulties encountered in your work so far?
Pixel art is really cute to look at, but can be challenging. It’s such a small form of illustration and you’re restricted to what the lil squares can form, it can be hard to add details or make something in the shape you want it to be.
Is there anything you've done in your job that makes you particularly proud?
Something the young Jeca who could barely speak English, or put 2 pixels together, would ever expect to happen when he started playing Habbo: furni. Not many habbos have had the same opportunity to make in-game items, at the time there were mostly non-user generated content around, but it’s really nice to see how that’s changing, giving more people the chance to make their little pixel art furniture.
How long does it take you to make content like badges or webpromos?
Given this is something I do in my free time, sometimes it can take a few days to get the idea approved and the badge finalized, but the actual pixel art work is quicker, especially if I have good visual references of what I have to pixel, that helps a lot, so usually I spend around 1.5-3h making a badge from scratch. Webpromos can take longer since it's usually a bigger piece of artwork, so it really depends on how much information, how much detailing I gotta add to it.
What advice would you give to those who want to start to experiment with pixel art, but have no experience with it?
I'd say my own learning process worked out well, playing around with some habbo furnis just for fun, recolouring, making some additions to it, you end up getting how it works, how to make lines and curves, pixel art shading, etc. It's a fun process and easy to practice as you can use many different softwares and get the same result. There are also a lot of tutorials out there on the internet, thankfully. And of course, I'm always open to help as well, as I've done before to those who came to me, so feel free to ask me in-game anything you might be interested to know. Recently we started a small Habbo art community specifically to share art, tips, etc., so those who already have some experience can share and give feedback to the ones that are starting, it’s been working out very well, which makes me happy.
Thanks Jeca-Tatu for taking the time to answer our questions and share your insight with us.
We look forward to continuing to showcase your exceptional badges!