The BeadSprites Forum

DoctorOctoroc · Lvl. 7 Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 712 Location: Philly

Hello fellow spriters. I just signed up to the site but I've been spriting for the past 20 years (only the last year with perler beads though). Yeah, I'm one of those serious products of the 80's who grew up on the Nintendo Entertainment System and probably beat the original Legend of Zelda before you were even born. It's nice to see such a large community of oldschool vg lovers on the web these days. I feared that generation X or Y or whatever we're up to now would be consumed by the third dimension and forget about the glory days where you could still see the pixels. Pretty much all art forms I get into involve pixels, squares, cubes or other geometrical shapes with sharp corners and few edges.

I'm a minimalist, however, I do like to make gigantic bead sprites.
(click on picture for enlargement)

Below we have Mega Man X and Ninja Gaiden 3d!

MMX took two weeks, including the time I had to wait for more beads to come in the mail since I ran out twice. This period also includes the time it took to mount and remount until I found something that could hold the giant sprite to the board. In the end, it was craft glue, the creamy, white paste sent to us mortals from the craft gods.

Gaiden took a bit longer, obviously, since I had to cut, glue and spraypaint the box that contain these sprites. The pic shows the piece as it is supposed to be viewed, from the front, but one can stand at all angles to appreciate the depth. The box is appr. 2' x 3' x 1' and has four layers, the back being the castle, then mountains, grass and Ryu up front atop a cliff.

Here is a fun piece that I plan to build some sort of apparatus for. It's Samus Aran v Omega Metroid!

This one didn't take too long. I'm just trying to figure out if it should be 3d like the Gaiden or flatter, like MMX.

Anyways, I have a ton more to share with everyone, I just wanted to get the big ones out of the way.

Darlaa · Lvl. 4 Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 212 Location: norway

WOW! That's awesome! Great job!

saturnine13 · Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 9:31 pm Post subject:

Those are AMAZING. I especially love the Ninja Gaiden one, so much so I might have to try something like that myself.

pinkdramon · Lvl. 3 Joined: 20 May 2007 Posts: 109

That Ninja Gaiden box thing is very interesting.

DoctorOctoroc · Lvl. 7 Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 712 Location: Philly

Below is a series I'm doing.

I plan on selling them at 32-Bit Genocide in Baltimore, MD this summer. This is a very fun music and art event organized by the VG rock band Entertainment System.

If you like VG Music cover bands and VG themed art (and I already know you like perler beads) check out the videos from previous years. They feature the popular work of 8 Bit Artist as well as Jude Buffum, who uses video game icons as political satire. Very good stuff!

8-Bit Genocide
16-Bit Genocide

I was honored to be a part of 16-Bit Genocide, but only as a result of two other artists dropping out. Still, I sold a lot of these so I plan on returning this summer of '08.

On to the bead sprites.

This series of eight sets are Perler bead sprites ironed very smooth on front, mounted on prints and sealed in comic bags with board backings. They are ready to hang, mount on a wall or whatever. If you have flash player 8 or later, you can check them out in a Carousel Gallery format.

(click on picture for enlargement)

The first set is a Metroid Series of six, based on the Fusion and Zero Mission sprites.

The second set is a Mega Man X Series of eight, each depicting X with a different power.

The third set is a Super Mario World Series of four, Mario and Luigi, with their normal and fireflower outfits.

The fourth set is a Link to the Past Series of eight, featuring four variations of link as well as other characters from the game.

The fifth set is a Kirby Series of six, featuring six cuddlesome Kirbys of different abilities.

The sixth set is a Chrono Trigger Series of ten, with all of the main characters and foes.

The seventh set is a Final Fantasy VI Series of fourteen, including the main playable characters.

And finally, the eighth set is a Doctor Mario Series of only three, the viruses.

Well, there you have it, the Series 01 Perler Prints. Next post, Series 01 Items!!!

Sunshine · Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 6:48 pm Post subject:

........you are my new hero.

linkjun · Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 22

pinkdramon · Lvl. 3 Joined: 20 May 2007 Posts: 109

I like pink megaman I want to make a big ol' pink megaman Smile

Darlaa · Lvl. 4 Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 212 Location: norway

nice work! that's awesome! where do you take the picture? are the backgrounds a picture?

DoctorOctoroc · Lvl. 7 Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 712 Location: Philly

Darlaa · Lvl. 4 Joined: 28 Mar 2007 Posts: 212 Location: norway

DoctorOctoroc · Lvl. 7 Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 712 Location: Philly

Here is a series of blind boxed bead sprite magnets I did. They are based on the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. There are sixteen possible items in Series One.

The front of the package is, as you can see, the sprite of the more common treasure chest from the game.
The back shows the possible items you can get!

(click for larger view)

Each sprite has magnetic backing and is ironed very smooth on front. This series was especially fun because I love the zelda games and the sprites for the items are so well drawn for the game. I used the in-game sprites of the items, as opposed to the menu sprites, because there are more colors and they are slightly smaller.

The package is made from card stock, with my own design I printed from my Epson Stylus. I ordered graded baseball card sleeves with self adhering flaps for the wrapping (sort of like a small comic sleeve) and inside the cardstock cover (folded in half, crease at the top of the package) the Item Magnet is attached to a piece of cardstock with an outline designed after the menu from LTTP and the name of the Item printed on it, in the original LOZ: LTTP font. I sized the cover just right so when 'sqeezed' into the sleeve, all sides are closed so that you cannot see inside. The magnet can easily be removed from this backing for use, as is it only held by double-stick tape.

Well, hope you all like the concept and design idea!

DoctorOctoroc · Lvl. 7 Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 712 Location: Philly

Here is the next series of blind boxed magnets I did. They are, once again, based on the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. And again, there are sixteen possible items in this series.

The front of the package is the sprite of the less common treasure chest from the game.
The back shows the possible items you can get!

(click for larger view)

I tend to like this whole series better for two reasons. First, the bottles use clear beads, which I've rarely found a use for but like the look. Plus, all the sprites just look better in general because I had learned some ironing techniques between Series 01 and Series 02. And second, since the sprites are all generally the same size, no one would be any less pleased with a particular item. With Series 01, some sprites are large, like the Book of Mudora, and some are small, like the Boomerang. Since it's a crap-shoot as to which one you will get, some people might be dissappointed to get the Hookshot verses the Bomb.

I was thinking about re-working the package design for this one. On the inside of Series 01 Items, as I explained, is a single piece of cardstock designed after the menu screen from the game. The problem is, at the size of the package, some of the perler sprites cover the name of the item printed on the stock. For this reason, I was debating redesigning the inside. For example, having the bottom of the stock fold up over the item about 1/4 the way, and have the name printed on the other side...but since it's near impossible to properly align opposite sides of a sheet on a home-printer, I'm trying to figure out exactly how to do it. All I can think of is printing a seperate piece that goes behind the original stock and folds up over the bottom, on top of the item.

Any other ideas are welcomed.

stinlin · Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:35 pm Post subject:

Wow. I'm envious of your color palette. And your Ninja Gaiden one is AMAZING. Shocked

Great job!!!

DoctorOctoroc · Lvl. 7 Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 712 Location: Philly

Here we have Samus' Ship from Super Metroid.

(click on pictures for enlargement)

It's bigger than I thought it would be...just a little tho.

Then I ran out of yellow beads. DAMNIT!

Also, Notice the bottle of Rum on the table in the background...probably not the best idea...

Oobgarm · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:15 am Post subject:

Man, that's just awesome.

DoctorOctoroc · Lvl. 7 Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 712 Location: Philly

Thanks! This is a good example of how limited colors dont have to hold you back. The original sprite had all greys and dark, dark reds in the base, but I used blues instead, which still give a good dark metallic look, I think.

Anachronox · Lvl. 1 Joined: 21 Sep 2007 Posts: 48 Location: AZ

Can you post the sprite or a link to where you found it for Samus's Ship? That thing is impressive.

saturnine13 · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 3:32 pm Post subject:

Samus's ship looks fabulous. Bravo! The yellow shading is perfect, and the blue actually looks really well.

DoctorOctoroc · Lvl. 7 Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 712 Location: Philly

DoctorOctoroc · Lvl. 7 Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 712 Location: Philly

(click on picture for enlargement)

Sakura bead sprite from Street Fighter Alpha 3

Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition select screen portraits

pehN · Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 10 Location: Germany

Wow, Sakura looks really cool.

I would love to see a How-to from you about the recoloring of the sprites.

dick01 · Lvl. 2 Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 85

i agree with the recoloring

a howto would be awesome.

god knows how many sprites i wanted to do and i just cant color match so i give it up

and the sakura is pretty awesome. i like the fireball in particular

stinlin · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:29 am Post subject:

Third on recoloring. You do AMAZING sprites. I'm super impressed!

DoctorOctoroc · Lvl. 7 Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 712 Location: Philly

So close!

I've ironed half of the ship, just letting things set until I resume.
(click images to enlarge)

Here's a view of the whole thing:

Here's the ironed side:

And here's the other side:

I've already made the samus to go on top. My plan is to use the background from the overworld in the game, print it out on a plotter in black and white (because it doesn't cost $25 per square foot like oversized color prints) and mount the pieces in layered 2-D. I might also print the pattern (or make and mount many small perler sprites using white and clear beads) of the the rain from the game onto oversized clear vellum (or clear plexi-glass) and place that in front to add effect...or is that too much?

I will post an image of the finished project soon!