An Interview With PixelEyeBat

By Jacob Chase

I recently reached out to one of our new Staff Artists and frequent daily tee and YeteeMart contributors, PixelEyeBat, for a little interview. Based out of Sweden, PixelEyeBat’s take on pop culture and beloved video game franchises are enrapturing, to say the least. Enveloping us inside her own fractal universe of colors and defined edges, it’s the way in which PixelEyeBat pulls on our nostalgic heartstrings and sense of wonderment as fans of these cherished universes that keeps us coming back for more. So, naturally, I couldn’t wait to sit down and ask her a few questions and help give us all a peek behind her world of pixel art, stylistic choices, vibrant landscapes, everyday life, and more!

Welcome to PixelEyeBat’s Voxelized Reality:

Jacob: Who are some of your favorite artists that have inspired your work over the years?

PixelEyeBat: Tetsuya Nomura, Amano Yoshitaka, Frank Frazetta, Akira Toriyama, Katsuhiro Otomo, and Katsuya Terada, I really love his atmospheric Zelda art. Most of my inspiration probably comes from video games and anime. Last year I also started painting with watercolors after being inspired by artists such as Heikala and Mateusz Urbanowicz who makes stunning watercolor pieces.

How long have you been creating artwork?

PixelEyeBat: I’ve loved to draw for as long as I can remember, even through school I always drew whenever I could and all my old notebooks are mostly filled with drawings rather than notes.

What programs or tools do you use to create your designs?

PixelEyeBat: I usually sketch the design first on paper and then scan it and redraw it in Procreate or Adobe Illustrator. When it’s pixel art I resize the sketch and then use Graphics Gale. I also use Adobe Photoshop from time to time but mostly in the last step, for editing colors or size and such.

Where did the name PixelEyeBat come from?

PixelEyeBat: Well, I thought this bat eye creature was kinda cute and I added the “pixel” because I’m a fan of pixel art.

How did you develop your unique pixel-art style?

PixelEyeBat: I’ve always loved pixel art but I never made my own until I decided to make one for an art contest a couple of years ago. I had never done anything animated previously either, but I read up on how to do animations and read through a few pixel art tutorials before starting. I ended up doing the animated pixel art “D.va room” which to my surprise won! I also received a lot of positive feedback and found that I really enjoy making pixel art, so I’ve continued doing it ever since.

What is your favorite video game of all time and why?

PixelEyeBat: It’s really hard to narrow it down to just one but my top 12 are: (no particular order)

• Final Fantasy VI
• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy IX
• Zelda – A Link to the Past
• Zelda – Ocarina of Time
• Chrono Trigger
• Super Mario World
• Super Probotector
• Secret of Mana
• Pocky & Rocky
• Super Metroid
• In The Groove 2 (Arcade)
  

Those are just really great games that I never get tired of replaying.

Do you do any art projects with your kids? What’s been some of your favorite memories of sharing your love of art with them?

PixelEyeBat: Yes I do. They also love to draw and they have such imagination and cool ideas, and it’s such a joy to see them develop their own style more and more.

My youngest draws the cutest cats with huge anime eyes and my oldest likes to draw a lot of Pokémon and Moogles right now.

They’re really great at crafting too. A couple of days ago me and my oldest built a kaiten sushi (Conveyor belt sushi) with lots of different kinds of sushi on plates in various price ranges made out of colored paper.

Something that really impressed me was that the conveyor belt could also rotate by spinning a pillar in the middle which she came up with and executed all by herself.

What sort of adventures do you and your family like to go on?

PixelEyeBat: We really enjoy hiking and being outdoors all year round. There are several nature reserves in the area that we like to explore, and we also recently bought a tent and stove to set up a hot tent, which we’re looking forward to trying out soon.

Being a resident of Sweden, what’s it like having access to the best chocolate in the world on a daily basis? (Totally not jealous at all by the way!)

PixelEyeBat: I rarely eat chocolate or candy actually but I do like pastries and hot/spicy potato chips.

What’s your favorite stage of the creative process?

PixelEyeBat: The first stage maybe, it's fun and creative when you’re just brainstorming ideas and going through various compositions and such, and deciding what the final design is going to look like.

What was one of your favorite memories when creating/releasing a piece of art for The Yetee?

PixelEyeBat: There are many good memories, one that comes to mind was when I had my first Yetee design approved and it finally was up for sale. It was such a special feeling watching your design being sold and realizing that there were actually people that liked your design and wanted to wear it.

This journey has taught me so much, and I’m so thankful for being able to do this for work and for all the support I’ve received from The Yetee and everybody.

Thanks for all your support!

If you would like to see more of PixelEyeBats’s work, check out her official collection over on the YeteeMart! We just launched a couple of brand new items including the awesome Akita tee in addition to the Save? enamel pin so swing on over and getcha one! Also, visit her website and social media accounts from time to time to stay up to date on everything she’s up to!

Website: https://www.g-a-m-e-o-v-e-r.com/

Artist Store: https://theyetee.com/pixeleyebat

Social Media: Twitter & Intagram

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