In a roundabout way, we could say that every technology and digital element of today has an analogue precursor. Everything that can now be done with a computer, tablet or smartphone was once done by hand.
Artists carved in marble and bronze before sculpting in 3D, people created firework shows before drone art, painters spent hours and hours doing what any camera on any mobile phone does today.
Every “ancient” thing and discipline has its digital counterpart, even an artistic movement such as Impressionism. Based on the juxtaposition of dots or small strokes of colour that the eye is able to recompose and blend, Impressionism is based on the same principle of perception as digital images and therefore Pixel Art.
And if we are talking about Pixel Art, let us not dwell on Waneella‘s work. Valeriya Sanchillo aka Waneella is a pixel artist who debuted with her first works on Tumbler in 2013. These are illustrations or GIFs showing glimpses of a post-apocalyptic world where everything has been abandoned as it was.
There are televisions and computers on, a few cats looking out of the window, lights on in the houses, but no trace of a human being.
What characterises Waneella’s work is the aesthetics, which may remind the most avid gamers of Sword & Sworcery. The pixels are large and clearly visible, something that our eyes, now accustomed to 4k video, cannot understand.
We have selected just a few of her works, but you can discover them all on her Instagram profile and YouTube channel, where he combines them with ambient music.