#MeetTheArtist: Sascha Naderer
Sascha joined us in Barcelona for our Pixel Meet Market event and we fell in love with his work! While having a beer in Barcelona, we asked him a bit about his pixel art career.
Sascha Naderer in a nutshell:
Austrian.
Style: mixed, but jumping back to isometric pixels
Software used: Aseprite and Photoshop
Author of a vegan cookbook.
He can do the tongue roll and he has decent eye-brow coordination.
How did you get into creating Pixel Art?
I’ve got into doing pixel art when I was a teenager in the early 2000s and the first artists that I really loved were eBoy and Army of Trolls. I loved the isometric pixel art style and tried to basically copy it the best I could. In a traditional sense, I couldn’t draw to save my life, but the limitations of pixel art really helped me getting an image across. To me, creating pixel art was easier, pleasant to look at and a great hobby. As a kid in the 90s, my dad, who was and still is an avid gamer, got me my first Gameboy when I was 3 or 4, so I’ve been exposed to pixel art for more than 25 years.
“The limitations of pixel art really helped me getting an image across”
How would you describe your style?
I am constantly mixing things up. At first, I did isometric pixel art, then I moved on to other styles. So I don’t really have style where you go and say “Sascha must have done that.”. Often, I need a kick in the butt to try out something new, because it’s always easy to be comfortable with your art. In the end, being uncomfortable is almost always worth it. I still go back to isometric pixels here and there, though.
To me, creativity has nothing to do with motivation, because motivation fades. Creativity is a muscle that has to be trained constantly.
Tell us a bit about your creative process
I start with a limited canvas and go bigger if I have to. This was not always the case: early on, I used to plan big pixel art projects, come up with manageable chunks of work to complete a thing. I created ToDo lists with lots of items. Nowadays, my pixel artist list just says “create art for thing x” and off I go. Doing something is always better than doing nothing. Only did 5 minutes? That’s alright. 30? Better. 2 hours? Good job. Lost track of time? Drink some water, you’re dehydrated. To me, creativity has nothing to do with motivation, because motivation fades. Creativity is a muscle that has to be trained constantly.
What’s your favourite pixel art project you worked in?
I have this collaborative piece called The #Chickenstreet Project and I would like to invite fellow pixel artists to contribute to a cool piece of pixel art with other artists from more than 30 countries.
Any tip for those who want to start creating pixel art?
Just start creating and you WILL improve. Don’t compare to people who have done it for years. Make your own journey. I love Samuel Beckett’s quote that has been one of my mantras for years now. It’s “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Just out of curiosity: what’s your favourite game?
Too many! Over the years, I really loved (in chronological order): Lufia, Shadowrun (SNES), The Final Fantasy Series, Pokemon Red, Super Bomberman 2 (that simplicity!), Roller Coaster Tycoon 2, The Broken Sword series, Sleeping Dogs, RimWorld, Stardew Valley.
A big thank you to Sascha for sharing with us his experience and knowledge!
Follow Sascha’s work here, or in his Facebook page.
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May the pixel be with you 👾
