Exploring and Creating Pixel Art

NJSLS Arts Standard:
1.1 The Creative Process: All students will demonstrate an understanding of the elements and principles that govern the creation of works of art in dance, music, theatre, and visual art.
1.2 History of the Arts and Culture: All students will understand the role, development, and influence of the arts throughout history and across cultures.
1.3 Performance: All students will synthesize those skills, media, methods, and technologies appropriate to creating, performing, and/or presenting works of art in dance, music, theatre, and visual art.
1.4 Aesthetic Responses & Critique Methodologies: All students will demonstrate and apply an understanding of arts philosophies, judgment, and analysis to works of art in dance, music, theatre, and visual art.

Math Connection Standard: Geometric Shapes

SWBAT: Discuss video games and consider their relation to visual art. Students will create a pixel art drawing of a character on paper and/or digitally inspired by Pixel Art. Their artwork will continue be inspired by the famous street artist: Invader.

Lesson Description
Activity: Students will look at a photo of a scene from the game Minecraft, Super Mario Bros, and/or Space Invaders and answer the Do Now question: Is this art? Why or why not.

Students will discuss their answer to the Do Now question with their group and together as a class.

Connection to Prior Learning: Students will have already been exposed to these video games in their personal lives as through entertainment.

Vocabulary: Pixel, Geometric Shapes

Focused Skill of the Lesson: Students will discuss the relevance of video games within a visual arts context. Students will explore ways to create characters using pixels online using the website -https://www.pixilart.com/draw?ref=home-page

Strategies used: Demonstration, Discussion, Questioning, Group Activity

Guiding/Essential Questions: Are video games art? Why or why not? ∙ Who makes video games? ∙ Do you have to be an artist to make a video game? ∙ Can artists take inspiration from video games?
Check for Understanding: Did the students properly use the drawing techniques demonstrated to them? Did students create a character using only the pixels (squares) on their graph paper? Were students able to form a response to the Do Now question?

Activity students will be completing: Students will first brainstorm a character to create using the Pixilart website.

Materials that will be used: Student laptops, graph paper, pencils, markers, colored pencils.
Timeframe of the Period: 1-2, 40-minute periods


Content Connection: Math - Geometric shapes

Cultural Connection: Video games, street art


Specific Project: Students will create a pixel art inspired character using only squares within a graph on physical paper, or digitally.

Check for Understanding: Did the students master the ability to create their pixel art character?
Students will view a short PowerPoint presentation on the artist Invader. Students will practice creating their pixel art character using the pixilart.com website on their laptops.
What will the end of class look like? At the end of the class, students will have discussed the close and significant relationship between video games and visual art. Students will be able to create their own pixel art character.
How do you know the students retained the content? Students will be able to express their understanding of video games and pixel art through classroom discussion as well as through the completion of their pixel art character.