Editing Pixel art (section)

===1990s===
[[File:ChaosEngine1 s11.png|thumb|''The Chaos Engine'' (1993) on Amiga]]
Before the 1990s, display systems were mostly based on a small [[8-bit color|4-bit palette]] of imposed colors (16 fixed shades innate to each system, often incompatible with one another). The coming decade greatly improved the graphics standard with the appearance of increased [[color depth]] and [[indexed color|indexed color palettes]] (For example, 512 colors for the [[Atari ST]] and the [[Mega Drive]], 4,096 for the [[Amiga Enhanced Chip Set|Amiga ECS]], 32,768 for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super Nintendo]], and 16,777,216 for the [[Amiga AGA]] and the [[VGA]] mode of the PCs). During the 1990s, 2D games with manually painted graphics saw increasing competition from 3-dimensional  games and games using pre-rendered 3D assets.<ref name=":3">{{cite news |last=Dewey |first=Caitlin |date=14 October 2014 |title=Nostalgia, Norwegian money and the unlikely resurgence of pixel art |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/nostalgia-norwegian-money-and-the-unlikely-resurgence-of-pixel-art/ |access-date=2 September 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Still, pixel art games like [[Flashback (1992 video game)|''Flashback'']], ''[[The Secret of Monkey Island]]'', ''[[The Chaos Engine]]'', ''[[Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike]]'', ''[[Super Mario World]]'', and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past]]'' had a major influence on future artists in the game industry, the contemporary demoscene and the aesthetic of pixel art in later decades.<ref name=":2"/>

In addition to pixel art influenced by video games, pixel artists (or graphicians) in the demoscene continued to make pixel art for demos and cracktros. Some demoscene pixel artists active in the 1990s have cited movies and urban graffiti as important influences for their art, particularly in designing logos.<ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2020). ''The Masters of Pixel Art volume 1''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 52, 174. {{ISBN|978-91-639-0485-1}}.</ref><ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2020). ''The Masters of Pixel Art volume 3''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 51. {{ISBN|978-91-519-3539-3}}.</ref> In addition to copying sprites from existing video games, demoscene pixel artists also copied the work of popular artists and illustrators such as [[Ian Miller (illustrator)|Ian Miller]] and [[Simon Bisley]].<ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2020). ''The Masters of Pixel Art volume 1''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 14, 45. {{ISBN|978-91-639-0485-1}}.</ref> Competition gradually became an increasingly important part of demoscene gatherings, including pixel art (graphics) competitions, and as teenagers and young adults were the major demographic in these gatherings, a lot of demoscene pixel art referenced familiar fantasy, science fiction and cyberpunk tropes. Demoscene competitions had a major effect in shaping the direction of pixel art. Prominent artists would look for ways to innovate, display superior technique, overcome technical restrictions, and in many cases aim for photorealism through [[anti-aliasing]].<ref>Benjaminsson, Klas (2020). ''The Masters of Pixel Art volume 1''. Nicepixel Publications. p. 130, 133, 177. {{ISBN|978-91-639-0485-1}}.</ref>

As [[the Internet|the internet]] became more available in the 1990s, pixel artists and demosceners gradually began to spread their pixel art via websites, instant messaging, and online file sharing. While the demoscene was arguably most popular among young men, an online movement began in the late 1990s known as pixel dolls or 'dollz', which was popular among young women. The increased popularity of [[online chat]]ting and [[personal web page|personal webpages]] at a time before digital cameras were common led to an increased demand for personal representation through personalized [[avatar (computing)|avatars]]. These avatars often took the form of pixel dolls, being pixel art characters that could be outfitted with different clothing and accessories. As pixel dolls grew more and more common, many pixel artists gradually began to develop this as an independent artform.