Okay, so I had this idea floating around, calling it ‘internetchicls’ in my head. No clue where the name came from, honestly. Just felt like messing around, doing something hands-on, something a bit old-school internet feeling, maybe pixel art style.
Getting Started
First thing, I dug up an old pixel art program I hadn’t touched in ages. Think it was Aseprite, or maybe something simpler, can’t quite recall. Doesn’t really matter which one. The plan was simple: make some little digital bird characters. Like, actual chicks, but pixelated for that retro web vibe.
So, I just started drawing. Laid down some basic shapes. My first attempts were super blocky, looked more like weird squares than birds. It’s actually harder than it looks to get something recognizable with just a few pixels, especially if you want it to look kinda cute or quirky.
Playing Around
Spent a fair bit of time just pushing pixels around. Seriously, nudging one dot left or right changes everything. I messed with colors too. Went for those bright, almost clashing colors you used to see everywhere online back in the day. Neon greens, bright blues, that sort of thing.
- Tried a basic standing pose.
- Did one that looked like it was pecking at the ground.
- Attempted one holding a tiny envelope icon, like old email software.
Ended up with maybe three or four designs that didn’t look completely terrible. They were rough, yeah, but they had a certain charm. Gave them silly names in my project folder, like ‘Webby’ and ‘Dot’.
A Little Animation
Then I thought, hey, maybe make ’em move? Nothing complex. Just a simple loop. So I took one of the designs and made a second frame where the head bobbed down slightly. Copied the frames, made it loop. Super basic GIF animation. It was jerky, but kinda funny. Reminded me of those old dancing banana GIFs, but, you know, with my pixel chicks.
Wrapping It Up
So, what’s the result? Well, I’ve got a small folder now with a handful of these pixel art ‘internetchicls’. Saved ’em as individual GIF files. No big plan for them, really. Might use them as avatars somewhere, or just keep them as a reminder of a fun afternoon project.
It wasn’t about building anything massive. It was just about the process, the act of creating something small from scratch using simple tools. Felt good just to tinker and end up with these little digital critters. Sometimes you just gotta make stuff, you know?
