Do you remember the first piece you made?

I do indeed remember the very first thing I made. It was a Doom logo. That was before I knew of the masking tape method and I totally destroyed it when I attempted to iron it. 


What's the biggest piece you've ever made?

The largest piece I've made so far is life sized Faye Valentine. Measuring 47"×31" (119cm×78cm) 

What's the most time you've spent on a project?

The most time I've spent on a project was about 140 hours making life sized Triss+Yen. 

Have you had any art-related disasters?

The only piece I ever destroyed was the very first thing I made. Before I knew the importance of the masking tape method. I watched some YouTube videos and haven't had any mishaps since. 


Do you have a dream project you'd love to make, but haven't been able to yet?

My dream project would be to make something very large for id Software. 

What was your most recent project?

My most recent project was nude Faye Valentine, from Cowboy Bebop. 


What are your favourite experiences you've had as a result of your art?

My favorite experience I've had as a result of my artwork was selling artwork to the creator of Doom himself, John Romero. I recreated his head on a stake, as seen in Doom 2. I posted it on the Doom fan page on Facebook that I am an admin of, and his wife Brenda contacted me. I shipped it off to Ireland, and he later tagged me on IG with it. Definitely one of my proudest moments. Gregor Punchatz, an artist hired by id Software to create sculptures for the Arch-vile, Mancubus, Revenant, and Spider Mastermind, is another one of my best customers. 

Do you have any projects in progress or in the pipeline right now?

I'm not sure what I'm going to make next. I still need to tape and iron Faye.


Do you sell your art? If so, how can people find it?

I do indeed sell my art. You can find me on Instagram at khasper1010 or also on Facebook by searching my name, Kate Rodriquez. 


Anything else to share? Shoutouts, words of wisdom etc?

Bead and iron, until it is done. 

Who are you? Where are you based?

My name is Richard, I’m an beadaholic from Sweden!


When and why did you first start making your art?

It all started 2016 when my son was about to turn 5 years old. He wanted money for his birthday present so he could buy beads, he was used to beading at his preschool. He brought some project home from preschool which reminded me of my childhood with beads but not something I was interested in. He got money as he wanted, we went to a store and bought beads and boards. I watched my son bead and I was thinking about what else you could do with beads. I searched on Google and found an Instagram-account: skoogsparlan. I quickly realised that you could bead everything from NES-games, I had a blast playing NES-games as a kid! So of course I had to give it a try! So I did, and that was it, I was hooked! That was my starting point, I then moved on to more advanced stuff like photographs and bigger projects. But as I love games (especially older ones) I mostly bead game-related stuff. I have to blame (or thank) my son for everything!

What inspires your artwork?

Tricky question, a lot of things inspire me. Other artists is a big inspiration to me, I’ve got a few favourites in this scene. I also get inspired by retrogames which is built on pixels, easy to make projects from a screenshot, many times it’s games I remember from my childhood. But I also bead characters from movies and musicians. After some times with beads you start to see things in beads and pixels. Walking past a mushroom in the woods: That could become a nice project in beads! I believe I’ve been bitten by the beadbug, Crazy illness!

Do you remember the first piece you made?

I believe my first piece was Bowser from SMB3. And some other small pieces as you can see below.

What's the biggest piece you've ever made?

My biggest piece… Depends on how you define biggest. By size I think it’s Guts-tank from Megaman 2, a NES-game. I did most parts myself but my son also helped with that project. It was on 25 boards. But I also beaded SMB3 World 1 Map in minibeads which was 20 boards but a lot more beads than Guts-tank. :)

What is your art workspace like?

Haha… Nothing to brag about! Sometimes I bead on my kitchen table, most of the times at a desk in my kids room. I have dreams about a cool workspace of course, we’ll see what happens in the future. At least I sit down now, the first years with beads I stood at a dresser and beaded.



What are the tools of your trade?

Mostly it’s beads, boards and tweezers. For my projects I use my computer, either to just take an image from an old game or to convert an image to a project using a software called Perler. Most of the times I bead, but I’ve also tried Diamond Painting, cross stitching and pixelart painting on canvas, all these techniques is based on pixels and requires some tools. But mostly, I bead.

What's the most time you've spent on a project?

The most time… That will have to be the SMB3 World 1 Map in mini-beads. I don’t really think about time while beading, it’s a timeless and relaxing activity for me.




Can you talk us through your creative process? How do you go about planning and creating a piece?

The first question I have to ask myself is what I want to do. That’s a though one. Cause most of the time I have at least 10 projects in my head. I need a picture to go from, doesn’t matter if it’s a photograph or a screenshot from a game. When I make a project from a photograph it’s important to have a good picture, sometimes I have to try different pictures in Perler before I’m satisfied. It works different with screenshots from games. I often have an idea of a particular scene from the game on my mind but that image can change during my work with the project. In these projects I match colors to the brand of beads I’m using instead of using a software to pick colors for me. Watching these projects grow is really satisfying. Last but not least I iron my pieces. That part isn’t that fun. Therefore it’s very important to find an iron you are really satisfied with. I have owned a lot of irons, now I’m down to four. (Yes, I’m a bit crazy when it comes to irons!)

What are the most common questions you get asked about your art?
Are those made of beads? How can you have so much patience? I think those are the questions I get most of the time. Sometimes people ask if they can have the pattern for my project or how I create patterns.



Have you had any art-related disasters?

Not really that I can think of. I’ve still got time for that. :)


Do you have a dream project you'd love to make, but just can't justify yet?

I have a dream-project. It’s on 72 boards (if I choose midi-beads), it’s Dr Wily's Castle from Megaman 2 on NES. I will make it... some day. :)

What was your most recent project?

Two NES-projects, Ice Climber and Ducktales.

What are your favourite experiences you've had as a result of your art?

First of all: I love creating things with beads. It’s a relaxing activity for me and I absolutely love creating art with beads from games from my childhood, being able to recreate this with beads is really satisfying. Plus I get a lot of compliments, a lot of people are impressed by what I do.


Do you have any projects in progress or in the pipeline right now?

I’m working on a Mario-piece at the moment, mostly characters from Super Mario Allstars. I will add some more characters as well. This project isn’t finished in my mind yet, we’ll see where it will land. And I have many other projects in mind as well, we’ll see what comes next. Here’s what the start looks like:

Do you sell your art? If so, how can people find it?


I do sell some art. So far it’s been mostly to friends from Facebook that knows what I do. I’m always open for orders.



How can people find you online? Drop your social media handles, websites etc…


www.instagram.com/pixelartgotland
www.facebook.com/pixelartgotland


Anything else to share? Shoutouts, words of wisdom etc?


Shoutouts to some of my favourite artists on Instagram:

skoogsparlan
caveofpixels
andreas_dock
legenerdycreations
sluskafan
perler_purrs
mylifeinbeads
jpursellart
virsboparlan
pxlflx
beadlightstudio

Who are you? Where are you based?

I'm Claire and I'm based in Nottingham, England

When and why did you first start making your art?

I've always been very artistic and enjoyed craft based projects. Fuse beads is something I did as a kid; when it popped up on my Pinterest a couple of years ago I got really nostalgic and dived back in.

What inspires your artwork?

I'm a Disney nut; I love the characters, the songs, the art that goes into them and I love turning iconic movie moments, that I grew up with, into art. To look at something and immediately hear piece of music or a line from the film run through my head just transports me back to being a kid.

Do you remember the first piece you made?

When I got back into beads I made a range of Disney Princess sprites that I'd seen on Pinterest, then I decided to make more movie accurate princesses and additional characters from each film.

What's the biggest piece you've ever made?

My biggest piece is a scene from Beauty and the Beast; it was 60 boards and took ages to get the scale how I wanted it. I didn't want to loose too much detail so I resized it bigger 3 times.

What is your art workspace like?

I've just moved so my workspace is a bit of a mess atm. I have drawers of different coloured beads and I predominantly work on a tray with my iPad as a template.

What are the tools of your trade?

Hama beads are the main brand I use, they're reasonable and easy to get hold of. I like to shade so I need more colour variations than Hama do alone so I also use Perler. However Perler have stopped shipping straight to the UK so I'm thinking of switching to Artkal and getting the odd Perler colour from eBay when I need to. Other than that I use Perler pegboards and baking paper.

What's the most time you've spent on a project?

The most time consuming project was every card from card captor sakura; while the cards individually aren't that big there's over 50 of them and it took months! Wasn't helped by customs.

Can you talk us through your creative process? How do you go about planning and creating a piece?

Usually I pick the film that I want to work from next, rewatch it again and then pick a favourite/ iconic character or scene. After I know the subject I go on my iPad and grab as many references I can from Google and work out exactly how I want the layout to turn out. I mostly use my iPad as a stencil and just zoom in on a picture until the scale is what I want. Sometimes an exact pixelated copy isn't too visually pleasing so I then go in a tweak the bead placement; faces are usually the worst for this as features can get lost if you're too accurate.

What are the most common questions you get asked about your art?

Where do you get your designs from? Mostly I make them myself, by tracing pictures with my iPad but when I started I used Pinterest and often changed them for movie accuracy. 

Have you had any art-related disasters?

The big Beauty and the Beast piece I did was a complete disaster to iron  I was about half way through and a small section of Hama beads melted faster than I'd anticipated. I was using Hama and Perler and they melt at different speeds, I'd gone from doing a section with both to a section of just Hama and I over did it. That section throw out the rest of the piece and warped it to the point where I couldn't fix it and had to stop. Heartbreaking slightly but one day I'll remake it and have another shot at ironing it. I'm also going to try the masking tape technique with my next project and if that's easier I may use that method for my do over.

Do you have a dream project you'd love to make, but just can't justify yet?

I'm also massively into books and films and I'd love to make a massive Hogwarts castle and do a piece on each of the houses but I don't quite have the space right now. I'll probably do the houses and wait to do the castle down the line.

What was your most recent project?

With the move I had to stop making for a couple of months so my last piece was the big Beauty and the Beast scene.

What are your favourite experiences you've had as a result of your art?

Getting to know other artists, comparing notes on how we got started and what we've got in the works. It's a really nice community.

Do you have any projects in progress or in the pipeline right now?

I'm half way through a commission piece of the little mermaid for a friend.

Do you sell your art? If so, how can people find it?

I've not yet started selling my work but I'd love to start doing that in the future. I have done a few commission piece for friends. If you're interested in a piece drop me a message through Instagram.

How can people find you online? Drop your social media handles, websites etc...

Clairefairy.h is my Instagram handle

Anything else to share? Shoutouts, words of wisdom etc?

Words of wisdom is give it a go; you don't know if you can do it till you try and sometimes it's not gonna turn out how you wanted but learn from that and try it a different way, till you find the way that works for you

Who are you? Where are you based?
 
My name is Jonathan Farrell from Montréal (the French speakers of Canada). I work in the video game industry by day and create large scale Lego mosaics by night.
 
When and why did you first start making your art?
 
I started making mosaics about two years ago when I was playing with my son’s Duplo bricks and got the idea to make some original NES pixel art with it. At first I would search online to find sprites to recreate in LEGO form and had a lot of fun doing it. It was an homage to all my favorite childhood games. I soon found myself wanting to create other types of subjects so I started doing research on how best to pixelize images using Photoshop.
I started out doing simple images using only 1-2 base plates but as my process evolved I was able to do more complex and bigger images. I picked bricks instead of plates because I needed to break them apart faster and more often and because there seemed to be a bigger variety of colors available. Every time I bought more pieces or new colors for a specific piece, I could reuse them to create something else and this has been going on ever since.

What inspires your artwork?
 
I am inspired by all the popular culture that I love and chose my subjects based on whatever I am watching or reading at that moment. I have tons of DVDs and am always rewatching movies or series on a portable DVD player (old school) and this constantly inspires me.
 
 
Do you remember the first piece you made?
 
NES Mario made of Duplo bricks

What's the biggest piece you've ever made?
 
Twelve 48×48 stud LEGO baseplates for one image, it is also my preferred size right now.
 
What is your art workspace like?
I work on a seven feet wide table in the Living room, where I scatter all the bricks I use and constantly go get more in my storage area where everything is separated by color and types of bricks. I’m very messy (see workspace +storage images)

What are the tools of your trade?
Photoshop and lots of LEGO bricks

What's the most time you've spent on a project?
About a month for the Billie Eilish mosaic (or roughly 25 hours total to create it)
 
Can you talk us through your creative process? How do you go about planning and creating a piece?
Everything starts with finding the perfect picture that I want to reproduce and then bringing it into Photoshop to create the pattern. While this looks pretty straightforward I can spend hours playing around with an image to get the result that I want and often handpaint pixels and replace colors manually to match the Lego color palette. Here is an example of a pattern, the dotted lines is the size of a 48x48 stud baseplate and each square is a 2x2 piece, this is how I build all of my mosaics

What are the most common questions you get asked about your art?
If it’s for sale. People are always shocked that I break my work once it’s done and many have tried to convince me to sell my work but I have very little interest in doing this. Creating my mosaics is very relaxing to do at night, especially during this pandemic but more than that is that this work is mine and mine alone. I like not having to answer to anyone about how I work or what subject I pick. I know what goes into setting up a website and trying to promote my work and if I do that, it’s less time for creation, which is what I like. The other aspect is the high price of bricks and the fact that I usually need more than 20k pieces to create them which no one wants to pay. Add the huge size of my pieces and it’s just not worth it.
 
Have you had any art-related disasters?
When I knock out entire containers of LEGO pieces and they scatter everywhere!
 
Do you have a dream project you'd love to make, but just can't justify yet?
Creating a large scale mural in an office/store or having an exhibition of my work for all to see
 
What was your most recent project?
Sally the rag doll from the nightmare before Christmas

What are your favourite experiences you've had as a result of your art?
Having people reach out to me to know more about my work is really fun but my favorite experiences so far have been to when I was featured on the Naughty Dog website for a piece I did on the Last of Us video game and the other was to find that one of my favorite comic book artists (Chris Samnee) was one of my followers on Instagram
 
Do you have any projects in progress or in the pipeline right now?
I always have about 15 patterns that are done in advance since my interests fluctuates so much. When one is done, I go through my pattern files and pick what I want to create next.
 
Do you sell your art? If so, how can people find it?
While I do not sell my large scale mosaics, I do sometimes create the patterns for people should they want to reproduce them themselves and I sometimes create SNES sprites that I frame and give as presents. Everything I have created so far is available as a pattern, just email me for any inquiries at simply.farrell@gmail.com

How can people find you online? Drop your social media handles, websites etc...
I have a farrell_lego Facebook and Instagram account and via email simply.farrell@gmail.com . I also plan on having a TikTok account soon to show my process

Who are you? Where are you based?
My name’s Ryan and my online pixel art handle is PXLFLX. I’m currently in the Richmond Virginia area of the United States.


When and why did you first start making your art?
I’ve been doing art since I was a little kid before I could write. I saw my older brother draw a comic and that inspired me. For the pixel art I started almost 10 years ago now when I was working on a flash video game. The software I was using required pixel art for it to look clean so I had to force myself to learn it.

What inspires your artwork?
I wear my inspirations on my sleeve. I’m a child of the 80’s so things like old Saturday morning cartoons, classic Disney and Warner Bros. animations, Star Wars was huge, and bronze age comic books from DC and Marvel and what came after into the 90s and early oughts. The original Nintendo Entertainment System’s games with large sprites like Punch Out and the cut scenes from Ninja Gaiden are a huge influence on my pixel art. I’m also inspired by certain manga and anime such as Beserk and Studio Ghibli productions. To many to name them all.

Do you remember the first piece you made?
I can’t remember the first artwork I ever did, but my first pixel art was of my original character for my first video game Mr. Pig.


What's the biggest piece you've ever made?
I’ve painted some rather large murals. Probably my biggest pixel art design was for a commission for someone’s video game. It was a snake with a kind of Egyptian science fiction theme for a shooter I think. It was huge, so big I could barely call it pixel art.

What is your art workspace like?
It’s a mess and spread all across the house. I have a draft table where I mostly do miniature painting, an old computer where I do my of my pixel art and animations, a newer computer where I do graphic design and some pixel art, and I draw in sketch pads where ever and when ever the urge strikes me.


What are the tools of your trade?
For my pixel art and animation I use adobe photoshop almost exclusively and I do that with a mouse. For drawing I like Bristol board and mechanical pencils, and for painting my go to is illustration board and acrylic paints.


What's the most time you've spent on a project?
Probably the most time I’ve spent on one project was the Marvel pixel battle animations I did for Marvel Entertainment. I worked on those for a little over a year and half.

Can you talk us through your creative process? How do you go about planning and creating a piece?
It’s kind of hard to say and it’s different depending on what I do. I usually wait for some inspiration to strike me and it feels like something I can fun with. I usually work on something in my imagination for a while before I actually start working on it so I usually have a pretty good idea of what I’m going to do. I use a lot of references and experiment with different ideas. I’ve always had a knack for recreating things that I look at, people used to call me a Xerox machine in art class.


What are the most common questions you get asked about your art?
For my pixel art and animation people always ask me what program do I use, and how long did it take.

What are your favourite experiences you've had as a result of your art?
I got to live out a few of my childhood dreams and worked with some of the biggest companies in the world. I always wanted to work for Marvel and Disney as a kid and I got to do both which was really cool.


Do you have any projects in progress or in the pipeline right now?
I have a bunch of projects in progress. I have a hard time on focusing on just one so I do a little at time on different projects to keep a variety of things going on.

Do you sell your art? If so, how can people find it?
I have a pretty cool storefront on Teepublic with commercially licensed fan art and original designs. https://www.teepublic.com/user/pxlflx


How can people find you online? Drop your social media handles, websites etc...
Just search PXLFLX all over the web:
https://www.instagram.com/pxlflx/
https://www.youtube.com/user/PXLFLX


Anything else to share? Shoutouts, words of wisdom etc?
I would say if you are interested in art go for it but try to remain true to what you want to do and not what you think other people want to see. It needs to be fun for you or there’s really no point. As I said I was lucky to live out some of my dreams, but sometimes I think dreams are better as just that and it might not be all it’s cracked up to be. Avoid burnout at all costs and if you can find a way to do art for yourself go for it. Doing art for others can be good for some people but for me it just ended up feeling like work with no soul to it where a lot of things end up compromised. Do what you want to do!

Who are you? Where are you based?


I am Valentina, a.k.a. Lost In Pixelation, and I am an Italian based in Copenhagen, Denmark.


When and why did you first start making your art?


I have always been crafty and I love experimenting with new things and mediums. I started playing with beads in 2019, when I purchased a bit tub of the IKEA ones to use with my daughter, as she was using them in kindergarten. We really ramped up production of small ornaments at the beginning of the pandemic and I realised I loved the act of placing the beads on the pegboard and counting them on the pattern – I found it very therapeutic in a very turbulent time. Since then it has been become my main creative outlet and stress reliever!


What inspires your artwork?


A lot of my work gets inspiration from nature and art, especially stained glass. I love transforming cross-stitch into bead art.

Do you remember the first piece you made?


The very first one must have been a small Christmas ornament I did with my daughter – the first one with a bit more purpose would be a picture with a bit of motto of mine: “I’m not weird. I am limited edition”. It is 50cmx50cm and at the time it looked so huge and took such a long time!

What's the biggest piece you've ever made?


It is probably the last one I made – a depiction of the four seasons I made for my daughter’s school.

What is your art workspace like?


I normally work on the kitchen island, which is actually quite large. My tools and a small amount of all my colours are in a rolling storage that I can bring around. The big stash of beads is scattered around shelves and drawers in my home office.

What are the tools of your trade?


I work mostly with Hama beads, supplementing them with selected Artkal colours. While Artkal has a great selection of colours and the quality is better, I mainly stick to Hama for convenience (access and price are great for Hama in Denmark) and because I do not do a lot of shading (as I like the contrasting block of colours). I use a Perler straight tweezer which I absolutely adore – so much so that I own 5 pairs (just in case!). Then of course many many square boards and kilometres of masking tape. I have recently experimented ironing with the clear film from Artkal: it is nice because it is very large and let you see through the level of melting (it makes also the beads shiny, but I normally hide that side!). Finally, my beloved Easypress2 from Cricut for ironing – a recent gift to myself.


What's the most time you've spent on a project?


I am not sure to be honest – I tend to work on my pieces in the evening after my daughter goes to bed, so I split my work over several days and I do not keep count of hours. Maybe the lampshade I made for my daughter’s room – it has over 70 stars and it took quite a bit to make all of them, also because it was quite repetitive. But the result is stunning if I may say that myself.

Can you talk us through your creative process? How do you go about planning and creating a piece?


I usually do not make my patterns and instead I adapt cross-stitch patterns. So most of the preparatory work relates to the choice of colours to adapt my palette to the one of the embroidery threads. I pick pieces that speak to me and make me happy – I especially like things with a lot of colour!

What are the most common questions you get asked about your art?


How can I make them so big, how do I iron them, and how do I find the patience to do them.


Have you had any art-related disasters?


Nothing major, mostly iron-related problems, especially as I started ironing big pieces (with a very cheap iron!).


Do you have a dream project you'd love to make, but just can't justify yet?


I would really like to make a very large mural for my corridor with banks of fish swimming towards the end of the corridor (where the sea is) – but I would also need to convince my husband about the vision 


What was your most recent project?


A small sign saying “Santa stop here” for my daughter’s room.

What are your favourite experiences you've had as a result of your art?


When I created my IG account I had no idea what that would entail but I was pleasantly surprised about the interactions I had and the wonderful artists I got to get in touch with. When people appreciate my pieces and tell me my work makes them happy that is just wonderful! Also, a high point has been to be featured on the official Hama IG account for my tropical fish piece.

Do you have any projects in progress or in the pipeline right now?


Nothing on the table at the moment, but I have a few ideas of what I would like to make… I have also a couple of commissions from family and friends to take care of.


Do you sell your art? If so, how can people find it?


I have not yet sold my work as I mostly made it for myself or as gifts, but if people would like to buy something they are very welcome to send me a message on my IG account @lost.in.pixelation


How can people find you online? Drop your social media handles, websites etc...


You can find me on IG: @lost.in.pixelation

Who are you? Where are you based?
My name is Chris, people know me by Samplesgeekart. I am currently based out of the United States specifically Las Vegas, Nevada.


When and why did you first start making your art?
I found myself making a bunch of pixelated art on Microsoft paint. When looking up basic designs I found that people would make the same designs out of beads. When my truck broke down I decided I needed a hobby to keep me busy and out of trouble and tried many different things but I kept revolving around pixel art so I ordered Perler Beads for myself and haven’t stopped since. That was roughly 6 or 7 years ago I would say. My comic/manga canvases on the other hand was inspired by a video of a street artist making a canvas and spray painting on top of it. I figured I could do the same and put my perler work as the center piece.

What inspires your artwork?
Usually my work is inspired from my favorite games, animes, or tv shows, something about the nostalgia of it brings joy to me.


Do you remember the first piece you made?
The first piece I ever made for someone was a glow in the dark iron man from the capcom vs. marvel game.


What's the biggest piece you've ever made?
The biggest piece I have finished as of now is the Night King from “Game of Thrones”. This piece was 3ft tall by 2.5 ft wide. The Night King will pale in comparison to future projects though.

What is your art workspace like?
At the moment… chaotic as I am in the process of moving lol. Typically I have a long table I work on, I have a nice rolling cart from a craft store that holds all of my materials needed for whatever project I am working on at the time. I keep my beads organized in clear bottles/jars (.99 flavored waters work perfect for this) and I keep my comics/mangas organized in different folders, drawers or containers.

What are the tools of your trade?
For my bead art I keep it pretty basic. Beads and boards, parchment paper and clothing iron are a given as these are needed to make a piece but there are a few other things that I recommend as they can help save time or make a much more refined finished piece. These include tweezers to fix any minor mistakes or to make minor alterations, Perler’s bead dispenser device which is used to place a single color down quickly and lastly the most important tool needed for this kind of art is masking tape! Masking tape is used mainly to keep large pieces together, it helps prevent boards from warping and it provides a steady even flow of heat to bind the beads together evenly. Comic art is also pretty basic. The reading source, scissors and x-acto knife to cut the reading source, any size canvas, Mod Podge Matte to bind the reading source to the canvas and foam brushes to spread the mod podge evenly.


What's the most time you've spent on a project?
The most time ive spent on a project would have to be 12-15 hours give or take.


Can you talk us through your creative process? How do you go about planning and creating a piece?
Most of the time my pieces tend to be commission based which puts a lot of the control in the customers hands. The customer and I spit ball ideas and what we think would be the best way to make something work.

What are the most common questions you get asked about your art?
For me the most common question is how do you have the time and patience to do something like that? Music… good music to zone out too can make a world of difference when making pieces for me.


Have you had any art-related disasters?
Too many to count unfortunately. The biggest one that comes to memory is when I first started I made a huge Link from ocarina of time (one of my first pieces) and as I never melted a piece so big my inexperience caused the piece to fall apart in my hands as I picked it up. Usually my most common art disaster is accidentally bumping the boards and the design goes everywhere and you have to start from scratch.


Do you have a dream project you'd love to make, but just can't justify yet?
I have a dream piece I would love to make for my art/game room. I would love to make an old school samurai with cherry blossoms falling around him but it will have to wait until I have some free time for myself. Hopefully this can be soon.

What was your most recent project?
My most recent project I am working on is a set of two pokemon on 12in x 12in canvases. The pokemon are a regular colored Umbreon on one and a shiny Umbreon on the other.


What are your favourite experiences you've had as a result of your art?
Just seeing peoples reaction to the art in general. When someone orders a piece and lets me put a creative twist on it and to see their genuine reaction is priceless. One moment comes to mind when I did a small craft fair, a younger girl maybe 8 or 9 had her mom buy a Zelda piece from me and asked how she can make something like it, I gave her four of my own personal boards and a few bags of beads and explained to her and her mom how it works. Seeing her huge smile and eyes light up is probably my favorite experience with my art. The thing I love about bead art is almost anyone of any age can do it as long as you have a little bit of patience.

Do you have any projects in progress or in the pipeline right now?
I have a few projects in the pipeline right now, these include a few big game pieces and if things work out I have an opportunity to make a large mural/portrait for a company.


Do you sell your art? If so, how can people find it?
I do sell my art. If you find yourself in Las Vegas, Nevada you can stop by the Retro City Game stores in town to pick up some pieces or you can send me a direct message and I will get back to you in a day or two.


How can people find you online? Drop your social media handles, websites etc...
At the moment people can find me on Instagram and tiktok @samplesgeekart. Be on the lookout for my discord dropping soon, details will be revealed on my Instagram when it is ready.

Who are you? Where are you based?

My name is Dante also known as Long Black Fingers (because they are). I was born and raised in Los Angeles but have been living in West Hollywood for a long while. I wanna move back to L.A.



When and why did you first start making your art?

The first time I made something using Perler beads was in 2011. It was also when I discovered they even existed. My best friend who was a children's librarian at the time knows that I enjoy ironing clothes and making things and said that this would be perfect for me. Ten years later and I can't say she wasn't telling the truth.

What inspires your artwork?

At first it was video games so I would make Mario Bros. And Zelda based designs. Once I found sprite based sites it was over. I started making sixteen bit Genesis and Super Nintendo things. It then became seeing other artists and realizing that I could make more than just video games and finding ways to pixelate photos opened up a whole new world of possible creations. I began making things based off of movies and characters I liked later.



Do you remember the first piece you made?

Yes. It was what I thought was a Space Invader but it was just some weird green creature. After I was done I knew I had to find out more about these Perler things. The beads were all mixed and from different companies and melted strangely but at the time I didn't know anything about that kinda stuff. It also took me hours to make.

What are the tools of your trade?

My busted peg board, parchment paper from the grocery store, and an old pair of tweezers. In the ten years I've been making things I have used three peg boards. I discovered well into making Perler bead designs that there were all kinda devices to create designs but I like to keep it as simple for myself as possible. Use my hand for regular sized beads and tweezers for mini beads. That's a whole 'nother thing. I can't even picture myself sitting up and making something.



What's the most time you've spent on a project?

When I first started it would take me hours to make the simplest things. I'm still not sure why. But at this point I can make large designs in a few hours. If it takes more than four hours chances are I had to go to sleep or something. Once I sit down and start its done rather quickly. I'm gonna guess and say making Happy the Unicorn because it was shaped so oddly that I had to put it together in a lot of pieces and wait for things to cool before melting them together.

Can you talk us through your creative process? How do you go about planning and creating a piece?

I'll be sitting here watching a movie or thinking of one and think “Can I make that?” or “Should I make that?” or “Do I have enough beads for that?” If I do I will first check online to see if anyone else has made it and if they have or if someone made one that is incredible I won't bother. But if they haven't I'll find a photo and play around and pixelate it until it is not too ridiculous in size and uses colors I actually have. I'll open up the image in Windows Paint and write down the highest bead and how far it is from the edge of my board and begin. I've made plenty of things and about halfway through tell myself “You don't even like that character that much for something this big” and flip the board and make something else.



What are the most common questions you get asked about your art?

“Why don't you sell your beads?” “How much do you sell your stuff for?” “How long did it take to make that?” “How can you be so patient making those?” “Why don't you sell them online?” “Do you know how much you could make selling those?” No one asks if I have fun doing it which I do once I step away and look at it from a distance because there are times where I smile or get chipper seeing what I made. I also get asked to make multiples of something. I have and hated it.

What was your most recent project?

I think it was the Cactus Jack wanted poster. That was a random idea and thankfully I had some yellow paint for the canvas. I really like how it came out because it is smaller than I expected but if you know the design its easy to see. Right before that for the first time I took one of my drawings and pixelated it for the first time and now have a little dodo under my bed.

How can people find you online? Drop your social media handles, websites etc...

You can find me at longblackfingers.blogspot.com. On Instagram at LongBlackFingers. I just added a SpaceHey page because I am old and miss the simplicity of Myspace under LongBlackFingers as well. Send me a message if you want. I answer questions and give tips when asked. If you comment “How much?” chances are I'll ignore you.



Anything else to share? Shoutouts, words of wisdom etc?

I would give a shoutout to my best friend Cam for even introducing me to Perler beads. The creators on Instagram like Koruptid Perlers, BeadArtBae, and ErinGoBrad. Various DeviantArt artists over the years. I have to add you because years ago I'm pretty sure your art was the first I spotted using canvas and backgrounds for the Perler art. My lady for helping me get paint and canvas for my stuff. Also a shoutout to anyone that asked me to make them something that I never would have but turned out awesome.

As for words of wisdom I would have to say give credit where credit is due. If you have heard me speak this is one of my biggest issues when it comes to art and creators. It takes a moment to link who you got a design from. It takes a moment to send them that link of the art or tag them. Seeing my stuff on Etsy or eBay or Facebook where someone took the image from my page and then selling it as if they made it bothers me so much. If you are okay with stealing the design of someone and then selling it then you're a trash person.

Be patient when you first get started. Learn which beads match well with others. Contact artists you like because chances are no one does. If you think something is too hard to make you should absolutely attempt to make it because why not? Try to be original if not at the start then later. Do things no one else is. And have fun doing it.

​Who are you? Where are you based?
 
My name is Lacey Killion, and I am based in a very small town in Northeastern Oklahoma.
 
When and why did you first start making your art?
 
February 2020. Before the shutdown of the world, my 5-year-old son saw a perler beaded Shy Guy and decided that was going to be his Valentine to his Kindergarten classmates.  Two weeks and 25 Shy Guys later, I was hooked.

What inspires your artwork?
 
Mainly my kids, but I am also a child of the 80’s.  Perler beads are one of those art mediums I remember using when I was young, so for me it is steeped in nostalgia.  It doesn’t hurt that everything I loved as a kid is embraced by my twins, allowing me to geek out while making my “watercolor” series.

​Do you remember the first piece you made?
 
After the Shy Guy brigade, my next challenge was the Cat Mario clock.  That was my first piece with any real size to it, so a lot of lessons were learned.
 
What's the biggest piece you've ever made?
 
“Watercolor Bowser” and my take on Brent Estabrook’s Stormtrooper have the same bead count, but the Stormtrooper used 77 different colors.  Each was 80x80 pegs, so 6400 beads.

What is your art workspace like?
 
My workspace is my old dining room table.  It’s currently in my office of my house and while it is not exclusively for perler beads all my supplies are within arms reach in multiple places. 
 
What are the tools of your trade?
 
My Samsung S6 Tab with Infinite Painter and Photoshop.  Primarily Perler Beads, 3M Painters Tape and my secondhand iron.

​What's the most time you've spent on a project?
 
Building the pattern takes me the longest, a lot of adjusting and color correcting takes place before I even bead.  Bowser’s pattern took about 8 hours and another 8 to bead/iron. 
 
Can you talk us through your creative process? How do you go about planning and creating a piece?
 
Once my son has decided on what I am doing next, I look for images on the internet of the character.  Typically, I focus on images that have limited shading, then I manipulate them to look painted with exaggerated highlights and shadows.  Photoshop is used to pixelate the picture and then I make corrections as needed.  While I am beading, I am always adjusting and making slight changes.  If I am creating one of my “box top” pictures, I will complete and iron the character before adding/creating the edge pieces. 
 
What are the most common questions you get asked about your art?
 
Can I get the pattern?  How do you make it look like a painting?  How do you do the sides?  How do you hang it?

​Have you had any art-related disasters?
 
Haven’t we all?  I have a kitten now and I am low-key freaking out about what that means for my next project.
 
Do you have a dream project you'd love to make, but just can't justify yet?
 
I have a 40”x40” pattern planned out for Captain America I have been sitting on for a while.  I originally planned to build it out of Legos but think I can get a better outcome with Perler Beads.  One of these days.
 
What was your most recent project?
 
Steamboat Willie (Mickey).  It was a birthday gift for my brother, and I was pleasantly surprised how it turned out.  I hope to do more of the 3D wall art style going forward. 

​What are your favourite experiences you've had as a result of your art?
 
The challenge.  It’s a medium that be used in so many ways and I love that.  And with that we have a community of artists that are wonderful, not only in their support, but in their willingness to share ideas and insight. 
 
Do you have any projects in progress or in the pipeline right now?
 
I am in full Halloween mode right now, but after that I hope to work on my next 3D wall pieces.  I have had a special Mario one drawn and planned out for months now and am excited to get it started.
 
Do you sell your art? If so, how can people find it?
 
Not right now, I’ve never really been good at that kind of thing. 
 
How can people find you online? Drop your social media handles, websites etc...
 
Instagram: @iveanidea