Voxel
- voxel art
- 3d pixel
- cube art
Everything built from identical cubes on a grid, so no surface is smooth.
Opens an image model with the prompt in it. The price is on the page before you sign in.
What it is for
A grid of identical cubes is a self imposed limit that forces everything into the same language, and the pleasure is in seeing a recognisable figure survive it. It is the three dimensional version of the constraint that makes pixel art satisfying.
How it works
Every form is assembled from cubes of one size on a fixed grid. Curves become staircases. Each face takes one flat colour, with a hard corner shadow where planes meet. The camera is usually isometric, so cubes at the front and the back are the same size.
When to use it
Use it for play, games and anything that should look constructed. Avoid it for organic subjects at small sizes, where a face built from six cubes stops being readable.
Told apart from its neighbours
Brick Built has studs, gloss and a real photograph behind it. Low Poly uses triangles of any size rather than cubes of one. Pixel Art in the print catalogue is the same idea in two dimensions.
- Brick Built
- Low Poly
- Pixel Art
Where it is used
It carries a game asset, an icon set, an editorial illustration and any picture that should look buildable.
- Sandbox and indie games
- Editorial illustration and music videos
The prompt
Replace the blanks with your own character, keep the rest. Then run it on an image model.
<character>, voxel art style, the entire figure built from identical small cubes locked to a three dimensional grid, every curve and diagonal formed as visible steps of whole cubes, each cube face flat shaded with a single colour and its own hard ambient shadow at the corners, a limited palette of flat colours with no texture or gradient on any face, an isometric camera with no perspective distortion, a plain background
What goes wrong
A chunky low polygon figure comes back with cubes of several sizes. Ask for identical cubes locked to a grid and for every diagonal to be a visible staircase.
Leave out
smooth curves, anti-aliased edges, texture maps, perspective distortion, gradients on a face, cubes of different sizes
Watch for
Say the cubes are all the same size and locked to a grid. A model given the word voxel will otherwise make a chunky sculpture with cubes of convenient sizes.
Questions
Draw it
Pay for the one run. No subscription, and the price is on the model page before you sign in.
