Starting March 1, In the spirit of a 'non-competitive-free-to-participate-in-almost-wannabe-fad event', Metaru wants you to wear different colored versions of your avatar, for every week in March.

You can either upload a new version of your avatar, edit your current avatar's preview to avoid uploading another one (if it's yours of course) or find an avatar in the gallery that fits the mood of your character.

 Example:
would be

the dates for each color scheme are as follows:

March 1-7: Yellow
March 8-14: Blue
March 15-21: Green
March 22~31: Red

Challenge winner, Jeremy wants you to use the palette shown below to depict someone doing the job that you wanted to have when you were younger. For example, if you wanted to be a paleontologist when you were younger, then you would create an image of a paleontologist doing thier job.

It does not strictly need to be realistic, nor does it have to be entirely truthful - It's not like we can read your mind! ...yet.

Canvas Size - Min 150 (width) x 100 (height); Max 300 (Width) x 200 (height).
Colours - Max 16. Use only colours from this palette (sourced from the SEGA Master System):



Transparency - No.
Animation - Optional.

The following pixel artists produced Pixel Joint's top rated pixel art for January 2010. Many thanks go out to this month's top pixel artists and all the members who took time to rate.
 

Dragon rider by Fool
Dead Mazai & rabbits by Fool
GunGanesha - Legend of Iya boss by DarkfalzX
Dorothy by Syosa
Fishmen can do something too! by Elk
Empire of the sun by Ergg
Virus - Logic Bomb by Boss Crab
Legend of Iya Sewer tileset test by DarkfalzX
Cat Blimp by Badassbill
Lady of Decay by MashPotato

 In Fool's own words:

This is probably the less appropriate place for this, but i feel it is just too much for me to handle. My baby daughter haven't come back from sleep, don't know what happened yet - possible cause fatal drug combination, zoloft and some painkiller she took before go to bed. She just turn 18 a few days ago and was so happy she can buy cigarettes on her own. Now I still see her online in skype, write unspoken words and afraid to hit enter because that bad dream will become a reality - she will not reply anymore... I thought I've seen crap in life, but picking a coffin for my child top everything off. I know, I'm not first and unfortunately not the last father loosing his child, you don't know her but if you, good people, can find in your heart to say simple "Good bye Jessica" this monday at 1 pm est please do so. I don't expect everyone to post here, I do realize there is no word capable to fix this... And I dont feel up to continue with the whole art thing any longer. At least for now, when sense of being peels off from everything. Thanks everyone. This account will be abandoned for some time, I would take my time to readjust my life with half of soul left .

Our thoughts are with Fool and his family. Let's all say goodbye to Jessica at 1 PM EST today. (February 15, 2010)

Create a new creature by combining the attributes from at least 2 of these Chinese Zodiac animals:

   1. Rat
   2. Ox
   3. Tiger
   4. Rabbit
   5. Dragon
   6. Snake
   7. Horse
   8. Sheep
   9. Monkey
  10. Rooster
  11. Dog
  12. Pig

So for example, you could create a "Ratbit", a combination of a rat and a rabbit. Or a "Snoxkey" - snake + ox + monkey etc...

Canvas Size - Unrestricted.
Colours - Max 12.
Transparency - Optional.
Animation - No.

From the depths of Nifflas' Support Forum (nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php) comes Dataflashsabot's "Patronizingly Simple Transparentizer". Just load your picture,

click the transparency color, and it's transparent. Now, nobody has any excuse to leave in a white background!

Click here to download: www.box.net/shared/spuanqlykq

Remember Jetpack, the classic DOS platformer (www.adeptsoftware.com/jetpack/)? A sequel's being made in Flash after all these years, and instead of hiring an artist, Adam Pedersen's letting the players themselves contribute pixel art, tracker music, SFX and levels for the game in the form of a contest. The two top entrants will receive $50 and the next four $25. In addition, everyone whose work ends up being used gets a free copy of Jetpack 2 once it's finished, as well as a mention in the credits.

The deadline is March 13th. Now's a neat chance to get creative and repay the good memories! 

From challenge winner Synth:
Love rarely comes from where you expect it. Imagine and draw the first encounter with your perfect match...from another galaxy!!

Canvas Size - Max 240 (width) x 160 (height).
Colors - Max 32.
Transparency - No.
Animation - No.

Don't go frantically grabbing for your calendar—it's not April 1st. Yes, after a long two-year wait, collabs will be allowed into the PixelJoint gallery again. 

Why the sudden reversal after so long? Read on...

Read the full post...

Times are tough for Mars rover Spirit, permanently embedded in the Red Planet's sands.

AstroInfo website set up an art challenge for all artists and media: make a picture of Spirit at her new home.

Deadline is Feb 13 (no hour nor timezone being specified, caution is advised!), submissions are to be sent by email to the organizer (see website). Hope to see lots of red pixels in the next few days!

Read the full post...

This week we want you to make an animated sprite of an original character using just black, white and transparency.

Update: Please make sure your entry is a full sprite of your character. This is not a portrait challenge.

Canvas Size - Max 80 x 80.
Colours - Exactly 3. You must only use pure black (#000000), pure white (#ffffff) and transparency.
Transparency - Required.
Animation - Required. Min 4 frames.

The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.