Artist Brushes Up on 8-Bit History With Unique NES Paintings
Posted by Trevor Chan
Every English-language game to get its own custom artwork
With the extensive catalogue of games that the NES has to offer, the collectors out there understandably try to get themselves a copy of each and every title. For artist Campbell Whyte, his mission is to paint every single one of them.
Based in Perth, Australia, Whyte is in the process of producing one painting a day in his 8 Bit Dreams art project, each one based on the characters or artwork of a single English-language NES title. Working off Wikipedia's list which contains 799 games, Whyte has a long task ahead of him as he paints every game in order of release date.
Speaking to Kotaku, the 8-bit artist says:
I have no doubt about getting through all of the games... I did a daily illustration project back in 2003 (I think) which lasted the distance. It's always the first two weeks that are the hardest, but once you get in to the routine, once you make it part of your daily behaviour you don't even really think about it.
Whyte's day job is at the Western Australian Museum and by night, he works on this project and his upcoming graphic novel. Speaking about how his perception of time has been altered by the arrival of his offspring, Whyte explains:
Since the birth of my son, my perspective of time has really stretched and warped. In a positive way, so I'm a lot more patient and can see the benefits of longer term projects. Really investing in something and seeing it through.
With over 700 more titles to go until his project comes to an end, you can check out his progress and if you see any piece that you fancy, you can purchase them on his Etsy page. He's also willing to take requests for custom work too.
[via campbellwhyte.com]




















#1
Morphtorok said:
Awesome.
Cant wait to see zelda and super mario(s).
And yoshi (the puzzle without cookies).
Yoshi was my favourite nes game back in the day, so i would totally buy its art.
#2
LordJumpMad said:
He Painted a Classic!
Zing!
#3
Sylverstone said:
Godspeed to the artist!
#4
manleycartoonist said:
So far they are looking great. Good luck getting through all those later games that were licensed from horrible movies.
#5
longtimegamer said:
How can he sell these (especially the Mario an DKjr ones) Legally?
#6
JayArr said:
I like the subject matter.......the art, not so much. :/
#7
PSICOffee said:
Dang, have fun with that waste of time. I mean spiritually enlightening experience.
#8
motang said:
Very cool!
#9
StuffyStuff said:
At first glance, it looks like Trogdor is getting kung fu'ed.
#10
StarDust said:
It's gonna take a long time. Good Luck!
#11
WiiLovePeace said:
What JayArr said
#12
super-nintendo said:
Neat.
#13
manleycartoonist said:
@longtimegamer: Yes, it's copyright infringment, but Nintendo will probably ignore him until he starts trying t-shirts and coffee mugs. He's not stealing enough money from them yet to make a law suit worth it.