January 8, 2025 • 26 mins
In this Pokemon interview, we are joined by Pixeladdy, a Pokemon Trainer and anime-inspired pixel artist based out of Toronto.
Pixeladdy share his first experience with Pokemon starting with the anime and Pokemon Trading Cards. He and his brother would collect the cards adn would watch the anime on television.
Pixeladdy would return to collecting cards after watching certain content creators and social media influencers open Pokemon card packs. Pixeladdy would start his journey collecting Pokemon cards and even start an early Instagram account showing off both rare Pokemon cards and pack openings.
Pixeladdy finally dives into his journey running his own business selling pixel art. He shares what led him to make his decision and how he got started into the world of recreating moments from the Pokemon anime with pixels!
Sources
Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay
Connect with Pixeladdy: Linktree
Connect with David Hernandez: Linktree
E-mail Me: asthepokeballturnspodcast@gmail.com
Join Our Discord Community!
https://discord.gg/AqAbD7FbRt
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Pixeladdy (00:00):
Hey guys, I'm Pixeladdy and this is my Pokemon
story.
David Hernandez (00:42):
Welcome to, as the pokeball turns, we're going
to interview people about theirexperience with Pokemon.
My name is David Hernandez.
Today, I'm joined by Pixel Addy,an anime inspired pixel artist
here to share his Pokemonexperience.
Pixel Addy, welcome to the show.
Pixeladdy (00:57):
Hello, hello!
David Hernandez (00:58):
Before we started talking, I told you,
like, I'm a huge fan of what youdo, and I was excited that you
decided to come on and shareyour experience.
And we're going to dive into thewhole experience with Pokemon,
but I want to ask, like, what isit about pixel art that you
wanted to like do with what youdo?
Pixeladdy (01:13):
I mean, I've always been a pretty artistic guy.
Like growing up as a kid, I, Iused to draw a lot.
it was mainly paper, pencil, youknow, that type of just
sketching, doodling, that typeof stuff.
And then as I got older, Istarted playing around with
different digital art.
And then, I don't know.
I just came across Pixlr.
I know, I'm a fan too.
So, you know, going onInstagram, I would see Pixlr all
(01:35):
the time.
It seemed like something cool,so I tested it out.
I really only started, beginningof 2022, I think.
That's when I started reallyplaying around.
I found, Aseprite.
for anyone that's listening,Aseprite is the software that I
use.
I think I paid, yeah, 15 bucks.
It was a one time payment.
You get the software.
And then I just started playingaround in the software.
I instantly fell in love with,the art and, Started doing
(01:58):
random artworks, random pokemonstuff.
pixel art in general I dove intothat because I had just seen it
on instagram and stuff like thatI just kind of wanted to dip my
own toes into that and try itout because i'd always loved art
and Yeah, lo and behold.
I enjoyed it.
So I kept going with it and Ihave kept going from there.
David Hernandez (02:16):
I was wondering, so you said, you
know, you did like paper and youwere doing basic digital art
before you did pixel art.
What was the biggest challengeor transition from doing digital
art or paper art to doingpixels?
Is there a challenge?
Or
Pixeladdy (02:28):
Honestly, the biggest challenge is like learning the
software because obviously atthe beginning when I started
using a sprite I didn't reallyknow how it worked And I get a
lot of people asking me to thisday.
Oh, like can you give me tips ona sprite?
Can you and honestly, there's noreal like Like there's no crash
course I can give you in like anInstagram DM or a message to
like help you learn a Sprite.
(02:50):
It's all about just hopping inthe software yourself.
I mean, this goes for anysoftware, not just a Sprite.
I think this goes for any likepixel art software or any
software period.
You just got to hop in thereyourself and, you know, start
playing around, start testingdifferent features, testing
different buttons.
And then, you know, it took me alot of just.
Messing up and then Googlingwhat I did wrong and, you know,
(03:10):
YouTube tutorials and all that.
And I still learn new stuffabout the software every day.
So that was definitely thebiggest learning curve when it
came to transitioning over frompencil and paper.
cause obviously when you'redrawing with your hand, like, I
don't know, I guess it flowsmore cause it's just there and
you can erase anything realquick with an eraser.
that's what I would say for thebiggest learning curve is
(03:32):
definitely learning the softwareitself
David Hernandez (03:34):
I think that's kind of the biggest hurdle for
anybody who does anythingcreative, because I think we'd
like to go into it wanting toknow everything.
And, you know, whether it'sartistic, whether it's
streaming, you know, podcasting,whatever you have, you, I think
even myself, I always wanted to,like, I felt like I need to know
everything before I'm reallyready.
And there's, you're never reallyready.
Sometimes you have to fly by theseat of your pants.
(03:56):
And it's hard for people becauseyou know, we have high
expectations because we seepeople who do amazing stuff and
we like, we want to be there,but we forget that they all
started where we're trying toget to as well.
Pixeladdy (04:07):
honestly, I still think like I know I get a lot of
messages saying like oh you'reso good at pixel or whatever I
genuinely don't think i'm thatgood.
I think i'm still a beginnerThere are so many other artists
on instagram that I see that areamazing and I honestly You I
don't even think I'm anywhereclose to how good those people
are, so I'm always learningstill, like even to this day,
every couple weeks or so, I'lldiscover a new feature that
(04:28):
Aseprite has that I never evenknew.
So, I think it's all about justhopping in the software and
just, getting to know it as muchas possible.
But, like you said, I think thebest way is to just, do it, you
know, like Shia LaBeouf said,just, just do it.
David Hernandez (04:42):
Like Nike.
Pixeladdy (04:44):
Exactly,
David Hernandez (04:45):
We'll come back to your art side in a little
bit, but I want to ask, let'sstart at the end of the Pokemon
side.
What's your first experiencewith the franchise?
Pixeladdy (04:52):
Okay, so, for Pokemon, So funny enough, I was
actually, as a kid, I was firstinto Yu Gi Oh.
so I have an older brother, Iwas into Yu Gi Oh!, he was into
Pokemon.
And he would collect Pokemoncards.
I mean, I had a little, youknow, a little collection of
Pokemon cards too, but my maincollection was Yu Gi Oh! And
then, over time I startedlooking into Pokemon more.
(05:15):
And just Pokemon in general wasbigger, I would say.
Yu Gi Oh! was pretty big in itsown respect, but, you know, at
school and stuff everyone hadgame boys and they were playing
pokemon pokemon yellow stufflike that.
So I started just collectingcards.
That was my first introductionobviously, I also watched like
the shows I remember watchingthe movie, you know, The first
the original movie It's the onewith the clones.
(05:38):
I did an artwork about it, butyeah, I don't actually know the
I had it on a cassette tape, VHStape.
but I don't know where that'sgone.
so yeah, but, it was pretty muchjust watching random episodes
of, Indigo League on TV, andthen just the cards.
But I would say the cards weredefinitely my first
introduction.
to the franchise.
David Hernandez (05:54):
You know, it takes me back.
Cause I used to be very big intoyou as well.
Like I would collect the cardsand I was so big.
I felt such like a big, proudguy having all three blue eyes.
I'm like, yes, now I'm set.
Okay.
And I love kind of thesimilarities.
Sometimes people will bring withthe blue eyes and Charizard.
They'll put the chars on theblue eyes artwork in it and then
(06:14):
they'll put blue eyes as chars.
It's kind of cool to see thesimilarity
Pixeladdy (06:17):
seen a few of those.
They're, they're pretty cool.
David Hernandez (06:19):
when it came to that.
So did you ever play the gamesat all?
Or was it just primarily theenemy in the cards?
Pixeladdy (06:24):
Yeah.
So, By the time I was like bigenough to actually play the
games So I knew people that wereplaying like at school people
would play Pokemon yellow Stufflike that growing up.
so basically my parents neverreally let me have video games
Super Eastern European parents,you know, they were pretty
strict.
We were also immigrants becausewe we came to Canada And I guess
(06:45):
they didn't have much money Andso I didn't have the luxury of
having like a game boy orsomething like that.
So, but also they were kind ofagainst video games in general
cause they thought it was awaste of time, yada, yada, yada.
So I never really had one formyself, but I would always play
on, you know, my friends gameboys and stuff like that.
And I always loved it.
I was addicted.
but having my, my own game, Inever, I never really played it
(07:05):
on my own.
but the first games I, Iremember playing were Pokemon
Red.
and people used to play Yellowas well, but that was the first
game I pretty much playedPokemon Red.
David Hernandez (07:16):
So, you know, your parents, you know, they
were against you playing videogames, but they didn't mind you
diving into the card clickgames, it sounds like, because
you got to play Yu Gi Oh and yougot to collect some Pokemon.
Pixeladdy (07:24):
Oh, yeah, no, they were cool with the card game
because they just saw it as likea thing like it like it almost
like a toy But I don't know theywere against video games in
general at when I was younger.
So that was kind of it
David Hernandez (07:35):
when it came to like, playing Pokemon, you know,
you were collecting cards, ofcourse you're also in the Yu Gi
Oh, what made you want to stickwith the franchise over time?
Or did you kind of wean off atthat point?
Pixeladdy (07:43):
Yeah, so, pretty much this is kind of the timeline.
So, as a kid, really enjoyedPokemon, collected the cards,
had a bunch of cards, would goto garage sales, buy more cards.
I had a decent collection.
I still have a lot of the cards,actually.
Never really had like a gameboard or anything like that or
even like the DS, but I had alot of friends You know growing
up at school and stuff likethat.
I would play a lot of the gamesThe last game that I really
(08:06):
remember playing like a lot as akid was pokemon platinum so one
of my good friends he hadplatinum and that's the game
that I really got into because IAt the time I think I was grade
eight Seven six.
I don't
David Hernandez (08:20):
so middle school.
Yeah.
Pixeladdy (08:21):
Yeah, middle school, I played a lot of Platinum,
Diamond, Pearl, that type of,Gen 4 essentially.
And then After Plat Black andWhite came out and I never
played that, never touched that.
I always thought it was kind of,you know.
I was a big Gen 4 guy after, Iplayed Platinum.
And I just thought Gen 5 wasweird.
So I was like, okay, I'm justgoing to take a break.
(08:41):
And I never really got back intoPokemon until like 2020, after
that.
I still had all my cards andstuff, but I kind of stepped
away from the whole, franchiseas a whole.
Like, I obviously, I still likedPokemon, but, yeah.
I never really Played any othergames after gen 4 until 2020
then that's when I startedgetting back into the hobby and
stuff.
So
David Hernandez (09:00):
What was it about Gen 4 that you enjoyed
compared to what you saw in Gen5?
Pixeladdy (09:04):
Honestly, I don't know I was just a kid I just
thought like I had learned Gen 4inside and out, and when Gen 5
came out, I just felt like, ah,I don't even want.
You know, I was just loyal to myGen 4.
Even though now, nowadays, Istill to this day have, not
played, Pokemon Black and White,but I hear from so many people
that they are some of the bestgames in the franchise, so I've
(09:25):
been meaning to go back and playthem.
I love the Gen 2 games,honestly, like, HeartGold,
SoulSilver, those are some ofthe best games, and one of my
favorite legendaries is Lugia,so that's why I always loved
SoulSilver.
David Hernandez (09:35):
is Luie your favorite Pokemon or do you have
a different favorite Pokemon
Pixeladdy (09:38):
No, so I I don't really have one favorite, to be
completely honest.
I get a lot of questions on myInstagram, like, who's your
favorite Pokemon?
I have a list of ones that Ienjoy, but I wouldn't say I have
one set favorite.
yeah, I like Lugia.
I like a lot of the starters.
I like Snorlax, Gengar, Umbreon,you know, some of the, Super
basic, you know, mainstreamones.
(10:01):
Charizard was always my starterfor gen one.
I don't know why I don't reallylike the starters from gen two.
Those are like some of my leastfavorite starters.
I might get heat for that, butyeah, I don't know.
I think they're kind ofoverrated.
Yeah,
David Hernandez (10:15):
Fire shots fired,
Pixeladdy (10:16):
think, honestly.
I think Gen 2 starters areoverrated and I think Gen 3
starters are underrated.
David Hernandez (10:25):
So when it came to you coming back in 2020 for
Pokemon, what made you want tocome back to the franchise?
Why at that point,
Pixeladdy (10:32):
Okay, so, that has to do a lot more with, I was
watching this one, like,influencer that I, I, liked
outside of Pokemon, and hestarted buying Pokemon cards for
fun.
Like, and ripping them on hisstream.
And through that, I discoveredPokeRev.
And, so I was just casuallywatching Pokerev, this was early
2020, And then, Pokerev wasblowing up at this time.
(10:55):
And then that's kinda when alsothe Logan Paul stuff happened.
Around that time I was like notreally touching Pokemon stuff.
I was just like, you know, anold Pokemon fan.
And it was just cool to revisitit through this guy's streams.
One time in Walmart I was justwalking through with my brother.
And I had been watching thesestreams, you know, these pack
openings.
So I was like, okay, yo I sawsome pokemon packs and I was
(11:18):
like, it was xy evolutions and Itold my brother I was like, yo
Let's grab some packs just forold time's sake and I remember
xy evolutions I remember I hadseen it on the streams and it
was like a Og set reprint, youknow of like the original set
base set So I was like, let'ssee if we can pull the
Charizard.
We go home, we rip into those,and I think like third pack we
pull the Charizard.
(11:39):
And honestly, the rest ishistory.
Like after that I was hookedagain.
And I was, I just got that rushof, nostalgia that I used to get
from just opening packs as akid.
So I started getting back intothe card game.
the real OGs that have beenfollowing me are like, for a
while, they know that I actuallystarted my page as Pokey Addy.
I had an account called pokeaddy and I would post card
(12:00):
content like tcg content I wouldjust like buy cards, buy packs.
I did like a couple pack battleswith some followers and stuff So
that was like my reintroductionAnd then Midway through that
account, I actually discoveredpixel art.
I started doing pixel art andthen some people wanted to
commission me to do trainers forthem.
And then I fell into this rabbithole of realizing that pixel art
(12:22):
was both one fun and two, therewas demand for this and like
people wanted me to make art forthem.
So I kind of turned into alittle side hobby for me.
so yeah, that was kinda from2020 how I transitioned into
what it is now.
David Hernandez (12:37):
that's awesome.
That how it transitioned fromyou just opening some card packs
to now becoming a pixel artist.
It's kind of a interestingtransition.
Pixeladdy (12:44):
Honestly, I still collect cards to this day.
You'll see it even on my, like,Instagram.
Like, here and there I'll post,like stuff on my story about
like card openings and stufflike that.
I have some story highlights ofcards I've opened.
I'm still a big collector.
I have my, cards.
I've kind of cooled down on theScarlet and Violet, but Sword
and Shield, I was collecting aton, to be honest.
So I had a lot of, I still havea lot of sealed product that I'm
(13:06):
collecting as well as justbinders full of cards from the
Sword and Shield era.
David Hernandez (13:11):
Do you have a particular set of cards you'd
like to collect, or do you liketo go after certain Pokemon to
collect?
Pixeladdy (13:16):
For a while I was doing waifus.
No, okay.
Actually that's cap.
I was not doing waifus.
I was doing like full arttrainers.
I'm not gonna say waifus becauseI, I enjoy even the male
trainers So it's not just thewaifus.
But yeah, I just like the fullart trainers I don't know
there's something about setsthat I like so like I liked the
shining Pokemon Like shininglugia and all those that came
(13:37):
out for shining legends.
I liked the the amazing raresAlthough, you know, I bought
them and they were prettyexpensive and now they're like
pennies but yeah, I just likethe sets of cards like Do you
know like the Prism Star cardsfrom like Sun and Moon?
I have the full set of those.
I don't know.
I just like sets as well as likefull art trainers, but I just
honestly I I just collect what Ilike.
(13:58):
Something looks cool.
I collect it.
David Hernandez (14:00):
for me, it's not the Full Art trainers, but
do you remember the Gym Herotrainers?
Back when, like, it was like theBlaine and Kogas
Pixeladdy (14:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
David Hernandez (14:09):
So I collected the holo of those cards, just
because I always liked them.
I know they're not Full Art, butit's just more for nostalgia
reasons.
Pixeladdy (14:15):
yeah, that's sick.
That's sick.
David Hernandez (14:17):
And then right now, what I'm trying to work on,
I'm trying to collect all theBlackstar promos.
And I'm trying to get one ofevery Articuno card.
Although that's a little moredifficult.
Pixeladdy (14:25):
Is Articuno your favorite?
David Hernandez (14:27):
Yes, that is my favorite Pokemon.
Pixeladdy (14:29):
That's sick, that's sick.
That's a good pick.
I do like Articuno.
David Hernandez (14:33):
Yeah.
I'm looking through your oldstuff, actually.
It shows all the cards you had.
Pixeladdy (14:36):
Yeah, exactly.
any OG person that's beenfollowing me since like I
started my like Pixelati accountwill know that I started on
Pokeyati and I kind of justtransferred over so I midway
through that I realized becauseearly on in my Pokeyati account,
I did follow for follow, justbecause like I was new to
Instagram I was like yo whowants to do follow for follow
yada yada yada, and it reallykilled my engagement because I
(14:59):
had like a bunch of followersthat didn't care about what I
was posting.
They just followed because Ifollowed them.
So then I was like, you knowwhat?
Let me start a brand new freshaccount.
you know, I'm not going to tellus any single person to follow
me.
I'm just going to post what Ipost and see who follows me for,
them genuinely just enjoying mywork.
And so that's what I did.
And that's how Pixelati cameabout.
So I started that, I think inlike 2022, but in 2020, yeah,
(15:22):
that's when Pokeade started.
That's so I've, I've really beendoing this for four years.
like the card collecting andthen I started the artwork like
later.
So, that's like the OG, youknow, lore of, my stuff.
David Hernandez (15:34):
if I remember correctly on Instagram, some of
your first posts were youactually recreated some of the
Pokemon cards in the pixel art,right?
Pixeladdy (15:41):
yeah, even if you scroll back into, My like
current instagram pixelati youcan see I was posting like my
commissions That's like when Istarted doing art and then like
I posted the the base atcharizard card pixelated That
was also kind of one of myearliest artworks So you could
tell like there's a lot of thetcg like influence in it And
(16:02):
then, I was also doing, kind oflike a Pokédex type thing, where
I would just pick my favoriteartwork of each Pokémon.
And I did it in the order.
I'm looking at it now, I think Istopped at Venonat.
David Hernandez (16:13):
So, that's what I tried to do with my card
collecting,, I try to say I'mjust pick my favorite card to
complete a Potex.
And it's so hard because there'sso many good arts for some of
these Pokemon.
It's like trying to pick my ownchild.
I don't even have one.
Pixeladdy (16:25):
exactly.
Yeah, that's the thing.
I don't know why but I justtended to Pick the most
expensive artwork not like basedon cost But I would pick the
artwork that I liked the mostand I would check eBay and it
just so happened to be the mostexpensive so I'd be like, oh
Guess I can't collect that But Iguess everyone likes them.
So that makes sense becausethey're a nice art.
David Hernandez (17:32):
so you said eventually that you came into
doing pixel art because of thecards and you started doing
commissions.
When you transition to becominga pixel artist and you started
receiving demand for commissionsWas it difficult for you to like
start selling your artwork andto just manage that business
side of things?
you
Pixeladdy (17:50):
Oh, not really.
I mean, when I started, itwasn't like, the commission
requests were rolling in.
it was just, yeah, I had like,probably two, three hundred
followers, and it really onlystarted, so I would post my art
on my story just for fun, likethe things that I would do, and
then, Shout out to boss trainerJoe.
he was a an OG guy that I wasfriends with just from card
(18:10):
collecting.
And he actually saw my art on mystore and he was like, yo, this
is sick.
Can you make me a profilepicture?
And I think he paid me like 15bucks.
He's like, I'll give you 15bucks.
Just make me a profile picture.
And I did.
And then.
It just felt like that was likethe spark in me.
I realized like, wow, I just gotpaid for just making this guy an
artwork after that I just kindof got the idea to post it on my
(18:33):
story.
Like if anyone else wanted tohave a profile picture done by
me, like a custom trainer, Iwould do it.
early on I also did Fiverr, so Isigned up on Fiverr, and I
would, I was doing random,commissions on there.
it wasn't that busy, so, yeah,in terms of your question of
managing it, early on it wasn'treally much to manage, I was
only getting a few requests permonth, so it wasn't, it wasn't
(18:56):
too bad.
David Hernandez (18:57):
And then eventually you decide to do this
full time I remember you postedabout how you're freaking out a
little bit because you know, itall comes down to who comes to
who comes to you for request.
How terrifying was it to you toswitch over from what you were
doing beforehand as work tousing this pixel art as
basically your full time job?
Pixeladdy (19:16):
so there's a large chunk of story that's like in
between me starting and thenactually me going full time.
it got to a point where I wasgetting good in like a good
amount of requests per month andI just came to the realization.
That I hate my job.
I was working a nine to five.
I was doing sales.
I was a sales manager.
I liked managing cause you know,I had my team of people that I
(19:37):
managed and you know, they allloved me.
I loved them.
They were, they were coolpeople, but I just didn't like
the, the structure of, you know,having a boss.
And then they were always, youknow, They're always douches, so
like, I'm not the type of personthat like, can work with a boss
well.
I just like to have a bit ofcreative freedom, and clearly,
in my line of work now, I haveall the creative freedom.
(19:58):
So, it got to a point where,yeah, I hated my job, and I
said, you know what, I'm gettinggood enough, cause I still don't
make great money.
Like, I don't know what you guysconsider great money, but for
me, I don't think I make greatmoney.
I make okay money, and I get by.
And I'm very grateful that I cando what I do and get and and you
know pay my bills and whatnot.
But yeah, it was mainly to dowith me hating my job and I said
(20:19):
look I have enough right nowwhere I can still get by while
doing instagram full time.
So that's why I kind of quit myjob and did what I did it
definitely hasn't been easy.
but I cannot complain whatsoeverbecause I know, I know how it is
to work a nine to five and worka regular job and, work long
hours.
And I get to make art for aliving and still, you know, pay
(20:40):
my bills.
So I am very eternally gratefulfor this opportunity that I've
been given.
And so I'm trying to make themost of it.
David Hernandez (20:47):
lot of people.
aspire to be like you, to betheir own belt, their own boss,
to sell their own art, you know,here you are, you're doing it.
Like I said, you're not makinglike life changing money, you
know, but you're making a stableliving to where you can meet
your needs.
What advice would you give tosomebody who's probably trying
to get to where you're at?
Pixeladdy (21:04):
So.
My advice would be this, becauseI would argue, honestly, I could
have kept doing the art whilealso working my 9 5.
So, I would say, as weird asthis is for me to say, because I
quit my job, I would say try tokeep, like if you have a 9 5,
try to keep your job for as longas possible.
Because when you rely on art asyour income, it kind of kills,
some of the creativity in it.
(21:26):
Because Now you're kind ofrelying on it to be your, bill
payer, stuff like that.
So you're kind of more stressedout about the fact that, Oh, I
got to do X amount ofcommissions.
you know, I got to get thisamount of money for this month
to meet my bills.
Whereas if you have your stableincome from whatever job you're
doing, then this can be more as,you know, a passion and you'll
(21:46):
feel more creative and you'llfeel more free to do what you
want.
Whereas, when you're using it aslike your full time job and
that's your main money orrevenue stream I feel like it
does kind of limit yourcreativity and it can be
stressful at times So my biggestadvice would be Try to, keep any
sort of nine to five or job thatyou're doing full time job that
(22:07):
you're doing as much as possibleor as long as possible before
you feel like you want totransition and be your own boss
is what I mean.
I don't know if that's a goodanswer, but
David Hernandez (22:16):
No, that's very good.
Yeah.
Some people just try to take theleap of fate and just quit
things right away.
And, you know, they crash andburn.
But I you had a good way to saythat
Pixeladdy (22:26):
Yeah.
That's another thing though.
it's not for everyone.
you know, it's always good totry things.
So you can always try it fulltime.
And then if it doesn't work, youcan always go back to your job.
Cause I'm sure if you haveexperience and you have things
on your resume, you can alwaysgo back to that nine to five
that you were working.
Like, let's say theoretically meright now, I can always go back
and get that same job that I wasworking.
(22:48):
Even possibly the same company.
Like I could probably reach outand, Because I have connections
there, I could reach out andprobably get that same exact job
I had.
So, this is more like theopportunity that was, it was
kinda time, it depends on thetype of person you are, because
when you're your own boss,obviously you have to stay on
top of yourself.
That's the hard part.
Because, you know, you wake upand you don't have set hours to
work.
(23:08):
You don't have a boss tellingyou, you need to do this, this,
this, this, this, you don't havea list of responsibilities.
You are just existing and youare your own boss and you have
to, make sure that you pay yourbills out months.
So, figure out what type ofperson you are.
And analyze yourself and belike, am I cut out to be, you
know, my own boss?
do I have the traits to be ableto manage myself and, you know,
(23:29):
keep myself accountable?
If you feel like you don't, thenI would recommend to just do it
as like a side hobby.
That's what I think.
David Hernandez (23:36):
One of the first things I remember seeing
from your art was actually yourecreated it.
The scene with Mewtwo and Mew,and the whole scene, and you've
also recreated other parts ofthe anime, how do you, like,
decide which parts of the animeor what scenes to kind of
recreate to show people?
Pixeladdy (23:56):
I honestly haven't done one of those in a while.
I've been meaning to do one.
I wanted to recreate the scenewhere, the girl plays the flute
and then the pillars turn green.
And then Moltres, Zapdos andArticuno are flying above.
And then Lugia comes out of thewater, you know, the scene it's
at the the movie.
So I wanted to recreate that onenext.
But I really just went forscenes that were iconic to me.
(24:17):
I kind of just would chooseiconic scenes from the anime
because anything I feelnostalgic towards, I feel like
other people would too, becausewe probably all have the same
experiences as kids.
So you know, the clone fight,scene is just iconic.
Like everyone loves that.
Even the, soundtrack to that,you know, is just iconic.
So I just thought It would pullon everyone's heartstrings and I
guess it did because it didpretty well.
(24:39):
So, yeah, that was one of myfavorite scenes of all time.
So that's why I chose to dothat.
David Hernandez (24:43):
Do you have a particular scene that you
enjoyed or one that you enjoyedmaking?
Pixeladdy (24:47):
every single scene I make is kind of different.
I do enjoy, a lot of them.
I really enjoyed the SquirtleSquad.
That was like one of theearliest ones I did as well.
I also liked the, Episode 1,which, like the Spiros.
Ash getting attacked by theSpiros, that was also fun.
Yeah, I like them all, even likethe Bulbasaur Garden one, where,
Venusaur's on the stump.
(25:08):
I like the colors of the flowersand stuff like that, so.
Yeah, I'd say I enjoyed makingthem all pretty much like the
same.
They're all, they're all, theywere all fun and unique to make,
so.
David Hernandez (25:18):
we can't forget the Charmander covering its, uh,
its tail with the leaf though.
That's always one of the saddestscenes uh, see Pokemon for me.
Pixeladdy (25:27):
yeah, yeah, that was actually funny enough.
That was, I would say my firstviral post.
So that actually was whatkickstarted my following.
Cause up until then I had like.
Not that many followers and Iwasn't getting that much
engagement But then I postedthat one and that one really
like kind of blew up And afterthat it kind of snowballed my
whole like following so thatone's always iconic and like
(25:48):
kind of close to me because itwas like My starting point my
first viral post it was it feltgood
David Hernandez (25:53):
Well, very cool Pixel Addy.
Thank you for coming on as thePokeball turns.
Before you go, people want tocheck out the artwork we've been
talking about here.
If they want to connect withyou, if they want to request a
commission, Where can they go?
By all means, please plug away
Pixeladdy (26:07):
Well, I mean I want to thank you first for having me
and in terms of plugging myselfmy username on all platforms is
Pixel Addy.
a lot of people think it's PixelLady.
It's, it's not, my name is Addy.
and I do pixel art.
So it's a pixel and then A D DY.
So Pixel Addy on, you know,Twitter, Instagram, TikTok,
reach out on any of thoseplatforms, threads.
(26:30):
I'm always open to hearingpeople out for their artworks
and stuff like that.
So.
Hey guys, I'm Pixeladdy and this is my Pokemon
story.
David Hernandez (00:42):
Welcome to, as the pokeball turns, we're going
to interview people about theirexperience with Pokemon.
My name is David Hernandez.
Today, I'm joined by Pixel Addy,an anime inspired pixel artist
here to share his Pokemonexperience.
Pixel Addy, welcome to the show.
Pixeladdy (00:57):
Hello, hello!
David Hernandez (00:58):
Before we started talking, I told you,
like, I'm a huge fan of what youdo, and I was excited that you
decided to come on and shareyour experience.
And we're going to dive into thewhole experience with Pokemon,
but I want to ask, like, what isit about pixel art that you
wanted to like do with what youdo?
Pixeladdy (01:13):
I mean, I've always been a pretty artistic guy.
Like growing up as a kid, I, Iused to draw a lot.
it was mainly paper, pencil, youknow, that type of just
sketching, doodling, that typeof stuff.
And then as I got older, Istarted playing around with
different digital art.
And then, I don't know.
I just came across Pixlr.
I know, I'm a fan too.
So, you know, going onInstagram, I would see Pixlr all
(01:35):
the time.
It seemed like something cool,so I tested it out.
I really only started, beginningof 2022, I think.
That's when I started reallyplaying around.
I found, Aseprite.
for anyone that's listening,Aseprite is the software that I
use.
I think I paid, yeah, 15 bucks.
It was a one time payment.
You get the software.
And then I just started playingaround in the software.
I instantly fell in love with,the art and, Started doing
(01:58):
random artworks, random pokemonstuff.
pixel art in general I dove intothat because I had just seen it
on instagram and stuff like thatI just kind of wanted to dip my
own toes into that and try itout because i'd always loved art
and Yeah, lo and behold.
I enjoyed it.
So I kept going with it and Ihave kept going from there.
David Hernandez (02:16):
I was wondering, so you said, you
know, you did like paper and youwere doing basic digital art
before you did pixel art.
What was the biggest challengeor transition from doing digital
art or paper art to doingpixels?
Is there a challenge?
Or
Pixeladdy (02:28):
Honestly, the biggest challenge is like learning the
software because obviously atthe beginning when I started
using a sprite I didn't reallyknow how it worked And I get a
lot of people asking me to thisday.
Oh, like can you give me tips ona sprite?
Can you and honestly, there's noreal like Like there's no crash
course I can give you in like anInstagram DM or a message to
like help you learn a Sprite.
(02:50):
It's all about just hopping inthe software yourself.
I mean, this goes for anysoftware, not just a Sprite.
I think this goes for any likepixel art software or any
software period.
You just got to hop in thereyourself and, you know, start
playing around, start testingdifferent features, testing
different buttons.
And then, you know, it took me alot of just.
Messing up and then Googlingwhat I did wrong and, you know,
(03:10):
YouTube tutorials and all that.
And I still learn new stuffabout the software every day.
So that was definitely thebiggest learning curve when it
came to transitioning over frompencil and paper.
cause obviously when you'redrawing with your hand, like, I
don't know, I guess it flowsmore cause it's just there and
you can erase anything realquick with an eraser.
that's what I would say for thebiggest learning curve is
(03:32):
definitely learning the softwareitself
David Hernandez (03:34):
I think that's kind of the biggest hurdle for
anybody who does anythingcreative, because I think we'd
like to go into it wanting toknow everything.
And, you know, whether it'sartistic, whether it's
streaming, you know, podcasting,whatever you have, you, I think
even myself, I always wanted to,like, I felt like I need to know
everything before I'm reallyready.
And there's, you're never reallyready.
Sometimes you have to fly by theseat of your pants.
(03:56):
And it's hard for people becauseyou know, we have high
expectations because we seepeople who do amazing stuff and
we like, we want to be there,but we forget that they all
started where we're trying toget to as well.
Pixeladdy (04:07):
honestly, I still think like I know I get a lot of
messages saying like oh you'reso good at pixel or whatever I
genuinely don't think i'm thatgood.
I think i'm still a beginnerThere are so many other artists
on instagram that I see that areamazing and I honestly You I
don't even think I'm anywhereclose to how good those people
are, so I'm always learningstill, like even to this day,
every couple weeks or so, I'lldiscover a new feature that
(04:28):
Aseprite has that I never evenknew.
So, I think it's all about justhopping in the software and
just, getting to know it as muchas possible.
But, like you said, I think thebest way is to just, do it, you
know, like Shia LaBeouf said,just, just do it.
David Hernandez (04:42):
Like Nike.
Pixeladdy (04:44):
Exactly,
David Hernandez (04:45):
We'll come back to your art side in a little
bit, but I want to ask, let'sstart at the end of the Pokemon
side.
What's your first experiencewith the franchise?
Pixeladdy (04:52):
Okay, so, for Pokemon, So funny enough, I was
actually, as a kid, I was firstinto Yu Gi Oh.
so I have an older brother, Iwas into Yu Gi Oh!, he was into
Pokemon.
And he would collect Pokemoncards.
I mean, I had a little, youknow, a little collection of
Pokemon cards too, but my maincollection was Yu Gi Oh! And
then, over time I startedlooking into Pokemon more.
(05:15):
And just Pokemon in general wasbigger, I would say.
Yu Gi Oh! was pretty big in itsown respect, but, you know, at
school and stuff everyone hadgame boys and they were playing
pokemon pokemon yellow stufflike that.
So I started just collectingcards.
That was my first introductionobviously, I also watched like
the shows I remember watchingthe movie, you know, The first
the original movie It's the onewith the clones.
(05:38):
I did an artwork about it, butyeah, I don't actually know the
I had it on a cassette tape, VHStape.
but I don't know where that'sgone.
so yeah, but, it was pretty muchjust watching random episodes
of, Indigo League on TV, andthen just the cards.
But I would say the cards weredefinitely my first
introduction.
to the franchise.
David Hernandez (05:54):
You know, it takes me back.
Cause I used to be very big intoyou as well.
Like I would collect the cardsand I was so big.
I felt such like a big, proudguy having all three blue eyes.
I'm like, yes, now I'm set.
Okay.
And I love kind of thesimilarities.
Sometimes people will bring withthe blue eyes and Charizard.
They'll put the chars on theblue eyes artwork in it and then
(06:14):
they'll put blue eyes as chars.
It's kind of cool to see thesimilarity
Pixeladdy (06:17):
seen a few of those.
They're, they're pretty cool.
David Hernandez (06:19):
when it came to that.
So did you ever play the gamesat all?
Or was it just primarily theenemy in the cards?
Pixeladdy (06:24):
Yeah.
So, By the time I was like bigenough to actually play the
games So I knew people that wereplaying like at school people
would play Pokemon yellow Stufflike that growing up.
so basically my parents neverreally let me have video games
Super Eastern European parents,you know, they were pretty
strict.
We were also immigrants becausewe we came to Canada And I guess
(06:45):
they didn't have much money Andso I didn't have the luxury of
having like a game boy orsomething like that.
So, but also they were kind ofagainst video games in general
cause they thought it was awaste of time, yada, yada, yada.
So I never really had one formyself, but I would always play
on, you know, my friends gameboys and stuff like that.
And I always loved it.
I was addicted.
but having my, my own game, Inever, I never really played it
(07:05):
on my own.
but the first games I, Iremember playing were Pokemon
Red.
and people used to play Yellowas well, but that was the first
game I pretty much playedPokemon Red.
David Hernandez (07:16):
So, you know, your parents, you know, they
were against you playing videogames, but they didn't mind you
diving into the card clickgames, it sounds like, because
you got to play Yu Gi Oh and yougot to collect some Pokemon.
Pixeladdy (07:24):
Oh, yeah, no, they were cool with the card game
because they just saw it as likea thing like it like it almost
like a toy But I don't know theywere against video games in
general at when I was younger.
So that was kind of it
David Hernandez (07:35):
when it came to like, playing Pokemon, you know,
you were collecting cards, ofcourse you're also in the Yu Gi
Oh, what made you want to stickwith the franchise over time?
Or did you kind of wean off atthat point?
Pixeladdy (07:43):
Yeah, so, pretty much this is kind of the timeline.
So, as a kid, really enjoyedPokemon, collected the cards,
had a bunch of cards, would goto garage sales, buy more cards.
I had a decent collection.
I still have a lot of the cards,actually.
Never really had like a gameboard or anything like that or
even like the DS, but I had alot of friends You know growing
up at school and stuff likethat.
I would play a lot of the gamesThe last game that I really
(08:06):
remember playing like a lot as akid was pokemon platinum so one
of my good friends he hadplatinum and that's the game
that I really got into because IAt the time I think I was grade
eight Seven six.
I don't
David Hernandez (08:20):
so middle school.
Yeah.
Pixeladdy (08:21):
Yeah, middle school, I played a lot of Platinum,
Diamond, Pearl, that type of,Gen 4 essentially.
And then After Plat Black andWhite came out and I never
played that, never touched that.
I always thought it was kind of,you know.
I was a big Gen 4 guy after, Iplayed Platinum.
And I just thought Gen 5 wasweird.
So I was like, okay, I'm justgoing to take a break.
(08:41):
And I never really got back intoPokemon until like 2020, after
that.
I still had all my cards andstuff, but I kind of stepped
away from the whole, franchiseas a whole.
Like, I obviously, I still likedPokemon, but, yeah.
I never really Played any othergames after gen 4 until 2020
then that's when I startedgetting back into the hobby and
stuff.
So
David Hernandez (09:00):
What was it about Gen 4 that you enjoyed
compared to what you saw in Gen5?
Pixeladdy (09:04):
Honestly, I don't know I was just a kid I just
thought like I had learned Gen 4inside and out, and when Gen 5
came out, I just felt like, ah,I don't even want.
You know, I was just loyal to myGen 4.
Even though now, nowadays, Istill to this day have, not
played, Pokemon Black and White,but I hear from so many people
that they are some of the bestgames in the franchise, so I've
(09:25):
been meaning to go back and playthem.
I love the Gen 2 games,honestly, like, HeartGold,
SoulSilver, those are some ofthe best games, and one of my
favorite legendaries is Lugia,so that's why I always loved
SoulSilver.
David Hernandez (09:35):
is Luie your favorite Pokemon or do you have
a different favorite Pokemon
Pixeladdy (09:38):
No, so I I don't really have one favorite, to be
completely honest.
I get a lot of questions on myInstagram, like, who's your
favorite Pokemon?
I have a list of ones that Ienjoy, but I wouldn't say I have
one set favorite.
yeah, I like Lugia.
I like a lot of the starters.
I like Snorlax, Gengar, Umbreon,you know, some of the, Super
basic, you know, mainstreamones.
(10:01):
Charizard was always my starterfor gen one.
I don't know why I don't reallylike the starters from gen two.
Those are like some of my leastfavorite starters.
I might get heat for that, butyeah, I don't know.
I think they're kind ofoverrated.
Yeah,
David Hernandez (10:15):
Fire shots fired,
Pixeladdy (10:16):
think, honestly.
I think Gen 2 starters areoverrated and I think Gen 3
starters are underrated.
David Hernandez (10:25):
So when it came to you coming back in 2020 for
Pokemon, what made you want tocome back to the franchise?
Why at that point,
Pixeladdy (10:32):
Okay, so, that has to do a lot more with, I was
watching this one, like,influencer that I, I, liked
outside of Pokemon, and hestarted buying Pokemon cards for
fun.
Like, and ripping them on hisstream.
And through that, I discoveredPokeRev.
And, so I was just casuallywatching Pokerev, this was early
2020, And then, Pokerev wasblowing up at this time.
(10:55):
And then that's kinda when alsothe Logan Paul stuff happened.
Around that time I was like notreally touching Pokemon stuff.
I was just like, you know, anold Pokemon fan.
And it was just cool to revisitit through this guy's streams.
One time in Walmart I was justwalking through with my brother.
And I had been watching thesestreams, you know, these pack
openings.
So I was like, okay, yo I sawsome pokemon packs and I was
(11:18):
like, it was xy evolutions and Itold my brother I was like, yo
Let's grab some packs just forold time's sake and I remember
xy evolutions I remember I hadseen it on the streams and it
was like a Og set reprint, youknow of like the original set
base set So I was like, let'ssee if we can pull the
Charizard.
We go home, we rip into those,and I think like third pack we
pull the Charizard.
(11:39):
And honestly, the rest ishistory.
Like after that I was hookedagain.
And I was, I just got that rushof, nostalgia that I used to get
from just opening packs as akid.
So I started getting back intothe card game.
the real OGs that have beenfollowing me are like, for a
while, they know that I actuallystarted my page as Pokey Addy.
I had an account called pokeaddy and I would post card
(12:00):
content like tcg content I wouldjust like buy cards, buy packs.
I did like a couple pack battleswith some followers and stuff So
that was like my reintroductionAnd then Midway through that
account, I actually discoveredpixel art.
I started doing pixel art andthen some people wanted to
commission me to do trainers forthem.
And then I fell into this rabbithole of realizing that pixel art
(12:22):
was both one fun and two, therewas demand for this and like
people wanted me to make art forthem.
So I kind of turned into alittle side hobby for me.
so yeah, that was kinda from2020 how I transitioned into
what it is now.
David Hernandez (12:37):
that's awesome.
That how it transitioned fromyou just opening some card packs
to now becoming a pixel artist.
It's kind of a interestingtransition.
Pixeladdy (12:44):
Honestly, I still collect cards to this day.
You'll see it even on my, like,Instagram.
Like, here and there I'll post,like stuff on my story about
like card openings and stufflike that.
I have some story highlights ofcards I've opened.
I'm still a big collector.
I have my, cards.
I've kind of cooled down on theScarlet and Violet, but Sword
and Shield, I was collecting aton, to be honest.
So I had a lot of, I still havea lot of sealed product that I'm
(13:06):
collecting as well as justbinders full of cards from the
Sword and Shield era.
David Hernandez (13:11):
Do you have a particular set of cards you'd
like to collect, or do you liketo go after certain Pokemon to
collect?
Pixeladdy (13:16):
For a while I was doing waifus.
No, okay.
Actually that's cap.
I was not doing waifus.
I was doing like full arttrainers.
I'm not gonna say waifus becauseI, I enjoy even the male
trainers So it's not just thewaifus.
But yeah, I just like the fullart trainers I don't know
there's something about setsthat I like so like I liked the
shining Pokemon Like shininglugia and all those that came
(13:37):
out for shining legends.
I liked the the amazing raresAlthough, you know, I bought
them and they were prettyexpensive and now they're like
pennies but yeah, I just likethe sets of cards like Do you
know like the Prism Star cardsfrom like Sun and Moon?
I have the full set of those.
I don't know.
I just like sets as well as likefull art trainers, but I just
honestly I I just collect what Ilike.
(13:58):
Something looks cool.
I collect it.
David Hernandez (14:00):
for me, it's not the Full Art trainers, but
do you remember the Gym Herotrainers?
Back when, like, it was like theBlaine and Kogas
Pixeladdy (14:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
David Hernandez (14:09):
So I collected the holo of those cards, just
because I always liked them.
I know they're not Full Art, butit's just more for nostalgia
reasons.
Pixeladdy (14:15):
yeah, that's sick.
That's sick.
David Hernandez (14:17):
And then right now, what I'm trying to work on,
I'm trying to collect all theBlackstar promos.
And I'm trying to get one ofevery Articuno card.
Although that's a little moredifficult.
Pixeladdy (14:25):
Is Articuno your favorite?
David Hernandez (14:27):
Yes, that is my favorite Pokemon.
Pixeladdy (14:29):
That's sick, that's sick.
That's a good pick.
I do like Articuno.
David Hernandez (14:33):
Yeah.
I'm looking through your oldstuff, actually.
It shows all the cards you had.
Pixeladdy (14:36):
Yeah, exactly.
any OG person that's beenfollowing me since like I
started my like Pixelati accountwill know that I started on
Pokeyati and I kind of justtransferred over so I midway
through that I realized becauseearly on in my Pokeyati account,
I did follow for follow, justbecause like I was new to
Instagram I was like yo whowants to do follow for follow
yada yada yada, and it reallykilled my engagement because I
(14:59):
had like a bunch of followersthat didn't care about what I
was posting.
They just followed because Ifollowed them.
So then I was like, you knowwhat?
Let me start a brand new freshaccount.
you know, I'm not going to tellus any single person to follow
me.
I'm just going to post what Ipost and see who follows me for,
them genuinely just enjoying mywork.
And so that's what I did.
And that's how Pixelati cameabout.
So I started that, I think inlike 2022, but in 2020, yeah,
(15:22):
that's when Pokeade started.
That's so I've, I've really beendoing this for four years.
like the card collecting andthen I started the artwork like
later.
So, that's like the OG, youknow, lore of, my stuff.
David Hernandez (15:34):
if I remember correctly on Instagram, some of
your first posts were youactually recreated some of the
Pokemon cards in the pixel art,right?
Pixeladdy (15:41):
yeah, even if you scroll back into, My like
current instagram pixelati youcan see I was posting like my
commissions That's like when Istarted doing art and then like
I posted the the base atcharizard card pixelated That
was also kind of one of myearliest artworks So you could
tell like there's a lot of thetcg like influence in it And
(16:02):
then, I was also doing, kind oflike a Pokédex type thing, where
I would just pick my favoriteartwork of each Pokémon.
And I did it in the order.
I'm looking at it now, I think Istopped at Venonat.
David Hernandez (16:13):
So, that's what I tried to do with my card
collecting,, I try to say I'mjust pick my favorite card to
complete a Potex.
And it's so hard because there'sso many good arts for some of
these Pokemon.
It's like trying to pick my ownchild.
I don't even have one.
Pixeladdy (16:25):
exactly.
Yeah, that's the thing.
I don't know why but I justtended to Pick the most
expensive artwork not like basedon cost But I would pick the
artwork that I liked the mostand I would check eBay and it
just so happened to be the mostexpensive so I'd be like, oh
Guess I can't collect that But Iguess everyone likes them.
So that makes sense becausethey're a nice art.
David Hernandez (17:32):
so you said eventually that you came into
doing pixel art because of thecards and you started doing
commissions.
When you transition to becominga pixel artist and you started
receiving demand for commissionsWas it difficult for you to like
start selling your artwork andto just manage that business
side of things?
you
Pixeladdy (17:50):
Oh, not really.
I mean, when I started, itwasn't like, the commission
requests were rolling in.
it was just, yeah, I had like,probably two, three hundred
followers, and it really onlystarted, so I would post my art
on my story just for fun, likethe things that I would do, and
then, Shout out to boss trainerJoe.
he was a an OG guy that I wasfriends with just from card
(18:10):
collecting.
And he actually saw my art on mystore and he was like, yo, this
is sick.
Can you make me a profilepicture?
And I think he paid me like 15bucks.
He's like, I'll give you 15bucks.
Just make me a profile picture.
And I did.
And then.
It just felt like that was likethe spark in me.
I realized like, wow, I just gotpaid for just making this guy an
artwork after that I just kindof got the idea to post it on my
(18:33):
story.
Like if anyone else wanted tohave a profile picture done by
me, like a custom trainer, Iwould do it.
early on I also did Fiverr, so Isigned up on Fiverr, and I
would, I was doing random,commissions on there.
it wasn't that busy, so, yeah,in terms of your question of
managing it, early on it wasn'treally much to manage, I was
only getting a few requests permonth, so it wasn't, it wasn't
(18:56):
too bad.
David Hernandez (18:57):
And then eventually you decide to do this
full time I remember you postedabout how you're freaking out a
little bit because you know, itall comes down to who comes to
who comes to you for request.
How terrifying was it to you toswitch over from what you were
doing beforehand as work tousing this pixel art as
basically your full time job?
Pixeladdy (19:16):
so there's a large chunk of story that's like in
between me starting and thenactually me going full time.
it got to a point where I wasgetting good in like a good
amount of requests per month andI just came to the realization.
That I hate my job.
I was working a nine to five.
I was doing sales.
I was a sales manager.
I liked managing cause you know,I had my team of people that I
(19:37):
managed and you know, they allloved me.
I loved them.
They were, they were coolpeople, but I just didn't like
the, the structure of, you know,having a boss.
And then they were always, youknow, They're always douches, so
like, I'm not the type of personthat like, can work with a boss
well.
I just like to have a bit ofcreative freedom, and clearly,
in my line of work now, I haveall the creative freedom.
(19:58):
So, it got to a point where,yeah, I hated my job, and I
said, you know what, I'm gettinggood enough, cause I still don't
make great money.
Like, I don't know what you guysconsider great money, but for
me, I don't think I make greatmoney.
I make okay money, and I get by.
And I'm very grateful that I cando what I do and get and and you
know pay my bills and whatnot.
But yeah, it was mainly to dowith me hating my job and I said
(20:19):
look I have enough right nowwhere I can still get by while
doing instagram full time.
So that's why I kind of quit myjob and did what I did it
definitely hasn't been easy.
but I cannot complain whatsoeverbecause I know, I know how it is
to work a nine to five and worka regular job and, work long
hours.
And I get to make art for aliving and still, you know, pay
(20:40):
my bills.
So I am very eternally gratefulfor this opportunity that I've
been given.
And so I'm trying to make themost of it.
David Hernandez (20:47):
lot of people.
aspire to be like you, to betheir own belt, their own boss,
to sell their own art, you know,here you are, you're doing it.
Like I said, you're not makinglike life changing money, you
know, but you're making a stableliving to where you can meet
your needs.
What advice would you give tosomebody who's probably trying
to get to where you're at?
Pixeladdy (21:04):
So.
My advice would be this, becauseI would argue, honestly, I could
have kept doing the art whilealso working my 9 5.
So, I would say, as weird asthis is for me to say, because I
quit my job, I would say try tokeep, like if you have a 9 5,
try to keep your job for as longas possible.
Because when you rely on art asyour income, it kind of kills,
some of the creativity in it.
(21:26):
Because Now you're kind ofrelying on it to be your, bill
payer, stuff like that.
So you're kind of more stressedout about the fact that, Oh, I
got to do X amount ofcommissions.
you know, I got to get thisamount of money for this month
to meet my bills.
Whereas if you have your stableincome from whatever job you're
doing, then this can be more as,you know, a passion and you'll
(21:46):
feel more creative and you'llfeel more free to do what you
want.
Whereas, when you're using it aslike your full time job and
that's your main money orrevenue stream I feel like it
does kind of limit yourcreativity and it can be
stressful at times So my biggestadvice would be Try to, keep any
sort of nine to five or job thatyou're doing full time job that
(22:07):
you're doing as much as possibleor as long as possible before
you feel like you want totransition and be your own boss
is what I mean.
I don't know if that's a goodanswer, but
David Hernandez (22:16):
No, that's very good.
Yeah.
Some people just try to take theleap of fate and just quit
things right away.
And, you know, they crash andburn.
But I you had a good way to saythat
Pixeladdy (22:26):
Yeah.
That's another thing though.
it's not for everyone.
you know, it's always good totry things.
So you can always try it fulltime.
And then if it doesn't work, youcan always go back to your job.
Cause I'm sure if you haveexperience and you have things
on your resume, you can alwaysgo back to that nine to five
that you were working.
Like, let's say theoretically meright now, I can always go back
and get that same job that I wasworking.
(22:48):
Even possibly the same company.
Like I could probably reach outand, Because I have connections
there, I could reach out andprobably get that same exact job
I had.
So, this is more like theopportunity that was, it was
kinda time, it depends on thetype of person you are, because
when you're your own boss,obviously you have to stay on
top of yourself.
That's the hard part.
Because, you know, you wake upand you don't have set hours to
work.
(23:08):
You don't have a boss tellingyou, you need to do this, this,
this, this, this, you don't havea list of responsibilities.
You are just existing and youare your own boss and you have
to, make sure that you pay yourbills out months.
So, figure out what type ofperson you are.
And analyze yourself and belike, am I cut out to be, you
know, my own boss?
do I have the traits to be ableto manage myself and, you know,
(23:29):
keep myself accountable?
If you feel like you don't, thenI would recommend to just do it
as like a side hobby.
That's what I think.
David Hernandez (23:36):
One of the first things I remember seeing
from your art was actually yourecreated it.
The scene with Mewtwo and Mew,and the whole scene, and you've
also recreated other parts ofthe anime, how do you, like,
decide which parts of the animeor what scenes to kind of
recreate to show people?
Pixeladdy (23:56):
I honestly haven't done one of those in a while.
I've been meaning to do one.
I wanted to recreate the scenewhere, the girl plays the flute
and then the pillars turn green.
And then Moltres, Zapdos andArticuno are flying above.
And then Lugia comes out of thewater, you know, the scene it's
at the the movie.
So I wanted to recreate that onenext.
But I really just went forscenes that were iconic to me.
(24:17):
I kind of just would chooseiconic scenes from the anime
because anything I feelnostalgic towards, I feel like
other people would too, becausewe probably all have the same
experiences as kids.
So you know, the clone fight,scene is just iconic.
Like everyone loves that.
Even the, soundtrack to that,you know, is just iconic.
So I just thought It would pullon everyone's heartstrings and I
guess it did because it didpretty well.
(24:39):
So, yeah, that was one of myfavorite scenes of all time.
So that's why I chose to dothat.
David Hernandez (24:43):
Do you have a particular scene that you
enjoyed or one that you enjoyedmaking?
Pixeladdy (24:47):
every single scene I make is kind of different.
I do enjoy, a lot of them.
I really enjoyed the SquirtleSquad.
That was like one of theearliest ones I did as well.
I also liked the, Episode 1,which, like the Spiros.
Ash getting attacked by theSpiros, that was also fun.
Yeah, I like them all, even likethe Bulbasaur Garden one, where,
Venusaur's on the stump.
(25:08):
I like the colors of the flowersand stuff like that, so.
Yeah, I'd say I enjoyed makingthem all pretty much like the
same.
They're all, they're all, theywere all fun and unique to make,
so.
David Hernandez (25:18):
we can't forget the Charmander covering its, uh,
its tail with the leaf though.
That's always one of the saddestscenes uh, see Pokemon for me.
Pixeladdy (25:27):
yeah, yeah, that was actually funny enough.
That was, I would say my firstviral post.
So that actually was whatkickstarted my following.
Cause up until then I had like.
Not that many followers and Iwasn't getting that much
engagement But then I postedthat one and that one really
like kind of blew up And afterthat it kind of snowballed my
whole like following so thatone's always iconic and like
(25:48):
kind of close to me because itwas like My starting point my
first viral post it was it feltgood
David Hernandez (25:53):
Well, very cool Pixel Addy.
Thank you for coming on as thePokeball turns.
Before you go, people want tocheck out the artwork we've been
talking about here.
If they want to connect withyou, if they want to request a
commission, Where can they go?
By all means, please plug away
Pixeladdy (26:07):
Well, I mean I want to thank you first for having me
and in terms of plugging myselfmy username on all platforms is
Pixel Addy.
a lot of people think it's PixelLady.
It's, it's not, my name is Addy.
and I do pixel art.
So it's a pixel and then A D DY.
So Pixel Addy on, you know,Twitter, Instagram, TikTok,
reach out on any of thoseplatforms, threads.
(26:30):
I'm always open to hearingpeople out for their artworks
and stuff like that.
So.
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