Memorable pixel art from the Amiga demo scene.
May 2026
Public Service Announcement: A few of the pictures below may be considered mildly unsafe for work, since they feature moderate amounts of pixelated nudity.
Picture Elements
Ever since I first saw an Amiga, I've loved pixel art. While there's a lot of fantastic pixel art in Amiga games, it's the technically impressive images from the demo scene that's stayed with me for decades and continue to fascinate me. For a long time, scene pixel art was almost exclusively about technique and consisted mostly of copied (or plagiarized) works.
Some of the pictures below are no doubt perfect copies (or plagiarisms), others are compositions of existing art, and a few are completely original works. All of them have, however, been painstakingly pixelled by hand. Some of the artists are still active and has long since evolved away from copying and perfected styles of their own. It's perhaps unfair to let them be represented by older works, but I say they have nothing to be ashamed of. These are wonderful, timeless works of mouse and hand.
A technical note on the images
The Amiga features graphics modes with double height pixels. To retain their aspect ratio, images intended for such graphics modes have been doubled in height. All of the images have been scaled up in size to better suit modern displays.
Some images are for OCS, the Original ChipSet of the Amiga. These images can use up to 32 (or 64, with EHB) colours in a 320*256 resolution (plus overscan), or up to 16 colours in a 640*256 or 640*512 resolution (plus overscan), and have a 12-bit palette space (4096 colours).
Some images use the EHB, or Extra Half-Brite mode on the Amiga. This mode allows for 32 user definable colors and adds another 32, which are copies of the first 32 but halved in brightness (hence the name).
Some images are for AGA, the Advanced Graphics Architecture that replaced OCS in the Amiga 1200 and 4000 models. These images can use up to 256 colours in all resolutions and have a 24-bit palette space.
Most of these images will look their best on a 14" PAL CRT, but they're perfectly enjoyable on any modern flatscreen as well.
What all of these images have in common is that I've spent inordinate amounts of time inspecting them using Deluxe Paint's zoom mode. I now invite you to do the same: All of the images are clickable and lead to the full size version.
Cougar/Sanity - The Dog (1991)
Resolution: OCS, 320*256, 32 colours.
In just 32 colours, Cougar has managed to capture the texture of fur, nose, tongue and gums perfectly. The play of light in the saliva dripping from the bottom lip is astonishing to behold on a CRT, but just looks like a messy dither when zoomed in.
This picture came second in the graphics competition at The Party 1991, and was later used by Sanity on their music disk Jesterday.
Ra/Sanity - Einstein (1993)
Resolution: OCS, 360*284 (overscan), 32 colours.
Expert pixelwork all around, but Ra has excelled in capturing the hair and moustache.
This picture was used in Sanity's excellent demo Arte (I highly recommend watching it!), which won third prize at The Party 1993.
Rank/Cryptoburners - Silent Evening (1993)
Resolution: OCS, 640*512, 16 colours.
I'm sure the woman in the picture was a well-known photo model in the 1990s, but I can't quite place her. With just 16 colours, Rank has managed to convey the fall of soft fabric, the rigidness of sculpted marble and the roughness of tree bark. The subtle fade from red to green in the background uses only two colours, but their proximity in luminance make them blend seamlessley on a CRT screen.
This picture is part of Cryptoburners' slideshow Revelations, which was released at The Gathering 1993 and contains many more examples of excellent pixel art.
Coma/Trash - Zero Gravity (1992)
Resolution: OCS, 320*256, 32 colours.
There's perhaps not a lot of pixel art trickery in this picture - I just happen to like it a lot. I'm fairly certain it uses the default Deluxe Paint palette, and even though it's a quick, fun piece in a cartoonish style, Coma has dutifully anti-aliased and dithered by hand. The GUI and mouse pointer are faithful renditions of the default settings in AmigaOS 2.0.
Fiver/TRSI - Fishfood (1994)
Resolution: AGA, 720*283 (overscan), 128 colours.
The water looks very good here, but I always thought the real achievement is the intricate and varied textures on the fish; scales, fins, even the inside of the mouth.
This picture placed ninth - perhaps unfairly underrated - in the graphics compo at The Party 1994.
Angeldawn/Hoodlum - Hoodlum Logo (1993)
Resolution: OCS, Intended for 320*256, 32 colours.
Angeldawn is perhaps best known for his iconic Fairlight logo, used in a multitude of cracktros and demos. I personally think this one is even better: The font gives off gangsta rap vibes (Cypress Hill, anyone?) suitable for a cracking group, and the palette with contrasting cool and warm tones is delicious enough to eat. Hoodlum used it in several cracktros on both Amiga and DOS.
Mack/Melon Dezign - Lydie Inspiration (1992)
Resolution: OCS, 320*256, 64 colours (EHB).
A composite of several Boris Vallejo paintings, with some extra flair added by Mack himself. I'm not quite sure why I'm so fond of this image, but I believe it's the gentle purple tones of the mountains and water - brilliantly created using just four colours - and the smoothness of the moon and the floating orbs. This has everything a scene classic needs: Attractive women, muscular men, magical crystals, mysterious floating objects, mountains, and even a dragon far in the distance.
This image placed 8th in the compo at The Party 1992.
Peachy/TRSI - WomSnake (1992)
Resolution: OCS, 320*256, 32 colours.
Another Vallejo interpretation, another attractive woman, and a snake in lieu of a dragon. Someone, somewhere will probably disagree, but to me, this is the most iconic piece of Amiga scene art there is. Despite the trite subject, everything just fits. The texture of the snake's skin, the clouds, the mysterious faces on the tree trunk (not present in Vallejo's original). Of special note is that Peachy used a colour index just for the eight dark green pixels in the snake's eye, which is quite a sacrifice if you only have 32 of them to begin with.
This picture won the graphics competition at The Party 1992.
Vic/Rebels - Luciano (1991)
Resolution: OCS, 320*256, 32 colours.
This picture has always fascinated me because of the smoothness it achieves on a CRT. It's almost impossible to discern individual pixels thanks to the meticulous anti-aliasing and careful palette choices.
Cougar/Sanity - Sanasmatron (1993)
Resolution: OCS, 320*256, 64 colours (EHB).
Another technical masterpiece from Cougar, this time an interpretation of a Motörhead album cover. Once more, a few carefully placed pixels create droplets of saliva, bolts on the train, sparks in the smoke and rust on the tracks.
This image placed fourth in the competition at The Gathering 1993.
Fairfax/Andromeda - ZZ Madman (1994)
Resolution: AGA, 320*256, 256 colours.
A visually striking celebration of the new graphical capabilities of the Amiga 1200. Contrary to what might seem intuitive, it's often the case that the more colours you work with in pixel art, the longer it takes to finish a picture. While there is some very subtle dithering here, Fairfax has spent the 256 colours wisely and created several colour ramps for extensive anti-aliasing. This picture looks astonishingly smooth on a CRT - nary a single pixel can be seen. Oh, and look closely at the palm of the hand to the right in the picture.
This image won the competition at The Gathering 1994.
Archmage/Andromeda - In Your Face (1994)
Resolution: AGA, 320*256, 256 colours.
Another celebration of the new AGA graphics, this time by Archmage. Just as smooth as Fairfax' offering above, this one has some dithering for added texture. It's hard to pick a favourite between this one and ZZ Madman. For me, they're both era-defining pieces of pixel art, released just around the time when I bought my own Amiga 1200 and needed some 256-colour images to marvel at.
This image placed third at The Gathering 1994.
Magic/Prestige - Prestige Logo (1994)
Resolution: OCS, Intended for 320*256, 32 colours.
Another cracktro logo, but this time more in the cutesy realm than the Hoodlum one above. It may seem unremarkable, but everything just works: the font, the palette, the textures. Also, the heart looks like candy and I want to eat it.
Scuba/X-Trade - Splash 2 (1992)
Resolution: OCS, 640*512, 16 colours.
In this copy of a painting by Toshikuni Okubo, Scuba has managed to capture the splash of water using just nine shades of blue. Perhaps it was this admittedly impressive effort that gave him the confidence to add some very sceneish "fuckings" in the bottom of the picture. Or perhaps it was just pure anger - the same anger that made him misspell his group name. Alas, I'm not privy to the specific scene drama that clearly played out here.
I'm poking fun a bit, but this is an incredible example of translating a visual work into such a limited amount of colours. The picture placed seventh - out of over fifty entries - in the compo at The Party 1992.
A jump forward in time...
The selection of classics above doesn't even begin to scrape the surface of the treasure that is Amiga pixel art. The three pictures below, representing the contemporary era, even less so.
Exocet/Just For Fun - Welcome To Our World (2002)
Resolution: OCS, 320*256, 16 colours.
This picture has been listed as an Atari ST release, but the resolution hints at Amiga being the target platform. Nevertheless, it's a great 16 colour picture and a masterclass in experimental dithering. Look closely and you should be able to see the use of circles, squares, hearts and stars.
This picture placed second in the competition at Synthesis 2002.
Optic/Desire - Marlboro Mygg (2025)
Resolution: OCS, 320*256, 32 colours.
This recent work by Optic is a tribute to prolific Amiga tracker musician Mygg. It's a great piece of pixel art and showcases recent (well, as in the last decade or so) trends in pixel art, using stark complimentary colours and horizontal "band" dithering on the shirt. The numbers and letters in the background is a Protracker pattern, but I'd rather point your attention to the cigarette smoke.
This picture got a well-deserved first place at Gerp 2025.
Razorback/Genesis Project - Repent (2017)
Resolution: OCS, 320*256, 16 colours.
The Amiga 500 is capable of displaying 16 shades of gray, and Razorback has used them all to great effect. The sharp contrasts between black and white emphasize the contrasting theme of the picture. The pixelwork itself is what I'd like to describe as flawless, and harkens back to the same painstaking texture building as the iconic images from the 1990s above.
This picture won the competition at Gubbdata 2017.
A note on CRTs (again)
Jonas Åkesson - Trädgårdsinteriör (Garden Interior), 1904.
The picture above, "Garden Interior" by Jonas Åkesson, is one of my absolute favourites when it comes traditional painting. While it's lovely like this, on a computer screen, you can't quite recreate the stunning impact it has when viewed in real life and - importantly - properly lit. First of all, it's the dimensions: the canvas is much bigger than your computer screen. Second, it's the interplay between light and technique. When lit from the front and above, the highlights on the woman's dress and on the ground feels almost blinding, just as if you were out there, in the shade, looking at reflections of sunlight. Instinctively, you try to adjust your eyes, but as you get closer to the painting, you realize that it's a trompe-l'oeil of sorts: almost centimeter thick layers of paint protrude from the canvas, both catching and emulating light in a fascinating way.
You can't recreate this on a flatscreen monitor, and the same is true for pixel art.
Having already written several different texts about the qualities of CRT screens, let me summarize them thusly: A CRT is not a magic jaggedy-edges-erasing device that automatically smooths any kind of pixel art into blissful softness. However, a CRT will help pixel art techniques - dithering, anti-aliasing, carefully placing contrasting pixels to create texture - to form something larger than the sum of their parts.
But, just as with Åkessons' painting, that doesn't mean pictures made for and on a CRT can't be enjoyed on modern hardware. And compared to thick slabs of oil paint on a canvas, the loss is probably much smaller.