WEEK 1
Hopefully last week was horrifying and frightening as you were making your frames. And such wonderfully creepy frames they were.
The challenge thread will have all the challenge updates. The thread is also a great place to post your WIPs.
The following pixel artists produced Pixel Joint's top rated pixel art for August 2026.
Many thanks go out to this month's top pixel artists, and all the members who took time to rate!
WEEK 0
Greetings Ghouls and Ghasts! The time has come again, to join in the yearly Pixelween competition.
After all this, you might ask, for what will this frame be used for, ooo? Soon you will knooow...
Muahaha! It's that time of the year again. The scary artsy time for Pixelween!
This year, you will be crafting 4 portrait paintings in mysterious frames over the course of four consecutive weekly challenges. Each weekly challenge will bring a new theme for the painting to go within. The pre-challenge (week 0) will be making the frames. All of the paintings next to each other as a gallery showcase shall be your Pixelween entry.
Rules:
To be eligible for the Pixelween prizes, you must submit to at least 2 of the 4 weeklies. As long as at least two of your submissions are on time, you are allowed (but not required) to submit more up until October 18th, the final deadline. Technically having a complete set is not required to win, but the fates favor a finished gallery.
The additional rule this year is that the frame is mandatory. You do not have to participate in the week 0 challenge, in regular time, but you have to fill in the missing frame later. We will not hang any frameless paintings in the gallery. To sum it up, the minimal contest entry is two paintings in frames, with at least 2 weekly challenges submitted in time (any of weeks 0-4).
This year submitting entries to the Pixelween weekly challenge, and to the Pixelween contest will happen separately:
1) First you submit only the portrait (70x100px) to PJ gallery, which counts only to the Weekly Chellenge.
2) Then you submit your portrait already installed in your frame from week 0 (130x160px) as a comment in the Pixelween 2026 forum thread - which counts only to the contest.
The winning entries will be chosen from all eligible entries by a jury of select PixelJoint members, with the help of some mysterious outsiders who for now remain in the shadows...
The weeklies also function as normal weekly challenges, with the usual prizes. Your success in the weeklies does not influence your chances in Pixelween judging.
There will be a bonus challenge (week 5) for anyone who wishes to do it, but it isn't part of the judging.
This year there will be a selected spooky palette for each week, it's still TBD and voting is going on in the Discord channel!
The ghastly palette chosen for the pre-challenge (week 0) is Sparkling 09 by green guy.
Prizes:
From these, the highest placing winners get to choose first, and if a winner does not need a software license it will be moved on to the 10th place, and so on.
The winning entries shall be announced as soon as possible after the deadline.
All who participate shall earn the rare Pixelween trophy.
How to enter:
To participate, your works need to be submitted to the Pixel Joint challenges, details are in the challenge posts:
The pre-challenge is: The Frame (September 14th - September 20th)
The first challenge will run from September 21st - September 27th
The second challenge will run from September 28th - October 4th
The third challenge will run from October 5th - 11th
The fourth challenge will run from October 12th - 18th
Bonus round will run from October 19th - October 25th
If you've missed out on one of the challenges you can still submit your entry to Pixel Joint, as long as at least 2 of the entries are posted as part of a weekly challenge within the deadline. While it probably won't be necessary, poking one of the moderators when you post your entry after its challenge deadline is a good idea.
You also have to submit your portrait already installed in your frame from week 0 (130x160px) as a comment in the Pixelween 2026 forum thread.
How will you terrify and haunt the judges? Show us something deviously bewitching!
Should you feel too frightened on your own, the community is there to hold your hand in the challenge forum threads and in the Pixelween channel on the PJ Discord. Show your WIPs to tackle the threats together!
You can find the results of the 2020 Pixelween here.
You can find the results of the 2021 Pixelween here.
You can find the results of the 2022 Pixelween here.
You can find the results of the 2023 Pixelween here.
You can find the results of the 2024 Pixelween here.
You can find the results of the 2025 Pixelween here.
For those who are new on Pixel Joint:
Don't forget to comment on the pieces you like! Not only does a comment have the potential to make the artist's day, if you post a lot you'll win one of the fancy new trophies!
Pixel loop 28
Draw an original isomatric character in Jojo's Bizarre advanture Pose.
Canvas - Max 160x160 px.
Color - Max 16+1.
Transparancy - Required.
Animation - Forbidden.
