It could be described as the mosaicism of the digital age: pixel by pixel, this artist makes everything look like in a 90s video game: nostalgic elements, famous or current figures, iconic places in the suburbs.Martín Darío Charruf is 38 years old and lives in Lomas de Zamora.He spent his time drawing until one day, eight years ago, he decided to combine his two passions: illustration and video games.And so he developed in one of the branches of digital art, "pixel art".The Lomense is largely self-taught."I took a tutorial from the Internet that was short and to the point, it lasted two minutes. I started with that, and then I practiced on my own," says Martín, who is also a teacher of Manga, a style of Japanese comics.Many of his works usually refer to icons of Argentine culture and the Greater Buenos Aires.Among them, "The Eight Wonders of the Conurbano" stand out, a series of buildings and monuments that, for the residents of the South of Greater Buenos Aires, are easy to recognize.The imposing entrance of the Pereyra Iraola Park, the colorful Persian Fair of San Miguel, the White Elephant of Avellaneda and the surprising mural embodied in a tank in the middle of Monte Grande, Esteban Echeverría, are some of the wonders "pixelated" by Charruf.In addition, the artist seeks to appeal to nostalgia: he illustrated sweets such as the Naranjú, the Mielcitas, the Fulbito alfajor and the Media Hora candies with a level of detail that amazes many.All of his works seem to come out of a SEGA game or a Nintendo Family Game.And that impression is not at all random: "I generally use the color palette of video games on those consoles, which are part of my life. I had a Play and a computer, but I kept playing old games because that always called me more" .For this reason, Martín's illustrations generate a double sensation of nostalgia that transports whoever sees them to the 90s."Seeing this type of work makes you travel, a classic illustration doesn't move me as much as pixels", details the artist from Loma.Some techniques used by Charruf show the difficulties that pixel art can have."It is more difficult to solve than a pencil drawing, where you are more free on the page. With pixel art you have to put parameters in your head that you cannot break, because the support you are using on the computer does not allow it ", Explain.In turn, the colors chosen by the 38-year-old artist are limited."If you want pixel art to stand out, you have to use a base color, a color for the highlights and another for the shadows," he details, and assures that it is quite a "challenge" to draw elements of everyday life.However, despite the complexities that it may involve, the man from Loma assures that it is nothing new.For him, this style could be considered the mosaicism of the digital age."It's like medieval tapestries, where they used cross stitch. One, despite time, continues to use things from thousands of years ago," he admits.Using very small and homogeneous color units, Martín Darío Charruf also came to create a map of Argentina full of unique peculiarities of each region, and another of the Province of Buenos Aires in which iconic buildings and sculptures can be seen."Lately I've been making a lot of thematic prints," says the 38-year-old artist, who also usually sells works like these through his Instagram account (@robosepu).One of the most requested represents a tour of the different models of the Roca Railway.Among his next works, Martín assures that he will present works related to trains, buses and even dinosaurs."That of the groups has a twist that no one is going to imagine, but I want you to wait for the surprise," he advances.TOPICS THAT APPEAR IN THIS NOTECommenting on Clarín's notes is exclusively for subscribers.Qatar 2022 World Cup, LIVE: European powers already know their rivals heading to Euro 2024Bruno Latour, influential philosopher and one of the leading figures of environmental thought, diedAmber Heard: the secret life of her with a false identity in a remote town after losing the trial with Johnny DeppMax Verstappen, two-time Formula 1 champion: the FIA's explanation and Ferrari's anger over Leclerc's sanctionLuciana Salazar slipped that Aníbal Fernández would leave her position and the Minister of Security crossed it with ironyMore changes in the Cabinet: Claudio Moroni leaves LaborWhat you have to knowThe most important news of the day, to read with breakfast.The most important of each day, the necessary reading on the way home.Stones 1743. CABA, ArgentinaIssue No.: 9684, October 9, 2022You are already a Clarín subscriberOwner Graphic Art Editorial Argentino SA © 1996-2022 Clarín.com - Clarín Digital - All rights reserved.Read the paper edition