Fandom is neat. I appreciate when fans are so enthusiastic about a topic that they’re inspired to create something new, and Star Wars fans do it all the time. They’re a passionate bunch. The Dastoli twins started making art inspired by Star Wars at a young age. Robert and James grew up with the original trilogy and the Expanded Universe (now known as Legends). They were obsessed with the galaxy far, far away and back when they were in middle school, they turned to the computer to express their fandom through art. They used the tool they had at hand: Microsoft Paintbrush on Windows 3.1.

Cloud City, inspired by The Illustrated Star Wars Universe book

Pixelated Star Wars art? Sold.

The brothers pulled inspiration from the films but also from the numerous Star Wars books, comics, and video games they were enjoying at the time–the time being the mid-late ’90s. They spent hours making sure their art was as detailed and accurate as it could be with the program they were using. They recently dug their work out of storage and off floppy disks to share with the world on Tumblr, and it is so freaking delightful. I love seeing the Star Wars universe through this lens, and the art is all the more wonderful when you think about two boys hunching over computers to get every pixel just right.

IG-2000 and Slave I, inspired by the Shadows of the Empire comic

Visit the below gallery and Star Wars Paintbrush on Tumblr to see more pixel art. The Dastolis are posting new images every day until The Force Awakens. And in case you’ve forgotten, that’s December 18–just over four months away. We’re so close.

Do any of you have Star Wars fan art stored on floppy disks? Dig it out and share it with me! Leave links to your work in the comments.