by Pyrochan
Pixel Dolls are small pixelated images, generally of people. They are mainly used online as avatars, signatures or just displayed as artwork on personal webpages.
Dolls range in size from being a few pixels high to a few hundred pixels high. Generally, dolls are human figures (mainly female, but male dolls are becoming increasingly more common), although there have been instances of animals being named "dolls." Dolls are generally dressed, and come in a wide range of styles. Bases are the template upon which dolls are created - the naked human form with no hair.
People who create dolls are called dollers or dollists. The community is well inter-linked because of both message board communities and the concept of "adoption." Adoption is where a doller displays a favoured doll that was created by someone else upon their website, with credit and a link to the other's site or email. Adoption is not an option with bases.
"Dolling" has become a widespread Internet phenomenon, spawning numerous websites, communities, forums and other related items. Some entrepreneuristic people have expanded into the commercial world with their digital art and sell their graphic images as either clipart or on merchandise. However, dolling is more of a personal hobby for many.