In this easy pixel tutorial you will learn how to create a pixel art orange! We will go over the different steps it takes to make your very own orange made out of pixels!

How to Make a Pixel Art Orange for Beginners

Are you ready to make your own pixel art orange? Learning how to draw a cute pixel art orange is more popular than ever! Whether you’re looking to create a simple pixel art orange treat for your video game or maybe you just want to share a fresh new pixel art orange fruit design as part of your citrus art collection on social media, this pixel art tutorial will help you make a pixel orange fast and easy.

How to Make a Pixel Art Orange

These are the basic steps for how to make a pixel art orange:

  1. Select a Pixel Art Software such as Adobe Photoshop, Mega Voxels or Aseprite
  2. Create a 32×32 pixel grid
  3. Sketch out an Outline for the shape of the orange
  4. Fill in the color of the pixel art orange
  5. Draw a Shade on the orange to create depth
  6. Fill in the Background with Color

Now that you are familiar with the basic steps on how to create a pixel art orange, we will cover each step visually so that you can follow along on how to create it.

If you are completely new to pixel art we recommend reading our post How to Create Pixel Art: Beginner’s Tutorial

Select a Pixel Art Software

In this beginner tutorial we will be showing you the steps to design your own pixel art orange regardless of what pixel editor software you prefer to use. Before we begin you will need to know how to create a grid and use the pencil tool in the software of your choice. Once you create your pixel art orange, you can use the pixel art in other games such as Minecraft or software such as Unity Game Engine. We offer tutorials on the following pixel art editor’s so feel free to pick the one that you feel most comfortable with:

Want to see what pixel art software is best for you? Read our post Top Free Pixel Art Software

Create a Grid

To begin we will be using a simple 32×32 pixel grid to draw a small pixel art orange. Making 32×32 pixel art is a common size when making pixel art, especially for projects like video games. Be sure that your canvas is set to the color White (#FFFFFF). This will be our canvas that we use to draw our pixel art orange on. Your orange pixel art grid should have a canvas, also known as a spreadsheet, that looks something similar to this:

A blank canvas for drawing the pixel art orange

Sketch an Outline for the Orange

Next we will start by making the outline for the orange so we can get the overall shape for our pixel orange. To do this choose the color Black (#000000) and activate the pencil tool in your editor. Since this determines the overall shape, feel free to adjust the outline to what match your game or art project. As a guide, you can use the outline we made below for your orange or like we mentioned before feel free to design your own.

An outline of the pixel art oranges grid similar to a spreadsheet

Fill in the Color

Now that you made an outline for your pixel art orange, we will add some color to make it stand out. Fill in the main section of the orange a rich orange color (#FE5E00). On the leaf section at the top we will use a green (#5DCA2C). Try matching the picture of our 8 bit pixel art orange below.

Simple pixel art oranges with solid colors

Draw the Shading

So whenever you create pixel art there are essentially two parts to shading: the highlights and the shadows. We will start with the shadows. We will be applying a shadow to our 32×32 pixel art orange using a single color. This color will be applied to the bottom-right section of the orange. Remember, to create a shadow color for the orange we will use a darker orange color based on the color we used before (#D0260B). We will also do the same thing with the leaf of the orange by using a darker green (#53B229). Try to match where we put the shadows in the image below.

32x32 Pixel art oranges with shadows to give depth to the oranges

So now that you got the basic idea we will continue adding some depth to our orange to give it a 3D feel. Let’s create a highlight using the same orange color from the main section, but instead of going darker this time we will go lighter (#FF894B). Remember, this doesn’t have to be the exact color in fact this is an opportunity to make the orange look like your own. In our version we only highlighted the top-left section of the fruit. Use our image as a guide for your orange.

Adding highlights to the 8 bit pixel oranges

Great! When you are happy with your shadows and highlights on your orange, be sure to view your final image. To see your pixel art orange go ahead and turn off the grid lines to make sure you like the way the orange came out.

Kawaii pixel art oranges on a transparent background

Fill the Background Color

Finally, let’s change the background color of our orange sprite to really make our orange stand out nicely. Select the Bucket fill tool in your editor. For the color enter a very Light Blue (#BCEAFE). Then simply click on the white area outside of the pixel orange.

Cute Pixel Art oranges on Blue Background

Where to Go From Here

Congratulations! You now know how to create your very own pixel art orange. Try making different types of sizes of oranges to make your own fruit scene.

Bonus: Make a 3D Pixel Art Orange

3D Pixel Art Orange

Now that you have drawn your own pixel art orange, you can turn it 3D with Mega Voxels. Mega Voxels contains a 3D Pixel Art Maker that allows you to convert traditional 2D pixels into 3D pixels. Simply download the free Mega Voxels app for iOS or Android.

Then import the pixel art you just made using the Add File button inside of the My Gallery page. And that’s it! Mega Voxels automatically transforms you pixel art orange into a 3D pixel art orange. You can now create 3D turntable videos of your 3D pixel art orange and even view your orange in Augmented Reality!