In this easy pixel tutorial you will learn how to create a pixel art trash truck! We will go over the different steps it takes to make your very own trash truck made out of pixels!
Are you ready to design your own pixel art trash truck? Learning how to draw a cute pixel art trash truck is more popular than ever! Whether you’re looking to create a simple pixel art trash truck sprite for your mobile trash pick up game or maybe you just want to share a cute new pixel art trash truck as part of your truck collection on social media, this pixel art tutorial will help you make a pixel trash truck fast and easy.
How to Make a Pixel Art Trash Truck
These are the basic steps for how to make a pixel art trash truck:
- Select a Pixel Art Software such as Adobe Photoshop or Mega Voxels
- Create a 32×32 pixel grid
- Sketch out an Outline for the shape of the trash truck
- Fill in the color of the pixel art trash truck
- Draw a Shade on the trash truck to create depth
- Fill in the Background with Color
Now that you are familiar with the basic steps on how to create a pixel art trash truck, 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 trash truck 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 trash truck, 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 trash truck. 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 trash truck on. Your trash truck pixel art grid should have a canvas, also known as a spreadsheet, that looks something similar to this:
Sketch an Outline for the Trash Truck
Next we will start by making the outline for the trash truck so we can get the overall shape for our pixel trash truck. 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 trash truck or like we mentioned before feel free to design your own.
Fill in the Color
Now that you made an outline for your pixel art trash truck, we will add some color to make it stand out. Fill in the main vehicle section of the van a light blue color (#00B0EF) and the inserts a darker blue color (#008CED). The front of the trash truck will be gray (#BCBCBC). Try matching the picture of our 8 bit pixel art trash truck below.
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 trash truck using a single color. This color will be applied to the side of the trash truck. Remember, to create a shadow color for the trash truck we will use a darker gray based on the color we used before (#A1A1A1). We will also add a darker blue (#008DBF) to the bottom of the back of the trash truck. Try to match where we put the shadows in the image below.
So now that you got the basic idea we will continue adding some depth to our trash truck to give it a 3D feel. Let’s create a highlight using the same gray from the main trash truck section, but instead of going darker this time we will go lighter (#D8D8D8). Remember, this doesn’t have to be the exact color in fact this is an opportunity to make the trash truck look like your own. Use our image as a guide for your trash truck.
Great! When you are happy with your shadows and highlights on your trash truck, be sure to view your final image. To see your pixel art trash truck go ahead and turn off the grid lines to make sure you like the way the trash truck came out.
Fill the Background Color
Finally, let’s change the background color of our trash truck sprite to really make our trash truck 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 trash truck.
Where to Go From Here
Congratulations! You now know how to create your very own pixel art trash truck. Try making different colors of trash trucks to create your own fleet of trash collecting trucks.
Bonus: Make a 3D Pixel Art Trash Truck
Now that you have drawn your own pixel art trash truck, 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 trash truck into a 3D pixel art trash truck.
You can now create 3D turntable videos of your 3D pixel art trash truck and even view your trash truck in Augmented Reality!
