Interested in learning how to make pixel art? In this beginner pixel art tutorial we will cover everything you need to know to begin creating your own pixel art.

Pixel Art Tutorial on How to Create Pixel art for Beginners

Have you heard about all the excitement surrounding this popular art style called pixel art? Its used in video games, artwork and now even movies! Some common questions are what is pixel art, what is a pixel art editor and how can you make pixel art? In this pixel art tutorial we will be answering these questions and more. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced artist, this helpful tutorial will explain everything you need to know about pixel art.

What is Pixel Art?

Pixel art is a type of digital art form where 2D images are created using squares called pixels. This type of art was originally created on older video games consoles where the graphics were constrained to 8-bit and 16-bit devices. Because of the lower resolution, artists designed innovative ways of placing pixels on a canvas to portray all kinds of 2D graphics. Even though new devices have higher resolutions and color support, pixel art is still a very popular art style used frequently in video games because of how easy it is to create and it’s unique nostalgic style.

When working on video games, pixel art images are also commonly called sprites. These two-dimensional bitmaps are then combined to make a larger scene or even animations.

Are you ready to start making your own pixel art? This guide will act as a complete pixel art tutorial on how to get started making pixel art.

For more information read our post What is Pixel Art?

Simple Pixel Art Tutorial

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

  1. Select a Pixel Art Software such as Adobe Photoshop, Mega Voxels or Aseprite
  2. Create a pixel grid to draw your pixel art
  3. Sketch out an Outline for the shape of the pixel art
  4. Fill in the color of the pixel art image
  5. Draw shades and highlights on the pixel image to create depth

No matter what kind of pixel art you are trying to make these basic steps will always remain the same. We will cover each of these steps more in depth in this tutorial.

Essential Pixel Art Tools

There are several types of pixel art software available today. Many have great features that make creating pixel art fast and easy. In this pixel art tutorial we will be covering a few of them. Some of these include Adobe Photoshop, Piskel, Aseprite and Microsoft Paint to name a few. When you take any basic pixel tutorial you will always have a toolbar. Here are some examples:

The main toolbar for three different pixel editors that are used for making pixel art

However to make your own pixel art you will need to make sure that your pixel art editor of choice has the following tools.

  • Pencil: The Pencil tool allows you to basically draw a pixel to your grid
  • Eraser: The Eraser tool allows you to erase a pixel from your grid
  • Bucket Fill: The Bucket fill tool fills in an area with a color you choose saving time
  • Eyedropper: The Eyedropper tool lets you set the current color to the color you select in the grid

Now there are several other tools that certainly help speed up the pixel art creation process such as the selection tool, line tool, and even rotation tools. This depends largely on the editor you use. We do provide more in depth tutorials on how to accomplish this, but as long as the software you use has the tools mentioned above you should be perfectly fine.

If you are interested in learning these tools, we offer beginner pixel art tutorials for various pixel editors:

Tools to Avoid

Keep in mined when you begin to work with more expensive softwares there will be several additional tools that come with the program that are not recommended for pixel art. Generally speaking you’ll want to stay away from blurs and gradient tools. Pixel art should be crisp and have straight edges. Also brushes are not ideal either as you will want to have complete control over the pixels you draw to the grid.

Hardware to Use

Pixel art is very detail oriented. Because of this you’ll want to use either a mouse or drawing pad with a pen when trying out our pixel art tutorials. These tools give you ability to click on specific cells in your grid when you’re drawing.

What Size Should your Pixel Art Canvas Be?

Technically pixel art sprites can be any size. But for design purposes, the pixel art you see in older and modern games uses a multiple of eight. These include 8×8, 16×16, and 32×32. The reason for this is that older devices literally had to use these dimensions. Because of this modern games stuck to these rules to give pixel art the unique design you see today. In fact in most of our pixel art tutorials we use a 32×32 dimension for the canvas.

A standard 16x16 pixel grid for making pixel art images

When starting pixel art for the first time it is recommended to start with a smaller grid size like 16×16 or 32×32 so that you can pick up the basics faster. Also keep in mind that the magic of pixel art is being able to make every pixel count. If you you make your pixel art too big, users won’t be able to tell its pixel art.

Here’s a popular pixel art tutorial on How to Make a Pixel Art Grid in Photoshop

As you can see the bigger the canvas you use, the more details you are able to add to your pixel art sprite.

Determine the Pixel Art Sizes for Games

When you are making a game, all pixel art used in the game must use the same dimensions. In other words you can’t make a character that is 8×8 and then make a car that they ride in that is 16×16. Because of this it is important to think out what grid size you want to use for your pixel art.

An easy way to accomplish this is usually to start with the main character or object of your scene. Determine the level of detail you need to portray this element. Everything else in the scene is secondary and can follow the size you set for the main player.

Screen Resolution

The other important element is screen size. Most devices today have thousands of pixels in their resolution. If you were to try to make a scene this size your pixel art would appear extremely small.

Instead what game artists do is determine a smaller size and then scale all the pixel art sprites up by a percentage. For example lets say we have a screen that is 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels tall which is standard 1080p. We don’t have to actually make our canvas 1920 pixel wide. Instead we can make our canvas 384 pixels wide and just scale it up by 500%. Here is an example of original piece of pixel scaled up

Keep in mind that scaling is the final step in the process. If you try to work on a scaled up sprite you will have hundreds of thousands of pixels to keep track of which is extremely difficult.

If you are interested in scaling up an existing pixel art image without it blurring, view our pixel art tutorial How to Export Pixel Art From Photoshop.

Simple Pixel Art Tutorial on the Drawing Process

Like any other artwork process there is no set way of creating great looking pixel art. However there are some useful tips you’ll want to stick to so that you artwork looks clean and professional.

Import a Picture to Convert to Pixel Art

The fastest and easiest way to get started is to start with an image of what you want to make. Virtually every pixel art editor allows you to import an image into your canvas. If you resize the image and make it smaller you’ll notice that the image begins to become pixelated. From here you can clean up the image to make it more crisp. This saves tons of time and effort.

If you want to learn how to pipeline an image view our pixel art tutorial How to Convert a Picture into Pixel Art.

Draw Pixel Art by Hand

Another useful method is to draw by hand using the Pencil tool. Since pixel art works off a grid it is very easy to go back and clean up what you draw to give it a specific look.

If you would like to draw your first piece of pixel art take our pixel tutorial How to Make Pixel Art in Photoshop for Beginners.

Always Make Pixel Line Art Even

One thing that will give you away when making pixel art is that the lines are not smooth or even. That means when you work with angles the line should have a uniform length of pixels similar to a set of stairs. Avoid odd jumps in pixel lengths. These make your lines look like there was an error. Also keep round shapes and lines smooth so that they don’t appear jagged.

Add Pixel Details, Shadows and Highlights

Like we mentioned before you shouldn’t add traditional shadows or gradients to your pixel art. Instead you can add pixel details, shadows and highlights to you objects without breaking the true style of pixel art. This will add some volume to your pixel art so it doesn’t appear too flat. Also be sure to be consistent with your light source. Don’t place a shadow on the left side of your character and then switch if for another object. Keep them the same to make if feel more natural.

Use Scaling when Exporting Your Pixel Art

Like we mentioned before you don’t have to make massive pixel art sprites to fit a particular screen size. You can design using a smaller grid size and then just scale it up after you are finished to fit your needs.

If you would like to learn how to export pixel art at different sizes, take our pixel art tutorial How to Export Pixel Art from Photoshop.

Use the Pixel Grid to Draw

Sometimes the grid is off by default when working in certain software. It is very useful to use a grid to help you plan out how big an object should be and how to evenly space elements. Be sure to use the grid and guides to help you make your pixel art.

If you would like to learn how to set up a grid to draw pixel art, take our pixel art tutorial How to Make a Grid for Pixel Art in Photoshop.

Add Some Color to your Pixel Artwork

Originally, pixel art was limited in how many colors you could use. Today you can use an unlimited amount of colors in your pixel art sprites. However keep in mind that adding too many colors begins to break from the established pixel art style that is common today. There are examples of games that go both ways, so feel free to follow whatever path works best for you.

Pixel Art Tutorials

Just like classes in school, pixel art tutorials are a way of learning how to make pixel art. To get started with making your own pixel art it’s important to pick the software you would like to use. As we mentioned before you will need to know some of the basics such as how to create a grid and use the pencil tool in the software of your choice. We offer tutorials on the following pixel art editor’s so feel free to pick the one that you feel most comfortable with:

Is Pixel Art easy to make?

One of the questions we get asked all the time, is pixel art easy to make or is pixel art hard to learn? The good news is that pixel art is one of the easiest forms of art to learn and make. In fact with modern pixel art software, drawing pixel art is fast and easy. Due to its simplicity many game developers and artists use it to make video games and even digital art for posters, social media and websites. Even if you are a new pixel artist, its not difficult to pick up the toolset regardless of what software you choose to make.

What can I make with Pixel Art?

The great thing about pixel art is that there are thousands of different ideas that can be created using pixels. In fact we have created an entire page called Pixel Art Tutorials that includes dozens of different ideas you can try right now with the pixel editor of your choice.

Here’s a list of items you can make in pixel art called Top 20 Easy Pixel Art Ideas

Here are a few pixel art tutorials you will find there:

Where to Go From Here

Now that you have taken the pixel art tutorial for beginners and learned the fundamentals for drawing your own pixel art, you can start making your own pixel art for your video games and projects. Feel free to go back through the guide and check out the pixel art tutorials we mentioned to help you get started. Thank you for reading this pixel art tutorial.