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

How to Make a Pixel Art Banana for Beginners

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

How to Make a Pixel Art Banana

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

  1. Select a Pixel Art Software such as Adobe Photoshop, Mega Voxels or Aseprite
  2. Create a 32×32 pixel grid for the banana
  3. Sketch out an Outline for the shape of the banana
  4. Fill in the color of the pixel art banana
  5. Draw a Shade on the banana 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 banana, 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 banana 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 banana, 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 banana. This size is frequently used 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 banana on. You should have a canvas, also known as a spreadsheet, that looks something similar to this:

A blank canvas for drawing the pixel art banana

Sketch an Outline for the Banana

Next we will start by making the outline for the banana so we can get the overall shape for our pixel banana. 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 banana or like we mentioned before feel free to design your own.

An outline of the pixel art banana similar to a spreadsheet

Fill in the Color

Now that you made an outline for your pixel art banana, we will add some color to make it stand out. Fill in the main section of the banana yellow (#FFC42E). On the stem we will choose a light green (#7EC028). And lastly for the tip of the stem we will use a brown color(#885B17). Try matching the picture of our 8 bit pixel art banana below.

Simple pixel art banana 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 banana using a single color. This color will be applied to the outer area of the banana. Remember, to create a shadow color for the banana we will use a darker yellow based on the yellow we used before (#D59827). We will also do the same thing with the stem of the banana by using a darker green (#41841A) and a darker brown (#57260B). Try to match where we put the shadows in the image below.

32x32 Pixel art banana with a darker yellow to give depth to the banana

So now that you got the basic idea we will continue adding some depth to our banana to give it a 3D feel. Let’s create a highlight using the same yellow from the main section, but instead of going darker this time we will go lighter (#FAFF38). Remember, this doesn’t have to be the exact color in fact this is an opportunity to make the banana look like your own. In our version we only highlighted the top section of the banana. Use our image as a guide for your pixel banana.

Adding highlights to the 8 bit pixel banana

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

Kawaii pixel art banana on a transparent background

Fill the Background Color

Finally, let’s change the background color of our banana sprite to really make our banana 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 banana.

Cute Pixel Art Banana on a light blue background

Where to Go From Here

Congratulations! You now know how to create your very own pixel art banana. Try making a fruit salad by adding different types of fruits alongside the banana.

Bonus: Make a 3D Pixel Art Banana

3D Pixel Art Banana

Now that you have drawn your own pixel art banana, 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 banana into a 3D pixel art banana. You can now create 3D turntable videos of your 3D pixel art banana and even view your banana in Augmented Reality!