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

How to Make a Pixel Art Parrot for Beginners

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

How to Make a Pixel Art Parrot

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

  1. Select a Pixel Art Software such as Adobe Photoshop or Mega Voxels
  2. Create a 32×32 pixel grid
  3. Sketch out an Outline for the shape of the parrot
  4. Fill in the color of the pixel art parrot
  5. Draw a Shade on the parrot 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 parrot, 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 parrot 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 parrot, 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 parrot. 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 parrot on. Your parrot 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 frappe

Sketch an Outline for the Parrot

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

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

Fill in the Color

Now that you made an outline for your pixel art parrot, we will add some color to make it stand out. Fill in the body section of the parrot a red color (#D30515) and the beak yellow (#F7DE77). The wing will be four separate colors: yellow (#F7D532), orange (#F9AF2D), green (#008233) and blue (#0A30DC). Try matching the picture of our 8 bit pixel art parrot below.

Simple pixel art parrot 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 parrot using a single color. This color will be applied to the bottom of the body of the parrot. Remember, to create a shadow color for the parrot we will use a darker red based on the color we used before (#B50613). We will also add a darker yellow (#F6C733) to the bottom of the beak of the parrot. Try to match where we put the shadows in the image below.

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

So now that you got the basic idea we will continue adding some depth to our parrot to give it a 3D feel. Let’s create a highlight using the same red from the main parrot section, but instead of going darker this time we will go lighter (#FF3037). Remember, this doesn’t have to be the exact color in fact this is an opportunity to make the parrot look like your own. Use our image as a guide for your parrot.

Adding highlights to the 8 bit pixel parrot

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

Kawaii pixel art parrot on a transparent background

Fill the Background Color

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

Cute Pixel Art parrot on Blue Background

Where to Go From Here

Congratulations! You now know how to create your very own pixel art parrot. Try making a different types of parrots types such as the popular green parrot.

Bonus: Make a 3D Pixel Art Parrot

3D Pixel Art Parrot

Now that you have drawn your own pixel art parrot, 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 parrot into a 3D pixel art parrot.

You can now create 3D turntable videos of your 3D pixel art parrot and even view your bird in Augmented Reality!