In this easy pixel tutorial you will learn how to create a pixel art truck! We will go over the different steps it takes to make your very own truck made out of pixels!
Are you ready to design your own pixel art truck? Learning how to draw a cute pixel art truck is more popular than ever! Whether you’re looking to create a simple pixel art truck sprite for your delivery game or maybe you just want to share a cute new pixel art truck as part of your vehicle collection on social media, this pixel art tutorial will help you make a pixel truck fast and easy.
How to Make a Pixel Art Truck
These are the basic steps for how to make a pixel art truck:
- Select a Pixel Art Software such as Adobe Photoshop, Mega Voxels or Aseprite
- Create a 32×32 pixel grid
- Sketch out an Outline for the shape of the truck
- Fill in the color of the pixel art truck
- Draw a Shade on the 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 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 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 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:
- Mega Voxels Pixel Art Tutorials
- Adobe Photoshop Tutorials
- Aseprite Tutorials
- Adobe Illustrator Tutorials
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 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 truck on. Your truck pixel art grid should have a canvas, also known as a spreadsheet, that looks something similar to this:
Sketch an Outline for the Truck
Next we will start by making the outline for the truck so we can get the overall shape for our pixel 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 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 truck, we will add some color to make it stand out. Fill in the main section of the truck with two colors, a dark blue on the left (#1127FF), and a lighter blue on the right (#2D41FF). Next on the windows of the truck, we will use a light blue (#468EE3). For the cargo section we will use a gray on the left (#C4C4C4) and a lighter gray on the right (#DDDDDD). Lastly we will use a dark gray for the wheels (#383838). Try matching the picture of our 8 bit pixel art 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 truck using several colors. These colors will be applied to different parts of the truck. To start, we will create a shadow color for the truck on the front which will be a darker blue based on the color we used before (#0F23E1). We will also add a darker gray shade to the cargo area in the back (#CFCFCF).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 truck to give it a 3D feel. Let’s create a highlight for the window using the same blue, but instead of going darker this time we will go lighter (#59A1EE). Remember, this doesn’t have to be the exact color in fact this is an opportunity to make the truck look like your own. In our version we highlighted the top of the cargo section of the truck as well. Use our image as a guide for your truck.
Great! When you are happy with your shadows and highlights on your truck, be sure to view your final image. To see your pixel art truck go ahead and turn off the grid lines to make sure you like the way the truck came out.
Fill the Background Color
Finally, let’s change the background color of our truck sprite to really make our 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 truck.
Where to Go From Here
Congratulations! You now know how to create your very own pixel art truck. Try making different colors of trucks to create a delivery scene.
Bonus: Make a 3D Pixel Art Truck
Now that you have drawn your own pixel art 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 truck into a 3D pixel art truck.
You can now create 3D turntable videos of your 3D pixel art truck and even view your truck in Augmented Reality!
