Learn pixel art from scratch: a free course in 15 short lessons

Goal: know the three choices behind every pixel art picture.

• Grid size: 8×8 for icons, 16×16 for small objects, 32×32 for characters, 64×64 for scenes.
• Colors: a few, picked on purpose. 2 to 4 on 8×8, 4 to 6 on 16×16.
• Every pixel placed by hand: no blur, no soft brushes. That is what makes it look crisp.

Check: draw a 16×16 empty grid (paper or app) and pick 4 colors for tomorrow.

Goal: copy a sprite exactly by counting pixels.

• Go row by row, top to bottom. Count the empty pixels before each colored one.
• Outline first (dark), then fill (red), then one white pixel as the shine.

Check: put your heart next to this one. Every row should match.

Goal: use symmetry to make neat sprites fast.

• Draw only the left half of a mushroom on 8×8.
• Mirror it: the pixel in column 1 is copied to column 8, column 2 to column 7, and so on.

Check: fold it in your head down the middle. Both halves are the same.

Goal: draw lines that look sharp, not wobbly.

• Draw a 1:1 diagonal (one pixel per step), a 2:1 (two per step) and a 3:1 (three per step).
• Keep every step in one line the same length.

Check: count the steps in each line. No step is longer or shorter than the others.

Goal: see the two most common line mistakes.

• Uneven steps (1, 3, 1, 2) make a line look broken.
• Extra corner pixels (an "L" at each step) make a line look thick.
• Copy the picture, then fix both lines.

Check: your fixed lines have even steps and touch only at corners.

Goal: draw round shapes that look round.

• Start with a long flat run at the top, then shorter steps toward the diagonal, then longer again down the side.
• Draw one quarter and mirror it to the other three.
• Try 8, 12 and 16 pixels wide.

Check: step lengths change gradually, never 3, 1, 3.

Goal: pick colors that work together.

• For one object, pick a dark, a middle and a light version of its color.
• Outline in a very dark color, not pure black: a dark brown or purple looks softer.
• Draw a strawberry or a leaf with only those 3 colors (plus the outline).

Check: squint at it. You can still see which side is light.

Goal: make a flat circle look round.

• Use your circle from lesson 6. Fill it with the middle color.
• Choose one light source, top left. Add a small highlight there.
• Add a crescent of the dark color on the opposite side, bottom right.

Check: the light comes from one place only.

Goal: blend two colors without adding new ones.

• Fill the top with one color and the bottom with another.
• In between: a few dots, then a checkerboard, then mostly the second color.

Check: from far away it reads as a fade. Use it for skies, sparingly.

Goal: make sprites people recognize at a glance.

• Draw a cat's face on 16×16 in one dark color only.
• If it doesn't look like a cat yet, change the shape (ears, cheeks), not the colors.

Check: show it to someone. They name it in a second.

Goal: decide what matters.

• Take your 16×16 cat and redraw it at 8×8.
• Keep what makes it a cat (pointy ears, eyes), drop the rest.

Check: it still passes the silhouette test.

Goal: put units 2 to 4 together.

• Color your 16×16 cat: a dark outline, a base color, one shadow, pink ears and cheeks.
• Keep the light on the same side as your ball in lesson 8.

Check: 6 colors or fewer, clean lines, one light source.

Goal: train your eye on a bigger picture.

• Pick a 32×32 picture and paint it in by hand.
• On PixyPlace (we make it), open a drawing room, pick a gallery picture and paint it: a live "N% like the picture" shows how close you are.

Check: get above 90%.

Open a drawing room

Goal: draw something nobody gave you a grid for.

• Pick one: a coffee mug, a potion bottle, a frog, a cupcake. More in our 40 easy pixel art ideas.
• 16×16, 5 colors: silhouette first, then colors, then light and shadow.

Check: it passes the silhouette test and has one light source.

Goal: a whole little place on 32×32.

• Sky first (try dithering), then the ground, then one object (a house, a tree, a sun).
• Keep the light from the same side everywhere.

Check: put it next to your lesson 2 heart. That's how far you've come.