Beginner’s Guide: How I Started Drawing Pixel Characters

Lessons from my journey into pixel art character drawing.

Hey everyone 👋,

In this newsletter, we’re learning about the art of drawing characters using pixels (Yeah, I know it sounds a little catchy 😂). So, let’s get into it. Pixel art is basically creating art using tiny squares. One of my inspirations, Brandon James Greer (click here to see his youtube channel), talks about this in almost every one of his videos. Honestly, I’m still not that great at drawing pixel characters myself, but I’ve learned so many tips and tricks from him that helped me improve. This newsletter is basically possible only because of what I picked up from his teachings.

And here’s the most important thing about learning pixel art: practice. Every time you create something, you improve little by little. Step by step, iteration by iteration you get better. So let’s begin our journey of drawing your first character in pixel art!

Step 1 : Grab Some References

Yes, I literally mean that. Go search the internet and collect references of the character you want to make. Whether you’re redrawing an existing one from movies/games or making your own original character, spend at least 15 minutes finding how they look.

Why? Because in pixel art (or honestly any kind of art), references play a crucial role. I first learned about this from the book “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon (my friend recommended it to me). The book shows how all art is influenced by references. Even famous games like Minecraft were built on inspirations!

Just to be clear: taking references and straight-up copying someone’s work are two different things. Referencing means you create something new, with your own touch, and that makes it unique. Copying without adding your own style is wrong. But once you bring in your creativity, your art becomes something that nobody else in the world can replicate.

So grab those references, and let’s move to the next step.

Step 2: Decide Height and Width

After you’ve got references, decide on the height and width of your character. This depends on the kind of character you’re making, but as a beginner, I suggest starting small.

When I started, I used sizes like 16 x 16 px, drawing characters like Mario, Spider-Man, Iron Man, etc. Once I felt comfortable, I moved to larger sizes like 32 x 48 px and eventually 48 x 64 px.

Start small, then gradually move to a bigger canvas, it’s the easiest way to learn without overwhelming yourself.

This is how I set up my canvas with markings.

Step 3: Draw a Skeletal Structure to Silhouette

Here are some sample pose markings.

Now, pick a single black color and sketch the basic skeletal structure of your character. Start with the head, torso, arms, and legs, basically a stick-figure version of your character in pixels.

A little trick I use: increase the brush width to 2-3 pixels (depending on the size) and draw while imagining the character’s pose. Think about the feet, knees, torso, shoulders, elbows, and head. Connect them with simple lines until it forms a rough pose.

Once you’re happy, slowly turn that skeleton into a silhouette. Add in body structure, clothes, and details. The silhouette is the backbone of your design, once it feels right, you’re ready for the next step.

Setting up the full character pose.

Step 4: Add a Color Palette

Now that you’ve nailed the silhouette, let’s fill it in with colors. Start with solid colors, shades that show good contrast so features like clothes and body parts stand out clearly.

I recommend keeping colors on separate layers (if your software allows it). That way, you can easily edit things later. As you go, add more details little by little.

This part takes patience. Don’t rush it, gradually build your character with colors.

This is how it turns out to be.

Step 5: Shading, Lighting & Environment

Finally, the magic touch ✨. Shading is what brings your pixel art to life. Without it, the art can look flat, but with shading, it suddenly feels alive.

Shading depends on where your light source is coming from. Choose a direction, then shade accordingly. Add highlights where the light hits, and shadows where it doesn’t. You can even add environmental details to make the character look like they belong in a world.

Honestly, shading is such a big topic it deserves its own newsletter, but even learning the basics will instantly level up your art.

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And that’s it! Remember, these steps are written in order, but once you’ve practiced a bit, you’ll notice many of them start happening in parallel. Pixel art is both systematic and intuitive, you start with structure, but over time it flows naturally.

You can use these steps to draw literally any character, even a dragon 🐲 or some other wild creature.

I also tried applying all these tips in my latest pixel art timelapse, a Zenitsu Agatsuma character drawing. You can check out the timelapse here to actually see how I put these steps into practice:

Everything I’ve shared here is what I learned from Brandon James Greer. If you have any questions or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next newsletter!