Creating Pixel Art
Lines
by b3nkobe aka
Ben Watson | 18 January 2005
Introduction:
Well since there were a lot of people on the Kirupa Forums
asking ‘How do you create pixel art?’ or ‘do you use paint
or Photoshop?’ I thought that I would create a few basic
tutorials on how to create just the basics in pixel art;
hopefully these will come to help some people and help them
improve their skills in pixel art. Anyway in this first
tutorial, ill show you some basics of how to create ‘Pixel
Art Lines’.
Quick Note: Something quick before we start. To create Pixel
Art, you can use various programs from basic ones such as
Microsoft Paint to the professional Adobe Photoshop. I tend
to use Adobe Photoshop & here are my following reasons:
- The option of having ‘Layers’ is a
must! The Layer feature in Photoshop is very helpfully
for creating pixel art, you’ll find out why in the next
few tutorials.
- Having transparency in Photoshop is
another great feature for pixel art! It helps a lot with
windows, water, and creating shine effects on buildings.
Again you’ll find out more about this in the further
tutorials.
- Also the large colour range in
Photoshop is a lot easier to use than Microsoft Paint.
Alright, now we are ready to begin this
tutorial. Creating the perfect lines in Pixel Art are very
important especially in the end product making sure that
everything aligns correctly and matches up.
Here's How:
-
Open Adobe Photoshop
à
Create a new document depending on the size of your
creation. (If creating Pixel Art for KirupaVille then
please use the templates provided!)
- Select the ‘pencil tool’ and set it
to 1px, then choose your desired colour.
Just like in [Fig 1.0 Below].

[ select the
pencil tool with diameter 1 px ]
- The main rule in pixel art is: 2
Over, 1 Up. Obviously when creating things such as
circles and curves the rule will be broken, but we will
learn about that later.
Now create a new layer, having different lines on
different layers is messy but it helps a lot zoom
right into the canvas or close to. Draw 2 pixels next to
each other then go up one, 2 over and draw another 2
pixels and so on. It should look similar to [Fig 1.1
Below].

[ Above Fig
1.1: Left image zoomed in, right image what normal person
will see ]
- If your image turned out
something similar to [Fig 1.1] then you’ve just created
your first pixel art line. By using this method we can
create basically anything that’s square in isometric
pixel art.
- Now that you have learnt the 2 Over,
1 Up rule, we can now do the 2 Up, 1 Across rule. This
rule is just opposite to the other rule and it comes in
handy when creating roofs or even pixel art letters such
as ‘K’. It should look similar to [Fig 1.2 Below].

[ Above Fig
1.2: Left image zoomed in, right image what normal person
will see ]
Tutorial Done:
Well if yours turned out similar to mine in the images, then
you created your first pixel art lines perfect! These pixel
art lines are the base for everything that you will create
later on in your creation. You can now move onto ‘Tutorial
2: Creating a Pixel Art Building’.
Last Words:
If you are having troubles with anything in this tutorial,
then feel free to contact me, either Private Message me from
the kirupaForum,
or contact me at:
[email protected]
|
Ben Watson aka b3nkobe |
|