Pixel Art School

Pixel Art School is an instructional game for people starting to draw pixel art. It covers pixel-art expressions and techniques, but not three-dimensional effects or illustration. Some topics are left without detailed explanations for you to work through by trial and error; color and style also vary by artist and work, so you will need to explore those for yourself.

Pixel art techniques

The lessons cover color count, palettes and the use of layers, along with anti-aliasing and other ways to draw clean lines. You learn to draw a character’s basic body, create a sense of depth and work with characters at different sizes. Animation topics include running with stick figures and patterns, jumping and bouncing objects, as well as rotation and techniques for smooth-looking motion.

Materials and tilesets

The course explains ways to represent textures and common game materials, including the use of dithering. It also covers tile patterns for composing game screens, drawing floors and walls, connecting tile maps and making borders with other tiles.

Sample game

Pixel Art School includes the action game Trample Mandrake!, in which you keep stomping on a mandrake.