In this easy pixel tutorial you will learn how to create a pixel art lizard! We will go over the different steps it takes to make your very own lizard made out of pixels!


Are you ready to design your own pixel art lizard? Learning how to draw a cute pixel art lizard is more popular than ever! Whether you’re looking to create a simple pixel art lizard sprite for your video game or maybe you just want to share a cute new pixel art lizard as part of your art collection on social media, this pixel art tutorial will help you make a pixel lizard fast and easy.
How to Make a Pixel Art Lizard
These are the basic steps for how to make a pixel art lizard:
- Select a Pixel Art Software such as Adobe Photoshop, Mega Voxels or Aseprite
- Create a 32×32 pixel grid for your lizard
- Sketch out an Outline for the shape of the lizard
- Fill in the color of the pixel art lizard
- Draw a Shade on the lizard 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 lizard, 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 cat using a pixel editor software. Before we begin you will need to know how to create a grid and use the pencil tool in Mega Voxels. Once you create your pixel art cat, you can use the pixel art in other games such as Minecraft or software such as the Unity Game Engine. In this tutorial we will be using the Mega Voxels Pixel Editor. We offer tutorials on how to use the Mega Voxels Pixel Art editor below:
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 lizard. 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 lizard on. Your lizard pixel art grid should have a canvas, also known as a spreadsheet, that looks something similar to this:

Sketch an Outline for the Lizard
Next we will start by making the outline for the lizard so we can get the overall shape for our pixel lizard. 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 lizard 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 lizard, we will add some color to make it stand out. Fill in the main section of the lizard the color (#80AF47). You can use the eyedropper tool to get the remaining colors. Try matching the picture of our 8 bit pixel art lizard 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 lizard using a single color. This color will be generally be applied to the bottom of the lizard. Remember, to create a shadow color for the lizard we will use a darker version of the color we used before (#679232). To create more shades you can simply color pick the main color and darken it. 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 lizard to give it a 3D feel. Let’s create a highlight using the same color from the main lizard section, but instead of going darker this time we will go lighter (#90C059). Remember, this doesn’t have to be the exact color in fact this is an opportunity to make the lizard look like your own. Use our image as a guide for your lizard.

Great! When you are happy with your shadows and highlights on your lizard, be sure to view your final image. To see your pixel art lizard go ahead and turn off the grid lines to make sure you like the way the lizard came out.

Fill the Background Color
Finally, let’s change the background color of our lizard sprite to really make our lizard 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 lizard.

Where to Go From Here
Congratulations! You now know how to create your very own pixel art lizard. You can create different versions of your pixel lizard by changing the colors or modifying the size.
Bonus: Make a 3D Pixel Art Lizard

Now that you have drawn your own pixel art lizard, 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 lizard into a 3D pixel art lizard. You can now create 3D turntable videos of your 3D pixel art lizard and even view your lizard in Augmented Reality!



