One of the easiest ways to get into digital art is by making pixel art. All you need is a sheet of paper with a grid layout, and some colouring pencils or pens.
Pixel art stems from the oldest video games, from around 30 years ago. In those days, characters and levels had simple designs because computers couldn’t handle very detailed images.
Games companies designed their “sprites” (characters) in a blocky, pixel form – but they always managed to make them look unique.
Today, games like Minecraft still make use of that blocky style, and lots of other games pay homage to it too. Here's a pixel art character designed in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, for example:
Ready to have a go?
Download and print our pixel art activity sheet, grab your pencils, and fire up your imagination!
You could make pixel art of your favourite character from a TV show, film or book. Or how about designing a sprite for your very own videogame?