How to Draw a 16×16 Four-Blade Steel Polearm in Pixel Art
This polearm’s steel head branches in four directions around a compact hub. The top and left blades establish the silhouette first; right and lower blades push the form across most of the canvas. A six-cell warm shaft exits the hub and continues to the bottom-right corner.
The exact CC0 reference contains 135 visible pixels and 8 visible
colours. We will construct it in six stages. Coordinates use (x, y) from
the top-left.
Explore the complete drawing history
Step through the frames before drawing. Show changes exposes the four blade branches, the black boundaries inside their shared hub, and the warm shaft that starts on row 9.
Step 1: outline all four blades, central hub, and shaft
Begin the upper blades with black at x0–2 and x5–6 on row 0. Their unequal widths make the head feel assembled rather than mirrored. Extend these regions down-right through rows 1–5.
Build the left branch along x0–3 through rows 4–10. Build the right branch out to x12–13 on rows 6–8. Form the lower branch across x3–8 on rows 10–13. Inside the shared centre, keep short black separators between neighbouring steel planes; these cells explain which blade passes above another.
Start paired shaft rails around (9,9). Continue one cell down-right per row
and close the foot with black at x14–15 on row 15. This stage contains 73
black pixels.
Step 2: block twelve base-steel anchor cells
Use base steel #A5C9C9 at the main structural anchors:
- upper roots at
(1,1),(6,1),(2,2), and(6,2); - head anchors at
(9,4),(1,5),(2,6),(11,6),(7,7), and(8,8); - lower anchors at
(4,9)and(6,11).
These cells touch every blade direction. Keeping them isolated at first gives you reliable points for the brighter cutting planes.
Step 3: add eighteen light-steel cutting planes
Use light steel #CEECEC along exposed edges. The top and upper-right branches
receive short pale runs across rows 2–5. The left, right, and lower blades gain
their brightest faces from rows 6–10.
Avoid filling the hub as one light patch. Pale cells should be interrupted by black or dark steel so each branch keeps its own direction.
Step 4: cut twenty-six dark facets into the head
Place charcoal steel #2F4049 in 18 recessed cells. Add deep steel #476367 to 8 visible turning planes.
Charcoal marks overlaps and undersides; deep steel remains on the blade surface. Around rows 5–9, alternate these values with light and base steel. That contrast converts a dense collection of pixels into a readable hub with four distinct exits.
Step 5: mark two amber transitions and the copper foot
Place amber #E0993C at (9,9) where the shaft leaves the head. Add the second
amber cell at (13,13) near the foot. Place copper #C07F3A at (14,14) inside the final black end cap.
These three warm endpoints define the shaft’s material order before its centre is filled.
Step 6: finish the three-cell golden shaft core
Add gold #FBBD5D at (10,10), (11,11), and (12,12). Read the completed
shaft from head to foot:
amber → gold → gold → gold → amber → copper
All six cells lie on the main diagonal. Check that each stays between one black rail above-right and one below-left.
Exact row blueprint
| Rows | Main construction |
|---|---|
| 0–3 | two upper blade beginnings with alternating steel faces |
| 4–6 | upper blades merge with the left and right branches |
| 7–9 | widest four-way hub with internal black dividers |
| 10–12 | lower blade branch plus the first three gold shaft cells |
| 13 | amber lower transition |
| 14 | copper foot core |
| 15 | two-pixel black end cap |
Watch four directions lock around one hub
The automatic player draws all outer and internal boundaries first, places the base anchors, adds bright cutting planes, fills two shadow depths, and completes the six-cell warm shaft.
Automatic drawing
Start with an empty 16×16 canvas
Draw the polearm yourself
Complete one blade branch at a time around the black hub. Use Diff after adding the internal separators, then finish the shaft from its two amber cells toward the gold centre.
Draw the four-blade steel polearm yourself
Rebuild all 135 visible pixels. Use Diff view to check each blade branch, the dense internal dividers, and the short warm shaft.
What this sprite teaches
- Unequal starting widths prevent mechanical symmetry. The top branches begin with three and two black cells.
- Internal boundaries define ownership. Black dividers assign each steel patch to a blade.
- Anchor cells simplify a crowded form. Twelve base-steel pixels establish the full structure early.
- Two shadow values separate surfaces from recesses. Charcoal and deep steel are not interchangeable.
- A short material sequence can carry direction. Six warm cells lead cleanly away from the hub.
The source sprite is by Shade and is released under CC0 on OpenGameArt. The finished tutorial frame matches every source cell exactly.