How to Draw a 16×16 Side-Blade Steel Halberd in Pixel Art

Published on July 17, 2026 · 10 min read

This halberd combines a diagonal thrusting point with a blade that projects to the left. The two metal shapes meet at a small steel-and-leather socket, then a long wrapped shaft continues down-right. Drawing those parts independently prevents the head from becoming one unreadable block.

The exact CC0 reference contains 91 visible pixels and 11 visible colours. We will build it in five stages. Coordinates use (x, y) from the top-left.

Explore the complete drawing history

Step through the saved frames before drawing. Show changes isolates the central point, the side blade, the socket, and the repeating shaft pattern.

Start with an empty 16×16 canvas

The history viewer, automatic player, and editor share one exact 16×16 halberd target.

Step 1: block the central halberd point in steel

Start with black across x0–2 on row 0. Continue the main point:

Row 1: black x0 and x3; base steel x1–2.
Row 2: black x0 and x4; steel x1–3.
Row 3: black x1 and x5; steel x2–4.
Row 4: black x2 and x6; steel x3–5.
Row 5: black x3 and x7; steel x4–6.
Row 6: steel x6–7 and black x8. The left side stays open for the side blade.

Fill all 16 metal cells with base steel #A5C9C9. The open lower-left edge is intentional: closing it with black would disconnect the future side blade.

Step 2: cut four planes into the central point

Use light steel #CEECEC at (3,2), (2,3), (4,3), and (3,4). Place blue steel #608888 at (2,2), (3,3), and (4,4).

Add deep steel #476367 at (5,5) and (6,6). Keep base steel at (1,1), (2,1), (1,2), (5,4), (4,5), (6,5), and (7,6).

The pale and blue diagonals divide the upper point into two faces. The deep pair at the root compresses those faces into the socket.

Step 3: build the separate left-facing side blade

Draw black across x0–2 on row 5; the existing black at x3 becomes its right boundary. On row 6, place black x0, shine #F4FEFE x1, base steel x2, charcoal #2F4049 x3–4, and base steel x5.

Row 7 uses black x1, light steel x2, base steel x3, shadow steel #83A3A3 x4, and black x5. Close the blade with black x2–3, shadow x4, and black x5–6 on row 8. Add the final black underside at x4–5 on row 9.

This wing has a bright outer point and a dark back near the main spearhead. Its horizontal emphasis makes the weapon read as a halberd rather than a broad spear.

Step 4: seat the shaft in steel and leather

On row 7, place base steel at x6, blue steel at x7, dark leather #7E4E26 at x8, and black at x9.

These four cells are the complete socket. Cold metal remains beside the head; leather begins the grip. The black right boundary separates this transition from the transparent area above the shaft.

Step 5: finish the wrapped leather-and-gold shaft

Build paired black rails around a three-cell-wide wrap:

Row 8: black x6 and x10; leather x7 and x9; gold #FBBD5D x8.
Row 9: black x7 and x11; leather x8 and x10; gold x9.
Continue the same pattern through row 12, shifting one cell right per row.
Row 13: black x11 and x15; leather x12 and x14; amber #E0993C x13.
Row 14: black x12 and x15; leather x13; amber x14.
Row 15: black x13–15.

Five gold centre cells create a continuous decorative stripe. Amber replaces gold near the foot, and the right leather cell disappears on row 14 as the handle narrows into its cap.

Exact row blueprint

Row	Final non-transparent pixels
0	x0–2 outline
1	x0 outline, x1–2 base steel, x3 outline
2	x0 outline, x1 base steel, x2 blue steel, x3 light steel, x4 outline
3	x1 outline, x2 light steel, x3 blue steel, x4 light steel, x5 outline
4	x2 outline, x3 light steel, x4 blue steel, x5 base steel, x6 outline
5	x0–3 outline, x4 base steel, x5 deep steel, x6 base steel, x7 outline
6	x0 outline, x1 shine, x2 base steel, x3–4 charcoal, x5 base steel, x6 deep steel, x7 base steel, x8 outline
7	x1 outline, x2 light steel, x3 base steel, x4 shadow steel, x5 outline, x6 base steel, x7 blue steel, x8 leather, x9 outline
8	x2–3 outline, x4 shadow steel, x5–6 outline, x7 leather, x8 gold, x9 leather, x10 outline
9	x4–5 outline; x7 outline, x8 leather, x9 gold, x10 leather, x11 outline
10	x8 outline, x9 leather, x10 gold, x11 leather, x12 outline
11	x9 outline, x10 leather, x11 gold, x12 leather, x13 outline
12	x10 outline, x11 leather, x12 gold, x13 leather, x14 outline
13	x11 outline, x12 leather, x13 amber, x14 leather, x15 outline
14	x12 outline, x13 leather, x14 amber, x15 outline
15	x13–15 outline

Watch the side blade join the socket

The automatic player completes the central point and facets first, adds the left-facing blade as a separate object, then reveals the socket and wrapped shaft.

Automatic drawing

Start with an empty 16×16 canvas

0 / 100 pixel changes

The replay separates central point, steel planes, side blade, socket, and wrapped shaft into five structural decisions.

Draw the halberd yourself

Finish the central point before extending left. Use Diff to correct the side blade’s black underside, then build the socket. For the shaft, repeat one full leather-gold-leather row at a time.

Draw the side-blade steel halberd yourself

Match 64%

Rebuild all 91 visible pixels. Use Diff view to separate the side blade, socket, and repeating shaft wrap.

Target

Editor

What this sprite teaches

Separate thrusting and cutting shapes. A central point plus one side blade reads clearly as a halberd.
Leave a planned opening for connected geometry. The point’s lower-left edge joins the wing without double outlining.
Use value direction to distinguish metal planes. The side blade shades horizontally while the point shades diagonally.
Mark the material transition in one compact socket. Two steel cells and one leather cell are enough.
Repeat shaft wraps consistently. A moving gold centre preserves the long diagonal rhythm.

The source sprite is by Shade and is released under CC0 on OpenGameArt. The finished tutorial frame matches every source cell exactly.