How to Draw a 16×16 Tapered Steel Sword in Pixel Art
This 16×16 sword begins with a narrow two-cell interior, widens to five cells, and then compresses into a tiny hilt. Its volume comes from a deliberate split: a continuous pale bevel runs down the left side, while deeper steel forms a blocky plane on the right. The contrast makes the blade look cut at an angle rather than merely outlined and filled.
The exact CC0 reference contains 86 visible pixels and 11 visible
colours. We will rebuild it in five stages. Coordinates use (x, y), with (0, 0) at the top-left.
Explore the complete drawing history
Use the saved frames to compare the pale bevel with the dark face before you draw. Show changes isolates the palette decisions without changing the silhouette.
Step 1: block the tapered blade in blue steel
Draw a three-pixel black tip across x0–2 on row 0. Then expand the blade:
- Row 1: black x0 and x3; steel x1–2.
- Row 2: black x0 and x4; steel x1–3.
- Row 3: black x0 and x5; steel x1–4.
- Row 4: black x0 and x6; steel x1–5.
- Rows 5–9: keep five steel cells between two black edges, shifting right each row.
- Row 10: black x6; steel x7–10.
- Row 11: black x7; steel x8–9.
Use blue steel #608888 for all 45 metal cells. Rows 10–11 have no separate
right outline yet: the guard will close that side of the weapon. This open
construction avoids stacking unnecessary black pixels around the tiny hilt.
The first four rows are the actual taper. After row 4, the blade becomes a steady-width diagonal before narrowing at the ricasso.
Step 2: lay a pale bevel along the left edge
Use light steel #CEECEC at these twelve cells:
(1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (1,4), (2,4), (2,5), (3,5), (3,6), (4,6), (4,7), (5,7), and (5,8).
Read the coordinates in pairs after row 3. The bevel occupies two adjacent cells for four short bands, shifting down-right each time. That continuity is what makes it look like one long cut surface rather than scattered highlights.
This sprite does not use near-white shine. The pale bevel is intentionally softer, leaving room for the much darker face on the opposite side.
Step 3: build the dark right-hand steel face
Place deep steel #476367 at (2,1), (2,2), (3,2), (2,3), (3,3), (4,3), (3,4), (7,7), (8,7), (7,8), and (8,8).
Keep blue steel at (4,4), (5,4), (4,5), (5,5), (6,5), (5,6), (6,6), (7,6), and (6,7). These nine cells bridge the pale and dark
planes without adding another transition colour.
Finish the lower blade with three compact groups:
- base steel
#A5C9C9:(6,8),(6,9),(7,9); - charcoal steel
#2F4049:(9,8),(8,9),(9,9),(10,9),(9,10),(10,10); - shadow steel
#83A3A3:(7,10),(8,10),(8,11),(9,11).
The right face changes from deep steel to charcoal as it approaches the guard. That value shift visually narrows the blade before the hilt even though the outline changes very little.
Step 4: cross the hilt with three warm pixels
The entire coloured guard is only three cells. Put amber #E0993C at (11,10) and (9,12), then gold #FBBD5D at (10,11) between them.
Outline the upper arm with black at (12,10) and (11,11). Outline the lower
arm with black at (8,12), (10,12), and (9,13).
These cells form a short diagonal running from upper-right to lower-left. It crosses the blade axis at the gold centre, so the viewer reads a crossguard even though there is no horizontal line.
Step 5: finish the copper-and-leather grip
Place copper #C07F3A at (11,12) and (12,13). Put dark leather #7E4E26 at (13,14).
Wrap the grip with black at (12,12), (11,13), (13,13), (12,14), and (14,14). Close the pommel with black at (13,15) and (14,15).
The two copper pixels continue the sword’s main diagonal. The single darker leather cell breaks the rhythm just before the black cap, giving the handle a clear endpoint.
Exact row blueprint
| Row | Final non-transparent pixels |
|---|---|
| 0 | x0–2 outline |
| 1 | x0 outline, x1 light steel, x2 deep steel, x3 outline |
| 2 | x0 outline, x1 light steel, x2–3 deep steel, x4 outline |
| 3 | x0 outline, x1 light steel, x2–4 deep steel, x5 outline |
| 4 | x0 outline, x1–2 light steel, x3 deep steel, x4–5 blue steel, x6 outline |
| 5 | x1 outline, x2–3 light steel, x4–6 blue steel, x7 outline |
| 6 | x2 outline, x3–4 light steel, x5–7 blue steel, x8 outline |
| 7 | x3 outline, x4–5 light steel, x6 blue steel, x7–8 deep steel, x9 outline |
| 8 | x4 outline, x5 light steel, x6 base steel, x7–8 deep steel, x9 charcoal, x10 outline |
| 9 | x5 outline, x6–7 base steel, x8–10 charcoal, x11 outline |
| 10 | x6 outline, x7–8 shadow steel, x9–10 charcoal, x11 amber, x12 outline |
| 11 | x7 outline, x8–9 shadow steel, x10 gold, x11 outline |
| 12 | x8 outline, x9 amber, x10 outline, x11 copper, x12 outline |
| 13 | x9 outline, x11 outline, x12 copper, x13 outline |
| 14 | x12 outline, x13 leather, x14 outline |
| 15 | x13–14 outline |
Watch the two steel faces separate
The automatic player first creates one flat blue blade, then replaces cells in two distinct passes. Pause after the pale bevel to see how the darker right face changes the blade’s apparent angle without changing its boundary.
Automatic drawing
Start with an empty 16×16 canvas
Draw the sword yourself
Build the whole blue-steel silhouette first. Add the left bevel as one connected path, then use Diff to correct the dark blocks near the tip and hilt before placing the three warm guard pixels.
Draw the tapered steel sword yourself
Rebuild all 86 visible pixels. Use Diff view to separate the continuous pale bevel from the blocky dark face.
What this sprite teaches
- Taper before shading. The first four rows establish the point without relying on colour.
- A connected highlight reads as a plane. Twelve pale pixels form one coherent bevel.
- Blocky shadows can imply a second face. The right side feels angled because its dark clusters stay grouped.
- A guard can follow the opposite diagonal. Three warm pixels are enough when their axis crosses the blade.
- Change material at the handle endpoint. Copper-to-leather makes a three-pixel grip readable.
The source sprite is by Shade and is released under CC0 on OpenGameArt. The finished tutorial frame matches every source cell exactly.