How to Draw a 16×16 Wide-Bevel Basket-Hilt Steel Sword in Pixel Art
This sword grows from a three-pixel cap into a broad layered blade. A near-white edge, pale bevel, muted centre, and shadow band describe its changing planes. Below the blade, copper, gold, and leather weave through a basket hilt with several deliberately open cells.
The exact CC0 reference contains 122 visible pixels and 9 visible
colours. We will build it in five stages. Coordinates use (x, y) from the
top-left corner.
Explore the complete drawing history
Step through the saved frames first. Show changes separates the black silhouette, midtone bevel, twenty highlights, shadow band, and all warm hilt materials.
Step 1: outline the wide blade and basket cage
Use black #000000 for all 56 outline pixels. Start with x0–2 on row 0,
then follow this row map:
r1: x0, x3
r2: x0, x4–5
r3: x1, x6
r4: x2, x7
r5: x2, x8–10
r6: x3, x10, x12–13
r7: x4, x10–11, x13
r8: x5, x13–14
r9: x5, x15
r10: x5–7, x13–15
r11: x7, x12
r12: x6, x11, x13–14
r13: x6–8, x10, x12, x15
r14: x8, x10, x12, x15
r15: x9–10, x13–15
Rows 2 and 5 add extra black cells where the blade changes width. In the lower half, keep the gaps between the left sweep, centre grip, and right pommel branch transparent so the guard remains a cage rather than a solid mass.
Step 2: block in fifteen midtone blade cells
Place base steel #A5C9C9 at (1,1), (2,1), and (1,2). These cells make a
flat steel face directly under the black cap.
Add muted steel #608888 at:
(2,2), (3,3), (4,4), (5,4), (4,5), (5,5), (8,7), (7,8), (8,8), (9,9), (10,9), (9,10)
The first six form a diagonal centre band. The last six resume that band near the blade root after the bright and shadowed planes widen around it.
Step 3: add twenty bright steel facets
Use light steel #CEECEC at:
(3,2), (2,3), (4,3), (3,4), (8,6), (9,6), (9,7), (6,8), (9,8), (10,8), (6,9), (7,9), (8,9), (8,10)
Then place near-white gleam #F4FEFE at (5,3), (6,4), (3,5), (7,5), (4,6), and (5,7). The six gleams zigzag along the upper edge; the fourteen
light cells spread their reflection across the broad lower bevel.
Step 4: shape ten shadow-steel planes
Use shadow steel #83A3A3 at:
(6,5), (5,6), (6,6), (7,6), (6,7), (7,7), (11,8), (11,9), (8,11), (9,11)
The first six make a compact shadow plane behind the brightest edge. The pair at x11 darkens the blade before the guard, while the final pair forms the lower steel lip above the left basket sweep.
Step 5: finish twenty-one warm hilt cells
Place warm copper #E0993C at:
(12,7), (13,9), (14,9), (11,10), (10,11), (7,12), (9,13), (13,13), (9,14), (14,14)
Add gold #FBBD5D at (12,8), (12,9), (10,10), (11,11), (8,12), and (9,12).
Finish with dark leather #7E4E26 at (12,10), (10,12), (12,12), (14,13), and (13,14). Copper marks the long structural turns, gold lights
the blade junction and lower sweep, and leather fills the grip and flexible
lower spans.
Exact row blueprint
| Rows | Final construction |
|---|---|
| 0–2 | three-cell cap, base-steel tip, muted centre, and first pale facet |
| 3–5 | blade widens around a zigzag gleam, light bevel, muted centre, and first shadow |
| 6–7 | dense steel value transition plus the black-and-copper top of the basket |
| 8–9 | wide light/muted blade root, shadow edge, gold junction, and right copper branch |
| 10–11 | black lower blade lip, steel shadow pair, central gold, copper, and leather |
| 12–13 | gold-and-copper left sweep, leather centre, and separated right basket branch |
| 14–15 | copper/leather lower joints closing into two black branch caps |
Watch the wide bevel enter the basket
The automatic player lays down the full black structure, fills fifteen midtone cells, adds twenty bright facets, shapes the shadow band, and finishes with all twenty-one warm hilt cells.
Automatic drawing
Start with an empty 16×16 canvas
Draw the sword yourself
Complete the steel value ramp before entering the hilt. Use Diff to check the blade’s changing width and preserve every hollow opening between the basket branches.
Draw the wide-bevel basket-hilt steel sword yourself
Rebuild all 122 visible pixels. Use Diff view to check the broad steel facets and every transparent opening inside the branching basket hilt.
What this sprite teaches
- A wide blade benefits from separate planes. Gleam, light, muted, and shadow cells each describe a different angle.
- A stepped outline can feel smooth. Consistent one-cell shifts preserve the diagonal despite changes in width.
- Highlights and shadows do not need equal areas. Twenty bright cells sit against a compact ten-cell shadow band.
- Negative space defines the basket. Black branches remain readable because transparent gaps divide them.
- Three warm materials clarify the hilt. Copper builds structure, gold marks focal points, and leather identifies grip surfaces.
The source sprite is by Shade and is released under CC0 on OpenGameArt. The finished tutorial frame matches every source cell exactly.