How to Make a Fantasy Sword in Photoshop

Pixel Art Tutorial

Pixel art has been around since the first computers. It continues to grow ever more advanced, but it still comes down to the same thing that made those first graphics possible: pixels. Since all digital graphics are composed of pixels, what makes pixel art different than your standard graphic? Simple - the pixels are the first consideration.

What makes these kind of graphics so everlasting is that they look just as good at 10% of their original size as they did at their original size. Since pixels are focused on, creating each single piece of the graphic using nothing but that focus, it's possible to get the crispest, sharpest look with a minimum of colors.

In this guide, we're going to create a fantasy sword in Photoshop using the pixel art style. This is the same style used in most video games, a lot of icons, and thousands of pieces of digital art. The great thing about it is that it's very, very easy to do.

What will you need? A copy of Photoshop in order to follow this tutorial word-for-word ... but pixel art can be done in absolutely any graphic editor, including Microsoft Paint. So you don't absolutely need anything special other than some patience and the desire to produce something cool for no reason other than it looks cool.

Pixel Fantasy Sword: How to Make It

One: The first thing you'll need is something to draw on. So hit "File", choose "New" and create a new canvas that is sized about 300 x 300 pixels, in RGB mode, with a white background.

The second thing you'll need ... well, you don't absolutely "need". If you've got a good imagination and a love of blades, you can probably brainstorm thousands of ideas for fantasy swords in the space it would take the rest of us to locate a reference picture. However, if you need one, grab a reference picture that you can work with. The design I'm going to create is based on the sword of a friend but greatly embellished with my own imagination.

Two: You can "draw" outlines in a number of ways, including using a paintbrush to go pixel-by-pixel making the shape you require. Technically, I'm sure, this is the "correct" way to create pixel art. It's also the long, hair-pulling, teeth-gritting way.