Plan the Silhouette
Decide the whole shape before you commit a single color.
Your result
A recognizable mushroom silhouette in one flat color.
01What you will learn
- Read a subject as an outer shape before you think about its parts.
- Keep the silhouette readable as a single blob of pixels.
- Use symmetry to save decisions instead of inventing new ones.
Start with: Any pixel editor and a 24 by 24 canvas. Course 01 is helpful but not required.
02See the technique
An empty canvas
24 × 24 pixels
The shape you actually need
24 × 24 pixels
03Follow the steps
- 1
Name the three parts out loud
Cap, stem, and the gap between them. If you can say what separates them, you already know where the transparent pixels go.
A mental plan with one empty region in it.
- 2
Draw the cap as a dome
Start at the top center and widen by one pixel on each side per row. On a 24 by 24 canvas this gives a cap about 18 pixels wide, wide enough to feel like a mushroom rather than a button.
A dome with a smooth, symmetric edge.
- 3
Draw the stem narrower than the cap
Keep the stem around 8 pixels wide and centered under the cap. Anything wider and the two shapes merge into one blob when seen small.
Two shapes with a clear gap between them.
- 4
Check it before you continue
Zoom out until the image is small enough to blur. If it no longer looks like a mushroom, fix the silhouette, not the colors. Every later lesson depends on this shape.
A silhouette that still reads at a glance.
04Practice in Pikanim
Draw the mushroom's full outline in one color, then zoom out and check it still reads as a mushroom.
Opens a 24 × 24 canvas with the lesson's starting pixels. Your work saves in the Workspace.
05Check your result
Compare your own work with these checkpoints. Check each one when your result is ready.
Progress saves in this browser. No account needed.
06Continue learning
Keep these references handy
How to Make Pixel Art
The complete pixel art workflow for beginners: choose a canvas, block a silhouette, place base colors, then shade — with the mistakes to avoid at each step.
Pixel Perfect Drawing
What 'pixel perfect' means in practice: clean corners, consistent pixel runs, no orphan pixels — the cleanup pass that separates amateur from crisp pixel art.