Table of Contents
Intro
Hello and welcome!
If you've ever wished that you could have pixel art of a certain character or thing, while not being an artist yourself, you're in the right place. Or, let's be honest, if you've ever wished you could have pixel art of a certain character or thing, while being a lazy artist. We've all been there, no shame.
As someone who falls squarely within the latter, this is the technique I use for making pixel art from existing images! There's no original composition involved here, which makes it, on the whole, much easier and faster than original pixel art. And, who knows? If you like this enough, you mind want to try making original pixel art…
… or not! Again, no judgments here. So, let's get started.
Step-by-Step Guide
Finding an Image
Of course, you'll need a source image to make this work! This works best on previously-existing art with a cartoon or anime styles, rather than photographs, paintings, or so on. So, this is perfect for finally getting pixel art of your niche favorite character from a game or show!
But! And this is very important: please use art that is sourced from something licensed. This includes screenshots directly from the piece of fiction you are drawing from, or official merchandise. Please do not rip from small fanartists online without their consent. If you want to make pixel art of a piece of fanart, contact the artist, and ask them if they are okay with you doing it, and follow their guidelines for how it may be used. Chances are, they will ask for credit for doing the original art, wherever you put your pixel art.
The reason why you can do this with official licensed media uncredited, and not with fanart, is because licensed media means that the creators of that art already got paid for their work. Additionally, the credit for their artwork should be available in the credits of the source material, or the merchandise listing. However, fanartists are smaller artists, putting their work out there for free, for the public's enjoyment. They get no compensation, and no credit anywhere if you don't credit them! So, keep all of that in mind while you pick your image.
For this tutorial, I have chosen this screenshot from an episode of the cartoon "LEGO Monkie Kid". The lineart is thick, and the headshot is in a chibi style – these are both great qualities for converting it to pixel art.
Once you have selected your image, you can move right along to the next step!
Software
If you're going to be making an image, you'll need a place to do it in!
If you are looking for a free option, many of those with a Windows machine use paint.net. Not a website, despite the name – it's free software which is good for pixel art. Be sure to use the pencil tool for drawing! As for the eraser: set the brush size to 1, the hardness to 100%, and the spacing to 1%. Then, click on the right of the brush drawing tool which is to the right of the spacing slider, and switch to aliased rendering. Your eraser settings, when it's all set up, should look like this!
If you don't use Windows (God, I wish that were me), you can also consider Krita. It's a free, open-source art program! As for setup: go to brush presets, and select the option that says "Pixel Art".
I personally use Clip Studio Paint. It's the drawing software I already have, after all, and its non-subscription payment option is pretty great for what it gives! For pixel art, I use the Dot Pen and the Vector eraser. Clip Studio Paint is where all of the screenshots will be from, but you should be able to do what I discuss in any art program.
Lastly, if you're willing to download a software specifically for pixel art, I highly recommend LibreSprite! It's a completely free and open-source fork of Asesprite, which is a widely-recommended and revered pixel art tool. Everything about it is optimized for making pixel art, which makes it, in my opinion, the best option, whether you're a complete newbie to this, or you're an artist already.
(Yes, I say this as someone who still uses Clip Studio Paint for pixel art. I'm used to the UI, okay? Do as I say, not as I do!)
Once you've made your selection, you can go ahead and start preparing your image!
Image Prep
Open the image you want to make pixel art of in your program. Then, crop it to size!
If you have any details you feel like might get lost if the image is viewed from far away, take the time to outline them now.
After that, go to change your image resolution to the size you will be making your art. I am going to make my art 20x20 pixels, but other popular sizes are 16x16, 32x32, and 64x64!
Your image should now be smaller, and much crunchier. If your program has different methods of resampling, try out each one, to see which has the clearest end result! Here's what my image looks like, smushed down to size:
Then, make a layer, and put it underneath the reference art. Make that layer all white. Then, go back to the layer with the reference art, and lower its opacity to around 60%. Lastly, make a layer that goes on top of both of those. If your program has the ability, I recommend keeping your un-crunched reference art open, for easy reference. This is what my setup ended up looking like:
And, after all of that prep work, we can actually get to the part where we make the pixel art!
Making the Pixel Art
What you want to do is use the reference art underneath as a guide for the placement of the pixels! It is likely you will have to choose to omit certain details for a better finished piece. That's a part of the process! Just keep zooming out every few minutes, to see how the piece looks when you're not super close to it.
Me, personally, I like to start with the lineart…
… before coloring it in…
… and then adding the final touches!
So now, my Macaque pixel art is complete! 
Here it is, more close up:
So, What Now?
Now, you can do whatever you'd like with your pixel art! You can use it to make other graphics (such as 88x31 buttons, blinkies and stamps), or you can use it on your site as-is! You can also upload it to your platform of choice for others to view and enjoy.
However, if you're going to continue making pixel art of any kind, I do have a few tips for the road! So, if you'll lend me an ear for just a few more moments…
Extra Pixel Art Tips
Tip #1: Canvas Size
If you're just making pixel art to be pixel art, you can do whatever you want forever! (Although I do recommend staying away from bigger, more complex pixel art, if you're just starting out.) That said, if you're looking to use your art for a specific purpose, there are optimal sizes to consider.
If you're looking to make a favicon, or pixel art you can put side-by-side with text, 20x20 is the way to go. If you're making the pixel art for another graphic, keep the size of the completed graphic in mind! DeviantArt-style stamps are usually 99x56, blinkies tend to be 150x20, and 88x31 buttons tend to be… well, I'll let you take a guess.
Tip #2: Shading
If you're an artist, you've probably heard this tip before, but it's especially important for pixel art: don't shade with black! With pixel art especially, this can lead to your finished piece looking less colorful, and to your shading blending in with your lineart. Instead, use a hue-shifted, deeper version of the color, to keep the vibrancy popping and the lineart clear.
Tip #3: Sizing Up Completed Pieces
It's usually best practice, if you want to post your pixel art to social media, to size up your art! In order to do that without making your art look fuzzy, use the resampling method "Nearest Neighbor". This is also sometimes called "point interpolation". Additionally, you'll want to scale it up by one full integer! (Scale it 2x, 3x…) That way, you don't lose any details.
That's All For Now!
Thanks for reading! Even if you don't actually plan to make pixel art, I hope that you learned something new.