How to Make Pixel Art with Tsubaki.3: A Step-by-Step AI Tutorial

Most pixel art tutorials start with a hard part: mastering a grid editor, placing pixels one by one, and picking a palette before you draw a single character. That's a lot to learn before you see anything fun on screen.
This post takes a different route. It walks through a browser-based pixel art AI generator and a reusable prompt template you can steal today.

The idea in plain terms

A pixel art AI generator turns a text description into a retro-style illustration. No install, no editor, no GPU. You describe the character, then steer the style with a few key phrases.
Here's the template that does the heavy lifting:
Pixel art illustration of [character type], full body,
[hairstyle and hair color], [clothing and accessories],
[pose or action]. Centered on a plain [background color]
background. Retro 2D RPG character aesthetic, clearly visible
square pixel blocks, crisp stair-stepped outlines, flat color
clusters, limited color palette, minimal shading, simple
readable silhouette. No text.
Each bracket is one decision. Swap in your details, delete the brackets, and generate.

Why the style phrases matter

The description tells the model who the character is. The style phrases tell it how to render them. Drop the style wording and results drift toward a smooth, regular illustration. Keep it, and you get blockier edges and flatter color areas.
Here's what each phrase requests:

• Clearly visible square pixel blocks → a block-like treatment
• Crisp stair-stepped outlines → stepped edges, not smooth curves
• Flat color clusters → grouped solid-color areas
• Limited color palette → fewer colors overall
• Minimal shading → simpler light and shadow
• Simple readable silhouette → a clear character shape

The workflow, start to finish

1. Open PixAI and select Tsubaki.3 (no LoRAs for a clean base).
2. Set a 1:1 square shape and a single image.
3. Fill in the template.
4. Generate, then check five things: full body visible, hair and outfit recognizable, block-like edges, simple shading, character stands out from the background.
5. Too polished? Add Larger visible pixel blocks, simpler shading, fewer fine details.

The honest note

This produces a great pixel-style image, not a ready-to-drop game sprite. Precise sprites, seamless tiles, and animation sheets still need separate prep. But as standalone retro character art, the result holds up.
Lock in the style wording, remix the character details, repeat. That's the fastest path into how to make pixel art with AI.
Full step-by-step tutorial: https://tayyabaaijaz.medium.com/how-to-make-pixel-art-with-tsubaki-3-a-step-by-step-ai-tutorial-7c62257ce02c