# Skin art guide > Practical pixel-art rules for 64×64 Minecraft skins, written for agents: where features go, how to shade, and the mistakes that make skins look amateur. The last section covers items, blocks, GUI sprites, particles, animation and glow. ## The face (head.front, 8×8) The face is 8 pixels wide, so every pixel is a decision. A reliable layout: | Row | Content | | --- | --- | | 0–1 | Hair (or helmet/hat) | | 2 | Forehead, hair fringe on the edges (x=0 and x=7) | | 3 | Eyebrows (hair color or darker), optional but adds expression | | 4 | Eyes: white at x=1 and x=6, iris at x=2 and x=5 | | 5 | Cheeks; nose as 1–2 slightly darker skin pixels at x=3–4 | | 6 | Mouth: 2–4 pixels centered, a *darker skin tone*, not black | | 7 | Chin / jaw, beard if any | ``` HHHHHHHH H hair h hair highlight HhHHHhHH S skin s skin shadow HSSSSSSH D brow W eye white SDDSSDDS E iris M mouth SWESSEWS SSSssSSS SSsMMsSS SSSSSSSS ``` Rules of thumb: - Eyes 2 px wide (white + iris) read best. Iris toward the center gives a friendly look; toward the edges looks surprised. - Never outline the face in black. Contrast comes from value, not lines. - Hair should wrap: continue it on `head.top`, `head.back` and the upper/back part of `head.right` / `head.left`. ## Faces that aren't human Animals and creatures read through the muzzle, the eye shape and the ears, not through a human face painted in fur color. Dog or bear (muzzle on rows 5–7, ears on the head sides): ``` FFFFFFFF F fur f fur highlight FfFFFFfF W eye white E pupil FFFFFFFF M muzzle (lighter or darker than the fur) FWEFFEWF N nose (dark, 2 px) FWEFFEWF m mouth line FFMNNMFF FMMmmMMF FFMMMMFF ``` Cartoon character (big 2×2 eyes, small mouth, no nose): ``` HHHHHHHH H hair S skin HSSSSSSH W eye white E pupil SWWSSWWS m mouth SWESSEWS SSSSSSSS SSSmmSSS SSSSSSSS SSSSSSSS ``` - Cat: eyes with vertical pupils, a small pink nose at x=3–4 on row 5, a "w" mouth on row 6. - Robot: a visor band across rows 3–4 (full width, a glowing color) instead of eyes. - Monster: one big eye or eyes off-center, teeth as alternating light pixels on row 6. ## Body landmarks | Area | Where | | --- | --- | | Collar / neckline | `body.front` rows 0–1 | | Belt | `body.sides` row 8 or 9 (1 px) | | Pants start | `body.sides` rows 9/10–11 (so the waist continues onto the legs) | | Sleeves | `arms.sides` rows 0–3 (short) or 0–9 (long) | | Hands | `arms.sides` last 2–3 rows + `arms.bottom` | | Shoes | `legs.sides` last 2–3 rows + `legs.bottom` | | Knees | `legs.front` row 5–6 | ## Shading Minecraft's lighting is flat, so skins carry their own shading. Assume light from **above and slightly in front**. 1. **Tone ramp per material:** 3 to 4 tones: highlight, base, shadow, deep. `"cloth~1"`, `"cloth"`, `"cloth~-1"`, `"cloth~-2"` gives a hue-shifted ramp from one color; `:` shifts (`cloth:-12`) change lightness only. 2. **Top-down:** lighter on top rows/`top` faces, darker toward the bottom of each part. `gradient` with `steps: 3–5`, or `shade` on the last row. 3. **Inner and back faces darker:** limbs' inner faces (`rightArm.left`, `rightLeg.left`, …) and `back` faces by −6…−10. 4. **Separate overlapping parts:** the row where sleeves end, where shirt meets pants, and where boots begin should have a 1 px shadow. 5. **Texture, not noise soup:** `noise` with `jitter` 2–5 for cloth/metal grain; 6+ looks dirty. Don't jitter faces or small details. 6. **Hue-shift shadows** for richer art: shadows slightly cooler/more saturated, highlights warmer. The `~` tone steps do this for you. ## Match the source's style - Cartoon and anime characters: flat, clean color areas with cel shading (one highlight tone and one shadow tone per color, in shapes, not grain). No noise on skin or fur. - Realistic or rugged characters (knights, miners, soldiers): material texture fits: cloth weave, metal scratches, leather grain. - Texture is for materials, not for everything. A large area that should read as one smooth color stays smooth, with a gradient for light. ## Color - 15–60 distinct colors is typical for a good skin. Fewer than 6 looks flat. - 1 dominant hue, 1–2 secondary, 1 accent (small area, high saturation: buckles, eyes, gems, lights). - Keep adjacent parts at different *values* (lightness), not just hues. Silhouettes must read in grayscale. - One-color characters (a white pig, a black cat, a silver robot) still need parts that read apart: keep the head lightest, the torso a step darker or with a lighter belly or chest, arms and legs a step darker again (`"fur:-8"`), hands and feet darker still, and a 1 px darker seam where arm meets body. The review's R3 compares the average lightness (L*, 0–100) of what you see on `head.front`, `body.front` and the leg fronts, overlay included, so a dark face or a light overlay shifts the head's value. It passes at an average gap of about 6 points; 10 or more reads clearly. Arms aren't measured: keep them apart from the torso yourself. - Shared textures: when one texture is drawn in several places (a mob's four legs, both ears, both wings), its colors must fit every spot. Under a striped or gradient body, pick leg colors that work under both the front and the rear. - Ice, glass and other glossy surfaces: a smooth base (`plain` or `noise` jitter ≤2) with a few large lighter facets and highlights and sharp darker cracks. Even grain everywhere reads as snow or stone. - Avoid pure `#000000` and pure `#ffffff` in large areas. ## The overlay layer The overlay is a shell 0.5 px (head) / 0.25 px (body, limbs) outside the base. It is what makes skins feel 3D. - **Hair volume:** extend hair on `head.*@overlay` a pixel or two past the base hairline. - **Hoods / helmets:** fill `head@overlay`, then `clear` where the face should show. - **Jackets, scarves, belts with pouches, backpacks:** `body.*@overlay`. - **Cuffs, gloves, boot tops:** `arms/legs.*@overlay` bands. - Keep overlay pixels fully opaque or fully transparent. ## Workflow that works 1. `fill all` (or `material` on `all`) with the dominant skin/suit color (no transparent base). 2. Parts with `material`: the right kind (fabric, leather, metal…) gives texture and tone variation in one layer. 3. Bands with `region`: `sleeves`, `belt`, `waist`, `cuffs`, `hands`, `shoes`, `boots`. No row numbers to get wrong. 4. Head: `face` (or `pixels` for a custom face), then `hair`, which wraps top, back and sides and adds overlay volume. 5. `lighting`: light from above on everything but the face. 6. Details on one side (they stay crisp because they come after the texture and light); `mirror` limbs; then asymmetric details. 7. Overlay pass: hood, collar, cuffs, gear. 8. Review, screenshot, patch. The high-level ops are a floor, not a ceiling: they guarantee a readable face, wrapped hair and consistent light, and leave you free to replace any of it with hand-placed `pixels` where the character needs personality. ## Common mistakes | Mistake | Fix | | --- | --- | | Transparent base pixels | Start with `{ "op": "fill", "target": "all", "color": "…" }`. | | Mixing up left/right | `rightArm` is on the **viewer's left** in the front view. | | Arms painted 4 px wide on a slim model | Slim arm fronts are 3 px wide; use `pixels` rows of 3 chars. | | Forgetting back and sides | Check `back`, `right` and `left` views in the review. | | Black outlines everywhere | Use darker tones of the local color instead. | | Every face darker at its edges (pillow shading) | Light comes from above: lighter top rows, darker bottom rows and inner sides (`lighting`). | | Shadows that are only darker (gray-looking shading) | Darken with `~` steps (`"cloth~-1"`), which also cool the hue; `:` only changes lightness. | | Noise like TV static | Texture in clusters of 2–3 pixels: lower `noise` density or jitter, or use a `material` kind. | | A belt or stripe that stops at the corner | Paint bands on every side face (`"body.front+sides"`), or end them a pixel before the edge. | | `noise` / `shade` as the last layers | They also hit eyes, collars and buttons. Texture broad areas first, then paint details. | | Same value head/body/legs | Vary lightness between parts. | ## Items, blocks, GUI and particles Small textures follow vanilla's own style, which is not a skin's. Measured on the 1.21.11 files: a sword or an apple uses about 11 or 12 colors, stone 4, an ore 10, a particle 5 or 6. **Items (16×16).** One object, centered, on a transparent background, with a 1-pixel outline in a dark tone of its own color, not black (`"blade~-3"`). Light from the top left: the highlight on the upper-left edges, the shadow on the lower right. Swords, tools and wands run diagonally from bottom left to top right, the way vanilla draws them. Three to five tones per material; leave the inside of large items flat enough to read at 16 pixels. **Blocks.** A block is seen tiled, so it has no outline and no edge features: nothing lines its border, and shapes that touch one edge continue on the opposite edge (`tile-seam` measures it; look at the tiled panel of the sheet). Keep the contrast low (stone has 4 close grays) and texture in clusters of 2 or 3 pixels, not single-pixel static. An ore is the stone texture with a few clusters of the ore color, each with a highlight and a dark rim. A log's side runs its bark vertically; its `_top` has rings and a bark border. A grass block's side keeps the top 2 to 4 rows green with a ragged lower edge over the dirt. **Plants.** A transparent background, the stem touching the bottom row, and the silhouette doing most of the work: it is drawn on two crossed planes, so it reads from every side. **GUI.** Vanilla's palette: panels `#c6c6c6` with a `#ffffff` highlight on the top and left, a `#555555` shadow on the bottom and right and a black outline whose corner pixels are left out; slots `#8b8b8b` inset, `#373737` on the top and left and `#ffffff` on the bottom and right; buttons (1.21) a black outline, a gray face, a lighter top row, `nine_slice` with a border of 3. The `bevel` op draws all of these. A vanilla button is three sprites: `widget/button`, `widget/button_highlighted` (under the mouse, with a white outline) and `widget/button_disabled` (grayed out); make the set, one spec each or a family. Keep a sprite's edges plain where nine-slice repeats them: a gradient along a button's length breaks when the game stretches it. **Particles (8×8).** A bright core, two or three tones toward the edge, a transparent background. Animate them by shrinking or fading over 3 to 8 frames. **Animation.** Change little between frames: a few pixels moving, a color pulsing. Two to eight frames at a `frametime` of 2 to 6 reads as motion; `interpolate` smooths a glow or a liquid. Repeating a frame costs nothing: it is stored once. **Glow.** Mark only what lights up (eyes, runes, a core) as `emissive`, and paint it bright and saturated: the game draws it at full brightness in the dark, so a dull color glows dull.