Minecraft wiki entry for Pixel_art, associated text: If you want to, you can lay down a canvas of solid blocks behind or around the picture to use as a background, but be aware that doing this creates a tremendous shadow beneath the picture. It may also be a good idea to have your picture take a large portion of the center of the map, so there isn't too much whitespace, since that would be a waste. You can even create a pixel-art frame to go around it! Locking the map has the advantage that the pixel art need not be in place in order to appear on the map.