What are you starting from?
Both roads end in the same place: a creature in your status line and one line to install it.
A shipped creature
Fully drawn and animated — rename it, recolour it, redraw a pose.
A blank grid
Pick a width. Height is always 10 pixels — that is the status line's shape, not a setting.
16 × 10
Or drop an image on the next screen — the tracer turns pixel art into a sprite.