[C&C] Piggy Bank

[Pixel_Snail]

Here's something I've been working on the last day or two - it's basically a piggy bank I had lying around but I coloured it to be semi-realistic.

[MysteryMeat]

It's still pretty cartoony! Try to take the material into account to really sell it, plastic and ceramic both tend to be pretty glossy! Play around with some references like this:

Play around with the reflections!

[Pixel_Snail]

It's still pretty cartoony! Try to take the material into account to really sell it, plastic and ceramic both tend to be pretty glossy! Play around with some references like this:

Play around with the reflections!

I'm a little stuck on how to create the plastic/ceramic look. I tried adding some more highlights, but it's not making too much of a difference 



Would I need to add more colors to my palette to achieve this? (although I always thought that was a no no in pixel art)

[Zizka]

Try to make sure every color in your palette counts readability wise.

Also, the reference provided is more interesting to look at than the profile pose you've chosen.

I also notice quite a difference in color in the reference and the colors you've chosen.

Keep at it!

[CFKaligula]

my edit:
It seems you have a hard time making highlights, here i made an example of how you could make them look. You should also look at sprites you like and how they apply highlights. I also added a little depth by giving him a 2nd eye, 2 more feet and making his nose more from the front. A side view like you made it usually very plain and doesn't show any depth.

[Pixel_Snail]

my edit:
It seems you have a hard time making highlights, here i made an example of how you could make them look. You should also look at sprites you like and how they apply highlights. I also added a little depth by giving him a 2nd eye, 2 more feet and making his nose more from the front. A side view like you made it usually very plain and doesn't show any depth.

Thanks so much for the feedback, I do indeed have some trouble with highlights/shading.  I think not having too much of an artistic background works against me and I've even been practicing with just a pencil and note pad recently to try and see if that can help. Would that approach be useful ?

[CFKaligula]

With pencil you can learn a lot faster. You can make 10 drawings in the time of 1 pixel sprite. Stuff like Foreshortening and Perspective are elementary.