Using stock images and resizing+indexing them is a questionable method to create art. Is it really yours at that point? Even if you just use it as a reference, you're still missing out on key places where you could stylize gesture and identity. None of the faces or bodies in this thread have identities, and your character's design changed dramatically the moment you used a lifeless stock photo as a base. The only consistent trait is the C# shirt, which makes me think this wasn't by intention.
Find ways to represent a face's likeness through lighting and shading - having dots as features in a style like this will only get you so far.
As for your original sprite, there are a few things I think you should keep in mind. You have a mixture of resolutions going on - his arms are in one resolution, and the shirt and everything else are of a larger one. You have his pockets constructed as if they were his back pockets; front pockets start on the side seam of the pants and curve upwards, to where a belt would be.