Sepia Tones - What am I doing wrong?

[SpacePirateCaine]

Hi Folks,

I've been working pretty frantically on building up my portfolio and technique in regards to pixel art, and for that reason, have been trying to challenge myself, much of the time in a palette-based manner. I've been working recently on putting together a new piece of pixel art, and trying to create it in a 'sepia tone'. I'm somewhat happy with the actual lines, but for some reason the picture just looks muddy and too hard to read. Am I dragging the contrast up way too high, or completely mucking it up elsewhere?

This is the WIP as I have it so far - Fate willing, I plan to add a background when the character is done, but I'd like to keep the palette minimal as possible.

Newest --> Oldest

For anyone curious, it's meant to be Gabriel Fauré.

Edit: I've brightened up the legs a touch by adding a mid-tone, giving them a bit more definition. Also, altered the hair/moustache orange just a tiny bit.

[TrevoriuS]

The legs are a tad low on contrast, and you could get away with that like this, if the torso wouldn't have such an absurdly high contrast. Tone down on the shades, especially those little folds, they can't possibly be THAT dark all over the place. Also, if you make your midtones a bit more towards orange it may get a better 'sepia' feel.

[EvilEye]

What is a "sepia tone"?

The lines are decent except for his forearms, which seem to curve upward. Looks as if you set the elbows too low.

As far as the colors, if you want a less bland look, just shift the hue's around to reflect the atmosphere you want.

[Emtch]

Why isn't his hair tinted more towards sepia?
Also, his forearms look very short.

What is a "sepia tone"?

Sepia is a type of brownish tone. The kids love to use it on their photos together with some blur and a flare.

[SpacePirateCaine]

Hi - thanks for the responses, everyone - I really appreciate your looking at it. I definitely noticed the issues with the forearms after they were pointed out. I will fix those up soon. And regarding the hair - that's one point that I wanted a little help with. I've tried fixing it, but when I tan-gray it out, it loses a lot of definition and becomes hard to read. Unfortunately, since Faure was Blond, changing the hair color isn't really an option, and would feel like a cop-out anyway.