The way you approach pixel art is different for all people. It depends highly on your artistic and creative background. What do I mean by this?
If you're a person that has an artistic background (i.e. have some experience in art of any kind, such as painting, sculpting, digital art, or traditional art) then you will have an easier time in adapting to the techniques of pixel art, as you already have knowledge on several techniques and concepts in art that you have to know if you want to be proficient in pixel art, such as concepts in anatomy, composition, colour theory, stylisation, shape and form etc.
If you're a person that is a complete beginner when it comes to art (i.e. have never touched any kind of drawing medium or material before), then it's not recommended for you to go straight into pixel art, this is due to you not knowing any of the fundamentals mentioned beforehand, if you're this person, try starting with paper + pencil/traditional medium, before going straight to the digital medium, because the former is way easier to understand and learn than the latter. Even with this, I wouldn't even recommend going right to the drawing. Reading tutorials, articles and watching demonstrations from the professionals will also help. Pixelation also has a section dedicated to other forms of art, apart from pixel art.