My second real Pixel art piece using your tips!

[Alexanator28]

I am just getting confused about the shading now. Could you maybe show an edit to the picture to tell me what you are talking about? I am just not getting any of this. I have done fairly well with shading in other mediums i.e. traditional paper and pencil as well as digital art. but I don't know what I am doing wrong here. I really thank you guys (particularly Manupix) for helping me get this going. I would have scratched the whole pixel art thing a while ago without this help and community.

[Manupix]

And I'm getting confused about what gets you confused!
The #1 problem is readability. I have no idea what these statues are, except there might be a face in the lower half of the foremost. Not even sure.
This is not specifically a shading issue, as far as I can see; you might have outline conflicts too, and bad workflow (premature detailing).

Outlines are often more of a hindrance than a help, esp inside outlines of small sprites. If there is indeed a face in the statue, its outlines conflict with shading, as is often the case. Cure does mix outlines and shading and masterfully disregards the potential problems, maybe this was misleading to you.
In a piece with no clear (black) outlines, 1-pixel lines may be used as shadows or highlights to mark grooves in stone, for instance. Some of cure's piece lines do that, others not obviously so. Again, this is advanced pixeling.

Here is a different example that might be easier for you to study. No outlines at all, only volume and shading.



Whatever you do, don't fill out space with random pixels (that's what the statues look like). Stay basic, like the tree, define everything. You'll detail and refine afterwards.

I'd do an edit, but not now, with only MSPaint on a laptop XD
If you're feeling more comfortable with pencil on paper, post drawings of these statues!

[Ryumaru]

Your latest edit is far better than your first image. This is one of few times where I will say: go larger. Unless you need it at that size for some reason, theres a lot that could be done if the canvas was around twice as big, and it still would not be too much work.

[Alexanator28]

Thank you Ryumaru, I can definitely see the improvement as well. And I think you are right about going larger, so I can work on readability.

--------- merged double post ---------
@Ryamaru
Do you know a simple way I can resize this image onto a twice as big background, preferably keeping the layers? I use Pyxel Edit and I want to use your advice.

Edit: I found out how, but it is getting really stressful. I have to re-draw everything  Maybe I will just stick to my normal resolution. and do a bigger one on my next piece.

[Ryumaru]

Yes, it can be tedious, only you decide if it's worth it to resize or not. Keep size in mind for the future so you don't run into the same problem. As for the piece currently, the grass near the tree is far too light, the colors you are using for the it in the background is fine for the foreground- perhaps you can add a shade that is a tad lighter.

[Manupix]

I'm not sure about resizing. As Ryu said: This is one of few times where I will say: go larger.

100x100 is 10,000 pixels, and that's a huge lot at beginner level. Remember you've got to control each and every one of them! 200x200 is 40,000: 4 times more 
Cure's piece is 200x124 'only'. You might add a bit of width or height if needed but I wouldn't double everything.

I'd rather stay at this scale but simplify and clarify your goal: what exactly do you want to do?
Shading practice?
A piece with specific items (tree + statue, landscape)?
Game assets?

I have to re-draw everything 

I know that doesn't sound appealing, but it's actually a good thing. Artists should not cringe over restarting a piece however complex. Work that got into the early versions is not lost, but trying to fix the unfixable would be a loss of time and energy.
Starting afresh on a sounder basis is economic

Define your goal and a reasonable size to operate.
Decide your general appealing composition.
Sketch items in this composition, roughly and clearly; begin shading according to a basic light source. At this point things don't need to be nice but they need to be readable. Post and get feedback. Rinse and repeat

[Alexanator28]

So what do I do from this point in the piece?
@Manupix Wow. That artist that you linked is crazy good! And he pretty much started from scratch many times.
@Ryu Yeah, I think I won't change the size this time, but I will definitely think about that in the future. I will do an edit on the grass color later today.