hey
Yep, I think you should at least draw a stick figure or silhouette of the pose before ya begin. Well I think you should start with a stick figure of ya pose, then draw a silhouette or outlines, then define the lighting, and finally onto details and futher shading
.
Hmm, I don't think the dithering is necessary on such a small peice, and I find it makes things harder to read :\. Also, I don't think it's a good idea to pixel with a black background.
Anyhows I done an edit to try help.
Basically I tried to better define the lighting and such, as I found it to look quite pillowy.
I made the legs a bit wacky to help persuade you todo them differently
. Hmm, the neck slants back quite a bit in my edit, which I think might be a bit unnatural :\, but he must avoid the sword, hehe.
cyas