@Ambivorous: Thanks for the links, I gave them a read and they're really interesting, a good point of reference for the future too! Here is the sprite I made using your color palette, it's a definite improvement I really like the result:
Now I'm gonna try to apply this new color and lighting stuff to another sprite I
was happy with, and now look at with repulsive disgust hahaha :p
@Neophos: Thanks for the input, I agree the gloves were too much actually, this way is truer to the style
@Friend: Thanks for the edit. Your new knight looks good but unfortunately I'm not super excited to change his height because I've already created a bunch of body templates based on
http://www.idrawdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/prop_var.gif. So whereas my knight follows the 180cm/Buff template, yours is more along the lines of my 190cm/Normal body type template. So it's still good! (and I will be making a 190/Normal soldier too), but not quite what I was looking for
@Lachrymose: Good idea, after reading your post I actually saw this in a tutorial. Changing the background helps to simulate the ambient light and stuff
For the environment I have in mind atm though, I think the blue background is more appropriate but thanks for the tip.