Thank you so much, Peppermint Pig (I'm sure there must be something shorter to call you, hopefully I'll learn that in time--lol)  You don't know how much I appreciate your kind critique.  I've only recently come to realize I hadn't actually entirely understood what pixel art was!  You're right, I was mixing a hearty dose of CG in with my pixelling, now I am beginning to really see the difference--in a program like Photoshop, it's way too easy for me to "blur" the line between CG and pixelling, if you'll pardon the pun.  I'd like to rework a few of these pieces with my new understanding of how this is all going to work and see where I end up.  Hopefully with the help of this place,(and some tutorials)  I can get a good handle on separating my pixelling from my painting.

I'll work on color and contrast more, that seems to be a big problem with me--and post some results later--it's so refreshing and exciting to see that I'll be getting good, solid useful critique on whatever I post next.

If anyone has any advice on Anti-aliasing, or any good tuts on the subject, let me know?

I've found nirvana

thanks again!