oh yeah, I see what you mean there. I didn't really notice how much the arm blended in at first, but adding an elbow really seems to help things.

as far as the eyes go, I really like those. my problem was I was going for a slanted almond shape like most cats have, which of course doesn't translate well to this resolution. I'll save the closed ones for a blink cycle or something, but that style of eye fits the cat much better as far as general use goes.

thanks for the edit, man! it was a big help. I'll clock some more work on this and post what I come up with later. I might try to work out his running frames if I have the gumption.

there seems to be a lot of unnecessary dithering on his face and jacket, and the shading could use some work -- it doesn't suggest that the garment has a shape so much as it suggests you made random lines with a pen, especially on the shorts.

his ankles are positioned too high on his legs for the angle of the sprite (I'm assuming it's fullview, facing the player,) and his arms are too short. on a human being, the fingertips should be roughly at mid-thigh.

as for the musculature of the arms, take a look at some references and rely more on shading than just the presence of random lines. showing how light and shadow show up on a shape often define the shape better than just outlining the major features. remember, shading isn't just a diagonal gradient away from the chosen light source -- it follows the contours of the object.

if you're new to spriting, I'd suggest working on a smaller scale first. smaller sprites are good for learning a few basic principles, which can then be applied to larger sprites. starting with a big sprite from the getgo is a little like trying to run before you're 100% on walking, though.

the cat. smaller one is the prospective size ingame. the lineart ones are just there for no particular reason -- they're older versions, and they're not particularly useful as far as extra insight goes. also the one on the far left looks kind of like gameboy mewtwo

slight edit. fixed some things that were bothering me in regards to the ears, and tried rethinking the shading on the windbreaker a little. still not really satisfied with the windbreaker, though.

fully scratch, palettes are full custom. intended colour scheme is cool, slightly muted tone as seen in games like Cave Story. I probably still have a lot of work to do on the palette to accomplish that. the gun is a nondescript black block because at the moment it's just a placeholder. I'm focusing on refining this cat and finishing the myriad poses before I start work on the various guns he'll use. as far as his hand position goes, he's supposed to be holding the butt and trigger with his left hand, while his right cradles the barrel from underneath. I'm not sure how decent a job I've done of portraying this, though. also, the two sets of two-pixel diagonal lines on the lower half of the windbreaker are supposed to be pockets -- I've definitely botched that bit, though.

first and foremost I'd like input on the windbreaker's shading and palette, since that's what seems the most messy to me after a quick glance. general comments on other points, amateur mistakes I've made, etc. are also more than welcome.

I'd also like to hear some input on what I should do with his eyes. the eyes-closed look isn't quite working for me -- I'd like to have his eyes open, but the things I've tried either made him look clueless (the single-pixel eyedots of the lineart on the far right) or angry. I'd like to see what my options are for a simply neutral expression.

and thanks in advance for whatever advice you have.