thanks for the replies. I didn't feel bad or offended, don't worry! The software I choose after some rehearsal is Graphics Gale.
The sky is not green, that's just a color I put there, where will be transparency.
Since I actually exported some .png but I've hosted the pics on facebook ('cause I needed to show a friend also) which probably converted them in .jpg... I'm going to repost them with another hosting and fix that color too.

so pngs, Mountains:

uhm..those tree also are not that good


Monk (I think I need to work more on the shadings...):

as I said, I actually used a pic as a reference for this stance. I pointed that out because even if i just had a peek on the image and then use my memory to draw it came out really similar (that's luck, heh) I feared that you might consider it ripped off! I don't think is a guard stance hovewer, more like a showoff. Anyway i'll try to make a more balanced stance, maybe with a breathing animation. Oh, and for that...what do you use to animate pixels? While I found graphics gale good for drawing I actually didn't find confortable in the animation part... so If you have any suggestions...also, I plan to put togheter my pieces in flash for the final animation...like sprite animations people do with sonic and mario sprites...but if you know better ways to do it let me know!

oh, and this is a tree, but since I've followed quite closely a tutorial, I think it came up quite well..but still the author of the tutorial has a big responsability


last thing, I'm from Italy. I know that my English is quite good but still some errors will come up, just to let you know!

Hi guys, I'm totally new to pixel-art. I'm a flash animator, so I've always worked with vector graphics.
A friend of mine asked me to do a videoclip of a song from the album he recorded with his band. My idea was to make a videogame-style animation (mainly in the style of sidescrolling fighting games like "TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist"). The project should be an affectionate parody of old gaming, so elements of different styles will be borrowed (martial arts moves, explosions etc). However, is a couple of months I'm trying to get the handle of this art, reading tutorials, studying the classics and stuff. I'm finding it really funny and interesting and the latest experiment came out quite good so I'd like you guys to tell me what to improve, what to change etc.

This guy is a Shaolin Monk that I plan to put in the video as an enemy, but this single sprite will probably not find place in it: while I'm quite satisfied I think I need to exercise more and I want you to tell me on what should I work to improve. Thanks.
I've been inspired for the stance from a pic that I found online, but it was made totally from scratch with pencil on paper and then scanned and pixelated