What up guys! Spent a lot of time in the space of about a month trying to learn pixel/tile art from essentially zero, so having to do this required learning color theory, how to communicate various textures like metal and concrete, values, etc... in a very short time. I feel like I improved quickly (relative to 100% beginner) but hit a wall and would like to get better at a faster rate, so any possible tips about color or tileset construction or anything would be great! I know it's popular these days to go for a very flat modern style but I want to try to maintain the beautiful techniques of old, if I can get good enough to do it.

 I suspect a better way of going about making a convincing city tileset is to first design a few buildings that thematically and architecturally convey the setting and then both use them whole and take them apart for tiles to mix and match. Going about it this way feels more like it'll just feel like urban-themed corridors.

PS: This isn't intended to look like a refined map/mockup, it's just tiles I've made so far mashed together to approximate one, as well as some miscellaneous practice with materials like metal.

EDIT: New stuff at bottom

Any crits regarding colors, design, or whatever else are welcome. Pretty new at sprites and want to improve as fast as possible! I think some of my clusters are ok.  The hairband in particular is something I'm stumped on! Anyone know why it looks a lot worse at 100% zoom?

There are a lot of people out there who think in the most naive possible terms about game making - even those with more realistic ambitions for minimal-resource game production often have little concept of development efficiency. What can realistically be accomplished is a hard slap in the face to many aspiring developers, and reading this could be a benefit to them. There are ways to make development extremely efficient, especially if you have the skills to do almost everything yourself. The good news is that if you successfully create and sell a game that is more limited in scope, you'll have the resources to move on to your bigger concept... so there is a positive upswing to this!

The colors here are beautiful! I was wondering what the logic is behind the lighter purple on the pillars. The ramp's prevailing direction seems to be a descent from teal through blues down into purple shadows, giving the effect of a grey-blueish stone being illuminated by direct moonlight. But the jump into purple around the highlight defies that logic. Here's what I mean: http://i.imgur.com/uEWKD0L.png

Is there a color theory reason that explains the divergence or was it just an artistic choice? I seem to recall seeing ramps veer off into purple momentarily in some Castlevania tiles and was wondering what rules, if any, dictate this phenomena.

I apologize if this is the wrong place to ask a theoretical question like this!