its gallons better than my first grass. i would say pick either an abstract approach with no discernible blades, like secret of mana, or something highly simplified and contrasted, like zelda

does the sprite have any relation to the portrait? i like ninjas and i like yellow, but i would definitely do some soul searching to see if you really want your ninja to be wearing yellow...or if you want your yellow to be worn by ninja. i dont think he necessarily that he needs a more dynamic pose. his portrait should express his character, and if hes a somber yellow ninja then a wallflower portrait is fine. i also think that his shoulders need to not boob out and that he could do with some refinement of elements, theres too much contrast and not enough harmony. best of luck harmonizing your somber yellow ninja

howdy

so my brother and i are working on this giant centipede hunting arcade game. he's coding it and im doing design/art. it's our first project so i wanted to start with a simple graphic style. like really simple. im not really looking for critique on the overall style (though i wont mind it at all) rather the little guy's spear attack animation. ive gone through a couple stages and i think its improving, but theres more fine tuning that can be done. what do you think 

initial -> -> final and here's a walking for reference

*updated*



and here's a sketch of him which should make the sprite make more sense.


and i'll throw in a dirty mockup for additional reference and shameless self promotion