[EDIT] I accidentally uploaded the original sprite at 2x size. So sorry about that. It's fixed now.

It is very difficult for me to post this because I am such a perfectionist and this sprite is so so far from completion. There is next to no shading, I hate the color paletter, and it needs a lot of edits overall. I've pretty new to pixel art, but I'm learning. I think color is my main problem right now. Also, deciding whether or not to use outlines.

Anyway, this is Maple, the love interest of my game Driftwood. I've been working on her sprite for a while now and I think I'm finally satisfied with this basic idea. However, I'm having a very difficult time finding a color palette for my game and thus, a color palette for this sprite. I like the over theme of purple, teal, and white, but this is just way too pastel and I'm not sure what to do.

So yeah, I love some help, suggestions, edits, insults, death threats etc. anything you can give me. If this goes well, maybe I won't be so afraid to share some of my other stuff I'm having trouble with as well, haha.

Man, this is such a noob post, but I've been trying to search for an answer on these forums (and the rest of the internet) for about a week now.

Here's the deal. I've been working on a game called Driftwood for about a year now. We have a lot of programming and music finished, but I've been slouching in the graphics department. My main problem is that I just cannot nail a decent, limited color palette to use. For a while I was using Arne's 16 color palette because it was so simple, but Driftwood's graphics are more of a 16-bit Super Nintendo style and Arne's palette just doesn't lend itself too well to fairly large, detailed sprites.

I've also attempted to create my own palette based on his and others as well. No luck... I've always been good at drawing and I've been working with pixel art for about a year, but I've never been able to nail down a color palette that I can sort of base my game's graphics around. So, what usually ends up happening is that some sprites are too dark, others are too pastel, and if I attempt to find a happy medium, those colors may work well for one sprite, but they look out of place on another. I want something that feels earthy and organic, but everything I make ends up looking either too pastel or too... solid for lack of a better term. Like... It doesn't look natural. The colors just go from light to dark. Does that make sense?

I know this is all pretty hard to describe through words and I probably sound like a total noob, but I've tried figuring this out on my own. I can't be the only person who struggles with balancing color or shadows/midtones/highlights like this. Maybe I'm just a perfectionist. Either way, can anyone give me some tips, or point me towards something that could help me out?

Thanks for the advice guys! Yeah... Colors are what I struggle with most. I don't think that double pixels are ALWAYS bad, but I can see what you mean.

Thanks for the edit bengoshia! I like it a lot. The colors especially. I think I'm going to use it to tweak mine and hopefully find some middle-ground.

I'm really trying to figure out what to do with the eyes, but I can't seem to come up with much... Argh. Anyway, you guys are awesome and I appreciate it. If anyone else feels like adding something or doing an edit, it would help me out immensely.

Awwwww crap! I've been working on a side-scrolling action platformer that stars a character named Obe! The way he's proportioned is similar to yours as well... Looks like I'm going to have to change my character's name. Crap.