
Yes, "Sax" is basically a ball, but to give him more character, I usually try to shave a pixel side on the side that his other eye isn't really shown on the sprite.
As for lighting I basically was going by the way displayed in (2). But I guess I have to much darkness for that much of light to be recoiled on his face? I'm not sure.
And those are feet actually, not shoes, those were added on just for fun. I draw his legs way too cartoony, so it's hard to incorporate it into pixel form. I try though, and will go back and change it.
But 1 is more rounded version, I will go ahead and try to get a quick animation going or something to test it out.
Sharprm, as pointed out by a friend once, I usually would put shading under the red stripe, or then shading on the end of the red stripe. He then said, it's flat, so why put shading on it. I know you wouldn't of known this, but just letting you know for future reference.
And the aim was to keep the colours I had and only use the in-between shades for more depth.