yours - mine

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I tried to make a ninja sprite in the style of monkey island 1 (added guybrush for reference. First ninja uses colors from guybrush, second sprite uses own colors). I'm not sure if it's like what you intended, but if, then:
* use reference from game to capture style
* use reference to make a believable character
* use contrasty colors to sculpt form/volumes
* don't use dark colors on white background. It kills all the contrast in your sprite.