[WIP] first pixel art

[amyrama]

Hi,
I have been lurking here for a while, but this is my first pixel art. I started fooling around with flixel and I needed some graphics, so I got a copy of ProMotion and then I got carried away with pixeling.
I had fun and I learned a lot. Here is the result:

I am not happy with it but I thought I had better get a second opinion before I go much further with it.
Here is a walk cycle for the character:
I know I need to go outside and draw more real rocks and plants and things, and I need to make the bricks more interesting somehow.
The plant is based on a dracaena in my back yard.
Should I back off on the heavy outlines? Also the 16x16 tiles look kind of blocky, would they look better if I make them smaller?
Any crits would be greatly appreciated. thanks

Edit: latest attempt at the walk cycle

[Fulbert]

At a first glance, it seemed to me there was something horribly wrong with the way your character's arm moved, but I guess shirt is just too 'contrasty' or something. Try to make the dark colour a bit lighter, so that the arm is easier to see. And a line on the character's chest moves a bit too much.

As for the tiles, a set of diagonal blocks should solve the problem, if the blocky look bugs you too much.

[amyrama]

Thanks I played around with the color on the shirt, I think it's easier to see the arm movement now.

I was trying to get her chest to bounce a little bit with her walk, I don't know if I've got it yet.

[Cilein]

Good work so far, you could try playing around with the palette, the greens against the brick's color looks a bit odd, I really like color though so what's too pale for me doesn't mean bad. For the girls animation her head needs to move, side to side slightly and with a little bobbing as she goes, other than that it's quite smooth. Maybe make her hair a tad longer/with a flick at the end to help distinguish her as a girl, it's not extremely feminine atm. The odd plant in the middle looks like it defies gravity, a bit too gangly and straight edged to look organic and like it could support itself.

Yeah the bouncing is smooth too, really tidy animation besides the static head - great job there

[TPoe]

The shoulder movement seems a bit drastic without the head moving, otherwise I'd say its very nice, although I can't tell if thats a boy or a girl.

[amyrama]

Working on the head movement; also I added a ponytail to make it look more girly. I made two versions:
in this one I tried restricting the arm movement for a more feminine walk.
The head moves a little more from side to side; attempted sub-pixel smoothy thing.
I'm not sure which one I like better.

[Geti]

I like the top one just because it reads a little better. The shoulder could move a little but you don't really swing your upper body much while walking, that's usually used for dramatic animations or running.
As the head is bopping so much it'd be fun to make the ponytail jump around a little more though

[Cilein]

That ponytail makes a huge difference, great. The arms move too much in the bottom one I think. Also, is she wearing glasses? I thought so before or some goggles or the such but the bit between the lenses makes them look off, move that up one pixel in all frames if they are glasses, should be more to the top than the bottom.

[amyrama]

Made the ponytail flick a bit more, edited the glasses. I also attempted some AA.