[WIP] First Pixel Art

[MrPyromaniac]

Hello, my AP Chemistry class was having a contest to see who makes the best shirt design, and I decided to do a pixel art of a student holding a test and looking confused saying: "Um... This test is going to be curved right?". Not being the best artist, and as it is my first pixel art ever, it's very basic. I had trouble with making a 'confused' mouth, so there's nothing there right now. Please help me make it look more realistic/not just solid colors, and please help me with the mouth. Thank you a ton.

[Hamenopi]

If you want to go pixel and win a contest, perhaps go voxel and make him 'minecraft' like. You'll at least get the votes of the gamers.

It'd also be a play on the word curved.

Then again, it's chemistry. Write out your school mascot in periodic table of elements or something like that.

[MrPyromaniac]

Thank you for your suggestions, but regardless, I would like to know to how do the things I asked because this is my first pixel art and I would like to finish it and learn the techniques used.

[Alexanator28]

You have a lot of noise in the shirt and pants. Try making them all one color, and use more contrasting colors to shade. You also have a lot of stray grey pixels outside the black outline, which makes it look messy.

[Manupix]

What you're asking is, basically: "teach me to pixel". There is no short answer, unfortunately.
Read through this forum, soak up information, try to reproduce the techniques described in there, and generally practice practice practice. In a few weeks or months you'll see amazing progress. Be patient =)

Also shirt design has its specificities, whether pixel art or not, and a good, clear concept is a requirement. It's likely that the winning design will be decided on this aspect more than art quality. Sorry but your concept is not great atm. You need to rake your brains to come up with the best possible idea, and then roast it some more and improve it in any way you can.

I don't understand if it has to be chemistry related or not. If it is, you might take some inspiration here (and more on google).