Thank you guys for the critique and advice.
@Piotr: don't worry, the final background will use the palette I end up using, this one is just to help me differentiate the sprite from the backdrop in this earlier stage
@eishiya: the only difference between the two was the amount of contrast between the two lightest shades yeah. If I don't do shoulders I will crop out most of the neck and hair, because you are very much correct, it would look very awkward as a neck trailing off into nothing. I can see how the dithering is a bit overpowering, and tried lessening it, I haven't had a ton of time to work on it so there is obviously still work to do there, the current wip is below alongside the older piece
@Kcilc: Thank you so much for the edit, this has a lot of good concepts in it. You definitely did a better job balancing the dither than I did, I'll have to take a closer look when I get the chance. The leftward slant is actually present in the reference, but I'll consider rotating everything for the sake of a more visually appealing piece. As for the colors, they're very rudimentary, I have a sort of irrational process in which I first choose colors that I think will look good, but are invariably awful, work on the drawing for a good while, realize the colors are crap, and spend like a full day messing with them. I do enjoy your vibrant hues though. Also, I'll definitely work on that hair once I get a chance. Just a few more weeks of school and then I'll have time aaah.
Thank you all again, will post again once I have made more actual progress.