Covered Wagon (C+C)

[Barlo]

Hey there, just wanted some criticism on this covered wagon I've been working on. Something about it seems a bit off to me, and I only just recently started dabbling in pixel art so I can't quite pin down exactly what's wrong. Maybe the wheels? Anyways any advice is appreciated

[ErekT]

Hello

I think you should up the contrast and bring down the color count. You have a lot of colors that are barely distinguishable from each other. They can be merged no problem. This'll help you tweak stuff more efficiently and make everything more readable.

Always keep light sources in mind when you draw. Shading by light source is *the* most important way to give objects a sense of distinct shape and volume. Much more important than color ramps. Here's a little edit, I only did a wheel and the top part:



It's also a good idea to use a bg color that's clearly different from the thing you're drawing (but not white).

[Barlo]

ErekT, thanks for the help. I realize now that contrast is a concept I'm not entirely familiar with but I went ahead and tried reducing the color count and using different hues to increase the overall readability. I also really like the shading you did on the wheels and canvas, so I decided to incorporate it myself (it's really such an obvious and simple improvement that I'm a little embarrassed for entirely forgetting to do it myself )
Anyway what do guys think so far?

   

[ErekT]

Nice improvement, the contrast and saturation work a lot better There's some banding and stray pixels going on still, at the top and left-hand side of the canvas respectively.

[jams0988]

It's a good idea to really think about what kind of background your sprite is going to be on, too. If this wagon is supposed to be out on a sunny day, the colors are very sickly and weak looking. If it's supposed to be out during a thunderstorm, then they might be alright. You drew it on a dark background, so I'm kind of assuming it's made for a darker area, but figured I'd throw it out there, just in case.

[Barlo]

Appreciate the help ErekT, ill work on the banding issue. Overall though I'm happy with the result.   
jams0988, you assumed right, its supposed to be situated in a dark forest type area but the advice on background consideration is still noted. Hadn't really thought about it honestly so thanks!