Trying to stay away from symbolism

[Vinik]

Hello again, this is me trying again not to go immediately symbolic, and paint more naturally rather draw pixel by pixel leading to a caricature. Still, I can't help but to very soon try to make things more regular, outlined, rounder, perfectly arched, etc, which is probably not the very best way to go about it. Anyway, I like how this turning up, but as it is a begginer's work, I would very much like any pointers on light, and any errors I am making. I suppose the techniques I am using are a bit inconsistent :/

[Vinik]

Another exercise with the same intention, made from a character drawing reference here, trying to have natural, non stiff posses, and to keep the clusters more irregular. It is a big mess, I am only trying to learn more about pose and natural or uneven shapes with easier, larger sprites before going back to smaller ones.