introducing pixelGnome

[pixelGnome]

Hi everybody.  I've just joined pixelation and have attempted my first piece of pixel art for the pixeljoint fantasy avatar challenge.  I've got this far and was wondering if anyone had any hints as to how I could improve it? Having trouble particularly with shading on the neck, and now I've started on the background I think the face is looking a little flat. Thanks!

[willfaulds]

I think this looks pretty god for a pixel virgin. No hard outlines!

The composition looks good. Your palette could do with a a tidy up (look at how you space your colours in terms of value and saturation) and some of the forms are a little indistinct

You've got a definite light source, which is a big plus, but I think you need to be a little more confident and in places use highlights and shadows close to each other. This will help to really define the form.

I think this will help http://derekyu.com/extras/pixel06.html