I'm really like what you've done with the fur around the neck
But overall, this piece just isn't improving that much...
Sloppy NPA edit:
*It looks really flat, you really need to define the
volume of the creature a bit more. Remember this is a creature with a solid body, it (presumably) has muscles and bones etc... I think one problem could be your reference image of the deer...look at some actual photos of deer and other similar animals. Better yet, go to a zoo and take a good look at some deer and do some sketches!
*Ditch the
background for now. Focus on the creature. Also it is best to work on a more neutral background colour. Your current background is better than what you had before, though.
*Where is your
lightsource? Things seem to be lit from all different angles. For example look at the front left foot, it seems to be lit from the bottom...
*The
size of your image is huuuge, I know, for whatever reason you've decided to make it this particular size, but in pixelart something like this is massive. It gets really hard to work on something at this scale. It's kind of unreasonable to suggest you restart this again at a smaller size, so this is really more advice for the future than critique for this specific piece...
*I think there still needs to be greater
contrast. At the moment it seems a bit washed out. Maybe not as much contrast as in my piece, but I think it still needs a fair bit more. Also pay attention to the gold texture, and make sure you study Redshrike's images.
*Also, there seems to be a bit of
banding happening in the 'gold' sections.
