Horrible spriter seeking advise

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

first of all, set the lighting for the piece. by this i mean define where the light is coming from in this scene, and the tint it has.
as you're working on a white/transparent background, you're giving yourself a hard time, because you'll be using colours in relation to it (they tend to be pure and contrasted).
setting the light saves you a lot of time and gives you a global idea of the piece, and then it's just a question of refining it.
here's a suggestion: