Pixel art for a game

[Shade]

Well I'd say it'd probably help to nail something down as far as what it is and what it's made of. For instance, I find it pretty hard to tell whether or not the border of the "portal" is supposed to be made of stone or metal so I'd recommend trying to emphasize one or the other more. Portals also usually look more...flowy? I mean like portals are sort of a vacuum and are a little more energetic looking while this looks pretty calm. I know it's at a small scale but there are certainly some steps that could be taken to make it more interesting in that regard if you messed around with it. The different colors/shades could also stand out from each other more but that's not a huge deal and comes down to preference I feel in this case.

In any case, that was a lot for such a small sprite I realize but we just want people to improve here. Also welcome to tVGR, glad to have you and I hope you continue to work to improve your spriting abilities.