Major help (in the form of critiscism) needed :3

[SoniChaos]

The last time I was at these forums there was still a Pixeltendo, so it's been a while. Back in the day I considered myself a fairly average (or maybe even above-average) spriter, but I haven't been practicing or touching up my skills at all since then.

Lately I decided to try and revitalize the pixelling spirit by undertaking a small project with some friends, but it seems I'm lacking a lot more than I thought :X

My idea is to try and sprite in JUS (Jump Ultimate Superstars) style, hence the Gaara reference to the right. Would you mind "beating me up" until I can figure out how to make a decent outline and - especially - how to shade in this style?

[Cobalt Blue]

i recomend using more than one reference, since(and specially in this game) each sprite tries to stick to each franchise's particular artwork rather than work on each an unified style. wich also means each character has its own proportions. color sets, and so on.

copying a sprite's palette is not even close to what you're trying to achieve. if we're to judge by that attempt, you're below average.

in resume:
-study the whole game's artwork, not a single sprite
-work on the anatomy and the pose(you should realise after your study of the game that every character's personality is displayed thru body language rather than on the details on their clothing)