Spriting trouble, issues with style

[Bearded_Beast]

Hello again! After finally getting a stable system to work on, I've taken up a project from a friend. However, I haven't been able to establish a style that I like for the sprites in question:


These two I don't like very much. One feels off for some reason (and yes, I didn't include her arms or crossbow, because I didn't like where it was going), the second seems too bright and the face is sort of plain. So...

I looked at some of the other spriter's syles here on tSR. I decided to try Neorice's style. Above is the result, I like it. But, I refuse to even try and capitalize on someone else's established style.

To the point: I can't figure out how to keep the sprite a manageable size, and still have enough room for a readable face capable of expression. How could I do this while keeping around 32 pixels wide by 50-60 pixels tall?

Spoiler contains concept image of the character.

Spoiler

I might have fixed my problem. C+C appreciated.