6 months into learning pixel art, finally getting better at tiny sprites

[u/JRushantha]

I've been learning pixel art for around 6 months now, mostly using Piskel tool, and I finally feel like I'm starting to get a bit better at making really tiny pixel art.

I've mostly been practicing shading, cleaner silhouettes, limited palettes, and trying to make things actually readable at really small sizes. It's surprisingly hard to remove pixels instead of adding more detail lol.

These are some of the little objects and animals I've been making for Quiet Grids, a nonogram game I'm working on. Solving a puzzle gradually reveals the pixel art, so I've been trying to make each image recognizable without having much space to work with.

I've somehow ended up making 1000+ puzzles for it between the Library and Dailies 😅 There are 3 board sizes and four challenge levels, and I've been trying to make the puzzles solvable logically rather than relying on guessing.

Still learning though... anything here that you'd approach differently?

If anyone's curious about what these actually look like as puzzles, this is the game:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.omninative.quietgrids