Hi everyone. I am trying to get back on the first pixel art I tried to submit to the gallery but was never accepted.

These was the first version:




Then came the second version, where I tried to work shadows a bit more and suppressed the black outline :

 

I am trying a new version with even more shadows as the light source is at the complete top of the character.




This one I didn't submit for the gallery. Because now I feel like it is too shadowy, and I can't achieve dithering properly at this scale.

This is getting on my nerves for I like this little character but I can't find how to make it look right. I mean, I rework it on and on, trying to find out what would make it really enjoyable to look at, but I am never satisfied with it.

I would like a result near to a Manga-like character, simple, more readable than the last one, but not as flat as the first ones.

If you have any opinion on the matter, please let me know.