I did the flame and AA on the outside by placing pixels with differing transparencies (which until now, I thought was a very commonly used technique). I cannot see why this would not be allowed. If it isn't, then it seems to me like a very unnecessary restriction.
Even I agree, it is not pixel art.... the flame and shadow is made up with gradient OR you have used brush to achieve it.....!
If this is not pixel art, I will run up and down my street naked. This is the third piece I've put on here and every one of them is apparently 'not pixel art'. I placed every pixel by hand.
It doesn't fit the gallery's definition of pixel art. that definition was created for moderation purposes, but nowadays gets taken as canonical law for what is and isn't pixel art.
PixelJoint requires that you use fully opaque brushes (no alpha transparency). The rule basically exists because of the slippery slope argument. A little transparency or gradient or whatever other "NPA" effect probably won't upset most folks, but hard lines have been drawn to make sure the site remains exclusively devoted to pixel art and not any and every digital art.