I have the same problem.  For me, I do not like my own art.  Instead, I enjoy looking at other people's stuff.

Do you make regular, non pixel art?

If not, I'd highly recommend practicing things like sketching objects or people (black and white only to start) in real life to gain understanding of form.

If you're just getting started with color then I'd suggest working with color only rather than trying to use it in what's intended as a finished artwork. The reason is so you gain understanding of relationships between colors without the distraction of trying to make finished art with everything else involved.

If you're just wanting to do things like sprites then something like composition isn't hugely important because the sprite will be a small part of a larger work, but learning basic composition is extremely important in art. If you want even just the most basic understanding of it then read about the rule of thirds. There's composition much more complicated than that, but if nothing else that's a good foundation of have.

It's kind of hard to suggest specific things though if I don't know how much you do know already though.

Don't do manga.

It's derivative and teaches nothing about realistic anatomy/form/lighting or, often, composition.

Learn to draw real stuff, draw from life. Look at art. Visual Arts is a pretty holistic thing to an extent, and ability in one medium carries over fairly well to another.

Arne's colour tutorial is pretty invaluable.

Try setting some goals. Something like "today I will draw each object on my desk" or "today I will ask a friend if I can draw their face from 3 different angles."


I've found that it helps if you don't think of each and every practice drawing as a potential masterpiece waiting to be made. Loosen up, set aside the eraser, and don't worry about the results. When I did drawings from live models in the past we sketched a different pose every 30 seconds. Doing that forced us to learn to look for the basic form of the subject rather than bother with details like the exact shape of their ear. Details like that come later, and if you worry about them from the beginning then each practice drawing will take much longer than it should when you're just practicing.


Currently I'm restarting my own goal (which I've totally failed on this week, by the way) to draw 1 face from a photo every day. I go to commons.wikipedia.org, find a photo I like, and draw that person in between 10 minutes to about 2 hours, depending on how long I feel like spending that day. So far I've done about 34 I think, and I'm already improving noticeably. I put a few examples here.