Tipleloop: Haha, three hours is still pretty impressive for me. You've actually described my method pretty well there, although now I've switched to mainly using a pen tablet I sketch ideas on the PC first.

I slow down more in the rendering phase. The closer something is to completion, the longer it will take me. By the end I'll be second-guessing every little decision. I'll make a layer with just a couple of pixels that are different and turn it on and off to see what I think. At the start of a piece, I'm a lot bolder. I probably should do some more monochrome or Game Boy pieces to focus specifically on values without overthinking anything else, though.

Of course you should join! The only advantage you have is knowing what the challenges will be in advance, but I don't think that's such a big deal. The winner is still voted for by the community and I reckon this will be picking up a lot of votes since it's super cool!

It's so sinister and otherworldly and I love how skull-like the head is. Also you did this in two hours how!? I am clearly very slow.