Help me improve a this TINY animal

[InCreator]

Meet my new unnamed protagonist. He's a hamster.


1X:



4X:


I'm generally happy with his looks, but shading and contrast needs some work, since it's hard to notice him, being so small and all.
Thanks!

[EchosofNezhyt]

Make him a different, More vibrant color, Fatter head and face? Make him a bit bigger wider?

The sprite looks nice though.

I can't really do to much with out ruin the look of it
[imgzoom]http://s8.postimage.org/6uttlnnlt/Chi.png[/imgzoom]

[InCreator]

Thanks. It seems that original sprite is too small for what I need, so I tried to go 150% of original size, and use less colors.

However, it seems that however I try,  1) I end up with some kind of Disney-ish cartoon mouse
And 2) I'm not sure how to make eyes now to get that same "hey master, I just turned decades worth of family photos into little paper dust. Ain't my teeth awesome?"-kind of naughty trolling-look.

This is where I am right now. it feels that 12 pixels for an eye is harder to use than 6, because I do not get same expression whatever I try.
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/DlVeT.png[/imgzoom]

I want my hamster to look like it's made some trouble while trying to look innocent. Also, a bit wet, messy, uncombed to show like he's been through water, fire and steel pipes in his quest (not literally, just like a fighter).

[EchosofNezhyt]

Make the shine in his eye bigger or do less realistic eyes now that you have the ability to play with pixels.

Give it a slight smile or shade it to look devious eyebrows down. (Look into a mirror make face.)

I'll give it a shot in a bit, I'm laying out a storyboard for my stuff but I'll be done in a few.

  Quick 2 second edit.
Edit:

[Khris]

Tried to make him look less cartoony, increased contrast, reduced color count (10):

[IMGZOOM]http://i.imgur.com/LwdNA.png[/IMGZOOM]

Pretty messy, hope it helps

Edit: Apart from practice, I mostly focus on getting the volumes right and use references a lot. I Alt-Tabbed to Google's hamster images and back the entire time.
Like I said, contrast goes along way, especially with small sprites. Don't shy away from using a pretty dark grey for shaded areas, and try to reuse the same colors throughout the sprite.

[EchosofNezhyt]

I'm jelly of you, How are you so awesome at art?

Edit: Seriously so epic... I DEMAND TO FIND THE SOURCE OF YOUR ART POWER!


Double Edit: Ahh I see. Do you do art for anything? I don't see it under your list of I'll help with and you seem to give the best help.

[InCreator]

Thanks Khris. Although you went towards realism (I aim for somewhat cartoonish style, especially since there'll be helluva lot of animation), I'll definitely pick up some tips on color and shading which I needed most. I'll try your eyes too.

[Raider]

Side question: InCreator, what art program do you use?
Sorry for my lack of input 

[EchosofNezhyt]

Thanks Khris. Although you went towards realism (I aim for somewhat cartoonish style, especially since there'll be helluva lot of animation), I'll definitely pick up some tips on color and shading which I needed most. I'll try your eyes too.

Btw is your avatar the finished version it looks awesome.