As per @Zaitsu Hatter: 's request, we'll talk on how to sprite

Preparation: Before you do anything, you gotta know "being good" is by no means the result of chance. It's all about preparation, because knowing is half the battle. Literally, knowing where you are, where you want to be, and what tools and reference materials you'll need to achieve it are basically 50% the job of being good at spriting.



There are many ways to being bad at spriting, and most of them stem from not knowing what you're getting into. To avoid making a sprite off-style, keep these ideas in mind, I call it The Spriter's Checklist:

1. Proportions:
How does the style handle proportions? This will define how muscles will be drawn, size and shapes of head / hands / eyes / feet.
Slightly realistic (KOF), Cartoonish Muscular (SFA/SF3), Cartoonish Slender (CVS), Stylish Slender (GG,DBFC,UNIB).
Solution: Find bases, observe carefully and emulate them.

2. Shading:
How does the style manage shading?
How many colors are used per area, and how are they used? (Gradient, Anti-Aliasing, Pastel secondary lighting)
How are different materials shaded differently? (I.E.Dark Hair VS Light hair. Regular Fabric VS Leather)
You'll see how different styles require more or less colors depending on the area, and how styles even have exceptions on a case to case basis (see Capcom style, Psylocke / Cody, Might elaborate later)
Solution: Find bases, observe carefully and emulate them.

3. Outlines:
Are they accentuated?
How many colors away in the ramp are outlines from the lightest color?
Are they continuous lines in pixels, or only hinted?
KOF style in general is hard because of the amount of detail and polish it requires. Outlines are far from being a straight line, you could say they're almost antialiased.
Solution: Find bases, observe carefully and emulate them.

4. Animation and Poses:
How many frames in a certain kind of animation? Find bases that are similar. Even SNKP did that for Eiji in KOF XI
Is the move you're trying to make similar to others? Use the others as a base!
Do you really need to re-draw everything from scratch always? No. Frankensprite whenever you can.
Solution: Find bases, observe carefully and emulate them.

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The secret is careful observation.

I once guided Vans, a mathematician, to observe and emulate step by step into a fully fledged Terry 2K3 edit. It was a solid 8/10 even if he had "no spriting skills" whatsoever.
Solution: Find bases, observe carefully and emulate them.