@tearsofthenight: Check out references to existing sprites done in this style, if you zoom in closely and look at how they solved the same problems you're trying to solve it should teach you a lot. Using a simpler style doesn't always mean it's easier to do, after a certain point it actually becomes harder and you have to rely even more on basic art principles to get the result you want.
@lychee: Hmm, it works. I personally prefer more polish to my pixel art, but it's functional and doesn't look bad. Gradients will always look strange with pixel art, you'll either want to avoid gradients and hide the banding however you can or just decide that it won't be pure pixel art and use gradients anyway. Sky is the hardest because there's no texture to it to help you hide the transitions. I usually just turn it into a sky full of clouds and use cloud textures if I want a gradient sky.
