Torch's Sprites

[StarSock64]

I think he's warning you against what seems to be the public's assumption that practice is enough

Practice is good and all, but studying is really what takes you to the next level. A lot of people are bad artists because they just do stuff they like all the time without bothering to actually learn. It's kind of depressing how often I see that people think they're good artists and just don't know what kind of resources there are out there...

By studying we mean reading lots of tutorials, observing life, figuring out what techniques (good) professionals use, learning anatomy/proportions, etc.
Lots of looking and reading. As in, the boring stuff. There's a lot of information out there. I'm kind of wondering if we should have a more accessible list of resources (the spriting dictionary is good and I know we have a thread in the creativity subsection but iirc it's a bit overwhelming to try to sift through and the first post isn't fully updated)