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Wow, didn't expect to see you around again; nice to have you back.
I've followed your sprite work since its early stages so I can really see a lot of improvement. I can tell you've become more comfortable with the method and it's most obvious in the large weapon sprites, particularly the sai and katana - I know metal is a bitch to shade and I can honestly say you've done a very impressive job.
However, since you say you're looking for constructive crits, I'll try and give you some advice.
First of all, your shading has greatly improved and the updated Leonardo portrait is leaps and bounds above the older version. However, your sprites will stand out more if you increase the contrast between individual shades. Try to use really dark colors to add outlines and tones; this will create an illusion of depth (the pink on your April's (?) jumpsuit for example looks pretty flat and would really 'pop' if you'd up the contrast). The ideal number of shades per color is around 3 or 4 (the less shades you have, the cleaner your sprite will be), and if you use sufficient contrast you can make those go a long way (you've already done a great job at this on the weapon sprites).
Furthermore, another trick you can use is to play around with warm and cold colors. Try to make lighter shades 'warmer' (add hints of yellow, red, etc.) and more saturated, and darker shades 'colder' (hints of blue, purple, etc.) and less saturated. This will give your sprites a more pleasing and natural look, and it will make a world of difference. You can already see an example of this on the little Benvenuto sprite, where the lightest shade of green contains hints of yellow, which really makes the skin color stand out.
Anyway, these are just some general tips and you just have to experiment and play around a bit and have fun. Again, you've already improved a lot and I'm sure you will continue to do so. Be sure to post more of your work in the future, I'd love to see how it develops.
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