ohh i love this animation so much! the complementary colors really make the sprite pop. also, i think you're making great progress! i know it can feel really slow only having an hour or two a day but if you ever make games beyond the jam finding a good balance between work and hobbies so you don't get burnt out is really the most sustainable way to finish games. good luck!
Thanks J! Thanks for the color feedback, too. I originally started with yellow, but switched to orange and liked it better for the same reasons you mention.
I've actually got a year plan in place for getting better at gamedev, and am making a weekly video journal about the process. I'll post the next episode in here. The basic idea is exactly what you mention: do something that you can keep up over the long haul. I've been working on this in bursts for a couple of years now, but really want to change up to making steady progress instead.