eyes are supposed to be in the middle of the head, nose is approximately halfway from eyes to chin, and the mouth is about halfway from nose to chin
features need to be a lot bigger in general, as the mouth looks a little... little
head's shape is good, but could be smoother on the cheek
hair covers too less of his head, and the head is too big
skin colour could be a bit more red, right now he looks a little pale. Unless you meant for him to be of an asian background, whereas that colour scheme fits him perfectly.
hood on the jumper should be a bit larger. strings of hood can be longer too, and thicker to give it a little more substance
right arm needs to be wider - a little bit on the biceps and a lot on the triceps
hand needs to be a LOT larger - should be able to cover 80% of the face in length
be braver with the shading. It's easier to cover large chunks with dark than have a slight outline darkened. it may be good if you first use the shadow colour to fill the area and colour lighter as you go along.
There's NO SHAME in using a base sprite. It's a good way to start as it gives you a template for the proportions of the human body, and this is kinda what you're missing right now. If you're really against base sprites you could look in a mirror to see proportions. I find that it really helps me when I look at my hard when trying to sprite hands and stuff, just to see how it works.
eek. i think i sound a little too harsh. sorry >.< the palette is good apart from the minor bit on the skin and the shading is generally fine too. It's just the proportions that need some tweaking.