I just finished my entry for the game artisans mini competition #15 (will post related link at end of post)
basically it starts with the same model unwrapped as a sdk that everyone gets to modify the texture with. heres what my entry turned out like. I'd love some crits :P
A minor critique I have is that the color scheme makes it a little bit confusing and difficult to read. Perhaps this also has to do a lot with the green back ground you've got there, I don't know.
I really didnt know what to do with even the colors for the char. I dont really like my green and brown look but everyone had already posted with similar color schemes to what i was planning before i posted so i just ask my friend what he thought would be good colors and went from there. the background probably doesnt help either, as you said