New pixel avatars

Inspired by Hotline Miami, I'm making this retro avatars for myself (on the left) and others (@gianlovessurf is the one on the right).

I need to improve but I'm getting the hang of it.

Current method: I load a photo in a 80x80px (sometimes a bit bigger than that) Pixelmator project and I start painting pixels on an empty layer on top of it. I try to work on a single layer and not being too pixel perfect.