hey thanks for the kind words, I use Pyxel Edit which does cost, I can't remember how much I paid but it was less then £10 and is designed for pixel art BUT you really don't need to pay for the software, there's so much out there, Krita is free and can be set up for pixel art if you just wanted to try some stuff out. I've never used Aseprite but I've heard a lot of good stuff about it.

Best of luck hope this helps!