[Steven Stahlberg]

Kind of Venetian Renaissance, in an alternate reality way... female version of Romeo perhaps. Scanned sketch, painted in Photoshop, background helped out with 3d in Maya. I'm disappointed with how boring it turned out.
Hm, now that I look at it - the pose looks like she'd be carrying something behind her bum. Something long and narrow, like a sceptre or sword... any ideas?

[syzygy]

hi Steven,

Not much of a pro myself but I reckon part of the problem lies in the sheer uniformity of the background (both in geometry and in colour).
You have got the background diminishing in value, but then uru is quite washed out this results in us not identifying where to look in the picture (the background seems as important a the character


if you'll excuse my hideous 20 second overpaint, I guess this is vaguely what I'm talking about (should really be even more pronounced), in terms of drawing attention away from the background and toward the character (should also enrich the colours of the character too perhaps)

hope my view helps

[The Real Mark]

The sceptre/sword or whatever would definitely make her look cooler. And the light overpiant is a bit better too i think.

cool character

[Ragnarok]

I think it would look better if the character was in the right part of the image.
_________________
"Ever forward, my darling wind." -Master Yuppa
Seigetsu

[Lunatique]

Hmm, this looks quite different from your usual stuff. I think the figure and the face are a bit shaky. The right side of her clavicle seems too high, and there's something about the proportion of her face that's bugging me. The contour of her torso doesn't read very well either. I think her left shoulder should probably jut up higher as that's where she's placing the weight of her hips.

[Steven Stahlberg]

Good idea to move her to the right, and thanks for the overpaint.
Yeah, just noticed, that's not the clavicle, but a dark spot in the background (shadow of the crossbar on the wall) showing through. You can see it through the jacket as well. Accident with layer transparency.
I'll keep working on it.

[buzzz3d]

Hi Steven,

Another idea is to let her drag something behind her, like a furry mynx-coat that leaves a (blood)trail on the floor.
And I'm no expert but her jaw looks a bit too square underneath her ear.
Maybe some shading on her boots would help also.
Don't know if this is intentional but her boobs look really flat. If it is intentional forget what I said
And shouldn't her left shoulder be lower instead of higher if that is where she is placing her weight (her hips go up so her shoulder should go down right?)

[Max]

Hey Steven! This looks indeed quite different from the stuff you paint normally.
I love it though. The girl is wonderful an her costume is simply amazing. Great colors and mood.

I made a quick reworked version for you. Hope that's okay...
Just cropped it, changed saturation and used some overlay effects.
That's it! It's just the composition that doesn't really work in your pic.
Quares are never good for comp imho. If you use quare comp you should use a central perspective.

[Steven Stahlberg]

Thanks everyone!
Max Kulich, I did this new version before I saw your post. Anyway, I think it's less 'square' like you suggest...
I reworked the anatomy and angle, moved her to the right, strengthened the lighting, added more stuff in the background, changed lots of details... I think this is more like what I originally envisioned. Let me know what you think.

[buzzz3d]

Big improvement, looks a lot better Steven.
Only thing that stands out for me now is the perfect CG-looking background.

[Max]

Great. Nice improvement!
I like the perspective - looking up to here.
I have to agree with buzzz though, the bg stands out.
I think you need more colors and variation in the bg to match with the girl costume.
The composition is much better!!
You could add some banners with patterns or something. Like in a dojo.
Keep up the good work!!

[Ragnarok]

Great!
I'll soften the background a bit, as suggested by buzzz.
Also, the light seems pretty "hard" but the overall ilumination of the character is more general imho. (I won't change the character thou, looks gorgeous)
_________________
"Ever forward, my darling wind." -Master Yuppa
Seigetsu

[Brokencow*]

i think the top part is awesome. but those painties need to go so bad. it takes away from the feel of the character ALOT. she looks like a nicely dressed hooker. unles that's what you wanted, i didn't read anything you wrote. not trying to knock you.
_________________
I failed everything but art.

[Steven Stahlberg]

Thanks everyone.
I'm not sure what she is, but I don't think she's a hooker... an aristocrat, member of the ruling class probably. It's a matriarchal society, also decadent and artificial, perhaps a combination of Rome in it's dying breath and Elizabethan. Their customs are different from ours. Only women are allowed to carry such subtle weapons as rapiers, men are only good for kitchen duty and carrying heavy arms into war.
Here's another version:

[Max]

That's the best one so far. I really like it!
If you gonna work on it somemore I suggest you to add more elements to the bg.