Painting Revival

[Rikkenian]

I've never been a good painter. This is mostly because of philosophical differences since I focused on pencil and ink and never really wavered. Now that I am older, wiser, and more liberated, I'm getting back into it in a digital sense.

This is what I've finished recently. Thanks for looking, and any and all crits are welcome.

A spirit of autumn.
http://www.king-sheep.com/galleries/color/autumn-faerie.jpg

A re-imagined dwarf.
http://www.king-sheep.com/galleries/color/hoblin.jpg

The executioner's widow.

http://www.king-sheep.com/galleries/color/executioner-widow.jpg

[sourgasm]

Spirit of Autumn is nice, but the leaves are a bit monotonous. They appear to be blowing about, but they look more like they've fallen on a glass panel and we're looking at it from below heh. As for the figure, I can't really tell what is going on with the outfit. With that backlight, I get the impression it should be semi-transparent, as well.

Dwarf is alright, but you need to rework the texturing. The background pillars and the foreground stone are both painted very lazily. They look more like clay than stone and wood. Grab some photos and overlay texture or just spend some time on them with a splotchy brush. As for the figure, the thing that sticks out most for me is that the light feels too uniform. It seems like the dark room with the strong backlight would create some more dynamic lighting. Right now it looks like he's essentially standing in the sunlight.

Widow is pretty good overall. The hand is a bit off and her leg anatomy is funky. As with the others, the background could use more definition and texture. Lighting is a bit uniform again.

My main critique is in regards to contrast. Take a look at the attachment, for example. With just about a minute spent tweaking levels and burning/dodging via one vivid light layer and some color sampling, it seems to pop quite a bit more. When you're painting, you should decide on a focal point and direct the viewer at that. Generally by concentrating contrasting light/color to that area, as well as rendering detail the most at the center of interest and less as you move away from it. You can also use texture to direct attention (more at center of detail, less/messier further out).

Sorry if that was ridiculously long-winded. I think you're off to a great start, and these show existing skill plus plenty of promise, so I wanted to throw in my two cents and try to help.

[Rikkenian]

Thanks very much for those critiques, Sourgasm. I appreciate what you said about my backgrounds, and I will definitely try working with a focal point on my next piece! Cheers!