Joan of Arc.

[dashinvaine]

Something I'm working on. Feedback much appreciated

[Cookiedough]

Are you using the airbrush or something? It seems too soft overall and makes her a li'l flat. Especially for the hair it's gonna be annoying. Compositionwise it would've been better if we could zoom out 1 time.

She's pretty, but be careful with the softness. Too much of it will kill this piece and you're doing this pretty well atm. That collar is gonna be a total bitch to do with a soft airbrush.

[Infinit]

the neck looks oddly flat and unconnected to the head and torso
the ears are a little pointy (if you just take away the pointyness they'll be too small)
the lack of colour variation in the face doesn't make is very interesting to look at (use coloured shadows, don't just add black)

[dashinvaine]

Blimey, much to work on then. Meanwhile, I'm not sure about including this knight in the background... I should mention this is a scanned drawing which I am colouring in photoshop, with a mouse.

[silken]

That would explain the blotchy areas then. Mouse coloring isn't easy.
The area where the blotchiness is most evident is that red area along the jaw line...it's looks like your mouse got caught somehow and so it studdered over the surface.

Don't be afraid to use golden tones on her face...she's too pink right now and also, instead of black for the shadows, try some deep purples, maroons and blues. The same colors you're using in the face should be used for the rest of her skin, that'll help prevent that disconnected look that someone else mentioned. Make yourself a palette by making little blobs on a separate layer and stick to those colors.

As for the knight...right now, the image is too cramped for him to be really needed. he is being nicely rendered though. If you really want to keep him, I would expand the canvas for sure so that he doesn't look like he's just being put there to be put there.

Hope that helps...it'll be great when it's done!
Happy Holidays!

[dashinvaine]

Anyway, I had a go at expanding the picture to 'zoom out', which was tricky as it involved trying to add to the original under-drawing by robbing bits from elsewhere to copy. Hopefully the composition is improved by this...(?) This version is without 'auto-levels'. I don't know if the colours look better or not. Additional advice much appreciated. Doing hair without a tablet is a nightmare... any advice on that? Also still not sure about the knight in the background.

[dashinvaine]

I changed the composition somewhat, made the castle bigger and moved the knight. Please give feedback...

[lynntendo]

It's good that you pulled the knight out from behind her, gives her a clearer silhouette, but I would move him further to the background. If she is the focal point of the piece right now he's close enough in contrast and level of detail to be confusing and competing with the focal point.