Relentless criticism wanted

[Crass]

I am working full time towards becoming an artist, I post most of my stuff in my sketchbook but I thought I'd try here for some straight up, harsh criticism of my work once in a while.

I've been doing som digital figure paintings, here's one I did today. It isn't super tightly drawn or rendered, I do believe I could take this further if I wanted to, but really what I want is some honest critique on what I've got here, what am I doing wrong, and what am I doing right? What should I think about when I start the next one to make it better?

This was made from photo reference by the way.

[Nezumi Works]

Her left arm seems a bit longer than her right. Otherwise, nothing leaps out at me.

[Crass]

Yeah I see it now, her left arm is too long I think. Thanks.

[eb_sculpt]

It looks good. I would use a light gray background not black. You will be able to push your values more and make the painting pop with a lighter background. If you are going to do direct photo-reference paintings try something the camera can not reproduce. Try different abstract color variations in skin tone or some type of fade. My point - try to make it look like it's not from a photograph. What your doing is great for practice, but not very interesting as a finished piece. Good luck!

Just thought of this - The phoenix rising from the ashes. Her hair a blazing inferno. The gray cold skin cracking a way and revealing a beautiful warm hue, and so on.

[Crass]

Thanks for the input. As for doing something creative, I'm already planning on it. I will definitely do stuff like that in future paintings, but I'm a little torn whether I should actually spend time on that stuff now, or if I should stick to anatomy and shading issues until I can really nail it and then start transitioning towards more imaginative things. Interesting about the background though, the reference photo had a black background so that's probably why I thought it looked best against the values of the figure.

[Giacomo]

This looks fine, but probably the best thing you can do at this point is to enroll in as many life drawing and painting classes as you have the time and money for. Copying photos is an OK way to learn if you have no other way, but working with a teacher who can help you see color and form is absolutely priceless.

Just my two cents.

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

Looks quite nice. Watch the proportions though, she's got a very short torso so her head looks too big and her limbs too long. For the values, how many light sources are there in your photo? Except for that strong lighting on her left right arm and torso, all the light areas are kind of the same value, so I cant tell whether you have 2 light sources or whether your reflected lights are too bright. If it's the latter, make sure they always stay lower in value than anything in the light area.

-Sid