New WIP

[Kya Hill]

I have a new character I'm trying to develop, right now its just a bust. I sketched her head on paper, tried to keep it small but it wound up taking up all the room so I had to sketch the headdress in PS. She's The Sea Dragon Empress. I wanted her neck to be long since she's going to be a very tall woman. I only have two layers for my values right now. Is it working? Do I need to fix any proportions/perspective issues?

[_Devilry_]

I think you need to revise the line drawing. Her jaw is teeny tiny and her nose is askew. Try and sketch her skull on top of your drawing on a new layer and imagine how the bone structure shapes her features.

[Kya Hill]

I followed Devilry's advice and revised her jaw. I also think that the seahorse was skewed so I blocked that in as well.

[Kya Hill]

Resketched the seahorse. Added more to her face on a new layer.

[Grunler]

First, I'd suggest giving this figure some personality. Not just in her facial expression, but in the tilt of her head and her body language as well. Show some sense of how the subject stands, sits, or lounges. From the very beginning you're neglecting everything from the jaw down. Also, every element of the subject is in three quarters view, which is rather static.

I would establish a more definite light source. Also, hold back on the headdress until you have a more solid structure for the head. Otherwise, every time you make a change to the anatomy you have to make a change to the costume, which is needlessly time consuming.

[GoldSeven]

One tiny bit of advice from me (this being something that I keep doing wrong too) - when you sketch digitally, keep your brush tip smaller. With lines this strong, you'll have no idea later of where he form really ends. That just opens up opportunities to end up with skewed anatomy further down the line even if your sketch was sound.

[Kya Hill]

@Grunler: When you say "neglect from the jaw down" do you mean I should bring up the quality/make it as solid as the face? And shouldn't everything be in 3/4 view to follow the same perspective?

I'll do more thumbs to bring out a sense of her character.

[Grunler]

Oh, about the three-quarters thing. I'm having trouble explaining it words so I'm hoping these images will express the idea. I am by no means saying you should follow my example; This is just to get the idea across:
Paintover:

[Kya Hill]

@Grunler: LOL! Ok, I see now. You were saying I should have a more interesting gesture/pose! I like your PO. Its awesome. Thanks!