My ever so unfinished art (2D C&C needed)

DarknessNox

Hello all *awkwardly waves* I haven't been much of a forum person in the recent years, but I figured I really need help so I can improve my skills. My intention for this topic is to post works and receive C&C on what and how I can improve them. My goal is to have a decent portfolio, because I'm struggling with finding a job in the industry. I really hope I can also make a friend or two and talk about art. If you have any questions regarding my works in some way, feel free to ask. And nice to meet you all!
P.s. if this is not the place for such topic please tell me. I figured sketchbook is not quite what I intended to do, which is finishing up illustrations and such, that's why I posted in here.

So this is the first image I want C&C on. I intended it as an illustration of Dragon Age with my character and her mabari. Being my usual self I started it around this time last year. I struggled a lot with the face and achieving the "semi-realistic" illustrative look. Also I'm bad at environments so any advice there is appreciated.

Also here is a little bit starting progress vs. looking at reference paintings in the style I wanted to achieve

MagicSugar

Looking good so far with the latest face rendering.

I'm not sure of the highly defined background.  I'm more towards showing depth of field.

Too symmetrical too in your composiiton.  The dragon is for the DA logo, right?.  If this is for a book cover it might make more sense, but compositionally and how you posed the figure...it's too rigidly symmetrical.  The huge moon behind the logo dragon, the linear ground path...aaach...

My brief observations based on your w-i-p...finish it up maybe it will show more what's strong and weak about it.

DarknessNox

Well that's exactly the point - to hear what's wrong before I finish it, because what's the point of completely changing an already finished piece?
I wanted it to be more like a cover. I got very inspired by the Inqusition cover itself and that was my main idea, but I'm still unsure how I can implement it better. Also about the depth of field - not my part xD I will have to look further into it, because so far the background is mostly doodles with brushes

beccatherose

Heya! This is a solid start. Your rendering looks like it's pretty strong, and it's good to see that you're looking at full compositions. That's a big step to take (one that I am also in the middle of) so it's pretty cool to see that you're making the transition!

A few things and pieces of advice- what stands out to me the most is that you're working in one small area at a time rather than moving all of the elements forward in the same time. While this works in some regards, keep in mind that it makes it much harder to control values and apply believable lighting. I'd recommend trying to work the entire image forward instead of just bits so that you have more control over the final composition. 
Check out Color and Light by James Gurney. The way that he explains light has been really improving my understanding of it, and it's making my techniques evolve. It's definitely worth picking up and putting time into, and I think it'll help you out! Keep working- and best of luck!

DarknessNox

Well thank you BECCATHEROSE that's very helpful. I generally know it though, but often forget to do it because when something doesn't go as I want I'm like stuck to it. I will follow this advise and will continue with the other things like costume and background. I will do something with the lighting, composition and perspective. I will definitely put an update these days
P.s. I also rarely do full illustrations like this one, so this is me pushing myself to get it to finish

DarknessNox

Hey all! I'm terrible at being active in forums, so here is something I started working on today. I had some spare time and decided to draw Rhaenyra Targaryen from "A song of ice and fire" the way I imagine she would look like. I think I need more dramatic lighting, although my process always starts with some bland lighting and then I enhance shadows/lights. I'm also not sure about the face. I moved the eye up a bit and the lips too.

Very rough beginning:


More work done:


I'm noooot sure I like her left eye now that I moved it up, so I would appreciate advice on the face mainly, before I move on to the other parts ^^
P.s. oh gosh I realize how small the picture is, I will make a close up