Thanks for the critique, Renderhjs. I definantely agree with you about the painting. I think I'm going to go back and repaint a lot more detail into the diffuse map.
I reworked the UV, repainted the texture, and spent some time adjusting the look in Marmoset. Not sure why the normal is looking off *Re-uploaded shots with Y flipped.
Does anyone know whether it's ok to use inspiration pictures for which one does not have the copyright in the presentation of the skin (like in this picture)? Or should I repaint the background myself?
Nice! The falloff for the joint is kind of odd around the jaw of the creature. I'd repaint the skin weights around there. There's too much stretching of the skin in front of the side fins it looks like.