If you are talking about subsurf (subdivide smooth) then I guess yes. Atleast for handpainted/low poly you have to keep the triangle count as low as possible. If an edge loop doesn't affect your models silhouette or isn't needed for deformation then you should remove it.
The software is not important, since you mostly used round brush. Getting the accessories doesn't mean you're gonna know how too, it's just like drawing, you need practice. To do handpaint you need to know how to paint as well as colors and light. The tablet need a bit of time before getting use to it, so don't worry about…
I apologize as this is one of you older pieces and it's possible you've already heard this but I've always been told to make sure you have both dark and light values to make your handpainted textures pop. I took your textures and desaturated them in PS and it looks like it could use some more highlights. Both characters…
Wow! Scrolling down this thread and seeing your improvement is very very impressive! I'm looking to try out some Hand painted textures myself. I was wondering uses Mudbox to do this? I have painted textures in Mudbox most recently on the game I Am Bread. I love the feeling of painting onto a model, especially with a…