@holleywilliamson That's not a bad question. The bad answer is: I am not sure.

I will have 5 characters to put into the town so I'm guess that the main focal point will be the Trader (she will be standing in front of that cart). Then the eye will swirl around to the blacksmith, farmer, inn keeper and alchemist. Maybe.

And of course, the title of the game will be on the box (lower left) as well.

Here is the updated (pretty much finished) picture:

Might be a weird tangent on the upper left (tree branch/building) so I'll probably adjust it. The other thing is that the edges of the image will be wrapped around the box top. Probably 1-2" of it.

Hmmm...not sure if it's the fact that the bunny's head is mounted that is making it creepy.

In fact, I'd say it is the fact that the animals are "sorta" looking at the viewer or boy...it is kinda ambiguous where they are looking honestly.

It would possibly be less creepy if you just had the animals staring ahead (to the left of the frame).

However, even then, I can't decide if the boy is looking up with tears welling up in his eyes or is like "hey...wait a sec..." which is kinda funny--but still kinda sad.

It could be that the overall color pallet lends itself to a melancholy feel.

Personally, I think the ottoman is good as is. In fact, I think you've mastered form, lighting and material on 90% of this piece. It's just incredibly good.

The one crit I would have is that the animals themselves are coming across a little "fake"--not sure if that's the right word. For example, the deer neck (which comes across as very long, imo--maybe shorten a tad?) appears to be made of a smooth material rather than short fur.

But this is just so great overall. Portfolio piece for sure.

PS (or any thing with layers) it can make the "transparent" liquid process (or smoke, or ghosts, or magic, etc) a LOT easier.

With the liquid on one layer, add a layer mask to it (for non-destructive editing--if your program doesn't do layer masks use a low opacity eraser), take a brush with low opacity, and "paint out" sections of the liquid. That way, the layer behind it will show through.

This will get you a certain percentage of the way there but then you'll obviously still have to paint in specular highlights, shadows and whatnot. For that a reference is invaluable.

@christine-garner I'm very interested in this process--I'd love to know more! I looked at asset forge a bit and I'm not sure I completely understand it.
Do you use Asset forge and blender in tandem? Or was this scene (trees and house) just asset forge?

How easy/difficult was it to make?

Did you create it "head on view" and then rotate?

I have a lot of difficulty with scenery/landscapes (particularly dwellings) and for a long time I've thought that I should learn some kind of 3D modeling program just to get some the basic shapes and perspectives down. Once I have the framework I'm fine, but I spend hours and hours trying to draw stuff that I sometimes end up completely scrapping.

As far as this piece: I am liking this early stage--I definitely get a sense of being closed in.

really great!

big time red flags.

these are all really great!

I think on the first one it would be worth it to spend more time on the lighting of the little girl--you've got so many gorgeous things going on that the sunlight is coming across as a little "generic"* on her. Also, I think that the lizard is a little too bright and a little flat.

*I think it needs some banding effects, for example.

@Jason-Bowen interested in your series on painting a master piece. I know those videos can take a reeeealy long time to make (not to mention the actual the painting!).

Can't wait to see the progress

@collector Perfect---you're doing it man!

I think this tells us a lot and will help everyone help you. In some sense you are right: it is a "simple" drawing. Therefore, 8 tries at almost an hour each simply tells me that you are still solidly in the practice stage--which, obviously, is where everyone starts!

The good news is that if you continue doing things like this you will move out of the practice stage and into the next.

The GREAT news is that in order to do that you simply have to keep drawing things--which is great because we love doing art right?

Feel free to do a color version but honestly, if it's overwhelming for you then at this point I'd say stick to working on studying drawings.

Will Terry has a ton more "reference" material out there on the web and, of course, there are others.

Maybe start a sketch thread and post your studies with the original on one side and your copy on the other. Do a bunch of those. Like a lot.

And then a few more. Everyone is different but it'd be good to get it down to where you could sketch that frog in...I don't know...5 - 10 min*?

*I'd like to hear from others here if that's a reasonable time for that piece of art. Obviously, if you are coming up with that type of drawing from your head it might take a lot longer. Sometimes I think my sketch phase is as long as my painting phase--I'm constantly erasing and starting over. I can spend hours on an initial sketch. Again, that's when I'm creating the scene/character from scratch.