Fanart- Sleeping Girl (Atelier Iris 2) +Speedpaint

Hello there! You have been visited by a Critique Ninja! We stealthily roam the site, looking to leave thoughtful and useful criticism, as per the spirit of CRITmas. Mind if I just hop on to business, then? Just swooping in and out again - that is the Ninja way...!

First things first: I really like how the colours work together, and the blue of the roses making her 'pop' as it were. She also looks very sereen.
I also like that subtle speckled effect on her clothes - makes the fabric look to be shimmering, of a sort!

One thing that caught my eye in a bad way, however, is that one hand which looks a bit off. Hands are always important to get right, since I find us, humans have as much interest in what a character's hands are doing as we have in their faces. Hands are part of the expression. Because hands are hard and the best of us all need to struggle to get remotely good at them, I dug up a tutorial I thought had some great pointers, for you to try out sometime and explore:
nemonova.deviantart.com/art/Ha…

If I have to pick nits, I also should point out that her body looks rather flat. No so much in the way that it is coloured, but there is nothing to suggest there's a female body underneath that fabric. I only spot some volume in those sleeves, where I think you did very well portraying the natural behaviour of cloth. Maybe for your next painting, try to include some suggestion of legs, a hipbone, something in there, showing through?

Overall though I think you can be proud of this picture, and I hope I wasn't too harsh with my criticism up there. That's not at all my intention!
Have a glorious day, and a Happy New Year!


(PS: don't mind the stars; I don't much like the rating system so I always give everyone the same amount.)


Cheers!