I totally agree with what @Patrick Bosworth said about the lighting, and separating the planes of the head. I wanted to talk about your drawing. Because you didn't post the reference, I am going off your drawing. The biggest thing I see is the lack of structure, and because of that it lacks a solid feel. For example: the torso and the neck don't feel connected. the ear is way too high on the head. the eyes are flat and don't feel like they are set into the head. the hand is drawn pretty well, but is too small. By working out all the elements and structure before doing your finished drawing and painting, will create a solid base. I did a quick sketch to show you what I mean, I hope it helps :)

Reworked after taking some of @Martha Muniz suggestions. Also reworked some of the fingers on both hands as they looked a little wonky . Of course still happy to get any critiques/suggestions :)

Sorry, but I only had time to do one layout, I hope that's okay. I chose a script from on line, of a comic I have never seen, to see what I could come up with myself. I found myself being too influenced by what you did (because they are awesome of coarse). Thanks in advance :)

Hey Nils, I really like the emotion in this painting, you did a good job getting that across. If your going to be a realist painter, then you have to realize that a painting is only as good as your drawing. Good painting is good drawing. So, I am going to talk about your drawing. The biggest thing I see is: The nude woman's head is too big. Her body is misaligned and lacks correct anatomy. Her arms are also misshaped. The woman in white is missing a hand. and her face is not in perspective. I did a quick sketch to show you what I'm talking about. I hope it helps :)

Hey scrappypumpkin, You are on the right track. You simplified the shape well and you simplified the values. The one thing I think you need to do more is squint at the reference and compare the value you are using to other values in the reference. For example: the shadow side of the pepper is no where near the same value as the cast shadow on the table. I did a quick sketch to show you what I mean, I hope it helps :)

These are pretty nice, I like all the different angles you chose to practice. The only thing I would say to watch for is that all the faces seem kind of long, so keep an eye on your proportions. Over all though, nice job :)

What I'm seeing is that your shapes and facial features are all over the place. I would suggest you try using the Loomis method of head design. It will help you line everything up and create the right shape for the face. I did an example to show you what you can do, I hope it helps :)

Even though I'm pretty happy with these so far, I'm sure I'll probably change these up a little before the next stage, so any feedback is great.

You have a couple of things that you can do. To start with, your characters on the sides are getting taller as they move back in space. This is working against the perspective you have. To make the character feel suffocated by all these people, you could make him a little bigger, causing the others to be closer to him. I did a quick sketch to show you what I mean so that you could see the effect. I hope it helps :)

Hey Hunter, The biggest issue you are having is that you have no separation between your shadows and your lights. All your values kind of look alike and it is flattening out your forms. Part of the reason for this is because you are not comparing your values to other values in the image. For example: you have the white shirt the same value as the neck. But, there are no values in the neck that look like values in the white shirt, not even close. I did a little sketch to show you how you can organize your values when doing a rendering, I hope it helps :)

Hey Thong, What I noticed about your pear is the values. You have to make sure you compare your values with other values on the pear to make sure they are correct. I did a quick sketch to show you what I mean, I hope it helps :)

Hey Marek, The biggest thing I see is the lack of atmospheric perspective. The mountains in the background are too sharp and have too much contrast. This makes them come forward and ruins the effect of distance. Also, you need to use core shadows and reflected light to create form. I did a quick paint over to show you what I mean.

These are actually pretty good. The one thing you need to pay attention to is how wide some of the planes are, in particular with the pelvis. Also, make sure you are accounting for the tilts forward or backwards of the torso. I did some sketches to show you what I mean, I hope it helps :)

I tried to draw the second script before seeing the lessons about that script. I thought in this way I forced myself not to Copy the panel structure and layout used in the lessons

I did a sketch that tries to explain it as simply as possible, but basically, that crease happens when the eyelid meets the brow bone. I hope this helps :)

I like the idea and the poses, but it could use some work on composition. I would suggest you do several thumbnails to find the most dynamic composition before committing to your final drawing. I did a quick sketch to show you a more exciting composition, I hope it helps :)

You need to begin with drawing. If you want to do realistic portraits, it starts with good, solid drawing. Then you can focus on the painting part. One thing I will say, is that if you plan on doing many layers of acrylic paint, I wouldn't so it on paper.

Hey Antti, I think what @Liandro had to say is very profound and correct in his evaluation of why you are struggling. I wanted to add something that I noticed about you from your past posts. I think this is the biggest issue you are having: You do not plan out your images... and you do not use reference. How are you going to make a successful image if you don't plan it ahead of time. You should be doing thumbnails, value studies, color studies and compositional studies before you start painting the final image. How do you think book cover illustrators do it? They have to send the client at least 3 or more thumbnails to get approval on the final image. Trying to do everything from imagination is just spinning your wheels, you will never build up a visual library unless you study from reference. Non of the elements of your image will feel true because they are based on incomplete information. Using reference is not the same as copying nature or a photo, you are using it to study texture, lighting, color, mood, etc. Until you start doing these things, you will never be satisficed with your work.

Hey Chester, since you have spent so much time on gesture, you should start thinking about structure. I did a quick structure drawing of the pose you have here to show you what I mean, I hope it helps :)