Digital painting, work in progress.

[Al_Ninio]

This is my first digital painting that's worth posting ANYWHERE.
I'm a total beginner at this so crits are more than welcome
I have absolutely no idea on how to paint the eyes, ears and hair, so tips on that will be greatly appreciated  



Gear used: OpenCanvas3Plus and a tablet.
Approximate time of work: 3 hours.

[TheYak]

I think it's going great!  It's got nice form, features & coloring.  After awhile, I'm sure you'll refine your technique so that something like this is done in 15 minutes instead of a couple hours.  It seems obvious from the picture that you're adjusting it as you go along and treating it quite a bit like a real painting.  I'd say just keep going the way you have been and you'll get this thing looking sweet.  

As for advice/critiques: 1) If you aren't, try and paint using a drawing or photo for reference.  While you're getting used to the technique, it can help keep things properly proportioned.  This brings me to 2) From the features visible, it looks like a head-on picture.  If it is, then it'll be difficult to keep proportion and depth and still have it not turn out flat-looking.  I don't know exactly what you have in mind but it looks like the face's right ear will be a little too visible if the head is, in fact, at an angle.  I hope you update as you go, I'd love to see how this turns out.

[Paper Carnival]

wow, that rocks!

nice colours and figure, if you want him to look a bit tanned (like a Spanish dude or something). Some areas might need more shading though

[Al_Ninio]

Thank you for the kind comments

YakSpit: I didn't use any reference... I... I don't know why, but using reference only makes me more confused...
I didn't really understand what you meant in #2, can you explain?

Guybrush Peepwood: Yep, he is supposed to be kind of tanned, and I have darkened the shadows a bit in a more up-to-date version of the painting (I haven't posted it yet because there is not much progress yet).

I also fixed a slight anatomical problem regarding the position of the ears, thanks to DodgeR for spotting it.

Oh, and I _will_ update as I go, don't worry!

[Matt Frith]

ITS GOOD, i like

Now finish it

[TheYak]

In #2, I was saying that it looks like a fully-frontal view but the shading and positioning of the features leads me to believe that it's at an angle.   Of course, there's a lot of artistic license available and you're free to use it.    For further clarification, compare the proportions and angle to a photo and see how they line up.  Of course, Picasso didn't have the most well-proportioned figures either.  

[Al_Ninio]

Ah, the reason to that might be that I haven't added the second ear yet, so it looks like a 3/4 view.
Must... add... ear.

[Al_Ninio]

Blargh.
I have decided to put this little piece on hold for a while...
I think I should focus on figure drawings more than paintings at the moment, because... Well, I draw crappy figures.
Bah.

[big brother]

That's smart of you. Every good art class covers figure drawing before portraiture.