Looking for advice on BG & lighting

[CybrGfx]

... I started this image a good month or so ago, and just stopped because I realized that I hadn't made any thought to the background...(except that i wanted fire). Reading some of the other threads, this is definitely a huge no-no, and i'll learn from not planning out my compositon better.

I'm aiming for this character to be strong, yet sad at the same time. I want him to have a quiet defiance about him. Here, he is holding his daughter, seeming to protect her from something that is not depicted in the image. The fire represents the story i'm trying to convey - this boy is accused of being a demonic being and is condemned to burn at a stake. Eventually, he will have 6 pairs of wings, and a background... but after many attempts i have not been able to sketch a decent scene.

If anyone has any advice, please let me know.Ali, my advice is to stick with your initial instincts, and stop with this image. This is honestly not even a decent Comp Sketch for you. It looks almost nothing like you are describing. Not Good. At all...

Is is a boy, or is it a man?
You cannot express 47 emotions in one image. You will be lucky if you can decently convey just one. At best, you can combine two and have the viewer able to follow along. Choose. Strong and Defiant, Strong, yet Sad, or Sad but Defiant.
Burning on a stake is nowhere close to standing waist deep in fire...
Where will you PUT 12 wings on that body???
WHAT IS the background supposed to be? Don't even think about starting again without having some thought and effort put into a decent foundation. You now see how futile it is...
You need to firm up your backstory a lot, and then work on composition. This piece is good for inspiration, but is not worth the extensive amount of time to adjust it. Start over. As it is, it looks like a badly drawn woman holding a baby, standing in a lake of fire, trying to remember where she left her car keys. The face looks vacant.

~C

[Eikoae]

arghh! it's that bad, huh?
alright, looks like it's back to the basics for me.

I pulled out my paper and pencil last night and started some face studies:

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e366/Mordicante/practice02.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e366/Mordicante/practice01.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e366/Mordicante/wip_ghosts.jpg

i'm trying to teach myself to paint values in photoshop. better anatomy, better composition, lighting... everything :)

i'm hoping to take one of these (probably the middle image), and working with overlaying some skin palettes to practice with tones and blending.

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