Hello everyone
This is an illustration made as part of character design process, made for a personal project of mine, it’s a futuristic secret agent or spy. The character might need some work, but the image itself I’m calling it done. Since it didn’t make it to the gallery I figured I’d post it here for some feedback 
The collar area looks haphazard–sort of scribbled in, and the whole arm and shoulder area is very vague. A character design isn’t just the main focal points and then the rest are vague–it’s a whole package, with everything defined and locked down–this is especially true if you want to display it publicly as a piece of artwork for presentation. The left arm also seems to be hidden on purpose, as if you didn’t want to waste time on defining it. That is also a no no. Present a compelling, complete package whenever you want to display your work publicly in a community gallery.
Hey, thanks for the feedback! As a piece of artwork, you’re probably right on the reasons it wasn’t accepted in the gallery. Cutting the legs doesn’t help either.
The scribbled/sketchy aspect is a personal preference of mine though, everytime I see the stages of a painting the most aesthetically compelling are the ones before the final version :surprised But of course, for that to work it needs an artist with a very confident stroke, which is not my case yet.
About the design, being the only person working on the project allow myself to only define as much as I need right now. I might revisit it later if I need more details.
In order to improve your brushwork, you need to learn the difference between brushwork that is deliberately expressive, and haphazard, careless, sloppy brushwork. Too many mistaken brush economy, speed, and carelessness as “painterly,” and they are not the same thing at all. If you look at painters like John Singer Sargent, Richard Schmid, or even Craig Mullins, they don’t achieve those expressive brushwork by being sloppy and fast–they actually paint slowly, deliberately, and each brushstroke is carefully calculated and thought about before it is applied to the canvas.
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