so here are some details: political propaganda poster that promises to fight organized crime, right across the street there’s some blood on the wall and a message that says “guerra per sempre”, you can see better some background detail and on the window we see boss shaking hands with his “consigliere”…
critics and suggestions are welcome…
done some work on the agent…darkened whole image… seems to me there’s not much left to do…maybe I’ll add some more details, some falling snow…
I’ve added some new elements, worked on some details, there’s light snow falling now… it’s almost finished, I’ll probably send my final image this weekend…
Sanja, I think your image is fabulous. The detail and setting create such a terrific mood. My only concern is that I can’t see the agent too well. Just a suggestion - is it possible to have a small light source directly behind him that would just hint at his silhouette from the left side of the pic? Maybe a small lamp on the side of the building? Otherwise I love the image.
thank you for your comment, I know i should try to fix that, he is way too deep in the shadows…a small light source should take care of that but I don’t want to expose him too much either…
I like the development of this image. You’re thinking all the time, and it is certainly showing - the image is really coming together.
I look forward to seeing what you end up with.
It’s a really beautiful setting you’ve worked on. For a while, I was wondering if you just hadn’t gotten around to adding the characters yet. Only after I scrolled up and saw earlier versions did I figure out where you placed the agent. So I completely agree with madbot. (Madbot’s solution occurred to me as well. Or maybe you could use the red light from the neon sign to add a bit of a red rim light on his right side.) You need to strike a balance between having your agent hidden (like a real agent would be) and showing enough that the viewer can spot him easily… It’s like the way in theatre people don’t turn fully towards each other to talk to each other but instead do what’s called “cheating” themselves to face the audience more than they would in “reality.” It’s this cheating that makes a compromise to make the scene more accessible to those watching. Likewise, I suggest you consider cheating the lighting so that the viewer can tell what’s going on here even if it’s less realistic. But it’s your choice… either way, lovely landscape painting! 
Hey Sanja,
Looking good, maybe its on darker side, or at least the light isn’t bouncing off the walls, but very nice setting,also love the snow, cheers
Rupy
so how about this…? I’ve lightened the whole image a little bit, and added that new light behind my agent, hope you can spot him better now. and thank you for the constructive critiques, I’m glad you like the image… 
Hi! (sorry my bad english…)
very interesting image !
Good compositiond and idea!
The new image have more interest elements, , but (my opinion…) I would give more protagonism to the Agent its missed a little bit.
I like the Night and snow mix, and the winter atmosphere.
Cool image!:buttrock:
Of course you are welcome to comment my image…
marianof83
Sanja,
your work is impresive! I’m a big fan of mafia movies and you managed to give the genre your style. congratulations!
Thank you both for your comments and critiques! what I wanted was for the alley itself to be the main “storyteller” and for the agent to blend in the environment… the feeling behind the keywords of this challenge “secrecy”, “espionage”, “story” is what I hope is visible the most in this image, they are what guided me through the whole process.
This is my first sketch with the mafia/secret agent theme and I’m glad that someone who knows the genre better than me feels that I’ve hit the point with this one
I’ll post some close ups of the details soon…
there’s a new shop around the corner so the agent is now under some green/blue neon light from the back side…
this part of the image, with the hotel and the bar and that side alley and the top floor apartment window and that blue one right below it is the absolute favorite among my family and friends, I hope you like it too…there’s something about that red-blue neon lights contrast, and the white of the snow and the dark of the night…
I really, really enjoyed watching this progress. The contrasting colors, the depth of image and just the overall style is fantastic.
