[quote=enkas]
Woop, I'd like to tag along with this again.And here's one of the newer things that I dare to show in this thread.
[/quote]

Awesome -- I'll add you to the roster!

[hider= paintover] [img]http://i.imgur.com/kBWwwbA.png[/img][/hider]

You need to do some anatomy studies -- not only will it help you create less stiff feeling poses, it'll also help you to know how to render your lighting and correctly drape your clothing. By knowing how the shoulders sit, I can then hang my fabric accordingly -- notice how the shoulders on yours feel almost puffy compared to mine? It's because you're not sure where the muscles are sitting. (As an example.) By understanding how the facial planes sit, I can then add in lighting and shadow in a more convincing way. Take where you have the nose, for instance -- you don't know how to construct the underside of a nose -- I can tell that you're guessing. And that's ok; it just means that you need to do some studies to beef up your knowledge. (NBD. I still have to do anatomy studies, too. It's a never-ending thing because the body is so complex!) 

Values. Your piece needs more contrast to help define lighting directions and the shapes you're trying to render. Don't be afraid to pick brighter brights and darker darks -- they can only help you! Notice how when I start adding in darker shadows and a few more highlights you can now definitively tell the direction the light is going. (Even though it's a cloudy/subtle lighting.) You should do some still life work to help you become more comfortable with painting ranges of value. (Still life works are wicked helpful for improving at rendering lighting. Seriously. Can't recommend them enough.)

Now, this last bit has to do with storytelling elements and atmosphere. I think you meant the white bits to be falling snow? (At first I thought it was a pattern on his kimono/robe thing, but then I noticed some of it against the greenish mountains in the background and figured it had to be snow.) Let me ask you this -- if it's cold enough to be snowing on the ground level, wouldn't those hills/mountains behind him have snow on them? It always snows at higher elevations first because it's much colder up there. So, I'd either make the mountains snowcapped or ditch the snow in the foreground -- you can't have both, really. Secondly, your guy is standing on flat ground in front of the viewer -- so why are the clouds slanting down to the lower left side of the picture? If he's standing on flat ground, the clouds should mirror that. (They always line up with the horizon.) If you meant for the piece to be drawn at a more dynamic Dutch angle (a.k.a. when a piece is slanted for drama), then you still have to paint the clouds to mimic whatever horizon line you choose. (Meaning the guy would have to be tilted as well.) 

As far as the atmosphere goes, do some studies of cloudy days. You get a lot of atmospheric fading as things recede into the background. Take a look at this picture I took the other day from the top of Rockefeller Center.

[hider=atmospheric perspective] [img]http://i.imgur.com/j9JdgwS.jpg[/img][/hider]

Look at the way things in the distance fade out. All the moisture and particles in the air on a cloudy day (and sometimes even on sunny days if there's enough moisture and dust in the air) obscure things as they get further away from the viewer. The more distance there is between you and an object, the more atmospheric perspective there is between you and the objects. Keep this in mind when doing backgrounds to help establish depth in your paintings. When you fade that mountain out a bit and darken the Samurai in the foreground, he starts to pop out a bit against the further away background. The more you exaggerate that, the further the background will feel from the foreground. I'd suggest looking at pictures (and while walking around in life) and trying to pick out how things look in the distance to you, versus how your foreground elements. When you start seeing/understanding how atmosphere works, it'll really help to bump your pieces ahead.

[quote=LowKey123]
I want to sign up for this. I'm actually trying to do some animations and some other things as well as drawing in my spare time.
[/quote]

Sure thing. I'll add you to the list, too.