Hey! The main issue is that the character and the background feel disconnected—both in terms of values, lighting, and saturation. The light on the character seems to come from above, yet there’s a cast shadow on the background as if the light were hitting the character from the front. If that was the intention, I’d suggest avoiding front lighting, since it tends to flatten the volume. Also, some areas of the background are painted almost pure black. On top of that, both the character and the background are competing for attention because they share a similar level of saturation. What I did was first establish that the light source is above the character, so I shaded the lower areas (which are not the focal point—neither in the character nor the background) and kept the upper areas more illuminated. The neck and other parts not directly exposed to the light were also shaded accordingly. I reduced the saturation of the background so the character stands out more and to avoid both elements competing visually. Always keep in mind the importance of controlling your values and maintaining a clear separation between character and background—either “light on dark” or “dark on light.” And if your character has saturated colors, make sure to control the saturation in the background. Hope this helps!
