Hello there! Hey! Great work! I really love your character design and your painting style! The color palette is just as pleasing! What your character could benefit from is reinforcing certain shadows, especially by adding ambient occlusion in areas where it’s needed, such as the inner parts of the armor, where different garments meet, around the straps on the upper section, etc. Think about areas that are not directly affected by either light or shadow. Ambient occlusion is a technique that simulates soft, global illumination shadows where objects meet or block light, enhancing depth and realism. Understanding it can have a huge impact on how realistic your shading looks. I made a quick example of how you could incorporate this, but I highly recommend checking out the work of Dorian Iten, who has a video specifically about this topic, it can help you a lot! You can also check out a video by Marco Bucci called “Ambient Occlusion for Painters.” On another note, since you introduced a blue rim light, try adding it in other areas as well, like the arm, the pouch on the belt, parts of the character’s right shoulder, etc. You could also introduce a bit of ambient light from above, just make sure it doesn’t compete with your rim light. Hope this helps! :D
