Hey! First of all, bird! haha Really nice work so far! First, I’d recommend avoiding painting on a completely white background. It makes value control a bit harder, especially when it comes to highlights. Also, establish a clear light direction early on. If you don’t keep the light source in mind, it becomes easy to place light everywhere, which can flatten the forms and reduce volume. Before painting, I’d also suggest creating a clearer drawing of the armor itself—the shape of the plates, torso, and overall structure. This will save you time and make the painting process much smoother. A solid drawing foundation is key to strong painting. (Not always—some artists can sculpt forms directly through painting, but even then, they usually still have strong drawing fundamentals hehe.) Once I established a clear light direction (top right), the armor immediately gained better volume. For example, the shoulder pads feel much more rounded. Try thinking of each object in its simplest form, cylinders, spheres, etc. You’ll notice that realism doesn’t come from simply adding a background, but from properly defining light direction and form first. You can also add subtle texture to keep the armor from feeling overly polished, unless that’s your intention. And lastly, avoid painting purely from imagination whenever possible. References are always incredibly helpful! Hope this helps!
