Hey! Great work so far! I think it's a bit difficult to give feedback on everything you've mentioned, so for now I'll focus primarily on the value structure and lighting of your illustration. At the moment, the piece feels a bit flat because almost the entire scene sits within the same value range. There isn't much separation between the BG, MG, and FG, nor between the characters and the background, especially since you currently have a lot of "light over light." You can start by making the values in the background a bit lighter to create a stronger sense of atmospheric perspective. Remember that objects appear lighter as they recede into the distance due to their distance from the camera. You could also make the sand character in the background slightly smaller to better communicate scale, as right now everything feels quite large. Keeping the direction of the light in mind, darken everything that isn't facing the light source, especially the characters. You'll notice that by darkening them, the contrast between light over dark becomes much more apparent. Always look for those contrasts around your focal points, whether it's light against dark or dark against light. Avoid placing a dark character against a dark background, or vice versa. This also helps solve the issue with Elizabeth's dress blending into the sand, as both materials become more clearly separated. And lastly, I'd recommend darkening the characters in the foreground as well. Hope this helps! | Artwod Feedback