Finished full illustration for Sharlan! I've been looking forward to this piece for a while now, because I wanted the practice in painting vast amounts of foliage. I am striving to find that line between detail on everything, and implied detail. I LOVE painting detail, but it just as effective to paint implied detail on much of a painting. Because if everything is hyper detailed, it's distracting and busy, with no focus. I hope I somewhat pulled it off, though I need t practice it more.
I recommend listening to the song that inspired this piece - http://youtu.be/vouAtmE13vs
27 hours in Photoshop with an Intuos 3 tablet
[edit] Added some jewelry and decor that I had forgotten in the original upload.
Link
Hiraaetus
I think it works quite well. With the details getting lost in the distance, the loss of contrast as the background merges with the "fog of the atmosphere" (don't remember the right worde for it x3) and the use of shade and light to determine the need for detail. I like the pose; flowing with the musik but still aware to his surroundings. The satin-look of thedress and how you did the violin are great as well.