The Band

I have this same image hanging on my wall, so I instantly recognized your first work in progress. The whole image is a pretty ambitious task and you completed it in four days with a consistent level of detail in each character, object, and background element.

The background, I have to say, is my favorite part. It has a very painterly quality to it, you can see the individual brush strokes as you zoom in close which I find to be a nice touch in any painting. How your light is interacting with the sky and clouds is every bit as realistic as the reference, though with your own personal artistic style thrown in. The only thing missing is rays of light coming in through the objects in front of the sun.

As for the owls, they all have a convincing texture to their feathers. I like the variation in color and light value, you have a good eye for such things. My only critiques here would be on Soren's legs. The way he is standing seems slightly off balance. On the reference poster, if you place a vertical line at the center point where his right foot contacts the ground, you'll see that the line continues on and passes to the left of Soren's face above. On this painting, it passes more or less through the center of his face, shifting his weight to the left so as he may fall weren't he gripping tight onto something. Fixing this would require rotating Soren's body clockwise just slightly, then moving his legs a little further to the left. Another thing to note would be the the slight transparency his right leg seems to have.

The other owls' positioning looks fantastic, especially Gylfie. Also, the lighting on Twilight's face is beautifully done. I love the use of highlights and hints at reflection in their eyes, giving the world an added realism. Your inclusion of small details like Soren's shadow and the "owl-made" perching branch lining the hollow's edge make for a very successful piece of artwork here. You can tell that a lot of time and effort went into bringing this picture to life. So, very well done. I look forward to seeing any future Ga'Hoole related artwork from you.