Temptress!

[MarkMyWords]

Thanks Bruce, yes others have mentioned that, so I fixed it and a few little tweaks here and there.

I've played around with the foliage and this is what I think looks best, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[handrawn]

reckon much better with the trees in - good touch

actually the lady outside looking slightly away is not that far out of character for the period - too horrified to look directly?

would fit I reckon, not that I've read that many 40/50's pulp fiction mags [he lied]....

[a4hire]

Oh, I see the lady outside has already looked , and out of shock she has turned away and can not bear to look again!
The trees look good!

[MarkMyWords]

Does she still seem to be looking away?

Perhaps its just the resolution of this upload obscuring it, but I moved her eyes so she was looking at them.

Thanks Steve and Bruce, I think the client was probably right (aren't they always?).

[raynerj1]

Have you tried a little darker shade of green on the tree tops. Most night time silluottes are almost black... A very drak green maybe, but not the bright green you have.

[MarkMyWords]

Yes, I took the actual colour from the womans dress, but I wanted the foliage to be subtle and not make the image too 'busy' so I choose a tone similar to the sky, it's just there to basically break up the flat sky and give a subtle frame to the figures, it would be fine even if most people didn't conciously register it.

Perhaps it could use some tweaking, but I have to call a halt or I'll never stop messing about with this LOL! Keeping things this simple is new territory for me and I have to apply a little discipline and say STOP!

I'm quite happy with the way it is looking now, thanks for your help John and everyone who has commented. This forum is a great resource for getting a fresh view of my work.

[handrawn]

can't see a great deal of difference in the eyes

I'd leave the trees just as they are yes - the tonal balance in the picture is right for what it is

PS and I think as I said, its fine as it is in respect of the eyes too, even with little difference - sorry half asleep having trouble typing

[MarkMyWords]

I'm not lying to you Steve, I promise I did move the eyes LOL! It seems obvious to me, because I' ve seen the high res version, but that shows the value of getting the opinions of others on these things.

This posted image is very small compared to the working size of 2000 x 1500 pixels and the printed size will be 12000 x 9000 pixels, so you will understand some subtle points are going to be difficult to see here.

Still, if I am going to try and sell prints at a later date I'm going to have to make the eyes more convincing. Perhaps I'll simplfy them for the display version, they have a distinct iris and pupil and even shadows from the lids too, but that detail is wasted on an image of this res.

Thanks for your help and advice on this, I really think these images have been improved dramatically with the advice and comments I've gotten here.

[Bob Hahn]

This is very good.

I'm looking at it, thinking what would I add? And I'm not sure! The only thought was for the woman outside, perhaps a purse falling from her left hand? No straps or handles on the purse - just a simple rectangular type. I dunno. Maybe, maybe not.

Looking good though!

-Bob.

[MarkMyWords]

Thanks Bob. You know, that's exactly what I feel everytime I look at this, somethings missing, but I think that is a consequence of trying to keep it simple.

I have to be disciplined about this and resist the temptation to keep adding detail. I had sketched in the curtains and sashes, detail on the window frames and all sorts, but the client wants a very clean and comic-like, but stylish finish (whatever that means). He is happy so I'll stick with this style for now.

You lot have helped polish these up no end! Thanks again, this is great.