okay we need to go back to the origanal image, forget its for a cover right now and it has empty space which i might add is needed because where will they put the text humm? to quote john howe... sought of when doing illustrative work for covers you need to leave room to incorperate text at the same time the image must look finnished as a whole. now ask yourself does your image look and feel finnished. go back to what marta said in issue 50 "unnecerssary detail doesn't make art - its the balance of execution that does" are these details needed to aid the image or will they be a distration and take away from it? if you think the execution is lacking then you need to revisit it from the beginning, go right back to what you wanted to portray and find something that works with that origanal theme rather then adding details that dont suport the theme in anyway.

 the theame in away is a pheonix right? so its rebirth, now think of other things associated with rebirth, rebirth doesnt necercerily mean death, it could be moving on from one path to another, a country reviving itself under new leadership and many other things. go back to the roots of the painting and find the lacking details that if you still feel are needed from that, rather then trying to take something just for the sake of detail

hope this helps even though it doesnt tell you what to add :/

alx:

Feng Huang is what we call the phoenix back home but it is generally associated with the empress (in much the same way that the five talons dragon represents the emperor) so I was expecting to see her wearing an imperial crown... Except for the fact that her hand is covering it anyway. Also, I might've mentioned that Chinese don't traditionally wear togas except that you finished the piece before I even had the chance to mention it because you are WICKED QUICK!

As long as you were not striving for authenticity (which you obviously weren't) there is no reason to sweat the inconsistencies, since you have a solid piece. Turbo on to the next work and leave us lesser mortals to suck your wake and wonder when we can ever get a palette like yours

Just to add onto that, Feng Huang actually means two animals: Feng is male, and Huang is female. But most Chinese refer to them as one bird.

Yes, Claire you should "bother" to enter! LOL! Good grief honey! Do it! 

What about some fire flies? Or work some flames into the piece somehow? Perhaps she has just risen from them?

Anyhoo, that's all I have for you at the moment. Good luck!

Beautiful piece.  

This is better!

Because I know are fabulous and can really make this girl sing.....

I would recommend looking at her left breast...it looks as if it could use a bit of blending there. Looks a wee bit off. Also her right armpit although lovely, seems a bit too smooth. There should be a bit more definition yes?

Please excuse me if you are already aware my dear! I just want this to be as astoundingly amazing as you can make it. 

Radish is correct. You have definitely raised the bar! :D 

...... I Can beat that.... maybe not lol.

Good to see your start the princess series again... is it only disney princess your going for??

it looks fantastic the colors and all, it gives me a warm feeling :)

only one thing is bothering me and that the head,  her right hand and the left wing look a bit like a cutout it doesn't blend with the background too well

but overall i think it is a great piece

Going back a few steps, you had some blueish tones around the tip of the left wing, and some definition of where the rib cage stuck out a bit on her right side. Both these things seem to have gone from the latest update, and I think it's detrimental to the image that they have.

Also, the anatomy around her right shoulder is looking a little bit fudged at the moment.

These are pernickety little things, but they can be rectified quite easily, and the image will be stronger for them.