You don't suck at coloring. Get that idea out of your head, please? There are few things that could be worked on here, true - but I think Jenny Dolfen's tutorial here [link]
can explain better than me... especially the shadows and highlights section might be interesting to you.
It's very pretty as it is, too... though this picture looks like it could look even better (especially given the subject matter) with some more contrast... that is, darken the color of his "tunic", strengthen the saturation on the red parts of his outfit, and perhaps make his cloak a different (darker) color. Feanor certainly is at his most vivid here, so a more vivid look might look good on the picture.
I'm not too sure what to think of the background, either. The fiery burst behind him loses some impact due to the generally light background... but then Feanor will not stand out enough (again) if you darken the picture too much... hrm. What about using the parchment color for a general background, with a bright burst of light instead of fire? - Just suggestions, and not very good ones, probably. :/
Thanks! I just realised a couple of things from that tutorial, which might be part of the reason why I never mangedto get the colours to look good.. I've been using a somewhat similar (although as it seems, needlessly complicated) method, but there were some things I didn't do.. I'll have to try this out!
Wise move!
can explain better than me... especially the shadows and highlights section might be interesting to you.
It's very pretty as it is, too... though this picture looks like it could look even better (especially given the subject matter) with some more contrast... that is, darken the color of his "tunic", strengthen the saturation on the red parts of his outfit, and perhaps make his cloak a different (darker) color. Feanor certainly is at his most vivid here, so a more vivid look might look good on the picture.
I'm not too sure what to think of the background, either. The fiery burst behind him loses some impact due to the generally light background... but then Feanor will not stand out enough (again) if you darken the picture too much... hrm. What about using the parchment color for a general background, with a bright burst of light instead of fire? - Just suggestions, and not very good ones, probably. :/