How can I improve this picture ?

[Keepal]

- Sorry I just saw there's a Personal Art Thread, I moved my post to this one viewtopic.php?f=54&t=51482 -

[Cyanade]

I painted over the base image to demonstrate what I mean:
https://ibb.co/iDZ90z

What I did:
- Upped the contrast by making the shadows darker (and redder) and the highlights more pronounced
- There was some form shadow but it was missing occlusion and cast shadows so I added them in
- People look at the face first and their attention tends to concentrate there so that’s where I focused on too. Small details like the shadow cast by the eyelid on the eyeball and the lighting of the glasses. Also adding highlights to the eyes is absolutely crucial to remove that “dead” look. If you want to improve a portrait, the face is the key. The body doesn’t matter as much as long as the face and hands look correct. (Sorry, I was too lazy to detail the hair)

In short 2d is the same as 3D, it’s the lighting that sells it

[Keepal]

Hi Cyanade !

I really like what you did here ! The face is really more attractive and not "without life" as before.

I think I will try to do something that will look like your modifications but maybe with less light,she seems too bright for me but that's a very nice work anyway and I will take your advices and try to apply them !

By the way I moved my post to Personal Art Thread and if I post something else about my work it will be here for now.

Thanks again

[Cyanade]

Oh! I assumed that was the lighting you were going for because of the highlights on the original image.
With the lighting removed, the body looks wet or plasticy:
https://ibb.co/hVTrXp
The only way to make it look more natural is to make the lighting stronger.

So unless you're going for the wet or plastic look, I would suggest removing the highlights altogether so that it looks more natural.
Thread change noted and good luck!