Brass Swan

[Ambient]

-mine
-ref (shrunk about 100x)
Mainly started as a lighting/anti-aliasing experiment; I angled the picture to better diverse the lighting. The base outline (highlights and shadows) traced from a photograph that I took (of a sculpture I own). I took 4 colors from the original image, and used Gale's Make Gradiation to generate 2 between each- 10 colors total, + transparency.
Issues that come to mind as the creator:
I'm not happy with the contrast in the back end of the shadows. This brings to mind as to use dithering or a larger color count to smooth this and the rest of the image, and to use dithering at all. I'd like to keep the color count at 16 or below, but I'll reluctantly increase it if absolutely necessary.
Not too pleased with the highlights along the neck, but seems rather dull without them.
The curve along the back of the neck bugs me, but whenever I blow it up to modify, I kinda get lost in the anti-aliasing, lol.
In the end, I'd like to anti-alias all the edges, but I don't want it to look cruddy on most backgrounds. Should I do one, the other, or both?

I'm naturally reluctant to give reference photos because I hate how they show where I failed. Is it worth showing where I failed while showing where I succeeded?

[Arne]

To break the monotone, I'd probably try making a gray/cold/desaturated ramp and a warmer more saturated ramp. Well perhaps not complete ramps, but at least some alternative colors here and there to give it dimension.

[Manupix]

The light coming from the left is cold, even greenish; that from the right is much warmer. Colors in your piece should reflect this.
The warmest feel comes from the transition line between highlight and shadow along the body (where the wing would be), I almost see some warm oranges there; the highlight near the tail is warm yellow.
Also that transition is softer than you made it.
Don't trust software to pick your colors! Instead try hard to see those colors which look like they're there, but aren't really.

[Ambient]

The light coming from the left is cold, even greenish; that from the right is much warmer. Colors in your piece should reflect this.
The warmest feel comes from the transition line between highlight and shadow along the body (where the wing would be), I almost see some warm oranges there; the highlight near the tail is warm yellow.
Also that transition is softer than you made it.
Don't trust software to pick your colors! Instead try hard to see those colors which look like they're there, but aren't really.

Yeah, the transition is much softer because of the freaking focal blur *hates on camera.* I set the exposure to the neck... Probably should have shot the base of the neck. However, looking at it on my desk, it is softer than what I made it- just not near as soft as the photograph.

Large change in pallet hue. Contrast reduced on tail. Wing less sharp. Modified the wing area heavily.
Overall, I like it much better, but I feel that the lighting is inconsistent and can't put the thoughts to pixels.