Tried to take suggestions into account.

Thanks Cow, your suggestion has been taken into account.

Hair, shirt, basically polishing everywhere, increased contrast...

Oh darn I forgot about that ear.

This is really amazing, already, in its atmosphere.  It was a bit uncanny because Helm linked me to this and I could have sworn I had imagined the same thing before.  You're doing a better job than I could !

I had something like it mind when I drew the icon too so, uh, well spotted!

I think what's happening with the perspective, is that the base of the nearer creature is too low, and the curvature too obvious. That makes it appear closer to the viewer, and that throws off the apparent scale (judging by the birds that are flying in front of it).  Based on the size of the figures in the foreground as well it seems like the creature is quite close, maybe closer than you intend?  I think basically you have to tilt the whole thing down.  It might also add to the image if you make the fog effect a bit more pronounced, making them seem more massive.

Er, I tried doing an edit but failed.  Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

That's really quite nice.  Strong design.

And Ben, that mockup is pretty lovable.  I think you should continue the outlines on the dude's arms though, for consistency (and so they don't disappear against the ground).

thanks for the replies
helm, id be interested in hearing your thoughts on selout as i do not intentionally try to create it, i just try to do what i think looks good, so maybe im overlooking something.
maybe you can show an example or edit?

I am not Helm.

But the first thing I thought when I saw this, was that the outline works well some places, and in other places it becomes nonsense.  I think it's actually as simple as not going to a darker colour on the end of a horizontal or vertical stripe of outline.  I think you're using it like shadows just clinging to the edge of the object but because these groups are so microscopic, and separated by pixels of lighter colors, they look sort of jagged like burrs.  This is most visible on the bull horns, where the color of the isolated outline bits is significantly darker than the area it's attached to.



In some places this works fine, but in some places (horns) it sticks out.  I don't think you can suggest a continuous edge with such a harsh disparity in value.

I tried an edit on just the head/horns to try and demonstrate what I mean about making the outlines more contiguous.