Eyes as the Sea

So they have this new room at OC... well actually, several, but I had to try this one--The Calender--a theme-a week room, while the current theme was still up; Bikinis.

Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to draw a girl in a Bikini.

This one was well-received at OC, and I guess I can see why. Though by no means do I think it's the best... It did turn out pretty well. I was happy to finally use the patterned/tones in the updated Shi painter--but admittedly I had such a hard time picking a color scheme!

I actually started doing the bg first on this piece, which I think was a good move, since I usually tire towards the end of pieces but by reversing the order not only did she seem to FIT more into the background, but I kept my stamina up by finishing with fun stuff like hair and eyes. That said, I tried to emulate 's hair coloring technique--particularly as it appears in the latest collab of ours. The hair's more realistic (versus my usual chunky unrealistic approach) contrasted with the more anime-type eyes for a better effect.

For the first time in... ever, really, the majority of my family had no major quibbles about it (though my mom pointed out a "sore tooth" which I fixed--her jawbone used to be more angular and pointed out awkwardly) which made me feel good. But... I still didn't feel satisfied, really. I think next time I need to work on my skintones more--some of the yellow/orange highlight contrasts with the more white/pink ones. The fact it looks more airbrushed than flesh doesn't make me happy. And of course the sluttiness...

Anyways I believe I've blabbered much to long now o.o... to sum it up; is there anything I should work on? I've heard a lot of good things about it, but not many negatives XP;