Thanks! I guess it's the strong outlines that makes it look similar to stained glass. And the strong colours perhaps. I hadn't thought about it like that, so that's kinda cool. As for the details on the wings, I absolutely agree with you, but I have to give jalonso credit for that :)

Great work. I like the detail on the wings. Veiny. Reminds me a but of Larry Elmore's dragons (my favourites). Don't know why but the background has a sort of stained glass feel - like in a church that makes it feel gothic. Nice.

Thanks a lot. I see what you're saying about the castle. One of the challenges with this piece is that the cloudy weather should really be killing all the contrast (and colour), so I cheated by just keeping both. Looking back at it, I do agree that it would look more moody and appealing if the castle was a bit obscure and faded.

 The texture of the scales on the dragon is done beautifully and the placement of the limbs gives it a really nice sense of motion.

The castle does seem to stand out a bit too light, in my opinion, but the detailing in the surroundings is wonderful as well. I especially like the attention you paid to the clouds and the streams of light.

Good work. :)

Thanks, everyone. I'm glad if my dragon looks like it has a strut. As I wrote in the description, it's the first in what will hopefully be a series of seven. I'd be glad if I could put some character into each of them. Some might strut, others might slither. :)

 Great job! I loved watching the progress you made in your forum topic.

nice work cels

The dragon almost looks like it has a strut. Good work on a complex scene.

Thanks a lot!

 was very good, I followed your WIP

Thanks, guys!

Now that you mention it, Manupix, I see what you mean about the outline in the background, of course. Some very visible evidence from my initial method of giving everything black outlines and then, begrudgingly, tone the black down ever so slightly.

Great pic! It isn't with out its flaws but its definitely your best piece.

You definitely went far with this, of course there are lots of things left which could be improved, but that's the general case. Happy to see it in the gallery now, you did a great job for one of your first pieces.

 brilliant!  that WIP thread is amazing as well.  Jal's edit especially where he describes how we shouldn't think of colors literally.  I love your buildings too.  You certainly have a distinguishable style with them

I like this a lot! I have to disagree though, it's your first ambitious PA ;) Great forum thread too!

The colors are really great, and very much fit the theme and mood. I'd love to see more mixing and reusing of them in the piece though. Some blue pixels in the wings, some green in the scales, some reddish brown in the bg... this would unify the piece a lot more.

Outlines look good on the dragon, not so good in the bg! The grass behind the dragon is noisy, too much texture there.

Watch out for banding... mostly in the front leg, and wing edges.

I had kinda forgotten about this piece and was actually happy to see it waiting in the queue. You did great!