@RedmonBray: Thanks!

I really like this drawing, too

@Anonymous: I'd show you guys a picture but it's the middle of the night and she's asleep

@GrogMalBlood: I saw your other thread where you posted pics. This is a really good likeness of her. I love the pose.

@Tati5001: jackin mah swag bro, repost that to abstract, may get more stickers than here
cool stuff nevertheless ^_^

@Tati5001: I would love it if you redid this with a few small changes. Make an oval around her fingers, and reposition the two red ovals to highlight something more important, like maybe her shoulder and the whole word 'Claire'. The ovals should emphasize the important parts of the composition. That would make it a brilliant abstraction while still holding the integrity of what makes the original drawing good.

@Anonymous: How about you do it then.

@GrogMalBlood: better, except I think her facial expression is better in the first one. meh.

@Anonymous: Thanks for the input!
- because i can't really see it, how is her facial expression different?
... I think the eyebrow in the first one was a little more angled than reality so i fixed it
**Is the neck okay?to me it looks like a hairy neck :P i can't really get the shading to look right. If it were pencil i could smudge it a lot better

I really encourage input because i want to surprise her with this! :)

@GrogMalBlood: I think it is beautiful... I especially like the second one with the color, it just brings her to life a bit more and to me your emotions come across more with the addition of color you added.

@GrogMalBlood: wrote this just before you posted the new one:
((I can't pinpoint exactly what's different, it's a lot of very little things. It's just that the first expression looks like she's curiously contemplating something while looking at her hand, and the second one looks like she's bored or serious. There's a bit of innocence that was lost.
I don't think the neck looks hairy. I suppose it would be better if it was smudged a bit more. ))

This new one looks even better. More polished, of course, but I think you made the expression better too. Still not as good as the first, but better. I think I figured out what made the difference: the lips and the eyes. In the original, it looks like her jaw is very slightly open, which I liked a lot. For the eyes, I think the difference is where she's looking. She's looking at the space between her finger and thumb in the first, but it shifts down and left (from her perspective) in the second. I don't know why, but I like it better the first way.

@Anonymous: also, you're a great artist. This looks amazing, and I only have very small nitpicks.

@GrogMalBlood: take a pic of your own hand?

@Anonymous: oh yeaahhhhh... wait i don't have the same hands as her and i can't really ask her to pose or it'll ruin the surprise sorta

EPIPHANY: Right hand + mirror = left hand
(i'm so proud of myself)

I'm done.
Also I want to thank all of the people that posted on here giving quality advice.
I'd like to thank, as well, C418 Radio on Pandora, my Wacom Bamboo Capture tablet, and finally http://kuler.adobe.com/# for all of the color swatches

@GrogMalBlood: You also want to thank Claire, your significant other.

@Jiakko: I did thank her, and she thanked me ;)

@GrogMalBlood: how did she thank you?

@Anonymous: she sings and plays the piano and is a way better artist than me

@GrogMalBlood: oh gosh, now it looks like she's practicing telekinesis or something. :O
You got rid of the half closed eyes, man. I'd say it ruins it, but it still looks amazing. It lost the 'just woke up' feel and gained an 'awake and sexy' feel. It was very interesting to see the progression of the work, though, so thanks for sharing.

@Anonymous: Pourquoi? mon ami