I’ve been working on this drawing for some time now (~14 hours) and I would really appreciate some feedback!
I’d also love some suggestions on color, as several pieces of his gear are brown: his belt, loincloth, turtle shell shield, and bags (It appears really muddled to me, especially with his shell being so vibrant - I think I need to adjust the value of the shield?).
I’m also thinking of adding either a landscape in the background or just some ground with plants beneath him.
I am really not into critiquing others work but I went through a question like you are asking about the shield on my last posted picture. I think if I had worked a bit more on the values I would have had better differentiation of shapes and I think values on the shell are what you need to work on, maybe some texture. Otherwise the picture is great.
Working on the values and shapes is a great idea! I definitely need to show the form better, especially the sections on the shell. I think I need to look closer at some references of turtle shells. I’ve added it to my to-do list. Thank you so much!
I’m really drawn in by the detail & texture of the face & neck. They have depth. So do the arms and legs for that matter. I like the stance too. Reinforces that this is a creature with it’s own heritage, not just a human in a costume. Maybe the shield looks flat in comparison because there is less range between the brights and shadows. As for background, a simple gradient wash perhaps. The character is so interesting on it’s own I don’t think much is needed.
Oh! Thank you so much for including some references that I can study! It looks like turtle shells definitely have a more coarse texture as well as smaller bumps. Maybe I can overlay one of the rock textures. As well as cast more light on the shell to increase the value range and show the ridges better. Thank you for your feedback!
This looks really nice!
I’d block in the background right away, it’s going to inform so much of what you need to do to finish this. Is it a misty scene with a lot of fill light? Hard sunlight? What kinds of reflections would the glossier parts here take on? Maybe it’s a sunset and the mushrooms etc. get a nice rim light?
Thank you! I’m learning backgrounds are one of the things I need to plan out before I start hahah. I set a soft warm light above. I’ll have to test out a few background ideas you’ve mentioned like the misty scene with a fill light or a hard light or rim light. I think adding a slight bounce light would be nice too. Thank you for your feedback!
Update on the Tortle! I added more value/form to the shield as well as some texture. I’ve also been adding the background. I really liked the idea of an old stone staircase, covered in foliage, leading to a castle wall. I figure the time of day is before noon so the light is coming in from the left.
I found some free to use stone textures for the columns in the front as well as for the wall as a base placement for the stones (I placed a oil paint filter mask over them but will need to continue working on them). I’m going to need to work on the values, lighting, and foliage too.
I had to downsize the image quite a bit since the file size was large.
Here’s a link to imgur of the larger file: https://imgur.com/a/WT6pm4P
I feel like the wall in the background is empty, so maybe I’ll add the tops of trees?
Thanks again for the feedback on the first image!
Very cool and the background looks great. Nice thing about digital artwork, you can keep experimenting.
Thank you @Sineater! It’s really nice to go back and change things! I’ll experiment more. 
Currently in a game where another player has a tortle druid. So I greatly appreciate this. It really helps understand his character in game more.
I think it’s fantastic so I don’t think there is any critique I would offer, but I would give some good alagory to inspire new portraits. I feel like tortles make good references to the idea of a world turtle. Something that feels as old as time and sees the longer term, more significant details of life. So I imagine them looking like they have the weight of the world on their shoulders (pun intended) and showing it all through their eyes.
Looks great!
Add in some cast shadows from the archway and the tortle to the ground, and fix the lighting on the pouches (they almost look like they’re glowing), and it will look pretty much perfect, I think.
I think the background looks good as is, as it’s not too distracting from the foreground. The only change I might make is to make it a little more clear where the stairs are going. It looks like they would turn left somewhere behind the tortle, but there isn’t a clear place they are going, since the wall looks solid. But I think it’s fine if you want to just leave it to the viewer’s imagination.
Thank you @Voronwe13!
I really appreciate your feedback! I’ve been at a standstill with the drawing for a few days now so your advice just gave me some really good things to work on as well as a few ideas I could add.
Looking at the drawing now I can see that the values need to be worked on! I’ll add some cast shadows from the archway and tortle like you’ve said, as well as from the wall. I originally planned for the stairs to turn left behind the tortle and to a wall with a door. There’s a slight shadow for where the wall extends out but the value needs to be worked on. I’ll also add a large door so it will be visible.
Thanks again!
