hahaha i'll be the party-downer here then with my comment oh no.
I love both sketches! I think the first one was more detailed, but yeah it was kinda static. However, the second one,
while it is more dynamic, the perspective for the tail looks a bit off to me? I think it has to be smaller in that
distance, especially since this way, the pose blocks the background a little too much. I would suggest making the pose
for the tail more ... flexible and bend it a little more to the left. : ) Still I really like the character
design~
As for how to color it and such, while colourful is a great way to go (oh yes, Aozora
loves colours~) , what you might want to note in an underwater scene and with this perspective, is that it would
be good if you make the colours brighter nearer to the front, and at
spots where the sunlight hits it through the water. Also, the objects around the mermaid, and in front of her, might do
with some blurring. Just to lend focus on the mermaid herself.
Erm, another thing to make it look natural, is to think about how you want her surroundings to be. I recall the Atlantic
ruins, that's good. But also, how the coral anemones and the seaweed will flow - it looks like the current is quite
gentle, and with the way the mermaid's hair flows, it looks like she's just propelled herself forward and is
coming to a slow stop - so the swishing anemones should flow outward and away
from her, but not too strongly. And possibly the nearby fish will be flicking away past her and away
too.
You should keep the sea above and behind her, definitely, so in that part the perspective works great. I feel like I
should see more sea above her tail though. xD Since I visually imagine
the perspective point to be behind her tail and to the left. Have you tried sketching perspective lines for this yet?
xD
Then again, I've always preferred background >> foreground character walls so I could be bias LOL.
Er, does that make sense @-@. I can already see the colours in my head personally xDDD.
