Rachel Terrora, Queen of Halloween Town

I owe RTNightmare  a huge apology for how late this prize critique is. She requested a critique on this piece as part of her prize for participating in the DDSuggestionDrive  and it's my pleasure to oblige. 

You asked for feedback under the following headings, so here goes:

Comment...
This is a character piece - one of my favourite things to draw myself as a matter a fact - depicting your heroine Rachel. You've surrounded her with elements that depicted her abilities/powers I'm assuming? Hence the presence of the elements (fire, water etc) and the presence of the stars rising from her left hand that I took to be manifestations of her magic? 
Her lover Jack also features here (I do like the little heart balloon that affirms their relationship for the viewer).

Compliment...
There are a number of elements I love about this picture. First and foremost is the sense of personality you've imbued in your creation - from her pose and facial expression (both excellently rendered) you get a real sense of who this girl is. I was pleased to find that reading your description of her back story only bore out for me the sense of what type of person she is - strong willed, emotionally involved with perhaps a touch of ambition? (Apologies if I've mis-read anything here - please do correct!)
I also love the colour palette you've chosen to work with. The shades of purples and blues really suit the subject. You can see her stalking the streets of Halloween town And the fire and earth provide the needed contrast without ruining the overall feel of the piece.
Finally - I really like your style of drawing people. You've a very definite take on how you want your people to look (certainly judging from this piece) and you've obviously put some work into making that happen. This piece is proof that work has paid off!

Critique...
I'm not a digital artist, so can't really comment on your process from that point of view - I've played around a little with Muro but need to invest some serious effort into any sort of foray into that field before I'll be happy to call myself any sort of digital artist. What you've produced here is light years ahead of anything I could manage.

So rather than looking at your art from that point of view, let me offer a few ideas from one visual artist to another:
Framing - You've done precisely what I tend to do most of the time here with your character and placed her at the center of the page. A sensible decision in terms of giving your audience the clearest view of her. Something I'm starting to experiment with more these days though is presenting subjects at an unexpected moment. By that I mean show them doing something other than simply posing for the camera (so to speak). You can use this to add more depth to the individual depicted by saying something about them with what you show them doing. I'm finding it a useful challenge to improve my skills as an artist as it forces you to think outside your comfort zone, to produce something that stretches your skills. You clearly have the talent, so it shouldn't be too much of a stretch...
Background - the only other thing I can see to pick holes in concerns background. To an extent for a piece like this a background is unnecessary and I rarely produce one because I'm rubbish at them But when I do put the effort in and manage to pull it off they can lend a lot to a piece. Even if it's something as simply as a cloudy sky I do tend to feel that a background of sorts lends a little something to a piece, taking the individual depicted out of isolation. Where they are does, after all, tell you a little bit about who they are.

So I think that's it from me. Once again a massive apology that you've had to wait so long for this, and I hope what I've said is of some use. If you've further questions at all do give me a shout - I'm always happy to chat to people.

Congratulations once again on your DDSuggestion Drive prize and best of luck for the future.

Paul