I feel there's too much phototexture on this... I like the foreground, the river and the immediate rocks behind it. The textures are nicely blended there. But the middleground and background look like a (not so well done) photomanipulation, rather than a painting. It really draws my eyes away from the actual selling point in this work. I don't want to sound too harsh, I think this really has potential. If you take some more time blending the textures, so the detail density matches up with the foreground (that is, has less detail rather than more compared to the foreground), this will be all the more awesome. I also think that the characters should have bluer shadows, seeing as the environment is rather cool.
Is the castle supposed to be straddling the river? Because if so, that would be kinda insane 0_o Both insanely cool and just flat out insane. The river looks like it goes over a waterfall just before it gets to the castle and therefore might have picked up substantial kinetic energy.... And that might put the castle in structural hot water...
See? "Hot water"? Because the castle is actually in water? *slaps nearby person's knee* Oh, classic kneeslapper.
I don't want to sound too harsh, I think this really has potential. If you take some more time blending the textures, so the detail density matches up with the foreground (that is, has less detail rather than more compared to the foreground), this will be all the more awesome.
I also think that the characters should have bluer shadows, seeing as the environment is rather cool.
See? "Hot water"? Because the castle is actually in water? *slaps nearby person's knee* Oh, classic kneeslapper.