Wow! <3

Thanks! <3

Before and after?

Yes, that's right! :3

so very wonderful...

Vix

Thanks a lot!

Absolutely gorgeous in every way! Your crowd pieces must take a colossal amount of time and effort, because you never cut corners or blur out the characters close to the point of view, always giving them the clothes, the trinkets, the poses and the expressions of high enough quality to be standalone portraits, while maintaining that bustling atmosphere of being swept in the traffic of a busy sidewalk.
The architecture is always usually elaborate and gripping enough to be framed and exhibited separately!

As for the focus character, their diptych timeskip biography arc here is exceedingly rich in its narrative effect.
The frilly pleated shirt lapels, the earrings and jewelry in the nose, the lip, the brow, the fancy sword guards, and so much folded fabrics!

This picture reminded me of the game Thief: The Dark Project, whose protagonist also starts out as an urchin pickpocket, and becomes a (stealthy and out-of-focus) legend.

Here's a transcript from the opening cutscene:

I was a, kid. No parents, no home...
Running messages and picking pockets to keep my ribs from meeting my spine.

One night I saw a man. Folks just passed him by like he wasn't there.
I thought he must have something valuable, so I snuck up on him and made a grab...

Garrett: (Gasp!)

Keeper: That's not for you.

Garrett: Please, sir, I'm hungry. Don't tell the Hammers. I promise--

Keeper: What is your name, boy?

Garrett: Garrett.

Keeper: You have talent, lad.

Garrett: Let go of me, old man!

Keeper: To see a Keeper is not an easy thing, especially one who does not wish to be seen.
We have a need for those as gifted as yourself.
If you've grown tired of how you live, then follow me, and we will show you a different way.

Garrett: Leave me alone!

Keeper: As you wish.

I caught up with him just before he vanished into the crowd.
It was the beginning of a very long education...

Thanks a lot! Every time I tell myself that I need to make my work easier, and not complicate it, but it’s difficult for me to draw background characters like... well, like background characters) It seems to me that they largely determine the tone and mood of the work, so I still end up I add some details and emotions ^w^
Thanks again! My favorite commissions are often those through which I can tell a story)
omg, I remembered this game! My cousin and I played together many years ago, there really was an amazing atmosphere...

As time-consuming as it may be, such artistic intuition makes sure your pictures are at peace with themselves.
A character depicted in the middle of a faceless crowd may as well be portrayed alone,
but if the crowd has faces, then it starts feeling like the combined attention and will
of the town itself is flowing around that same character, and changes
the meaning of the picture drastically.

Glad to have reminded you of that game, it's one of the greats!