Portraits In Progress

[Watercolour]

Hello!

I'm a beginner in digital art and I'm currently working on (my first) two portraits. I would much appreciate some constructive criticism.
The first one is a character I have an idea for, however as it's not a real person, I have some difficulties with the lighting and decided to pause it so I can draw from life for a bit.

So I started doing a portrait of a friend from a photograph:

Any tips on colours/lighting would be very helpful.

P.S. Should this topic be in the WIP section? Sorry if I didn't post in the correct one.

[HorizonDweller]

Hi, i like very much both ideas but if you want something , i would pay attention to the left arm in the lower one, color talking.. you're good but if you want something usefull you could use Palettator for perfect balance and better color combinations, its a very helpful tool
(p.s. if you are planning in including highlights i would start including them now since colors react different in lights and shadows)
Hope you find it helpfull , cant wait to see them once finished ,the atmosphere and feeling of innocence are very nice!

[exofley]

Great job thus far, can't wait to see them finished! I'm not to much of a digital artist myself so I need to get on that but great stuff thus far.

-I'll be looking for more

[Watercolour]

Thank you for your feedback!
Here's my progress. It's going slowly because free time is scarce, but I think I can finish it this week ... I'm not too happy with the colours for now.