Kuroshitsuji - Ciel with violin

First of all I'd like to say your coloring is beautiful as always. The contrast between Ciel and the background make him pop out of the picture. The background appeals to me as very soothing. A very sweet atmosphere and Ciel's expression adds to the overall composition

Now, there are two things that stand out when I view the picture. One, bits of the anatomy. Two, the Violin. I'll start with the violin.

I'd like to commend you for drawing an instrument. Their structure and proportions are difficult to draw and deliver. You did an excellent job at drawing the violin. And you should be proud of it!
It's not the structure that I'd like to point out, but the placing. It seems you just placed it in the picture but something looks amiss. When someone is playing a violin the "face" of the violin is facing more towards the sky, and the one that you drew is facing more towards the audience (and if a violinist played a violin like that they wouldn't be able to play D: ) . That perspective is hard so I understand why you decided to forego that.

The other thing is the foreshortening of his arm holding the violin. In your description you said you wanted to draw a character "playing" an instrument. At the angle the violin is in respects to the body, its just resting. the angle that the violin is with the body should be close (not exactly) 90 degrees. So that would bring the elbow out and get rid of the difficult foreshortening. (it would also cause the angle of the violin to change as well)

there are many flaws in the piece with "playing" the violin. I would highly recommend references when you do pieces such as these that contain instruments and there is an art to playing the instrument. I've found a reference (link will be at the bottom) that closely relates to the pose that you've done so you can compare and see the usefulness of references and learn for yourself. Me telling you is one thing, but you're the only one who can fix them.
References are a great resource so don't be afraid to use them, but use them in moderation. They can only help your art improve.

Aside from the positioning of the violin, this really is a wonderful piece to look at. I hope I wasn't too harsh with the critique.
I hope you continue to expand your horizons and continue trying new poses and things to challenge your beautiful art skills

reference: fiddlerman.com/wp-content/uplo…