Hello Chi, I'd like to first say this one looks already perfect to me, I'd make sure to just make the shapes on the hair a bit more aesthetic and maybe add some small color variations and cleaner lines to make an awesome piece, but, since you asked on going for a more realistic type of rendering I'll try and give some advices on that. Theres like 4 main things that make a thing look realistic. -Proportion -Values -Form -Edges I feel like proportions and form not only are kind of self-explanatory but also you got those two already working pretty good on the image, so I'll only say about them that, you made the lower half of the face a bit short, like just a tiny tiny bit smaller jaw than the reference is (yeah I searched for the reference and It's probably due to the fact that you closed the mouth that it's just a bit smaller), and about form I'll say that you want to make sure you are making those transitions work, both in hue and value, and use brushstrokes that follow the form and planes. So, with the other two: -Values You want to make sure theres enough value contrast going on the piece for it to look realistic, right now, yours look a bit too light on the contrast, the hair, the eyes, the lips and most form shadows are all looking lighter than they should, fixing that, instantly makes it look more realistic. -Edges This is the one thing that is making your painting not look as realistic as you want, I recommend learning about those, soft edges, hard edges, lost edges, etc..., specially on the hair here, the transition from hair to skin is too sharp, and the one on the cheeks a bit too airbrushed. Most of what I said here is nitpicking, I like yours as it is, but studying those 4 things will make it easier to make things more realistic, the least important of the 4 for this matter might be proportions, since you can make an stylized drawing look realistic just with values, edges and form, that's why I kept the shapes of the eyes and didn't strive for more accurate proportions. I also threw in some small hues here and ther to make the face feel more "alive". And the last thing, I'd recommend you look up for Pablo Uchida's work, I feel like he does best the style you are going for here, he is just insanely good. I hope this was helpful and sorry for the extension of the critique, I really am bad at synthesizing my own thoughts. | Artwod Feedback