(Full-size (1024x768) version.)

I've been tweaking it on and off for a few weeks. I did take breaks of days to clear my perception and look at it with fresher eyes, and it's been fun walking on the streets at night looking at things trying to understand how they reflect light, etc. It's been getting better, but now I got stuck; don't really know where to improve it anymore. So, what is it that doesn't "look right"? What is it in it that screams "hey, I'm not someone crossing the street, I'm just a drawing!"? It's not that I want it to be photorealistic, but I'd like the scene to hit the viewer, not the lines, colors and brushstrokes.

I've never worked with color much, so this part has been the most challenging. I drew everything with very plain colors, as if lit by direct white lighting, and added shadows and highlights on top in separate layers. Finally, the bluish tint was applied on the overall scene. I'm doing this using Seashore.

Going for realism over freer expression may be less artistically interesting perhaps, but I'm taking this as an exercise to try to learn to "play by the score" first. Until I don't get the basics right, I don't feel the confidence to go out improvising flourishes over the main theme.