I love the fact that you've got his surroundings reflected in his eyes. So many people forget that, and yet it's one of the things that make him seem real, even though we don't see any of those surroundings around him.



Truly, your use of light and shade and shadow and highlights is magnificent. Just that dot of highlight in his eyes, and those two tiny highlight spots at the edge of his irises that show that his iris stands at a different angle to the whites (which real eyes do, real eyes are not flat) and that little edge of slightly brighter light at the lower part of his eyes, and the highlights surrounding his eyes that hint at the structure of the eyelids we can't actually see, it all gives him an anatomical underlying structure, and environmental "placement" (I mean how it feels like he's in an actual environment, with things around him, even if we can't see them, he does. It gives him a "weight" and reality that brings this (and all your other illustrations) a sense of three dimension realism (without sacrificing any of the beauty and cuteness and gentleness that makes them so amazingly beautiful) that a lot of other art doesn't achieve.



By the way, that includes even the little things like the highlight and texture on his drum, which makes it look both round and real but also makes it look laquered and "hand rubbed" which a real drum would look like.



I just love your work, you are so so good! And even more, you bring a sense of innocence and beauty that just makes my heart feel good. Just all these little pictures of yours truly make the world a better place, a place worth living in.