OK I think the issue is about UV alignment, or perhaps the way in which the nostrils are shaped. Here I tried just painting over that area on the UV map - obviously I didn't match the colors exactly. But something about the shape doesn't look right.

I'm afraid I rushed right into a long render at high quality for this, so I'm not sure what you did versus what I did. I'll go back to your default character and check the color map alignment carefully.

Another issue. I know he's not for up-close work, but the displacement map restricts itself to only a few levels of gray, instead of using the full black to white. I know people think thats what to do, but as a result we've got only a few different levels on the forehead. The outcome is there are terraces on the displacement.

A displacement map done really well actually should use the full dynamic range from black to white. Then you set the total amount of displacement using the numerical value. Because your dynamic range is so low, I put the numeric value high so I could get more interesting variations.

I really like using the displacement, because it creates more high-res detailing on the figure without raising the poly count. You did a good job with it. I especially like the tension lines on cheeks.

There's also some mysterious blackness on teh edge of the lower eyelids. That could be my AO going nutty. I'll test without AO.

Click for full size.

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