I think the second one with the mail going up to the neck is better. Otherwise it looks cold out there and that's alot of exposed skin. grymntl

Really not much of a difference. I personally love shadows, so I would say the first one. The only thing I would wonder is about the stark brightness of the reflection on his armour, which is not followed up by a similar shadow of the tree along the ground. Also his gaze appears he is off in a daydream, perhaps moving his eyes could create more of a "story" as to what is going on. Maybe also a mist in front of his mouth showing his breath in this coldness would add a touch of realizm as well.

thats funny. you said stark brightness, and this scene is inspired by Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin. there are a lot of Starks there. and thanks for the comments. :-)

Personally, I like the second one better. The face looks rougher and tougher and the neck armor looks better than without.

couple of comments - great looking picture so far, but you seem to have heavily smudged the base of the tree and the silver shoulder (arm portion) armour appears to be coming thru the gold shoulder armour plates on the nearside of the picture. You also seem to have a white halo surrounding your figure, you could maybe try getting rid of this by using a file format such as tif to save alpha channel info before going to the compositing stage. Just a few suggestions

thanks. actually, I added the halo with blendig options of Photoshop. i thought it was a good thing:-)

This is wonderful image! I don't have anything to add that wasn't already mentioned, but I was curious... is that a face on the tree?

it is!. I am glad you saw that. it's a part of the story. this tree is an old shrine to the ancient gods. usually these trees has heart shaped leaves, but beyond the wall its just to cold for them to blossom. you probably understand it better if you read the book :-)

The armor looks better in the second one, but the depth of field-- illusory, I know-- and the guy himself, look better in the first one. Cool illustration. For the sake of the halo, I hope you didnt' flatten the layers. those haloes are hard to get out-- bigger feathering area?? could do a double paste?? That would allow you to have some of the brightness from pic #2 but the interesting shadows in Pict #1. Emily

I like both of them but the second is my favorite. I think you are doing Mr Martin's story justice. :)

second has a sharper face, and the neck is better protected.

I like the second one better.