peacock dress

My first impression of this piece (Impact) was "Nice." The single-figure trick is one of the most visually striking ways an artist can portray a subject, and the dark color of her peacock dress makes her stand out even more from the more muted pastels of the background. And thank you ever so much for making the gown a feasible looking garment - elaborate contraptions have their place, but a huge cagey mess of a dress would have ruined the mood here.

I was also impressed by the detail in the folds of her dress and hair (Technique). The fabric looks like satin, rich and lush, and the little dashes of neon add just the right touch to the feathers. My only complaint about the actual rendering of this piece is the smudging of the peacock eyes. If there were sharper detail around the eyes of the feathers, they would be that much more striking and eye-catching (truly emphasizing the "peacock" nature of the dress).

Originality is always a tough one to rate. Most people choose the traditional vibrant greens and blues to render peacock dresses. White ones are also fairly well known. The maroon gives it a markedly different -maybe even emotionally darker- tone. There are maroon peacock eyes in her hair, which is one of the main points (in my mind) for setting up the "background story" to this piece. Peacock dresses have been done, but yours manages to stand out from the crowd.

Vision is my only real concern about this piece. To me, vision means the human/character/backstory element of the artwork, and I'm getting a lot of confusing messages from this one. The elegant ballroom gown with the bohemian peacock fringe and the wildly swirling peacock hair have me thinking "Swan Princess." The woman looks like she could be some wild spirit of the plain caught in between animal and human form.
However, this intriguing story is thrown off by her pose and her neckline (but not for prudish reasons). The ensemble (love the necklace) is elegant and the backstory seems to carry a sort of natural dignity to it (again, Swan Princess). However, the woman is provocatively posing and her cleavage is actually at the focal point of the piece (nice for some, but I like the peacock story better). If we look at the painting one way we get Peacock Princess. If we look at it the other way, we get feathery exotic dancer.
It's fine if you want to take it in either direction; it just seems to me as if her pose and breasts were contradicting what could be a story unto itself. Perhaps, if you want to go the Peacock Princess route, she could be painted staring off wistfully into the distance.
Overall, I loved this piece, and it's definitely going on my favorites board. Thank you for accepting my long, rambling (first!) critique.