This is my first batch of piccies, having just acquired a digital camera. Any pointers to improve both my photography and painting technique would be very welcome!
A tip on your photos:
Take the mini outside in natural light, in the shade, and cut off the flash. Any time a flash is used, it always makes the image bleed out, it just isn't useful for close up shots.
But hey, its a nice sharp image, so at least your hand doesn't jiggle like mine does!
It looks like the flesh isn't shadded at all, but that could be the flash. I'm not crazy abou tthe light blue either, just doesn't look quite right. You may want to limit your pallet, that many colours makes it hard to focus on the mini.