Not a "fish guy" but trying... critique

[luv2bowhunt]

I don't get a whole lot of fish in per year but try to make each one better. Would like some critiques on these two. They just don't seem to have that "look" that I see on some of you guys' fish. Thanks in advance for your help.

[CrabCrazy]

they don't look glossy enougth.....try to get the soft dorsal and anal fin closer to the body

[luv2bowhunt]

I have quite a bit of gloss on them but i think the pics I took I tried not to get too much glare on them. I took two more pics to try and show the gloss more. Thanks for advice on fins.

[fishfighter702]

your colors seem dull

[wishbone]

darken that crappie up

[3bears]

As stated about the fins being "flagged". They should flow right along the body. Some overpaint fish, I fit into that category sometimes. You underpainted these two. Get some good reference pics and paint to match. Add layers of color as you go. Experiment and have fun with it. Worse comes to worse you can wipe em down and start over. Good luck, 3bears

[Brian W]

Agree with other comments above but I would have to disagree with both being under-painted. Your Crappie is way overpainted and with the wrong type of layering or colors. Anatomy off on the Crappie also.
   I think the mouth is not correct or too open on your LM. You could easily apply some light transparent colors with tipping to bring it back from the dead if you dont want to re-do. Outside of that, they need some pop. The look on both is washed out.
   I would re-paint the Crappie at the very least and use some candy colors to get the look from your reference. It's much easier to NOT over-paint with these colors. Then get out your powders and enhance the look. Good luck.....keep working at it.

[luv2bowhunt]

Well I re-painted the crappie and did some things on the bass as well but I still have a long way to go. Don't know if these pictures look any different than the first ones, I think the lighting I have in my shop is not showing the colors as well in the photo. My next ones will be better. Any more critiques are welcome. I think I will talk to some fish guys at the show this year and keep striving to make my fish better with each one. Thanks for the advice so far.