I recently posted a thread where I had backed myself into a rendering corner with a certain character.  In the conversations that followed, I was given such useful feedback that I was itching to apply some of the things I learned from great people here to shots of the main character in my novel.  These shots are all produced native in CC with some post processing in GIMP.

This is Drea in her full dress uniform.  I am trying to go for a Dutch master style of lighting.  The novel is set in the very far future, but early on, I had fixed an overall look for her culture to be something high romantic and somewhat 19th century European.  

75% of original size (was 673x19) - Click to enlarge

75% of original size (was 673x19) - Click to enlarge

75% of original size (was 673x19) - Click to enlarge