first sketch, harsh critique please

Overall, I think it's intriguing. The facial expression kind of fits the pose. I like the sharp style of your lines, too. The hair looks really nice and the hairstyle itself fits the theme you're going for. This is a piece that shows some serious promise, it just needs a little tweaking, as most things do. Definitely go back and finish the legs. With the look of the top, the bottom being unfinished is kind of an abrupt ending. It'll add even more interest to the piece, because the details of the legs will make the overall pose clearer. It's a suggestive, sexy kind of pose; the legs will complete that feeling.

One thing I do notice is that the eyebrows are kind of short and are one consistent thickness. Eyebrows tend to be thicker on one end and thinner on the other, and this is where a lot of our expression comes from. On a real face, eyebrows end a little past the inner corner of your eye and extend a little closer to the temple. Also, take a look at the neck. Our necks begin at our ears. If you're looking at the piece, the side of her neck to the viewer's left does not start at where her ear would be. Drawing the head as a 3D figure before you start can really help you to visualize where the other ear is, since it's hidden. Make sure you're using guide lines as well.

In terms of arm placement, it's fine to have arms behind the back, but I feel like this pose would be more intriguing if the subject's left arm were on her hip; to me, it seems like it would fit with the general pose and expression on her face. I realize the reference was posed this way, but don't be afraid to take that artistic license and make the picture truly yours. It's a good way to step out of your comfort zone and get practice on hands and placement (both of which are, again, a bear, but it's so worth it to get that practice in). What I do is start a drawing as a skeleton to get the bare bones of the pose laid out, then I turn it into a mannequin by adding where the flesh/muscle goes and start adding details from there. Lots of people do this differently, so don't take this as a rule; doing this just works for me right now. But if you don't draw some kind of foundation first, things always come out looking a little wonky. I learned this the hard way haha.

The subreddit /r/artfundamentals has excellent tutorials on everything, including human figure, and I can attest to the fact that it's at least helped me improve exponentially in the past four or five months, so it's worth checking into. I don't know if this helps at all, but I really hope it does! Keep on working, you're on a good track. If you can do this work NOW, think of what you could do in six months or a year! :) You got this!!

/r/ArtCrit Thread Link - imgur.com