Himmapaan

Yes, that one little loop just behind his head (not the entire branch, of course!). Its outline on the right side comes rather close to the head. I wish I could have pointed it out in the first instance to avoid confusion. If you truly wanted to, perhaps that point could be widened; but again, perhaps it is best to simply leave the whole thing untouched now.

'It seems destined to cause chaos, or something... )'

Indeed it does!

If it would not be further presumptuous of me, I would be tempted to leave that branch as it is. As I said, I think it has been saved from interfering too much by the strength of the raven itself. If you do want to try doing anything else, however, perhaps adding to the thickness may be more desirable than getting rid of it (I mean just that one little point behind the back of the raven's head - I wish I could point it out, so I hope this is fairly clear). But really, it is not truly necessary.

A striking piece of work with a beautiful composition which utilises the shape of the piece of wood very well. What is noticeable and personally very pleasing to me is how the curving lines of the composition radiate from a single point on the bottom right and breaks out of the oval at three others: the curves of the raven itself and those of the background branches (this is when I wish I could draw the lines on some kind of overlay). One point which might have potentially given concern is how close the outline of the largest background branch comes to the line of the back of the raven's head. Either that particular spot of the branch might have been made to disappear behind the head altogether, or perhaps more of it could have been seen to prevent this. However, because the black of the raven already provides so strong a contrast with it, I think it has been saved quite successfully. Incidentally, that strong black and the tilt of the head and gaping beak lends a dynamism which adds favourably to a portrait of this kind; since examples within this genre can often be in danger of stiltedness, excessive sentimentality, or be curiously inexpressive, in spite of extremely fine workmanship.

The execution really doesn't need to be remarked on: beautiful, dedicated and detailed, just as it always is. I also admire the patience which the layering of the Indian ink on so absorbant a surface must have required.
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*There, I've written a so-called critique; I'm not entirely sure how I feel about myself... *Crosses arms* It was requested, so I tried...

Oh, and by the by, I have never been sure about the particular rating criteria which this feature provides (something I shall explain another time), so please don't pay much attention to how I've rated this.

Thank you so much for your kind words. Everything has been put in storage for now, though it is likely they'll be removed in earnest eventually. I need to make a few changes and this is one of them. But I'm around elsewhere if you're still interested.