I hung on your every word. your advice was super helpful, i’ll work on it. just realized i liked the original so much, when i changed the pose i didn’t rethink the motives, the feelings and the more offensive range that would be associated with it.
and i kinda like the original better too, so what i’ll probably end up doing in the end is having both poses finished and see which one looks best. i just wanted to experiment some more and see what the scene has to offer.
Key lighting of the character herself is critical here. Most of her detail is lost in blackness. Her face and the inside of her cowl needs to be dramatically illuminated. Catch-lights are needed in her eyes.
As dramatic as the idea is of “a cloud of light-sabers,” it’s taking up way too much of the frame. This could be used for an establishing shot, but the present focus is a portrait, therefore fill the frame with her, perhaps from knees-up.
It will be important to use color in the fill and key light.
You should frequently pull histograms and make very sure that the curve remains bell-shaped with no “clump” in or near the “pure black.”
it’s been getting more difficult to stay productively focused on making the scene better as the days have passed, so i let it sit for a while, and i’m now gonna make adjustments one by one by bringing in the camera closer.
first thing down, the sabers:
any suggestions or advice, I would greatly appreciate it 
only thing left is to change her facial expression to look more angry, and to drop a few stormtroopers in the background.
Though now I have no idea how to make it better. this is all i’ve got, and it’s really really depressing. I really hoped it would come out better, I just don’t know how to get it there.
Any advice would be treasured. Thanks in advance!
Dude, this is so damn cool! I think you’ve got a really great piece here. In regards to face, maybe make her look a little more angry. Anger is a major source of power for the Sith, as is, she looks content and neutral. Add some pain and hatred. Love it though! 
The stance of the sith lord in the frame looks like it’s somewhere between static and dynamic. Since the composition implies dynamic, I’d recommend making her stance deeper and bringing the back elbow up. (This is only going to be a problem if it’s not rigged.)
@peter18 thanks! and i agree, an angrier facial expression is what I’ll work on next XD
@lolwel21 what do you mean a more dynamic pose? I tried to get in character and i tried making a few poses myself, and this is the most “powerful” or “dynamic” pose I could come up with. I’ll see what I can do with the elbow.
and yeah, I did rig it. everything in the scene was designed to be as scalable as possible.
The stance seems a little high (i.e. knees not bent enough, move the waist down). Try looking up Taekwondo’s Front Stance and Horse Stance. It might help a little, especially considering how Star Wars lightsaber combat was based on real martial arts styles.
hey guys! so really quick, does this look right? the expression I mean.
I don’t know if the mouth feels right, or if something’s off or not. please let me know if you have any advice.
I think the mouth detracts from the anger shown in the eyes.
Maybe close it up a bit into more of a snarl, to give that feeling of hatred and anger.
Incantrix
you’re definitely right. I’ll do my best to close it and make it look good that way 
thanks!
