Compare And Contrast - Hephaestus

So one of the first things I did when I returned to Montana was work on building my portfolio. Sterling and I talked and agreed that some of my previous illustrations had potential, but needed work. So here is the first one, Hephaestus. I really like the drawing on this, and felt it was a good image, but the values were holding it back. So after working on it a little, what do you guys think of the new and improved(?) Hephaestus?

*UPDATE* So thanks to John, I figured out what was wrong with my file. Stupid CMYK/RGB settings. Now you can really see how bad and washed out the original was.

How Long Has It Been?

So yeah, it is now October 22, and my last post was in September, almost a month ago. It's not that I haven't been working, but it's difficult working full time, and then having the extra energy to post sketches and stuff. But here is some stuff I made to go on my website (which I am completely redesigning). Just some sketchbook stuff and random doodles.