Better?

Yea i sharpened it and i realized it was too sharp but i was too lazy to go back and fix it cuz i did apply image and blurred and sharpened on the same layer so id have to re do it

It's over sharpened in some places, but the rest is pretty good. The one thing it lacks though is a real pop, it doesn't really jump out at you or have a wow factor

I noticed that too @Scrcrw but I couldnt get it to work how i wanted it. Maybe burn/dodge? a little? idk haha i was just actually working on this again (reopened the project) but i think its a dead end haha

it's more your that your colour alterations (i assume gradient maps) have washed out the colours a fair bit, it's also comes down to choosing brighter colours or renders sometimes

The stock image was a little washed out to begin with too but I'll keep that in mind for my next piece. What are your thoughts on the on in my signature? There's another thread with it posted in there but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

one in your sig needs somework on the focus, bit of his hair are blurred
smudging is hard to do on stocks unless you kinda smudge the whole thing around the person
not bad though, try working with some smaller canvases to see what you can do in a more limited space

i like it men