Traditional Art A new picture

You did a great job on the coloring, as well as the text. However, I have to agree with StupidAquarius on some level. The piece is lacking some vital elements. Just as you said, the proportions are off. Fixing that alone will make it twice as good. One thing that I could mention is that you drew their heads too big. The average human can fit seven to eight of their heads inside of their body (I believe this includes their actual head). I counted roughly five heads inside of your picture of Forteen-year old Sora. Out of the four, I think that young Riku is the most accurately drawn, regaurding proportions.

Another thing is the positioning of the figures. Humans are quite possibly the most difficult thing to capture on paper, and to have them appear as if they are in action is even more so. There is no way around it. You must at some point or another study and observe humans and their properties in order to signifiacntly improve your work. Anime is a very realistic style, so it will definantly help to observe real life. I know I make it sound like it's a big deal to study the human figure, but it's realy not. Sometimes when I'm drawing, I'll run into a problem where I can't get a specific pose. In this case, I'll imitate the pose that I want and see what I'm doing wrong. The final project in my art class involved figure drawing, so my teacher told us to get visuals for it. I tried drawing the figures without a reference point, and it was extremely dificult. Eventually, I had people pose for me and it worked wonders for my art. If you really want a excellent picture while still at an amatuer level, (sorry if it sounds like I'm talking down to you, I'm an amatuer also) you should get pictures of real people doing the pose that you want.

Something that I noticed, which is just laziness(happens to all of us), is the stairs aren't a good size. Sora's foot takes up three stairs, easily. Also, it looks more a ramp, because the stairs barely have any height.

I also agree that someone can estimate a person's level judging by one peice. Not fully of course, but get an idea. Looking closely, you have some good detail, for example, the realism of the Keyblade and Riku's clothing, but there are basic elements that were neglected, which is actually more important than the detail. It is a pretty good piece overall, but there are subtle little mistakes that an artist can pick up on. The reason they can see it so easily is because they've been through several stages before getting to the level that they are at, and recognize probems that they've had in the past. Whenever you have time, you should look at what makes a human look like a human. For example, what makes someone look as if they are reaching for something, as opposed to merely hoding their hand up. The difference is so subtle, but it makes such a huge difference. You may still be young, in which case, you will become better with age, but you still need to continue to practice. You definently have some talent. So, my best advice is learn from real life, even if it means doing the poses for yourself.