Hello. I've been practicing concept design. I think i've grasped it but i still need guidance. These are some sketches I did for a prompt: Rhinoceros beetle on another planet Advice is much appreciated.

It seems like you got an interesting story moment going on here, which is great for a concept art piece, but I think the visual clarity could be improved further. A key part of clarity is readable values, which you can test by adding a greyscale filter layer on top of your work. The main ideas of the piece should still be clear even when only in black and white, but right now a couple of key areas could use more definition and contrast as they are starting to get lost with surrounding values (the face of the bearded figure against the background, his clothing against the tree branch, the woman's hands, her dress). I would recommend working with a greyscale filter that you can turn on and off, so you can continue checking on your values as you progress with your piece. I think especially with the bearded figure, it's important to have a specific light source in mind as well, as right now it seems rather ambiguous, which causes his values to become muddy and unclear. If, for example, the light source is a sunny sky above, then we would see stronger shadows underneath and brighter light hitting him from above as the rays of the sun. Practicing clarity in values alone first will help you develop a solid foundation for both composition and color, and also makes it easier to tackle a painting as a whole. Plus, a helpful exercise that develops an eye for values when creating an image was also explained here in the Draftsman podcast, which I highly recommend: https://www.proko.com/s/U627 at minute 27:45. In addition to working greyscale, another tool that can help is consistently checking your work zoomed out, so it's the size of a thumbnail. Your work should continue to read from afar, and going back to this view will help you assess if the main idea is working while preventing you from getting caught up in smaller details or tunnel vision that could lead you astray from the big picture. Let me know if you have any further questions, and I hope this helps :)