Your work is always amazing and inspirational. I wish I had one-tenth your talent and skill. :)

Possibly some drool? LOL

Love the model, and the concept. You are amazing!

there's a great DVD from gnomon called:
"Maya Dynamics: Underwater Environments."

I was able to get it pretty cheap and it's got some great tips.

I used some tips from here for my candle.

The softbody works great for the animated motion of the flame.
My shading wasn't so great, but it turned out OK for me.
...

Maybe a band of silver or gold where the claws meet the staff?
Or maybe a band encrusted with gems?
Maybe some incandescence on the orb itself and some adjustments to lighting and shadows?

It's...

Very cool! Nice style...

Pretty cool idea and model.

I agree that the textures need a bit more work.

The shadows on his belly seems very dark. Even with dark shadows during the day, you can see what's underneath.

A...

A couple of near-finished poses of Kurt's Sea Creature tutorial.

Thanks Kurt. I enjoyed the tutorial. It was very imformative and was one of the first ones that I did from concept to texturing.
...

Good tips all. Thanks.

An update to the tavern with some new textures, barrels, detail:

Tavern - http://www.ocss.com/3d/bar5-800.jpg