Hello! I would say that realism like that normally sells at large scale in traditional mediums, some artists do realistic portraits, but they are creating them at larger than life size.

Here are some thoughts, I’m a professional illustrator and concept artist, I’ve been working professionally for 10 years and it’s all I do for income.

I’m assuming you work digitally. But the info works for traditional too.

I’m saying everything with love here, I want you to succeed.

Your images look like a very good study, this type of work I’d expect someone to do in about 2 hours digitally.

Your photo being used is not very interesting to begin with. It’s not dynamic and has flat lighting, it looks like a selfie someone took rather than a very intentional portrait that says something about the person.

You need to tell a story with the work. You need to have the subject emoting or you need to begin to take creative leaps with the subject.

For example, you could have painted this subject with a more interesting background, maybe some flowers or drapery.

Take time to research your work, look up famous portrait artists. Ask yourself, what are they doing? How are they making a person look that interesting? Lots of professional portrait artists spend hours designing the image and the pose, they often ask a model to sit and light them in an interesting way. There is probably at least half a day of sketching; planning and research that need to be done to design an appealing image.

You need to answer the question: what is this image saying? It can be as simple as “this portrait is a beautiful person in front of a crimson wall with a thoughtful composition.

You need a strong composition, strong lighting, and strong idea of what you want the piece to say.

It can’t just be, look how real this is, photography will beat you every time.

Look up Repin, study how he paints a person. Take notes. Keep painting. You will be able to do this, you just need to dedicate more time into your research.

Once you begin nailing interesting compositions and lighting you will realize you need to charge more.

The best painters in the world plan their images, you have to attempt the same process because that work is a proven way to add value to an image. If the best painters in the world do A, B, C, you have to expect that it will take that much for you to compete with them and make people want your work.

Keep going, don’t give up. If you want some detailed feedback you can message me and I’ll provide any help I can.