Carousel Ride By Pridlon

What it is missing is the element of light and shadow.
You may get the feeling that it would "appear" you cut and pasted each element of the piece onto the canvas. That is how it will feel if you don't implement natural light and shadow effects.

For example, where is the sun in this piece? Even if you don't depict it physically in the piece, it lift should still be seen in felt. The little girl is in a bright sunny flower filled field, if the sun is off in the right hand portion off canvas, her face, the carousel horse face, the pole, hands, dress, legs, butterfly wings, all should lit with light, then shadowed naturally.

Light and shadow is where I struggle in the manip process as well, but it will make your pieces feel real and natural (no matter the subject matter) when implemented in your pieces.