here´s a basketball illustration i made....i know it isn´t completely rendered but exactly that is my problem! at this stage at the painting i stuck. when i tried to make it "cleaner" i´ve got the feeling i lost the dynamic of the painting
Flip it often, I can feel the energy still in this piece, just be sure to work on everything while youre in the primary blocking stages so you know where youre at still. Its a pretty common problem loosing the X factor of a drawing during rendering, just keep your initial sketch up beside you and keep comparing.