Ah, I truly love the critique system that dA has here. I love it. Now, Kendra, be forewarned, this is the first time that I'm giving out a critique, so I hope you can forgive me if I unintentionally insult you in any way possible.

Hurm. Let's see. Normally I like to start off with the actual critique and then I would point out the good things about pieces like this. Because, in my own opinion, I prefer hearing the bad news and then hearing the good news. NOW, ON WITH THE SHOW.

I think what I find to be a problem is the way you put the light from an illuminated object (i.e The glowing broken heart) onto another object (i.e Evil!Dread). When you draw the light onto a character, it seems to be just slapped on there instead of shining onto that character. Because of that, it doesn't give off the look that the light is really shining on Evil!Dread here. I think what would be best is to have a gradient where the light is strongest on the closest object and weakest at the furthest object. For example, although Evil!Dread's hair is pretty far from the heart, there should still be a little bit of a soft light on his hair. Not too strong and not too faded. Also, when it comes to colored light, it would be best if it spread out more instead of being a simple line. That way, Evil!Dread can look much more sinister with a little bit more red light. LIKE A MAD SCIENTIST. No, wait. He already is! But I hope you get my point. If there is any sort of object that the light could touch, PAINT IN IN RIGHT AWAY and always consider that the further it is, the more faded.

The same thing should apply to Cil, especially on her chain to let the viewers know that Evil!Dread really has his grasp on poor Cil. I am sad to say that I almost couldn't see it. Even if she's further away from the heart, some of its light should still be able to shine her, but perhaps more of a blur unlike Evil!Dread who pretty much has all of the light shining on him. But, with that aside, you did a most spectacular job with the glowing objects! The broken heart, and the doctor's MESMORIZING SINISTER GLOWING RED EYES. I could just die. <3333

What I also noticed is how you placed the colors in here. It seems as if you somewhat didn't take into consideration on how the dark the atmosphere would be. It seems like that you shaded the characters like how you would if the atmosphere was bright and just put in a black gradient to make it look dark. I always hate using black gradients, because as much as I love the dark effect that it would establish, sometimes, I can't see the important details that I should see, like the top of Cil. D8 BUT DON'T WORRY. So many people have that problem, including me (though that, in particular, not surprising xD; ). If you want a dark piece to be truly DARK AND SCARY, it would be best to think how they would look like if they were in a dark room. Take this into a consideration. Imagine you're in a semi-dark room. What do you notice? Most of the shadows are very dark, the colors are not that bright and saturated (not even neon pink can be saturated), and there is barely any contrast. That's how you should do those dark pieces. I noticed one of your WIPs still had Cil with the regular colors that you would normally color with, and that the shading was very strong. That would only work if the picture was in a lit area. If you want to put a really dark atmosphere in it, you need to make sure that the colors you shade with won't contrast so much; they have to blend somewhat. That's what I had to think about when I did that piece with Dr. Vitamin in her lab. If it's ok with you, I can call you and tell you how I did that piece, but you don't have to take my word for it.

ARUGH. That was too long for my own good. DD8 Sorry about that. Now, I want to talk about the good stuff in here. THIS IS A REALLY INTENSE PIECE. I absolutely adore the emotions going around in here. The insidious vibe that Evil!Dread has definitely gave me some delightful chills down my spine. Only you can pull that off so nicely. And Cil's turned back on us intrigues me more! When she's facing away from the camera, I can almost feel that it seems that she's not worthy enough to face the camera because of her slavery to Evil!Dread. Very well-done. Bwargh! And I love how you paint blood splatters. YOU GOTTA TEACH ME ONE DAY.

I truly love how you can make dark art as well as bright and colorful art. It shows how much of a varied artist you are who is open enough to try new things or things that are not familiar to you. That is a skill that not many have, and I truly admire you for that. Keep up the most excellent work, Kendra. THAT IS, IF YOU KEEP UP WITH YOUR SCHOOLWORK. >:C Naaaaah, I kid, I kid. Sorry about that. xDD

Wow! I'm really impressed with the subject matter - you took a very dark subject and handled it beautifully. The symbolism is striking and the characters are still strongly Kendra.
As has been pointed out, the only thing that detracts from this is the grey gradient over the top. It hides all your hard work! Some of the character details become indistinct. What could help, possibly, is increasing the lighting effect from the glowing heart - it's effecting SOME of dread, but not as much of him as it could be. If you used the heart as a lightsource that reflected up on Cil, you could bind her firmly into the composition of the image, plus adding a nice crazy feel.