I haven't seen any of your other pieces, so I don't know what sort of level you're working at - I like the colours on the left hand side and the light source, but I feel there's a bit too much going on on the right hand side, it's quite chaotic and there's no real flow. Slightly over sharpened around the headpiece. I think a smudging technique would work better with a render like this, or using a stock background.

Try experimenting a bit more, but I can see what you mean by it being a difficult render to use and I think you've made a good effort.