So i'm currently moving onto wings, horns and more fantasy-like manips.

I have been dong tier 4 art for about 2 months now but last year i played a bt and did some low-level stuff.

My pieces:

Some main things I would focus on are highlights and shading, more so to match the subject to the background. I love the cherry blossom art, but there's a lack of shadows that help tie the branch/flowers into the overall piece. I personally don't think you have to replicate realism to a T, it just helps make the art be more believable, even if the shadows/highlights aren't perfect.

Have you tried dabbling in creating markings? If you can nail those then I think the next step is Tier 3 for sure.