wow.  i just have to comment because i'm in almost exactly the same place.

it's not about what others think, though i will say it's the age of my most popular image that concerns me.  it's that i know that image is my strongest.  i've learned tons following the work and teachings of bagginsbill and others.  i've read tons on lighting, and other aspects of CG. i'm a lot better technically than when i did Reaching for Life.  but i'm not better artistically in any sense.  i'm not even on par.

personally, for me, that means more practice.  you can force yourself to grow creatively.  talent can always be supplemented by practice. creativity can be a discipline like anything else.  do 10 quick sketches a day for a month and i guarantee you that you'll be better at coming up with good ideas and good compositions. 

the other thing it means is letting go of certain obsessions.  i can spend forever second guessing my work.  certainly, following bagginsbill can make me embarrassed to even post work with my own shaders.  there's a difference between reaching that space where i'm just focused on a piece, and reaching the place where i'm obsessing over details.  i started off with the former and i've drifted into the latter.  so i've got to get out of the habit of focusing on execution and into the habit of focusing on intent.

i think that's going to be hard no matter what tools i'm using.  it's easier with 2d CG, because i have such an instinctive flow with it and   by the time i get to using an image editor, i've already established the major elements.  if i obsess over painting hair, it doesn't really matter, because it probably won't make or break the image.  but if i get so wed to how realistic a material looks in the background that i don't frame the main figure the way i should, it can kill the image.  putting lots of technical effort into one aspect of an image can make me sacrifice the overall effect and purpose. i need to be more focused, more experimental, more fearless, and more ruthless with my work.

but that's just me.

all i can say is that i'm really hoping my best work isn't behind me.  i know that it happens to people, and no matter what they try, they can't achieve that peak again.  so there's no guarantees.  but i also know that there's no way i'll do better if i either don't try or keep trying the same thing i've been doing for the past few years.  time to make a change.