@skeletortoise Thank you so much for your suggestions! It's amazing how many different options there are that I didn't think of, even after doing tons of thumbnails. It's great to get things from another person's perspective.
I'll definitely be trying this one again before I put it in my portfolio.

@Larue for a book out later this year!

New Winston. We’ve all got something that takes us back.

That’s the real Winston and one of his beloved baby toys.

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@tom-barrett This is all extremely helpful. Thank you!

@Jim-Gleeson Yeah, although I was constantly trying to push what made it interesting.

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Hi Monika,
You have some cute characters here. And the story is good. But without the story, there is nothing in this illustration that says what the characters are doing. Most of the characters are quite stiff with very little emotion. Hope you don't mind, but I created the attached sketch to give you one idea of how to illustrate your story. It is not complete, but I think there is enough to start.

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Based on what I see, the small racoon has a question or concern, so I have him trying to catch up with the fox. I put the 2 mice closer together to complete their story (I guess the older mouse doesn't want to share his cheese?). And I have the bear distracted by a butterfly. You could do similar "mini-stories" with the deer and wolf.

Do be conscious of how you pose your characters and the emotions they are showing based on the story. Both the deer and wolf are in odd poses or unnatural body shapes, and I don't think the deer would be smiling at the mice arguing over the cheese.

I see now that the wolf may be trying to steal the other stick of cheese. Not sure that fits if this is a group of friends out on an adventure together.

Hope this is helpful!

@NickyDrew @GabeRobinson @Geoffrey-Mégardon @koricat @skeletortoise Thanks everyone for your feedback. All good ideas. WIll work up a new sketch and post here soon.

@Chantal-Goetheer Thanks!

@jvartandillustration
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Here is an updated image. It’s still a wip, but I plan on doing something different with the girl (like moving her closer to the bed). I just wanted to make it not as depressing this time around.

Thank you again everyone for the valuable feedback.

@Kristen-Lango Hi, Thank you!
Yup, I have been working on it...endlessly...but I'm finding this a really great piece for lots of trial and error. In fact, I'm even considering changing it into an internal illustration and then being able to make the cover more figurative. That way this one can be more literal, without the many-seasons and tree-wolves.

The colour palette thing is a very good point... I love using many colours, or variations on a bunch of colours, but then I feel like I have to hold myself back and limit it because that's what so many illustrators say to do. So it's really helpful to know what your reaction was to those limited colours on the girls' clothes.

Right, I'll keep going...

@jenn said in SVS Virtual Studio MARCH 2023:

Iteration 2

I like "Iteration 2" with the soccer ball (or futbol) flying forward. The expression & flung out arms of the kid on the left is great!

Now that's what I call quick progress... Great job!

I know I'm late to the party but I really like the darker one, the lights from the pumpkins really stand out. So gorgeous! The cat made from vines is a fabulous touch too! Best of luck, I'm sure this image will catch the eye of an Art Director 🙂

@danielerossi I love that you understand peaches and baccala!!!! Did your family make soup with it, or fry it? What about dandelion soup? My grandmother's Italian was very much a dialect that evolved over time and combined portuguese, and Ukrainian, and Spanish. She never learned to read, and never really learned English. She ended up taking on words from other immigrant neighbors, and it was something of it's own beast. She called it Minest, but it wasn't minestrone. It was potatoes, garlic, chick peas and dandelions (or anything green from the garden cooked to mush and served on fresh crusty bread)

@KevinTreaccar helpful, thank you! I’m feeling the aquarium.

Thanks Heather! When i first tried gouache I hated it. Water color has always been hard for me to get colors right, and the transitions to be what I want them to be. I found a huge shift in getting a good Sable brush and I'm enjoying the medium much more. So I'll keep working at it! Thanks for the kind comment.

@skeletortoise Aw thank you so much! 😊

Here's the final scan!
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I would suggest fleshing out your story / concept a bit more. The mermaid classroom is a fun setting but what do you want to tell the reader and what would you like them to feel and think? Once you jot down some of those ideas you can start to tune into how you might evoke those certain thoughts and feelings with this illustration. Something else to keep in mind is creating space for text. Right now the best spot I can see for that is one the left page where there’s a sort of gate or door. If you made that a more uniform surface then it could be a good space for room for text. This has piece some strong potential but that makes it easier to get excited and move ahead too early which I do constantly. Hope this helps, I’ll keep an eye out for updates on this one!

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve had time to illustrate. University is so busy, my homework load has been easily 60 hours a week :o. One class I had 50 drawings to turn in. Not just thumbs, but actual rendered dimensional drawings. It’s been WILD. It’s a good thing I love to draw haha.
One class ends this week and I feel like I have a little more breathing room to work on stuff that just fun to create.

Yesterday I took my two kids and my niece and nephews to the zoo. There’s a tunnel under the polar bear pool, and this polar bear kept hanging out behind them. He was very playful and was playing catch with himself. It was quite entertaining. I took a photo of my daughter and the bear photobombed, which was really cute. So I thought I’d recreate a scene with all of the kiddos together.

How does the layout look? I would love to add more goofiness to the bear, but I’m stuck in the how to make him goofy.

Thanks a bunch!

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@Shelley-James-0 very nice work. Good job on getting to this point.

I have a few suggestions - I think the biggest thing that is missing here is a true focal point. You need to have something that you want to direct viewers to. It can be anything really, but you need to pick something. Then the image will start suggesting what it wants. For example, if ONE of those little huts starts to get attention, we can start to downplay other areas of the image.

I did a very fast paint over (sorry its so sloppy), but just to sort of show what I mean. Your is the top image and mine is the bottom. I picked that middle right little structure, then just leaned the focal point there by darkening other areas and then trying to add some detail in the area where I want you to look. Thinking this way makes building an image much much easier. : )

Hope this helps some. : )

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