These are all gorgeous! So nicely done--thank-you so much for sharing your development and your choices. It's really quite helpful to see these! Lovely!

The progress you made is really great, I just feel like the eyes of the tiger could be a bit closed (like in the references) to increase the feeling of threat. In your illustration, the eyes are wide open. In German there would be a word for it, it is called "zukneifen" I am not sure how to translate it properly, so you may just try to look angry yourself, in front of a mirror and see how the form of your eyes changes --> 😠 . looking forward to seeing your finished piece 😊 🌻 .

I like your illustration, I think it is very strong. I also feel your frustration around social media, I've had similar thoughts, it can be feel very good when your images are liked and shared and can boost confidence etc. all of this is good, but should be treated as an added bonus. I've been in the situation where I like a piece I make and post it and then the interaction it gets determines how I feel about the piece. I found this to be problematic because social media was dictating my confidence. And the reasons for it getting little interaction could vary so much and most of which have nothing to do with the actual artwork.

Some points I have on your image are:

The top of the umbrellas which are facing up towards the sun could be lighter as a result of being hit by the sun, and the inside of the umbrellas could be warmer and lighter, If you look at a photo of and umbrella in the sun, it is almost translucent when light goes through it, I think that is referred to as sub-surface scattering.

I think possibly the underside/belly of the turtle could be a little lighter as it is going to get some reflected light from the ground in the shadow. Possibly overall the shadows are too dark, I would keep the darkest shadows for the areas where no light can get in.

I think the textures describing the surfaces are lovely, the rabbit or hare's colour is possibly too similar to the shell.

I do think the characters are great, nice expressions, nice concept.

oops forgot to post the new ones...

3 Dancing Daffodils
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4 Lady slipper orchids
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Thank you for taking the time to comment everyone!
@BichonBistro Thank you so much! I find it hard to think of new concepts, so it's good to know that you liked the Tea party in the clouds! 🙂
@demotlj Thanks!!

@Heather-Boyd Your suggestions totally make sense! I'll try and incorporate them in my next pieces for the calendar. I think I often have a melancholic vibe in my art, which is probably why the mousey looks kind of sad. But it's good to be more diverse with the emotions and interaction between the characters. To make it less 2D :). Thanks!

@Jean-Gao I agree that the mouse sticks out. I think I will come up with a back/foreground for this piece still! And adding the paper cut style there will definitely help with the cohesiveness too. Thank you, that was very helpful!

@Laurasketches Spreadin Springtime indeed is more of a spot illustration. But maybe this will not work within a calendar, and based upon yours and the other comments, I will look into this piece again! I am currently following the Composition course by Will and hope to be able to incorporate more of a foreground and background in the upcoming pieces, thank you a lot!

@Ethan This looks great! I feel like it reads better now and the speech bubbles even seem easier to follow. I really love the style and colours.

@bnewman Thanks, yes, I agree. I kind've got stuck on this piece. Nothing was working out and I tried lots of things, even going back to thumbnail stage. Finally, I decided to put it aside for a while and work on the mermaid prompt for a change. I do plan on revisiting this piece, though and will keep your comments in mind.

@CLCanadyArts Thanks, you may be right. It currently is a beat before that moment. Wasn't sure how far before the moment to make the piece. Will keep your suggestion in mind.

@marine I just wanted a cat using its pour and thought a bit of thread hanging would attract its attention. I'm happy with it, I'm making art progress 😁

I finished the album cover I was working on and the band is super happy with it.

pioneer7_final_album_art_sm.jpg

While I had a day to unwind and relax I did this quick piece for fun...

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@Darian @Chip-Valecek thanks y’all!

Made a lot of progress tonight. BDB29098-755F-45B1-82A4-7B383F942E53.jpeg

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Sorry for the head turn.
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Okay so I 'finished' this piece and uploaded it to the contest thread. I took it into Photoshop for some color adjustments and added actual type in Illustrator. There are a lot of things I like about this piece but one of the biggest things I struggled with is getting the idea across of the struggle. They are in the right pose and 'acting' the part without any muscle behind it. I really like the idea of keeping them flat but I think to make it truly convincing I need to somehow amp up not only the emotion but the action - if I'm being super honest they look more like they are dancing than struggling to me, lol.
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I'm going to keep moving forward in my drawing and composition classes and I know that I'll get to character and gesture soon!

Last mermaid.

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Many thanks @Kevin-Longueil for your feedback!
I like your draw over but as you say it put the emphasis on the old sailor whereas my goal was to put the emphasis on the lady (mermaid) and her beautiful truck, who's attracting all kinds of fishermen 🙂
I think I should have been more crazy on the truck to make it the focal point but I will submit it like that for now... I could definitely improve this piece, will see in the future... as Jake Parker would say : "Finished, not Perfect" 😉

Coutroutsios_Mermay_truck_3.jpg

@Erin-Cortese Thank you! 😄

@Dima-Eichhorn 31.jpg

@Coreyartus Thank you for pointing out the issue. I really see what you mean now: I have an inconsistent light source, that breaks the illusion. I think I should have done a tighter value study to figure out the lighting before moving on the color for a piece with many objects.

I will mess around with the piece now, and see what I can do. It is fun to draw a different environment. I think under the water scene would not come across my mind if it was not for the contest.

Wow! Great image. The border is handled beautifuly, so does the animals and composition. Long story short I like it 😃

@sketchbook This looks amazing with the darkened tone, and the dramatic lighting, wow! Thank you all for your comments. I'll have another look at the piece. This is really great feedback 😃

Wow, phenomenal! 🙂
I'm not sure exactly what you're asking about in terms of saturating the mermaid (Are you meaning give her more color? Please forgive my ignorance here...), but whatever happens, I'd keep her value as light as possible. It's looking so good!