August Contest WIP--Are You Seeing What I'm Seeing?

[Coreyartus]

Well, this month has really had me going in circles. I literally made three illustrations before settling on a fourth and final composition, which I think has more kidlit-oriented emotional narrative in it. But I thought I'd show off the others I did and get your opinions just in case I'm overthinking...

I think A is too creepy (I feel), B is to conceptual, C is too flat and digital and symmetrical and... It's the weakest I feel.

But I feel like the composition of D, and the emotional notes seem better than the others. I don't know if it has more "story" in it than the others but it seems "clearer" to me somehow... I have a long way to go on it (this is just a little color fun, and the Spanish Moss is a Mess), but of the four I think D is probably the strongest for this month.

Still, I thought I'd post this on the forums just to make sure my instincts are leaning in the right direction. Because my gut--and voting choices in the Critique Arena--have been WAY way off more often than not. Such that I'm a lot less sure of myself and my capacity to recognize what works and what doesn't. I'd appreciate it if ya'll could let me know if you see what I'm seeing, because I'm psyching myself out... Thank-you so much!!

[aprilshin]

Hi Corey! Wow, you did a lot of work already! I love the dragonfly wings in A, and the tilted axis in B is awesome. I feel like B could've been one of those vintage horror movie posters . I agree that C is the weakst, and D has an interesting perspective, but I'm not clear as to what the story is. It looks like the boy is running away with his dog, but what significance does the dragonfly have? Is the dragonfly also his pet and wants to take it with him but the dragonfly wants to fly free?

I've also been way off in the critique arena, so my opinion may not be worth much, haha. But I really love B out of the four. I like the colors, I love the tilted axis, and I feel like I'm already seeing the horror movie play in my head with people screaming and running in the streets, haha. And the fact that it's a polaroid with snippets of info?? I'm hooked! I want to know more about this image! And about what happened to the person who took the photo. I love that the dragonfly is cut off in the photo like the person had to run away immediately after he/she took it. It's just such a cool idea and one I've not seen submitted in the contest so far this month. However, I think you should go with what interests you the most and what will be the most fun for you to draw. I'm looking forward to what you bring to the table this month!

[K.Flagg]

I love all of them but A and D are my faves. I'm leaning more toward D since I feel like it has more of a story element and that is often what they look for. But the dragonfly in A with the giant wings in the moonlight is pretty awesome. I also like the color pallet in D. More of a winter magic vibe.

[Coreyartus]

I decided to go with D, and I just launched into it. I'm hoping folks can tell me if things are pulling focus and interest. I"m worried there's too much texture in the tree, perhaps, and I need to do something a bit more substantial to the path he's standing on...

@aprilshin I decided to change the boy's facial expression a bit, and have him looking upward with a "sorta" grin... I think that was stronger than the "I'm lonely" vibe I think I was going for... Does that make things a bit clearer? Or at least less complicated?