WIP Portfolio piece—Feedback would be cherished. :)

[JessicaLinnEvans]

Hi Folks! I'm hoping to query agents in the new year and want to spruce up my portfolio with some new work. Here's a sketchy start on a Seven Dwarves piece. I'd love feedback on composition and values. It's not intended for a book spread ('cause I know that house is right in the gutter!) just a spot on my website. Thanks so much!

[kirsten-mcg]

@JessicaLinnEvans This is beautifully drawn and designed! I only noticed a couple little things. One is that there's an awkward tangent. I've circled it below. The other thing that feels a little odd to me is how big the silhouettes of Snow White and the witch are next to the house. I realize that it's hard to show what's happening at this distance. Is there another way you could maybe have the dwarves realizing that Snow White is in trouble without having to show her and the witch? Or maybe just moving the house a little closer to the viewer so that it can be bigger and make the silhouettes look smaller.

[JessicaLinnEvans]

@kirsten-mcg Thank you so much for your comments! I will start making edits right away!

[Frogpunzel]

@JessicaLinnEvans This is fun! I agree with what has been said, I would also mention that the dwarf next to that circled tangent, his head feels a little small to me in comparison to the rest of his body. Look forward to seeing this as you go.

[Kim Rosenlof]

@JessicaLinnEvans I really like the characters and looseness of the linework. I did a quick draw-over; hopefully that is okay. I felt like the values were very similar so I included the character closest to us as the darkest area. I also darkened some cliffs on the right side. I outlined some areas that are tangents or close to being tangents just so you are aware of them. I also extended the upper left tree to fill in the upper middle space because my eye kept going to it, and I hoped the branches would lead your eye down to the little house more. If you are planning on putting text there, then you can ignore that part. Actually, you can ignore this whole draw-over if you want to I do like how the dwarf is pointing to the house so our eyes want to see what he is pointing at.

[JessicaLinnEvans]

@Kim-Rosenlof Yes!! This is awsome! Thank you so much!

[JessicaLinnEvans]

@Frogpunzel Thank you! Great note!

[Jeremy Ross]

Hi @JessicaLinnEvans, this is really good! In addition to what others have already stated, it’s hard to see what’s going on with the evil witch and Snow White without having to zoom in. Perhaps it will read better when colored.

Also, the foreground dwarf seems very relaxed. You might want to add an expression to compliment the others?

Do you plan on adding text in the blank sky area?

Overall, it’s great!

[Chantal Goetheer]

@JessicaLinnEvans wow! I like the composition with the pointing towards the house and the front dwarf feeling that the viewer is next in line and part of it. darkening the value really help reading it better. Everyone already had great feedback. I was wondering adding to that if you could make that white house a bit wider the silhouette of the snow white and Witch stand out more. With colour you can get the apple to stand out as well. I like that you have to look what's happening at the house. Great work!

[ArtistErin]

I love your sketch, you have such beautiful compositional idea with this story! I thought I'd do a draw-over though to show you my thoughts in creating a more dynamic approach, please take all that I say with a grain of salt. I felt the progression of story telling can show the dwarves know there's something wrong, with the ones closest to the house in full stride running. The one pointing is showing the one in the foreground what's happening, assuming he just popped around the bend and is just now getting the gist of the immediacy of the moment, thus his expression. I simplified the trail so you can see the dwarves silhouettes running which if you wanted to add the seventh dwarf you could do so if you stretched the wall a bit. Anyway, hope this helps...

I suppose the emotion negates the need for a silhouette at the house because you get a sense for what's going on based on the expressions.

[JessicaLinnEvans]

@Jeremy-Ross Thank you for the notes! My intention was for the foreground dwarf to just be finding out. But it must not be clear, so thank you for pointing that out! I'll look for solutions!

[JessicaLinnEvans]

@ArtistErin This is great! Thank you so much!! That larger house might be the solution to my tiny Snow White and Witch! Much appreciated!

[JessicaLinnEvans]

@Chantal-Goetheer Yes! Great call on widening the house! I'll fiddle with that next. Thank you so much!