First illo of 2023

[AngelinaKizz]

My first illo of 2023. Still aiming for loose, and losing some edges…
I’d love to hear thoughts and critiques.
Hope you’re all having a great start to 2023.

[Asyas_illos]

This is really great Angelina! I love the painterly feel to it! I see tons of improvement! My only critique is I think the mouse could use a tiny bit less looseness. I think he should feel a little crisper, imo. Sorry mouse and cup I mean as they are the focal point.

[AngelinaKizz]

@Asyas_illos thanks Asya! I'll try a layer over top to tighten up and see how it feels

[Griffin McPherson]

@AngelinaKizz the background looks good but maybe a little TOO good. I think it brings a bit too much attention away from the focal point. Maybe just removing some details or glomming more shapes and values together could help. I think cleaner foreground edges could help a lot as well. Over all this is a great looking piece and your improvement is really showing! Starting off 2023 right

[Chantal Goetheer]

@AngelinaKizz beautiful!! Agree with what @Asyas_illos and @Griffin-McPherson already said to make the mouse more the focal point. But wow! I was wondering if you could get rid of the logo on the cup? Somehow I get a strong Starbucks feel and pulls my eye there. Hope one day I can pull off something as beautiful as this!

[AngelinaKizz]

@Griffin-McPherson and @Chantal-Goetheer thanks! I'll work on it some more and post the finished piece soon!

[AngelinaKizz]

I’ve been off to a slow start this year.
I finally got to tightening up the mouse.
I also loosened the background.

How does he feel now?

[Mia Clarke]

@AngelinaKizz This is a lot better, I think, your focal point is really clear and I immediately understand what is happening in the image.

I must say though that I’m not wild about the multiplier overlay of paper texture, I feel like it looks like something I have to look through, rather than something that’s inherently part of the image. Like wobbly, grayish cling-film on top, if you see what I mean. I think your image would be better served by more strategically applied, subtle texture, rather than one sheet over everything…

Other than that, this feels like a portfolio piece in the making. Great work.

[AngelinaKizz]

@Mia-Clarke yeah, you’re totally right. I like the paper texture more often than not…but you’re right, this time it’s not fitting.

[AngelinaKizz]

[Mia Clarke]

@AngelinaKizz I think this is a great piece. Ultimately, you need to follow your artistic mind, and I think the paper structure might just be a matter of taste (and I’m just one person, and I might be wrong…)… Maybe you can still use it on this piece, but make it more transparent?

[ajillustrates]

@Mia-Clarke @AngelinaKizz Agreed - try the paper texture between 25% and 50% opacity of what it was before, and I think you'll find the sweet spot for this piece!

[Tom Harshberger]

@AngelinaKizz @AngelinaKizz Cool to see the progress. Really like the lighting on the mouse's ears and neck! I too struggle with canvas textures being too much. It's hard to gauge when you're looking at it for hours!

[geekinm]

I really like this piece. Well done it looks great to me x