@Sarah-VanDam @Sarah-VanDam Oh!! I get it now 
It's reminds me of the vintage illos in classic literature, reminiscent of some of the original Dutch illustrators, I absolutely LOVE this look. SOOOO GOOD!!
I did a draw over here, just a simpler approach and for sure you'd have to adjust the details to match the rest of your piece. And, of course, I only intend to help and so all advice or suggestion is merely what I would do, so hopefully I don't offend!
I studied the proportions of the girl I noticed her legs were unnaturally long, and angled back too far. If you look at the way people swing, when they are on the "upswing" they are pointing both feet or at least one, to show they are moving up or even coming back down. I also changed the of the chain so it looks more like there is tension in her holding herself on this structure, so let me know your impression of this. I also understand why you made the chain come from the bottom to show she is really up there however that seemed like she was dangling unnaturally and it wasn't believable enough to look like a swing so I moved it to a position that makes it more believable, you could create something like the swing is fixed on a cloud or a moon? I also took out the airplane because it seems out of context and unnecessary, since you have clouds, which demonstrates showing how high she is swinging. Anyway, the basis you have started is in my opinion a portfolio worthy piece!
I commend you in the traditional techniques. Hands down the best, I feel, especially in this digital world with AI and all that stuff! I wrote to another artist on IG and commented on how her colored pencil inspires me to go back to my pencils, and she said "Do it!" So I will... I keep reading about gouache and have never worked with it so that will be my next task. Thank you as well for the inspiration!
I would love your feedback on my website!
Some things I am planning on fixing :
- My brother is an excellent photographer and when I can get to Ft. Collins to see him he is going to set me up with some good clear photos.
- I am adding more images of kids with adults, in varying emotional situations.
- More scaled pieces with top-view angles and worm's eye perspective.
- A black-and-white/sketchbook section
- Traditional pieces, with full bleed images. I have yet to learn how to convert traditional media into digital files without changing the natural component. Recently I tried scanning in some stuff and I didn't like the way it came out digitally. I end up cleaning it up too much and when I did that it lost its organic natural appearance. I would like to know how you achieved this!!!!
- Book Covers
- The mobile app is strange when scrolling through the gallery, for some reason my name hangs on some of the art for a second. I need to adjust how it scrolls.
- I want to work my name in hand-illustrated text, with color. I love the vintage lettering in pen-and-ink, with either gouache or watercolor... so my branding is going to evolve in this direction somehow.
️
️
