WIP INDEPENDENT

[Wendy Plybon]

@jose-ramos Very cute! I think it portrays the theme quite well.

[Jose Ramos]

Hey guys, what you think, I´ve had a freetime today.

[smithdraws]

@jose-ramos You draw and paint at break-neck speed!

[bnewman]

I love this. Fantastic work and very fast.

[Jose Ramos]

Thanks guys, well it has not been so fast, it took me about 3 or 4 hours.

[Jose Ramos]

What do you think about to add a garland in the cat´s mouth?, does it make sense?

[smceccarelli]

Really lovely concept and super execution! The cat feels slightly off-kilter - like he was getting down the stairs at an angle rather than walking straight down - but that is super nitpick.
While I love your signature, placing your signature so prominently on an image is possibly disturbing - especially if your goal is book illustration. Will Terry's practice/recommendation is to put instead his web address in a very unintrusive part of the illustration and barely visible.

[Jose Ramos]

Thanks Smceccarelli!, Nice nitpick, I really appreciate the comment.
The next illustration, I´ll follow your advice and I´ll put my web address more small, in unintrusive part and barely visible.

[Chip Valecek]

4 hours to paint?!?!?! I would have just got that cat done in that timeframe LOL. Its a great piece. I would remove the flags, I liked it better without. Since there are no other reference to 4th of July in the image.

[TessaW]

Wowzers! 3-4 hours is really fast, in my opinion. I agree with @Chip-Valecek on the garland. I think it's a cute idea, but I would either remove the garland, or add more elements to suggest that it's the 4th of July.

[Christine Garner]

Looks good. Only a suggestion but perhaps try to make the cat stand out more if it's supposed to be the focal point. My eye gets drawn to the girl because she is in the light and the cat is a little bit hard to make out at first against the background because it looks similar in values to the grass.

[Jose Ramos]

Hey guys, thanks so much for the coments, I´ve take out the garland, reduced the signature, and I moved the girl a little to the left.
About the cat, I played with the levels, so I think now it´s more visible.

Thanks for all!

[pn]

This is the first vision and purest form of 'independent' for me. Everyone has a child within us and I imagine her to be like this. CareFree. Independent. Happy.
(Critiques are welcome. )

(I assume this is the thread for WIP of the July month contest, 'independent ' )

[tombarrettillo]

@jose-ramos Coming in a bit late, but I have been watching this one develop. Over all I think it is great. A couple things I see: Is the girl supposed to be looking at the cat? Maybe move the left eye so the girl's gaze move more towards the cat. Also, since the cat does not seem to care that she is calling, perhaps "move ahead in time" and make the girls expression a bit more annoyed/frustrated (using both hand around her mouth). Also, the ladder indicates that the light is coming from the right, but the cat and girl show the light behind them.

[tombarrettillo]

@pn Best practice is to start your own thread for feedback. Only the finals are posted together in the contest thread.

[linhb]

so nice lah

[Jose Ramos]

@tombarrettillo Good points of view Tomb...
I´ve uploaded the final version in the post, but I´d like to know what do you think about it.
I´ve made the stair more dark, so the light is coming from the left, and I´ve made the girl more frustrated and with her hand around the mouth.

[lmrush]

@jose-ramos Your composition and rendering is awesome!

[Jose Ramos]

@lmrush Thanks so much!

[tombarrettillo]

I know you posted the final, but I was thinking about this illo the other night, and if you feel compelled, it might actually work better if her stance was of utter frustration: arms straight down, her leaning forward, and yelling at the cat. Since she is fairly close tot he cat, her yelling with cupped hands seemed a bit out of place. Just a thought...