Hi everyone
I'm Gub from Australia. I've been on SVS for the last month and a bit and I'm really enjoying the lessons. I've never taken any other art classes before.
This is my sketch for "independent".... the first thing that came to my mind was the classic movie "Independence Day". This is my take on a scene from the movie - thought it might time for the cows to get their own back on the aliens!
Would welcome any feedback, before I movie on to doing it in inks.
I think this is looking good. One suggestion I have would be to add a crashed spaceship in the background to support the suggestion that it is an alien in a parachute. I had no idea what was happening until I read your explanation and perhaps seeing the ship along with a little more of the alien hand can make that come across more in the illustration itself. I like it and want to see more!
I agree with adding something into the background to help tell the story. I didn't know what it was carrying until i read your post. I do like the character of the cow.
I agree with the others, and think you might want to play with extending the format to add in the spaceship. I would also play around with adding drag marks to the sand- could be just subtle, and maybe sweat to the cow. Really love the gesture and expression of the cow, and her udders dragging on the ground is a nice touch. 
@Jon-Anderson @Chip-Valecek @TessW thanks guys, I agree it could be clearer what's happening. I'll have a play with it and repost
Also, just a quick thought, you might want to raise up the udders on the cow. Looks like she might be leaning on them instead of walking. Nice expressive eyes on the cow.
Independent cow take 2!
I've added a crashed ship and extended the alien's hand out a bit. I think it works better like this? Also as @TessW suggested I'm planning on adding sweat and drag marks in the final.
Thanks for the help, any other suggestions?
@gubhart Awesome! That's a lot clearer. I would look at making the leg and arm position on the cow just a bit stronger for a clearer silhouette read. There's a lot of negative space in the sky so maybe flip the spaceship so the smoke drifts across the sky a bit, and enlarge the cow a bit more so her really hits that Rule of Thirds golden spot and also takes up a good portion of the composition.
Finally, I'd push that horizon line curve even more and lower the mountains in the background to really emphasize the distance and vastness of the space!
That's my braindump of ideas!
Love changes you made. I'm also glad you chose that classic ufo design. It's perfect for the tone and clarity of the piece. @WithLinesOfInk has some pretty nice ideas!
I agree with the others, and think you might want to play with extending the format to add in the spaceship. I would also play around with adding drag marks to the sand- could be just subtle, and maybe sweat to the cow. Really love the gesture and expression of the cow, and her udders dragging on the ground is a nice touch.
