Critiques please :)

Kayla Groening

This was an illustration inspired by my daughter. Haha

I've been staring at it too long and could use some fresh eyes on it.

I was playing around with perspective on this one and was trying to make it from my eye-level standing up and looking downwards. Is the perspective believable?

Looking at it now, I can see some issues with the lighting and will fix the shadows near the broom and add highlights on the objects in the light. Are there any other lighting issues you can see?

I'll probably end up changing the backwall, because it doesn't seem right. I'm just not sure what is off about it.

Melissa_Bailey

@Kayla-Groening good concept! Your daughter must be such a cutie! So these eyes saw the issues you were concerned about: lighting and perspective. As far as the back wall ... is it even needed to tell the story? What if you cropped the illustration a bit so the character is larger and the focus is even more on her? Just a thought. Please show us your progress as this illustration evolves. Looking forward to seeing the finished piece!

Kayla Groening

@Melissa-Bailey-0 Hmmm interesting point. I'll give it a try and see how it looks.

My original reason for making the wall so high was to exaggerate how little she was, but maybe that isn't necessary, if I can get the perspective down pat.

Also, I want to be a comic artist and graphic novel artist. Tradition print comics (US) typically have longer page ratios, so I've been trying to keep my work in the 6x9.5 ratio for practice and portfolio sake. Webcomics, too, tend to have longer pages, which you scroll down to read. I try and keep this in mind when I'm composing the image. If I'm working in panels it is not a big issue since they can be any shape and size. It's the full-page spreads that I'm more concerned about.

I'll sleep on it and come back to it tomorrow and play around with cropping it and fixing the lighting.

Thanks.

NessIllustration

@Kayla-Groening Hi Kayla This is so cute!! The room does look like you're looking from an adult height, but the character looks like we're looking at her straight on (not from above). It's a difficult angle!

Kayla Groening

@NessIllustration yes. You're right. I'm going to study some similar perspectives and try again tomorrow.

I'm determined to get it.

Kayla Groening

SCFS Up sketch ver 2.jpg

I ended up doing an entire re-draw on this one. I couldn't find a good reference photo online with the perspective I wanted, so I stood on the coffee table and got my son to model for me. He's such a good sport. Haha.

I also scaled down the toys using the head as a reference.

Ignore the scribbles. My daughter was helping me draw.

Kayla Groening

I also figured that there's no reason for her to be upset, so I changed her expression. I might also get rid of the Up, Up, Up speech bubble altogether now, since it doesn't really fit anymore.

Melissa_Bailey

@Kayla-Groening this composition is much more successful! Love the footprints and the improved scale. Something to mention that you may have already fixed: if you're changing her expression, remember that the eyes and eyebrows will change with the shape of the mouth. Try smiling and frowning with your eyes at the same time -- it feels impossible to do AND you'll make the most hilarious faces!