Star - work in progress
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Hi you all!
I LOVE this prompt - it's a weird coincidence, because I'm also now working on an early reader book idea about Star Maintenance Service company. So I took this prompt as a chance to create some proof of concept illustration for the story idea.
Here's the sketch.
I'm thinking about rearranging the stars a bit (now they are all taking about the same space visually, so it creates a bit of a pattern maybe?) and I'm also brainstorming about how to paint the whole think value-wise. Because I would really love to keep the other stars in the image, but also I want to make sure the little star and the elf stay as the focal point here.
The blank space under the elf and little star is reserved for the text. Any advice will be much appreciated!
Have a lovely autumn everyone and looking forward for your stars!!!
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Awesome concept @mag! I like the composition and definitely my eye is led to the baby star. Super cool
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Love this, gave me a giggle of delight seeing her up the ladder. Definitely a great focal point on the girl and baby star.
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@helen @Jeremy-Ross Thank you!
I am always very unsure about my concepts, because as I know the story very well, I see what's happening on the image, even though there might not be enough clues for an uninformed viewer, so every feedback as how the illustration is perceived from the outside, is great, haha! I bet you all know that feeling too! 
And here's the progress on the painting. I decided to paint my main focal point first, so I can adjust the colours and values of the other stars accordingly, so they don't compete with each other. Will see how it will turn out.
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@mag This is so adorable and I love the concept!
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Definitely @mag! My wife and daughter reject like 5 thumbnails before I get the green light to proceed on an idea, and even then, I don’t hit submit until they say it’s good to go. Sometimes I think a concept reads well, but if they don’t get it, I’m scratching my head.
Your piece is looking awesome!
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@mag love the concept! Your work is always amazing.
One suggestion: what if you increased the highlights and contrast of the main characters? If you make the glow of the star brighter and increase that reflective light on the elf, that would make both stand out more, especially if the stars around them will have a dimmer glow.
Right now, it doesn't look like the star is lighting the elf at all, but there is highlight on the cloud. Since the elf is closer, actually holding the star, there should be even stronger highlights on her.
Looking forward to seeing this come together!
illustrator - author - smiley person
mbaileyart.com
instagram.com/mbaileyart/ -
Wow! I love that little star's cheeky face! I agree with Melissa about the lighting up of the elf. Looking forward to seeing the next steps.
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@melissa-bailey-0 @lizardillo
thank you, good point about the light coming from the star... I have a problem with the two figures being two---busy?--- when I light up the elf. Here are the two versions (I'm think I'm done for now, but maybe I change up my mind at the last minute ), which do you think looks better? With the light on the elf, or without? Or should I try a different approach with the light? Any suggestions would be welcomed, as I am a bit lost now, I might have just be looking at it for too long...
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@mag with the light, definitely. In fact, my personal opinion is that there should be more light.
Hope you don't mind, I did a quick draw over, knocking back the value of the stars surrounding the two main characters. I also lightened the elf's pants because her bottom half was disappearing into the background. Finally, I tried to darken the clouds -- for me, the scribbly detail on the clouds was distracting the eye and making the piece appear busier than it was. The scribbly detail is adorable, but you may want to try a version without (hopefully it's on a separate layer!) and see if that helps the composition.
See what you think ... of course, this is only one way to approach the values and composition. Looking forward to seeing this in Critique Arena!
P.S. -- one more nitpicky thing: is the star drinking the tea/coffee too distracting? Would it be more effective to take away the mug and have the star look at the two main figures? Or if you want to keep the mug, none of the other stars have arms -- what if its arms were its two side points? Just another thought to think about!
