Critique vs Marketing

[menalkhan]

@tombarrettillo - Thank you so much for the detailed feedback!!
-Rapunzel - Great point! I added bars + lock to her window to emphasize her sadness from being trapped.
-Tuktuk - Since I already have a piece with a vehicle in motion, I wanted to show this tuktuk as idle, with chickens taking advantage of the space. To further show this I added a chicken reading inside.
-Matilda - I'll think more about this one! It was initially meant to be the front cover but at the end I decided against it.
-Duck and bear - They're detectives and I had the badge on the duck to show this but I realize now it may have been too hidden, so I made it more visible. I've kept the 'why the slime' reasoning vague to enhance the mystery theme. I also made a few more changes but have made a separate post on that.
-Website edits - Thanks for pointing out the choppy font! I’ve updated it to something more readable.

[tombarrettillo]

@menalkhan I like the reading chicken; adds much more story to the piece. And the duck and bear piece is more clear.

If I can be so bold, I would say that the Rapunzel piece, while the bars are good, might do better if you zoomed out a bit so that the reader could see that she is actually in a tower and not a palace. I would go so far as to remove the parapet, but will leave that up to you.

And good on the website. Text is much more readable.

I think you have a great style and should do well as an illustrator.

[AnthonyWheeler]

Hey! Lovely portfolio, style, compositions, colors, etc!

Here's my thought--don't wait for permission, just make things happen.

Perhaps you spend a bunch of time getting things "perfect" and then no one looks at your stuff. Perhaps you spend a bunch of time getting things "perfect" and editors/agents think your stuff needs work. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...

Your work is of a professional quality--go get after it. As you get going, continue to take advice you are getting here, seek reviews, make your work stronger, etc.

[menalkhan]

@tombarrettillo Thank you! I'll rethink that piece. Appreciate the feedback!

@AnthonyWheeler That's the plan! Thank you for the awesome advice!

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@menalkhan hi! first off great illustrations. Secondly, is it alright if I critiqued your portfolio? thanks.

[menalkhan]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz - Thank you! And yes, go for it, I'd love feedback!

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@menalkhan hi I'm just gonna keep it brief. I think you have a good style going and I would definitely recommend making submissions. I always recommend submitting even if you're not ready so that you'll get over the fear of rejection because that fear is very strong and paralyzing. A lot of illustrators give up before they even get started because of that fear. And boy, will you inevitably experience a lot of rejection during this process. that's just a given.

what I think you need to work on most is adding sequential illustrations. if you want to illustrate books or narrative works, you need to show that you can illustrate the same character consistently over various illustrations.

overall, this is my 2 cents. all the best. keep us posted.

[menalkhan]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz - Yes! I've actually been working on a sequential piece. Initially, I had the chimp-polaroid image to show the same character in different poses, but decided to make one that's a bit more obvious. Thank you for the feedback, it's very much appreciated!
I submitted myself to a few places and actually signed an agent this past week, excited to see where this takes me.

[tombarrettillo]

@menalkhan congrats on getting an agent!

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@menalkhan woah! that's wonderful news! congratulations who did you sign with?

[menalkhan]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz @tombarrettillo - thank you! I signed with Bookends Literary!

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@menalkhan that is wonderful! all the best.

[Yogita Chawdhary]

Hi Menal, Love your art style! Your work would look super cute on PBs. Congratulations on getting an agent! All the best!

[menalkhan]

@Yogita-Chawdhary Thanks so much, Yogita!! Your work is great too!

[StudioHannah]

I'm kinda late to this post but I just wanted to say you have an excellent style and portfolio! Great work!