Mushroom village revisited

[chrisaakins]

In 2018 I joined my first SVS contest. The challenge was Mushroom village. I did a traditional work because I knew nothing about digital art. Here was my entry:

I thought I would revisit this prompt to showcase what I learned at SVS.

1. Storytelling is king.
2. Composition is also king. Coregents if you will.

I thought I was hot stuff back then but I had much to learn. Much thanks to Will and Lee and Jake for their feedback and encouragement and brutal honesty.
Here is hopefully a better look. What do you think?

[Jeremy Ross]

Definitely see loads of improvement @chrisaakins ! I think we both joined the SVS critique arena at the same time. Keep getting better!

[A Former User]

@chrisaakins I like the concept of your story! I'm just wondering if your composition might be more effective in a vertical framing. Your main character is the untrustworthy thief of a lizard. Making him significantly larger would make him the center of attention. The torch bearing rat clan could then be increased in size without competing. It took me few minutes of study to determine they are rats. As it is my attention first goes to the giant mushroom rather than the lizard. The overall purple cast is a bit much. I’ve found purple is most effective when used like seasoning. Just a touch here and there. Take these comments with a grain of salt as we all have our opinions.

Your other illustrations posted here over the past few years are very good! Keep up the amazing work.

[Jeremy Ross]

Hi @thomas-young , this one’s @chrisaakins

[A Former User]

@Jeremy-Ross thanks for helping me see!

[Larue]

I also see a lot of improvement, especially in the story telling portion! I do miss the contrast though that really made your mushroom house pop in the first one. I think you could hit the large mushroom and the lizard with more moon light or perhaps he’s carrying a lantern on a stick to introduce a second light source? Also the brown,path (?)passing behind the lizard isn’t reading well, is it a strip of fabric attached to him or perhaps a path? It is very angular compared to all your other shapes so it stands out to me. The solid warm brown color doesn’t seem to fit, don’t know if you need it. Keep at it, you’re so close!