Developing my YA novel art style

[Michael Angelo Go]

Hello everybody, I am just ever so slowly trying to find my footing again, and get back into the illustration gig. I realized after a couple of years that maybe purely cutesy art just isn't for me. So that's why I shifted from children's books to YA novels.

I am trying to develop my art style by adding some realism to the mix. This is still a WIP. I am trying to capture most of details, while simplifying them into more basic shapes or lines.

Please let me know what you think as I keep things updated. Also, sorry if this early to critique. I am just so happy after years of fighting cancer, poverty, burnout, anxiety, and procrastination that I finally produced something.

[MarcRobinson]

@Michael-Angelo-Go this is a great start mate. I can't give a definite critique because I struggle with this style. But one bit of advice I'd give is to go into a big book store and take photos of ALL the YA art you can find. Look for consistent style elements between them all. How do they do eyes? Mouths? Poses? What details are kept or discarded? Try copying a few exactly as you see them to get the feel for it. Your goal isn't to be a clone of other art, but to see what works in that genre and apply it to your stuff.

[Yiming Wu]

I actually think you did a quite nice job on capturing the edginess of the character and I think it would fit the YA scene well.

[Michael Angelo Go]

[Michael Angelo Go]

[Yiming Wu]

@Michael-Angelo-Go The half tone effect looks pretty neat!

I'd say the image would work better if it's smaller visually. Too big of a image makes it look like it needs more intricate line weights and hints of form(It could be due to forum image default size).

[Michael Angelo Go]

[Michael Angelo Go]

@Michael-Angelo-Go a self-portrait

[Michael Angelo Go]

[Michael Angelo Go]

[Michael Angelo Go]

@Michael-Angelo-Go