New work in my portfolio

[Christine Garner]

Hi again, I haven't been here for ages sorry, it's been a weird year so far. I've kept making new art pieces and updating my portfolio but I'm still trying to figure out whether I'm even doing the right thing with my life, so I thought I should come back to the forums and ask for so me honest feedback. Here's some new stuff: please let me know what you think. I'm still developing as an artist and eager to learn.

My website is at https://thimblefolio.com/, I updated it and changed the design around the start of the yer and I keep tweaking it every so often.

[Kat]

These are beautiful! What type of work did you want to do? I can see some of these made into patterns on material or home decor items.

[DOTTYP]

Hi i really like your style I wondered how you achieved this very clean look is it traditional or digital?

[Christine Garner]

@Kat Hi Kat, I've been looking into all sorts of different types of Illustration over the last 3 years or so, and I have experimented with doing patterns and started a Society 6 shop. I tried Spoonflower as well, but I found the set up costs a bit frustrating so I put a halt on that. I do like doing decorative things, but I get frustrated that I haven't done much in the way of narrative work yet which is also an interest.
I'm also looking into a concept art as well but I need to get practicing my anatomy and perspective skills a lot more before I feel any of my work is ok yet, and my portfolio needs a lot of developing toward that.
It's all a bit overwhelming for me, but I'll keep trying things until something sticks.

[Christine Garner]

@DOTTYP I work in traditional and digital and like to mix them together. What I've been doing lately is working with coloured pencil and watercolour pencil first, and then scanning them in and working in Photoshop to get a cleaner look. I've been trying to compliment rather than overwhelm the traditional textures, but sometimes I still go a bit overboard, so I'm working on learning when to stop. The sparrow and heron pictures are the closest here to the original traditional look before I scanned them in, then I cleaned things up and colour corrected in Photoshop.

[Kat]

@Christine-Garner , it seems to me that surface pattern design is a pretty big industry, so it certainly could be a good fit for you. There are POD sites like Zazzle that don't cost you anything to set up. It's pretty easy to create products, and it might be a good way to test the waters a bit. At the least, you might earn a few extra dollars here and there.

[DOTTYP]

@Christine-Garner Thanks Christine I really prefer doing traditional work myself,but when I scan a piece it looks very messy almost as if it is to close up and muddy looking,thanks for the tips I am still experimenting.Your work is wonderful!