Children's book illustration feedback

[jallott]

Hey everyone!

I’ve been an SVS member for just under a year now but haven’t really ventured into forumsville until now.

I’ve been working on a whole bunch of stuff and am looking to get some critical feedback on some illustrations I’ve been doing for a children’s book I’ve written. I feel like the thing I find most difficult is rendering with colour but any feedback at all would be very welcome- composition, characters, literally anything!

Thanks!

[Chip Valecek]

@jallott That little guy is really cute. The graveyard looks awesome, just not sure about the ghost. Maybe its the glow into the eyes and mouth that throw it off. Or maybe take the glow off and make it a white and drop the opacity a little.

[jallott]

@chip-valecek Thanks! I totally see what you mean about the ghost. Now that you've pointed it out it doesn't look right at all. Thanks for the suggestions I'll give them ago!

[IanS]

@jallott I agree with @Chip-Valecek in that I'm not sure about the ghost. The glow does bleed into the left eye. The smile could use a little tweak. Remember eye shapes change when we smile as cheeks get pushed up. I would do a draw over but I'm out and about at the moment. Also the ghost's arm on the left is a square shape & I think it should the same shape as the arm on the right. Some stars in the background might be nice and a gradient. You've used a nice one on the grass. Now for the positives! The character is really cute and stands out nicely in the scene. I like the background. It's a good piece and just needs a few little tweaks. I look forward to seeing more!

[jallott]

@ians Thanks for the pointers really appreciate it ! I totally see what you mean about the smile and the arm. I'll have a go at tweaking it

[rcartwright]

I really like the style of illustration, I would lighten or remove the line in the background grave area as they seem to be the same weight as things up closer. You probably only need the shapes with the correct value to separate them from the sky

[Doodleworx]

I like your style and characters!

[TessaW]

Hi jallot- what a great image! You really have great skills in making appealing characters. I was wondering if adding a vignette might help with the focal point of the illustration?

[jallott]

@rcartwright Thanks, that's a great call!

[jallott]

@doodleworx Thank you!

[jallott]

@tessw Hi! Thanks a lot I'll certainly give it a try with a vignette and see how it comes out

[jallott]

Thanks for the feedback so far everyone! I've just been working on some alternate designs for the ghost, trying to take onboard everyones comments and give it a bit more character!

[jallott]

I've been playing around with this a bit more this week and finally come up with something that I think works a little better. I've updated the ghost, faded out the background line work, added some stars and a slight gradient and slightly moved some bits around. I've added text in just to make sure everything fitting right. Any critiques would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Chip Valecek]

@jallott i really like your ghost in this version. My critique is that it looks like he is looking at the ground vs the creature on the tombstone. Maybe tilt him up a little.

[jallott]

@chip-valecek thanks! I totally see what you mean about the ghost looking down. Thanks for the feedback!

[jallott]

Hey everyone, I've done a few more little tweaks to the ghost image and think I'm going to call it done on that one resists strong urge to go back and keep editing it till the end of time. I've also been rendering another few of pages from the book- On the "wheeze" page, looking at it now, I think it would have been better to have him looking like he's actually trying to roar rather than just shivering so I might go back and edit that little bit.